Tea Adventure: Cardamom Chai from Jaipur Avenue

Here is the latest “Tea Gang” adventure with:


Cardamom Chai from Jaipur Avenue [More company info]This is a Flavored Tea [About straight teas vs flavored teas.]

This is the fourth review out of five samples my humans received from Jaipur Avenue. As we said in the first review, the vendor calls this “Chai Tea” but we are calling it just “Chai” since that word means “tea.”

On with the review.

This little teapot doesn’t do instants since there is no steeping involved. Once again, my buddy Glass Teamug did the honors here so you could see every drop. I posed nearby in my snazzy supervisory sash. That foil like pouch the tea mix comes in tears open easily and makes it perfect for taking along any place you’re going. Empty the contents into your mug. Be sure to take a whiff. It has a nice cardamom-ish aroma that to my humans, who are cardamom lovers, is heavenly. Cardamom is often in authentic Indian chais, but this has a dash extra while not being overwhelming. This spice is also used in quite a few Indian desserts, giving this tea a very dessert-like quality.

Add boiling water (the directions on the back of the pouch say to use hot water), starting with a couple of ounces onto the dry mix, stirring well, and then adding the rest of the water (for a total of 8 ounces). Stirring is a key step with instant anythings, so my humans used a fork.

The chai had a nice cardamomy flavor. Both of my humans liked this tea very much and split it evenly between them (no hogging by the wifey this time). No particulate matter at the bottom at the cup, showing that everything in the mix was probably ground up pretty tiny and that my humans did a good job of stirring.

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, any opinions concerning this tea and the company are always strictly objective.

© 2011 A.C. Cargill photos and text – All rights reserved. No copying, posting on other sites, or other uses allowed without written permission of the copyright holder.

Tea Adventure: Sencha of the Spring Sun from Obubu Tea

Here is the latest “Tea Gang” adventure with:


Sencha of the Spring Sun from Obubu Tea [More company info]This is a Straight Tea

It’s official ― little yellow teapot’s humans are starting to really like Japanese green teas in general and Obubu Tea specifically. Once again, Tea Gang member Little One-Cupper did the steeping honors while yours truly supervised.

Steeping a tea like this is always a bit different, but we made it even more different by doing it our way (but still close to what the vendor recommends). For a country that sees tea as something to drink when you don’t feel well or that calls spiced teas “chai teas” and herbals tisanes “herbal teas,” knowing what to do with a tea that is from a country very culturally different from ours is a bit tricky. My humans and I are adapting, though.

The dry tea leaves were a wonderful fresh green with an aroma like cooked spinach (the lightly braised kind, not that slimy stuff in a can).

We started by boiling one cup of water, pouring some in Little One-Cupper until his sides felt warm and then pouring it back into the kettle. We put the tea leaves in the warmed pot and let them sit for one minute. We then added the slightly cooled water to the leaves in the teapot and steeped for 1½ minutes. (I will get a little ahead of things by saying that you should consider cutting the recommended time back to only 1 minute ― the tea leaves steep up fairly fast.)

The resulting tea liquid was light yellowy green in color and had a strong aroma ― spinachy with something else that my humans think is a nutty/woodsy character. The flavor was a bit overly strong, easily corrected by a shorter steeping time.

Little One-Cupper did two more steepings of the leaves, each for 30 seconds. The results were quite satisfying with a lighter version of the flavor of the first steeping. Both were mild and smooth. We’re thinking that two more steepings (for a total of 5) would be possible.

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, any opinions concerning this tea and the company are always strictly objective.

© 2011 A.C. Cargill photos and text – All rights reserved. No copying, posting on other sites, or other uses allowed without written permission of the copyright holder.

Tea Adventure: English Evening from The English Tea Store

Here is the latest “Tea Gang” adventure with:


English Evening from The English Tea StoreThis is a Straight Tea [About straight teas vs flavored teas]

The name of this tea inspired this little teapot to indulge in a romantic evening with one of those saucy teacups. She looks so ladylike, sitting on her matching saucer. I steeped the tea, lit a candle, and poured out a cuppa. She giggled!

