Tadeusz J.
User's reviews
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Green
I generally like Azerçay's teas, but this one has negatively surprised me as is at most mediocre. It tastes very grassy and not well. Its aroma is mainly grassy /what a surprise!/ and a bit nutty. Its shallow and light taste, even for a green tea, does not align well with a caffeine kick it gives.
I've tried brewing it both the normal way and using my improvised gongfu setup. The result of any of the brews was not significantly superior to the former method.
Brew (normal way): 2 m @ 175°F
Dose (normal way): 0,18 oz (5 g or 3 tsp) per 15 fl oz (42 cl) of water.
Gongfu: 5~25 s @ 170~185°F; 6 brews; 0,19 oz (5 g or 3 tsp); 3~3,5 fl oz (9~10 cl) of water each brew.
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With Thyme
A great tea! At first I was skeptical about how is it going to taste with the thyme, but it is surprisingly good. If you are into flavoured teas, you probably enjoy this one!
The taste of the tea itself, although muted by the thyme, is pronounced. I would describe it as full-bodied, strong, earthy, lightly sweet and a bit metallic.
For some reason the thyme in the bag version appears to taste stronger.
Brew: 6 m @ 210°F.
Dose: 0,18 oz (5 g) per 15 fl oz (42 cl) of water.
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ENGLISH BREAKFAST TEA BAGS
It's intense, robust, full-bodied in taste. I can confidently call it a good English Breakfast. Tastes best with a dash of milk.
Brew: 5 m @ 210°F
Amount: 2 bags/0,14 oz/4 g of tea per 15 fl oz/42 cl of water
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DARJEELING BLACK TEA
Not the best Darjeeling ot there, but it's still very based. Classic Darjeeling with an interesting floral aroma and a delicately sweet taste. Its main downside is that it can become pretty bitter. If you're sensitive to such taste, beware of overbrewing.
Brew 1: 5½ m, 210°F (came out bitter)
Brew 2: 3½ m, 207°F
Dose: 2 bags (4 g or 0,14 oz) per 16 fl oz (45 cl) of water
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EARL GREY BLACK TEA BAGS
Tastes quite strange for an Earl Grey, probably due to Kenyan tea being used in the blend. Good nevertheless.
Brew: 6 m, 210°F
Dose: 2 bags (4 grammes, 0,14 oz) per 15 fl oz (42 cl) of water.
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English Breakfast
You can enjoy it, but this tea is generally poor. It is worse than some Lipton's teas. Very shallow in taste, it lacks any subtle aroma — it is just quite sour and a bit bitter. There's almost nothing you can taste while swallowing it. 2 stars, because it is enjoyable, it's "just" shallow in aroma.
I advise to pick Thurston Ceylon Nuwara Elyia or Dilmah English Breakfast instead for a similar style of tea.
Brewing characteristics: 6 m, 210°F
Dose: 2 bags per 15 ozs /42 centilitres/ of water
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CEYLON SUPREME BLACK TEA
An excellent Ceylon. You can taste some honey-like and very subtle floral notes. I've drunk this tea during a tea party and it came in one of those four-teas-in-one-tin packages so I don't know if it's easily available as an individual product. However, it's pretty much the same product as Dilmah's Uda Watte (which, accidentally, I recommend, too).
Brew: 4½ m, 205 °F
Dose: 4 grams per 14½ oz/41 cl of water
NOTE! This tea is not a decaf.
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Daring English Breakfast Tea
Better than Lipton Yellow Label but still not amazing. In taste, it is a bit sour /I guess?/ and bitter. The aroma is what you would expect from this kind of blend but it is a bit bland and a bit harsh bitterness kills it. I recommend picking Twinings' English Breakfast or Dilmah's Ceylon Yata Watte instead.
Brewing characteristics: 5½ m, 205°F
Dose: 2 bags/4 g per 15 oz/42 cl of water.
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Lipton peach iced tea
It is drinkable and even enjoyable but this is a tea review webpage. And this beverage is a DISGRACE of an actual iced tea. Packed with sugar and artificial flavourings.
/For those who don't know, iced tea should be just a quickly chilled tea and not a sweet drink/.
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Ceylon Ran Watte Nuwara Eliya
I expected this to be a usual Ceylon. It's certainly more than that. As it is a high-grown tea, its taste is delicate and sweet. It has got a little of a honey-like /yummy!/ and woody /not yummy/ aroma. It IS Ceylon, but tastes a bit like very high-grown Nepal, because... well... it was grown "at over 6.000 feet" as an inscription on the tin says. Generally, it is a very high-quality and fine tea. However, I dislike that it quickly loses aroma after opening the tin. After about a week it had noticeably less aroma and after 3 weeks, while the tin was almost finished, the tea has lost even its sweetness and became very bitter. You can replace your English Afternoon with it and I advise doing so!
Preparation characteristics /for most brews/: 5 m, 210°F.
NOTE!!! It is not a decaf tea despite what the descripation says!
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ENGLISH TEA NO 1 BLACK TEA
A very fair tea blend. Not to be confused with the Earl Grey by Ahmad, it's more than a bit different. Lightly flavoured, it has less bergamot oil than most Earl Greys. A little bit exotic in aroma as it is made from a strange blend instead of Ceylon. Although it is quite strong, there is no place for bitterness in the taste. If you like Earl Greys, I recommend this tea. There's not much difference between the loose-leaf and teabag versions.
I've brewed it for ca 6 m with water at 210 Fahrenheit.
NOTE!!! The description of this tea contains misinfo. This is the caffeinated version of Ahmad No. 1; they've made a decaf version named "Evening Decaffeinated", also listed on TeaCritic.
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Earl Grey
I think it could be the official Earl Grey standard stored in Sèvres. The aroma is just right—very citrus-like and floral but the bergamot flavoring doesn't overwhelm the aroma of the tea. No harsh bitterness in the taste, no "shallownes" of the aroma, which is assosiated with low-quality teas. However, I still have to complaint that Twinings uses a blend instead of pure Yun Ming or Ceylon. I would wish there was more of a floral, perfumy aroma (and less of the citrussy one), I prefer a slightly different style of Earl Grey. Anyways, still great and easy to find. The default Earl Grey for me.