Fong Mong Tea Shop, Sun Moon Lake Black Tea

Fong Mong Tea Shop is a seller of high quality Taiwan Formosa teas, specializing in oolongs (though today’s review is a black tea). Recently, they offered for a limited time to send samples to reviewers. I grabbed at the chance to try their tea. On the Everyday Tea Blog, I tend to concentrate on teas I consider to be frugal choices. That means I look for the best quality for the money. That generally means teas that are priced at $2-5/oz or roughly $6-14 for 100g (3.5oz). Fong Mong teas are higher, running $30 for 100g. Now before you let that scare you away consider that with multiple steeps and using 3g/cup that brings the cost to a reasonable $0.30/cup.

This is the first sample I grabbed out of box. It is also my first black tea from Taiwan, at least that I am aware. I want to mention the packaging. The samples are vacuum packed in very heavy silver pouches. Once cut open, the first thing I notice is an oxygen absorber in the pouch. That’s different. The tea type is listed on the label but there are no steeping instructions. I had to go online to locate this information from their web store.

The leaf is dark and thick. The smell is similar to a Yunnan Dian Hong but more wine like. Kind of like a chocolate wine would smell. Very nice. I brewed for 3 minutes with just below boiling water in my French Press. The resulting liquor is a beautiful clear dark caramel. Fong Mong calls the color carmine, which is a vivid red. Scent is the same as the dry leaf.

With the first sip the sensation was instantly caramel, then grapes, and then Yunnan black. There is a healthy dose of malt in the smell and in the taste. While I don’t detect it in the scent, I noticed the cooling sensation of mint in mid sip and can taste it on my breath. This tea has a natural sweetness to it that tastes like honey on the lips. Strangely, considering the sweetness, it seems slightly drying like a red wine. There is not even a hint of bitterness in this cup. This is so good.

I find I have been programmed by years of English breakfast teas to expect a black tea to taste strong with a heavy bite that verges on and often surpasses bitterness. Not even close to what you’ll get from this tea. The China blacks and now this from Taiwan have shown me I have been missing an entire delicious side of black tea. This is excellent. I know reviews often read like propaganda written by an advertisement department, but this tea really is as amazingly good as it sounds. I am honored to have experienced it.

Teavivre, Mengku Palace Ripened Golden Buds Loose Puerh 2007

I tried to not open my latest round of samples from Teavivre until I had finished a few of my open teas. I tried. I really did. We had a lot of fatty foods at work because of a birthday celebration (not mine). There are free Cokes but puerh just sounded better for dealing with the oncoming food abuse.

The loose leaf is on the small side and a good mix of dark chocolate brown to golden cocoa in color. You can tell it is golden buds. The scent is (ahem) horse barn, yeah, yeah, I know, people who drink puerh must be crazy people. I offer no excuse except we can’t help ourselves. I steeped the leaf for a little over a minute in boiling water. I did not do a rinse. We shall see if that was a mistake. The brew began to pour out as a root beer colored liquor that halfway through the pour suddenly gushed forth the darkest chocolate brown. The full cup looks like coffee. The wet leaf scent is as the dry leaf.

The sip is smooth horse tack along with the sensation of mint without the taste of mint. A rinse is definitely not necessary and might be considered a crime in certain crowds. It seems to have a natural sweetness of its own. I added sweetener anyway. It really didn’t improve the flavor. That’s interesting. Usually I find it amplifies notes I was missing. Not this time.

Halfway through the first mug, I get the first tummy rumblings. I have mentioned the rumblings in other reviews but I have never explained it. Puerh is not a laxative. It works similar to yogurt by encouraging healthy intestinal cultures used in digestion. Great for preparing your gut for fatty abuse.

Second cup I went two minutes and the liquor looks like ink in the cup. The wet leaf now smells mostly of horse tack. With the first sip I notice a sticky lip feel. I don’t know what causes it but I always like it. This cup takes right off where the first left off. There is nothing foul or off-putting in the taste. Just wonderful leathery goodness.

Cup three at about 2 1/2 minutes. The brew in the French press is orange red. It now looks like tea in the mug. The sip, in addition to the leather which is decreasing in strength, has now developed some mushroom notes and a bit of creaminess to the mouth feel.