The vendor’s site doesn’t specify the teas in this blend, just that some are black teas and some are green teas. They say the tea has a Muscatel flavor, which means that some of the tea is Darjeeling, since that characteristic is unique to teas from that region. The aroma of the dry leaves has that fruity character along with a malty/jammy quality. It would be nice if vendors were more specific on the origins of their tea leaves. I’m thinking Ceylon as one of them.

I only did one steeping here in boiling water for 3 minutes. My humans inhaled the aroma and found it a wonderful mix of both the Darjeeling and other black teas. They let the reddish-brown liquid cool slightly, and then each took a few sips. Then, their expressions changed from ones of pleasure to ones that weren’t so happy (I can always tell).

The flavors of Muscatel and the other tea(s) clashed, with the Muscatel dominating. My humans tried it with a little milk and sweetener and found that the discordant flavors in the tea were rendered more harmonious. For those of you inclined to add these items to your tea, my humans and I can certainly recommend it here.

As for this being an evening tea, that is for you to decide. The flavor is strong enough for morning. At least that saucy teacup thinks so. It certainly perked her up for the rest of the night. Toot!

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, any opinions concerning this tea and the company are always strictly objective.

© 2011 A.C. Cargill photos and text – All rights reserved. No copying, posting on other sites, or other uses allowed without written permission of the copyright holder.

Tea Adventure: “The Horne” (White Tea) from Tea and Jazz House

Here is the latest “Tea Gang” adventure with:


“The Horne” (White Tea) from The Tea and Jazz House [More info]This is a Flavored Tea [About straight teas vs flavored teas.]

Yours truly — me, that lovable Little Yellow Teapot — did the steeping honors here for another flavored tea from this jazzy tea vendor. Mary Cali, owner of Tea and Jazz House, comes up with interesting combos and names them after equally interesting Jazz artists, pairing the style of the artist with the style of the flavored tea. Lena Horne was not only a most beautiful woman but had a distinctive and beautiful singing voice. Let’s see if this tea measures up to that standard.

The Tea Gang members, me included, insisted on taking a good look at the tea in dry form. Here it is in the plastic pouch:

At first glance, this looks more like a tisane than a flavored tea. But look closer and you will see the tea leaves among all those flower petals, fruit pieces, etc. (according to Mary’s website, it contains orange peel, cinnamon, rose petals, apple, almond, papaya, cornflower, calendula, safflower, and natural flavorings). Normally, this is where I or my humans would start griping about why anyone would bother having tea as part of the mix, there being so much non-tea stuff in it. Read on, and you will see why we didn’t do that here.

The aromas of the dry mix were fruity/floral, with my humans finding a date or blackcurrant aroma dominating. Like with many flavored teas, how it smells dry (which is what a lot of buyers use to make their selection) can differ greatly from how the tea smells and tastes once steeped. So, beware, and when possible ask the tea store personnel to steep up a small sample for you. Most will be happy to oblige.

Time to steep. This is a white tea so cooler water (about 190° F) was called for here and a steeping time of 3 minutes.

To the surprise of this little teapot and his humans, this tea has, not a strongly floral character, but a fruity (apple?) and cinnamony character ― great for the cooler weather many of us in the southern parts of the U.S. are finally having. The liquid even has an applejuice-like coloring and quality, something I can’t imagine it having without the white tea leaves being part of the mix here. A second steep was done, just in case, and again a surprise ― it was comparable to the first in all aspects. Neither steep had any bitterness or edge. Both were smooth. Again, I am of the humble opinion that it has to do with the tea leaves tempering the other ingredients, especially the flower petals which can often contribute some edginess to the taste.

Hubby human thinks this is a good tea to steep a cup of and enjoy as part of a quiet tea moment, sipping and savoring.

Mary is expanding her selection and invites you to check out her new flavors!

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, any opinions concerning this tea and the company are always strictly objective.

© 2011 A.C. Cargill photos and text – All rights reserved. No copying, posting on other sites, or other uses allowed without written permission of the copyright holder.

Tea Adventure: Ginger Chai from Jaipur Avenue

Here is the latest “Tea Gang” adventure with:


Ginger Chai from Jaipur Avenue [More company info]This is a Flavored Tea [About straight teas vs flavored teas.]

