I originally tried a sample of this tea at the 2020 Toronto Tea Festival as part of T By Daniel’s new Private Collection!
Description: “Every sip is an elegant and exciting adventure of sweet rich honey with brilliant notes of plum and figs.”
Instructions: 2 level teaspoons | 6-8 oz water | 100°C (Spring water recommended) | 3-5 mins (3 mins for a mild cup and 5 minutes for a bolder, stronger flavour) or gongfu method (3-4 [1 min] infusions)
Review: I have tried a handful of T By Daniel teas over the years, but most of them have been blends! So, when Daniel came out with his Private Collection comprising non-blended teas, I was excited to try it at the Toronto Tea Festival. I gravitated to this tea because despite only trying a handful of Thailand teas, I have enjoyed every one so far!
The black tea was grown organically at an altitude of 1,300 metres. The tea is comprised of dark chocolate brown short and long twisted leaves and amber twigs. The dry leaves had a sweet cocoa, honey, and fruity smell. Once the leaves were infused, the milk chocolate brown broken leaves and steams had a more earthy, smokey and nutty smell.
Western Style
After 5 minutes steeping in 8 oz of carbon filtered water, the liquor had a clear wild honey amber colour, and smelled sweet, earthy, fruity like plums.
Taste wise, the liquor had a pleasant earthy, and woody note, with some underlying sweet cocoa, caramel, and nutty flavours. When cooled, the liquor developed a stronger cinnamon, spiced, and smokey note with some sweetness followed with astringency at the tail end of the sip.
Gongfu Style
Since the recommendations also suggest gongfu style, I decided to try that as well. The smallest gaiwan I had was 70 milliliters and I used 2 teaspoons. After pre-heating the gaiwan, the warm leaves smelled smokey, earthy, fruity and cocoa.
Infusion 1 (1 minute) – The honey golden colour brown liquor had a smoked smell with an earthy and smoked taste.
Infusion 2 (1 minute) – The liquor had a similar honey colour with a sweet berry, cocoa note and some dryness at the back of the throat.
Infusion 3 (1 minute) – The liquor was slightly darker with an earthy, honey, roasted taste and some continual dryness. It was reminiscent of maple water when cooled.
Infusion 4 (1 minute) – The taste of the tea was more mellow with some dryness at the back of the mouth.
Overall
After tasting the tea at various infusion times, I enjoyed it best at 5 minutes, because the flavour was bolder and richer. I found the western style brought out a nice range of flavours.
The website also suggested pairing the tea with “roasted or grilled game meats, rich black forest cake, milk chocolate with raisins and honey desserts.” So, I paired the tea with some milk chocolate ice cream which elevated the cocoa taste! I am glad I tried this tea as it did not disappoint (4/5 rating).
- Type: Black tea
- Origin: Thailand
- Caffeine: Unknown
- Ingredients: Organic Thailand Hong Cha (Black Tea)
- Company: T By Daniel
The question of the post: Have you had tea from Thailand before?
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