Cup four, I think I went 4 minutes. Lighter than the third but still reasonably dark and flavorful. I think the leaf might go another but I can’t so this is where I am quitting.

This is so much smoother than Teavivre’s touchas, and while the flavor is similar, here there are no sharp edges. Just a good leathery shu.

TeaVivre, Monkey Picked (Ma Liu Mie) Tie Guan Yin Oolong

Seriously, who could resist trying a tea with this clever name? I did not intend to break into my latest round of samples from TeaVivre this soon, but they were there. Well you know how it is. Actually this sample pouch was not completely sealed. I might not have noticed but there were monkey droppings in the bottom of the bigger pouch in which it was packed ;) Being sealed in the larger pouch, the tea is still fresh and no harm done. Since it is open let’s have at it.

Before I start my review, for those who are interested in how this tea got its name - there is a fun article on the Gong Fu Girl blog, titled Monkeys, Tea Leaves and Lies.

The nuggets look like normal tiguanyin. I forgot to sniff the dry leaf. Steeped in my press for 3 minutes with boiling water. The brew is a green tinted amber. It is extremely clear yet dense. That probably makes no sense but I stared through the press at it for a few seconds as I found its beauty fascinating. This is my first monkey picked oolong. The rich roasted aroma coming off the brew caught me by surprise. I try not to read other reviews or company flavor profiles before tasting. You can also catch the oolong in the scent. The leaf did not fully open on the first steep.

The sip is like a wave crashing over the tongue. It begins as a hearty roasted blast breaking on the taste buds. Next, splashing up is a moment of intense milkiness. Then as the flavor begins to recede, the tiguanyin is revealed. The aftertaste is somewhere between tgy and watermelon rind.

Second cup I went 1 minute. I got interrupted and the cup sat after I poured for several minutes. This cup is very different from the first. The roasted notes are much more subdued. This tastes like a mild genmaicha has been brewed with tiguanyin. There is also another note, not exactly earthy, but not really woodsy in mid sip that others are calling nutty.

Third cup back at 3 minutes. Pretty much this is now a straight mild tiguanin. Sweet. It has a nice lingering fruity aftertaste. There is still a lot of flavor and more steeps left in this but I have to call it quits for the day.

Twinings, Darjeeling

I have been drinking Twinings tea for years. I am not sure how I have missed trying this one until now. Then again, I have only drank two other Darjeeling teas. The first was by Ahmad. It is a terrific inexpensive tea. The second I have on most Saturdays at our local Steak N Shake. The Mother Parkers tea bags they use make a delicious cup that takes cream and sugar very well. I am looking forward to trying Twinings take on this tea. I am using the loose leaf version.

I open the tin and sniff. The dry leaf smells of straw. That is a different smell than hay. Straw smells less sweet and less green. I used a generous ½ scoop (my scoop is the 7g scoop that comes with the Bodum press), boiling water, and a 3 minute steep. The brew is a neat orange root beer color. This is very finely cut CTC but bigger than dust, so it didn’t make too much of a mess in the French press. Any finer and it would require a Finum filter basket for easier clean up. CTC or Cut Torn Curled is typical of many typical black teas. Dust is typical of tea bagged tea.

The sip yields a light bodied cup with mild fruity notes. It has a bit of the flavor of the grape leaves our local Chinese restaurant uses in some of their dishes. As the cup cools I am noticing a malt scent as I sip. This is a very drying tea. It is not bitter, just very astringent. If you are sensitive to black teas, it is not a good idea to sip this on an empty stomach.

I have to say I prefer Ahmad and Mother Parkers over this offering from Twinings. It’s not horrible. I just think you can do better. The flavor is thinner than I like. Although it does improve considerably as the cup cools. It is too astringent, at least for me, and having it instead of breakfast left me with a burning sensation. Nice fruity aftertaste though.

Empire Tea Services, Tea & Herb

Ingredients: Ceylon de-caf black tea, Chamomile, Orange peel, Lemon Myrtle, Lemon grass, Hibiscus, Spearmint, Rose petals, Lavender flowers, Anise, Cinnamon, Apple bits and Strawberry flavoring.