This is the third review out of five of samples my humans received from Jaipur Avenue. As we said in the first review, the vendor calls this “Chai Tea” but we are calling it just “Chai” since that word means “tea.”

On with the review.

This little teapot doesn’t do instants since there is no steeping involved. My buddy Glass Teamug did the honors here so you could see every drop, just as you did with the previous reviews. I posed once again for a photo op in my snazzy supervisory sash. That foil like pouch the tea mix comes in tears open easily and makes it perfect for taking along any place you’re going. Empty the contents into your mug. Be sure to take a whiff. It has a nice ginger-ish aroma that to ginger lovers like my humans is heavenly. Ginger is often in authentic Indian chais, but this has a dash extra while not being overwhelming.

Add boiling water (the directions on the back of the pouch say to use hot water), starting with a couple of ounces onto the dry mix, stirring well, and then adding the rest of the water (for a total of 8 ounces). Stirring is a key step with instant anythings, so my humans used a fork.

The chai had a nice gingery flavor. The hubby human liked it but thought the ginger flavor was a bit too much for him. The wifey human loved it, though, and found the flavor smooth but not biting or bitter. She slipped off alone to a corner and finished off the rest by herself. How piggy! No particulate matter at the bottom at the cup, showing that everything in the mix was probably ground up pretty tiny and that my humans did a good job of stirring.

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, any opinions concerning this tea and the company are always strictly objective.

© 2011 A.C. Cargill photos and text – All rights reserved. No copying, posting on other sites, or other uses allowed without written permission of the copyright holder.

Tea Adventure: “Compassion” from Persimmon Tree Tea

Here is the latest “Tea Gang” adventure with:

“Compassion” from Persimmon Tree Tea. [More info]
This is a Straight Tea [About straight teas vs flavored teas.]

This is one of those teas that the vendor has given a name easy for customers to remember: “Compassion.” It’s Tie Guan Yin Oolong, also called Iron Goddess of Mercy. Oolong is semi-oxidized, some more than others, which can make quite a difference in the taste. This oolong is from Anxi, China, according to the vendor’s site.

As you can see, this little teapot oversaw the steeping but let the actual work be done by this little white teacup with an infuser basket that fits it snuggly. The vendor’s steeping instructions on the back of the can recommend 195° F, but when all was said and done, my humans and I were thinking 180° F would be better. Still, the steeping went well, three in all, steeped for 3 minutes each.

The tea certainly was sourced well by the folks at Persimmon Tree Tea and lives up to its reputation. The first infusion has a dark yellowish color and light aroma. The flavor was smooth, not bitter, and nutty/planty. Subsequent infusions were each a bit degraded from that auspicious beginning, but still very satisfying. The best thing is that even as it cooled the tea did not get bitter.

Definitely a sipper tea. Take a sip, savor it, and the swallow. Repeat as many times as necessary to achieve a state of peace after a tough day.

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, any opinions concerning this tea and the company are always strictly objective.

© 2011 A.C. Cargill photos and text – All rights reserved. No copying, posting on other sites, or other uses allowed without written permission of the copyright holder.

Tea Adventure: Auntie’s Pumpkin Pie from Element Tea

[Note: The vendor did not anticipate strong demand for this tea during the Fall holiday season and has said they are sold out. My apologies to you readers.]

Here is the latest “Tea Gang” adventure with:


Auntie’s Pumpkin Pie from Element Tea. [More info]

This is a Flavored Tea About straight teas vs flavored teas.

It’s been months and months since my humans received this sample from the folks at Element Tea in Denver, Colorado. Our apologies for taking so long to get around to trying it, but it was well worth the wait. Fall is here, which means the season for enjoying anything pumpkin flavored is also here. You can put this tea on your list.

I, your genteel host and adorable Little Yellow Teapot, did the steeping honors, following the little instruction card that came with the samples.

First, I need to point out that this is tea flavored with “real” stuff, not just some flavoring oil. There are real bits of pumpkin and caramel, and whole cloves. The Tea Gang’s approach in the past with flavored teas like this was to steep lightly the first time so we could get a tolerable second steeping. I decided to go all out for one really tasty steep. The gambit paid off. Boiling water and a full 5-minute steep resulted in a liquid that had a wonderful pumpkin pie character to it with only a hint of edginess. My humans also found that the caramel really kept the cinnamon from being overwhelming. Even so, there was a tint of the same flavor you get from those red hot candies.