Check out how pretty the blend is in the picture. According to the label on the package, this is a decaf black tea with fruit pieces, cinnamon, and orange rind. I wrote Empire Tea Services to find out what else is in this as this tea is not on their website. They wrote back quickly with the complete ingredient list shown above. They also stated they are in the process of planning a major web update. Their website has always been a bit confusing, so I am looking forward to the redesigned layout. This tea will be added to their site at that time.

My wife bought this one. She is always on the lookout for a good caffeine free cup. Normally that means herbal. Not today! The first time we brewed this we over steeped a bit. The color of the brew was almost grape Kool-Aid. The next time I only went two minutes. The brew on a short steep is honey colored.

The brew smells a bit spearminty. I only slightly detect that element in the sip. The decaf Ceylon base is very light. I can’t single out chamomile but it is in here as is rose and lavender and orange. Yes, it has hibiscus but it is well behaved, adding only the slightest tartness. I am not a tart fan so I would complain if it were. I am not doing a good job describing this as I cannot quite place the taste. The best I can do is say this is a tasty late night fruity desert sip. I really enjoyed this with a bit of sweetener, and my wife is happy with it so I will gladly sip this with her in the evening .

Update: After drinking this several times I am now learning to separate some of the flavors. The spearmint is light and is used to support the combination of rose and lavender. The hibiscus as I mentioned earlier adds just a hint of tartness. The strawberry, apple, orange, and lemon give it a healthy fruity base. This is kind of like Kool-Aid for grown-ups.

Empire Tea Services, Scent Of Bergamot

The ingredients listed on the sample are a bit different than that on the website: Black tea, lavender, lemon myrtle, orange peel, Spanish safflower, red berries, flavors.

This was a sample given to me with my recent purchase. The leaf is really interesting to look at. It resembles herbal tea. The pieces are all fine and feathery – like potpourri. I am not sure how they came up with the name for this, as bergamot is not a listed ingredient. I do taste the lemon myrtle. I was concerned that the lavender would be too much but that is not the case. If you add sweeteners, take it easy as this has a natural sweetness but I don’t think it contains stevia as I don’t detect any bitterness. It isn’t tart. If there is hibiscus in this it is very well done. I actually like this. Too bad it isn’t decaf. It kind of reminds me of a flavored rooibos but not really. It’s kind of cherry but not really. The best I can describe it is Yankee Candle meets dried flower craft aisle meets hippie incense. Far out man. Peace!

Empire Tea Services, Earl Grey Pai Mu Tan Chinese White

This tea is the main reason I recently drove 65 miles to Empire Tea Services. I have had several of their teas and all have been exceptional. This one, like most of their offerings, was $8.00 for 3 1/2oz (100g). I have never had a white Earl Grey before so I really don’t know what to expect with this one. The Earl Green I bought last trip has an outstanding leaf base and is heavily bergamot flavored with peppery notes. The De La Crème is wonderfully chocolate and vanilla. The bergamot starts more subdued but brightens into a delicious creamy cup of Ceylon based Earl Grey.

On to this tea. Taking the leaf out of the bag I see long wiry, almost black strands (stems?), along with the traditional looking green/white fuzzy leaf. The dry leaf smells of bergamot. It is a just guess at how much leaf to use. I don’t have a scale and this is so wiry I had to judge by how it looked in the bottom of the press.

I ignored the brewing directions on the package. I have enough experience with Empire to know I like tea prepared differently than they prescribe. I used just steaming water and a two minute steep. The liquor is bright and clear with a beautiful yellow/green tint. The wet leaf is Empire’s bergamot and a fresh green leaf scent.

There are three guys at work that I rotate sharing my tea with. Today’s lucky taster’s reaction to this was, “flowers”. The bergamot is strong but not overpowering. It is not bright or tart and not perfumey. This is a white tea. You can taste the tea base. You just aren’t going to pick out melon or cucumber subtleties. That's the downside of a flavored tea. Three solid steeps. The fourth was weak until it really cooled off.

This is like earl green lite minus the pepper notes. Resteeps well. A pretty good value. I liked this a lot but was not immediately blown away. I tried it again a couple days later and learned a few things. This is better than I first thought. The first time, I had it immediately after drinking De La Creme Earl Grey. That one overpowered this one, making it seem less than it is. Second, I learned the vast majority of the stems were in the top of my tea pouch. I think I got the bottom of the bag. I could have picked them out but they really were only a visual issue. So to save time I just mixed them in with the rest of the tea.