My humans also chose to try some with a little milk and sweetener in it. (I know what you’re thinking: “Those two will put milk in just about any tea.” Not quite, but pretty close! Since the tea used is a non-specified Chinese black tea, they thought it appropriate to try a bit with milk.) The milk and sweetener (they always use aspartame) tempered that “red hot candy” flavor and made the tea taste even more like pie.

This brings me to the issue of why one should even bother with a flavored tea. Normally, the little teapot sees no reason for drinking teas that have had all of this stuff added to it. Just throw some of the stuff in hot water and steep it that way. Why waste the tea? However, in this case, the taste of the tea does make a difference, plus for those of you who are dieting or need a gluten-free way to get the taste of pumpkin pie this tea is a great way to fill both requirements!

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, any opinions concerning this tea and the company are always strictly objective.

© 2011 A.C. Cargill photos and text – All rights reserved. No copying, posting on other sites, or other uses allowed without written permission of the copyright holder.

Tea Adventure: Sencha of the Wind from Obubu Tea

Here is the latest “Tea Gang” adventure with:


Sencha of the Wind from Obubu Tea [More company info]
This is a Straight Tea

This little yellow teapot is beginning to suspect that my humans are starting to really like Japanese green teas in general and Obubu Tea specifically. I drafted Little One-Cupper to do the steeping honors this time. (The Libre Tea mug is actually a bit too large for the amount of tea leaves in the sample.)

We didn’t quite follow the vendor’s instructions to the letter. We started by boiling one cup of water, pouring some in Little One-Cupper until his sides felt warm and then pouring it back into the little kettle. We put the tea leaves in the warmed pot and let them sit for one minute. We then added the slightly cooled water to the leaves in the teapot and steeped for 1½ minutes.

The result was a richly flavored light green liquid that was spinachy but smooth and not at all bitter. My humans sipped from our little sipping cups and seemed quite satisfied. (I can always tell – they get these kind of loopy expressions on their faces.)

Little One-Cupper did three more steepings of the leaves, each for 30 seconds. My humans thought the 2nd steeping had a twinge of bitterness but was otherwise very nice, retaining that spinachy quality to the aroma and taste. The 3rd and 4th, they claimed, were about the same flavor as the 2nd but without a trace of bitterness. Overall quite satisfying.

They enjoyed the remaining tea with their lunch and declared that the spinachy quality went very well with the beef stroganoff over white rice and steamed green beans.

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, any opinions concerning this tea and the company are always strictly objective.

© 2011 A.C. Cargill photos and text – All rights reserved. No copying, posting on other sites, or other uses allowed without written permission of the copyright holder.

Tea Adventure: Berry Medley from The Boston Tea Company

Here is the latest “Tea Gang” adventure with:


Berry Medley from The Boston Tea Company [More info]

This is a Flavored Tea [About straight teas vs flavored teas.]

No, you’re not seeing double. Yes, this tea was reviewed here as a chilled tea.

Time to see how this tea tastes hot.

This is a fruity combination consisting of black tea from China and flavored with raspberry, cranberry, rosehips, safflowers, and pomegranate. No fannings or dust here but large tea leaf pieces and good-sized bits of fruit! No flavoring oil, that means the possibility of a second steep. The aroma was strongly cranberry, with little tea aroma being detected. It makes me wonder why people go for flavored teas instead of just the flavorings. Seems like a waste of tea.

Yours truly did the steeping. My new buddy “Bruno” supervised (note that the supervisory sash is a bit small on him since he’s a bit on the husky side). He was actually hoping that this tea would prove to be hearty enough for him to serve up next time around. We shall see.

The first steeping was for 3 minutes using boiling water. The aroma was more balanced, not just cranberry, but my humans reported that the flavor was rather weak, with more floral coming through like it had in the chilled version. (We’ve had this sample awhile, and the tea vendor may have changed the mix a bit.) My humans think of this as a “sipper” tea.

I did a second steeping, this time for 4 minutes, and produced a tea that was lighter all around and generally not up to my humans’ nor my standards. Hm… time to start over with a fresh batch of tea leaf mix. This time I steeped for 5 minutes. My humans were more satisfied with this round but still found it a bit light tasting, with the cranberry aroma of the dry tea failing to bring forth a good cranberry flavor in the cup. This is often an issue with those lovely smelling flavored teas you can’t resist in the teashops. They have one aroma when dry and quite another when steeped, and a flavor that is different from either. How can you tell in the store what you will end up with at home?

Once the official portion of the tea tasting was over, there was some tea left. One of my humans added a bit of milk and a touch of sweetener and declared: “Mmmm… not bad!”

My recommendations: Steep at least 5 minutes for a cup of tea with good flavor, try it with some milk and sweetener if you are so inclined, and don’t try for a second infusion from the tea mix.

By the way, “Bruno” has decided that this tea isn’t quite manly enough for him to serve up.

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, any opinions concerning this tea and the company are always strictly objective.

© 2011 A.C. Cargill photos and text – All rights reserved. No copying, posting on other sites, or other uses allowed without written permission of the copyright holder.

Tea Adventure: Vanilla Chai from Jaipur Avenue

Here is the latest “Tea Gang” adventure with:


Vanilla Chai from Jaipur Avenue [More company info]

This is a Flavored Tea [About straight teas vs flavored teas.]

This is the second review out of five of samples my humans received three months ago from Jaipur. So sorry to take so long. The Tea Gang has been busy.

As we said in the first review, the vendor calls this “Chai Tea” but we are calling it just “Chai” since that word means “tea.”

On with the review.

This little teapot doesn’t do instants, so our glass teamug buddy filled in again so you could see every drop, just as you did with the previous review. (Gives me a chance once again to pose for a photo op in my snazzy supervisory sash.) That foil like pouch the tea mix comes in makes it perfect for taking along to the office, school, or any place you’re headed. Tear open the pouch easily at the top left corner. Empty the contents into the glass. Be sure to take a whiff. It has a nice vanilla-ish aroma but not heavily so.

We followed the directions on the back of the pouch that say to use hot water (we used boiling water) and start with a couple of ounces onto the dry mix, stirring well, and then add the rest of the water (6 ounces for a total of 8 ounces). I once again advised my humans to use a fork to stir. (If you’re fixing this mix somewhere other than at home, use a plastic fork or stir super well with whatever stirring stick is available.) Stirring is a key step with instant anythings.

The tea had about the same caramelly color as the original masala chai we tried previously but with a great vanilla-ish aroma and taste. One sip made my humans very happy, declaring that this is a good dessert-type chai.

No particulate matter at the bottom at the cup this time. That means everything in the mix was probably ground up pretty tiny.

The preference seems to be for the original masala chai, since it is more spicy.

[Psst! Here’s the secret from the previous review. They had some Original Masala Chai left in the cup when we did this review, so after this tasting was done, they combined this chai with that one. Quite tasty! You might want to get several of Jaipur’s flavors of chai mix and do your own blending!]

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, any opinions concerning this tea and the company are always strictly objective.

© 2011 A.C. Cargill photos and text – All rights reserved. No copying, posting on other sites, or other uses allowed without written permission of the copyright holder.

Tea Adventure: Original Masala Chai from Jaipur Avenue

Here is the latest “Tea Gang” adventure with:


Original Masala Chai from Jaipur Avenue [More company info]
This is a Flavored Tea [About straight teas vs flavored teas.]

Before we get started, a few words from my humans:

Hi folks, well, you may know by now that we’re pretty adamant about proper terminology (and not just where tea is concerned). However, when a woman from India introduces her tea product to the U.S. and calls it “Chai Tea,” it’s a sign that the battle is lost. She has given in to American vernacular which is based on lack of knowledge of tea in general. Sigh! Still, for this review, we are sticking with calling this simply “chai.”

Back to the review.

This little teapot doesn’t do instants, so one of our many teamug buddies filled in. We chose a glass one so you could see every drop. (Don’t I look snazzy in my supervisory sash?) The next thing to note is the great foil-like pouch the tea mix comes in, great for taking along to the office, school, or wherever you are headed. The pouch tears open easily at the top left corner. Empty the contents into the glass. Be sure to take a whiff. It has a nice cardamom-ish aroma but is not heavily so. Other spice aromas come through, too.

Directions on the back of the pouch say to use hot water (we used boiling water) and start with a couple of ounces onto the dry mix, stirring well. Then, add the rest of the water (6 ounces for a total of 8 ounces). My humans used a fork (at my recommendation, of course) to stir. If you’re fixing this mix at the office, use a plastic fork or stir super well with whatever stirring stick is available. As with any instant, stirring is a key step. (That’s why I don’t let my humans fix instants in me ― those stirring sticks tickle.)

Here is how the tea looked when the stirring was done. It’s a nice caramelly color with that cardamom-ish aroma still present. One sip and my humans started grinning like they’d won the Lottery only better (no taxes to pay)! They said that the flavor was balanced, with no single spice stealing the show.

A mix like this tends to hold some particulate matter that is heavier than the water molecules. There are, therefore, bound to be some at the bottom at the cup, just as there is with powdered cocoa, unless you swish or stir the contents. We purposely let it set to see how much would be in the bottom of the cup. Not much, as you can see (yes, it’s now in a white mug ― we needed the glass mug for something else).

Overall, some of the best instant chai my humans have had the good fortune to taste. It’s as balanced as the chai we tried recently from another vendor, but in instant form, you can take it with you easily.

[Pssst! I overheard my humans say they have a secret to reveal in the next review!]

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, any opinions concerning this tea and the company are always strictly objective.

© 2011 A.C. Cargill photos and text – All rights reserved. No copying, posting on other sites, or other uses allowed without written permission of the copyright holder.

Tea Adventure: Golden Pu-erh from The English Tea Store

Here is the latest “Tea Gang” adventure with:


Golden Pu-erh Tea from The English Tea Store
This is a Straight Tea [About straight teas vs flavored teas]

Pu-erh is one of those teas that can take multiple infusions and is often infused in smaller amounts. So, my buddy Little One-Cupper did the steeping honors. Never fear, though, I was there to assure that all went well.

For many of you buying pu-erh loose in a pouch or tin may not seem kosher. Considering that “Tea Guy” Chris Giddings recently enjoyed a pu-erh that was in a string-and-tag teabag and seemed pretty happy with it, the era of buying big cakes may be fading, especially as pu-erh gets more known and liked among tea drinkers – both veterans and newbies alike.

Take a moment to smell the tea leaves, which are large pieces and have an aroma that earthy yet sweet, not the damp half-composted leaves on the forest floor aroma of some other pu-erhs we have tried (not a bad aroma – just pointing out that this one is different).

On with the steeping.

Little One-Cupper is pretty dedicated to tea. He did four infusions in boiling water for these times:

• first for 2 minutes
• second for 2-1/2 minutes
• third for 3 minutes
• fourth for 3-1/2 minutes

Some people do a quick rinse of the leaves (about 30 seconds) and then dump out the liquid, but Little One-Cupper chose not to. This meant that the first steep was more of a preparatory steep, but our humans still found it drinkable. The liquid color was a dark reddish brown with an aroma that was earthy yet caramelly and a taste that was smooth and earthy with no bitterness. The second steep was the best, with a richness that the first one didn’t have yet still smooth and free of bitterness. The third and fourth steeps were both lighter overall, with the third having a gritty quality to the flavor (though not to the mouth feel) and the fourth being pretty faint in both color and flavor, as you can see here:

The price on the vendor’s site as of the writing of this review was 4 ounces for $11.69 – less than $3 per ounce. We used about 1/4th of one ounce for this test and ending up with 4 cups. That’s about 75 cents total or 18.75 cents per cupful. Even if you decide to stop at two infusions, like my humans suggest, you’re talking 37 cents per cupful. Lots cheaper than a cuppa “stuff” called “tea” from the restaurant, where my humans end up paying about $1.89 for tepid water and a teabag full of dust.

My humans ended the tasting by enjoying a cuppa with some fortune cookies. A nice pairing.

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, any opinions concerning this tea and the company are always strictly objective.

© 2011 A.C. Cargill photos and text – All rights reserved. No copying, posting on other sites, or other uses allowed without written permission of the copyright holder.