Tasting and reviewing teas can be fun but sometimes difficult when you can‘t seem to find the right word to describe what your taste buds are experiencing. I find it easier when it is a mystery tea and therefore I don’t have ideas in my head of how this certain tea should smell or taste. Knowing much about a tea before drinking it can affect my own tasting notes. Everyone has a different palate and so different reviews of a single tea is not uncommon. The goal of this review is to show how three different people, 2 tea bloggers and 1 musician/tea drinker, can have very similar or different thoughts on the same tea.

How the idea for this Mystery Tea review post came about…

At the Toronto Tea Festival this year one of the must visit vendors on my list was Tearoma. Tearoma was founded by Sabrina Chen, who is also the one that performs the Chinese Tea Ceremony every year for the festival. When I popped by her booth on the Sunday with my boyfriend James and fellow tea blogger Connie, Sabrina greeted us each with a tea sample. She didn’t give us any information and informed us that it’s not available on their website. The 3 of us decided we would all try the mystery tea separately and discuss our findings later.

Tea Review by Connie of Tea in Spoons

Connie is the blogger behind the tea blog Tea in Spoons. She’s tasting teas, one spoonful at a time.

– TEA INFORMATION –

Origin: China
Ingredients: Black tea
Water Temperature: 90 degrees Celsius
Steep Time: 2-3 mins

– APPEARANCE+AROMA –

Dry Leaf: a lot of furry orange tipped buds, smelled like chocolate, assuming first flush tea
Wet Leaf: unified chocolate colour, earthier smell than I expected 
Liquor: clear reddish brown liquor, smelled sweet like chocolate with malt and woodsy notes 
First Sip Thought: “Reminds me of a Yunnan black but more chocolate and malt notes.”
Tasting Notes: malty, sweet, chocolate, earthy, raisins and some astringency during the tail end, may have over-brewed it slightly
Verdict:

Tea Review by James Daniel

James is a musician and music teacher who is an avid tea drinker. He doesn’t usually review teas, but I convinced him to this time around!

– TEA INFORMATION –

Origin: China
Ingredients: Black tea
Water Temperature: 95 degrees Celsius
Steep Time: 1 minute

– APPEARANCE+AROMA –

Dry Leaf: black silk ribbons, mineral aroma
Wet Leaf: dark red leaves, spring marshland fragrance
Liquor: golden, clear liquor, tobacco aroma
First Sip Thought: “Like smelling a pine tree!”
Tasting Notes: Edgy, almost metallic and roasted flavours. Wood chips come to mind. A slight bitterness that is similar to a dark leafy green. Lingering mouthfeel that reminds me of a dry champagne.
Verdict:

Tea Review by Lu Ann of The Cup of Life

This is me! 🙂

– TEA INFORMATION –

Origin: China
Ingredients: Black tea
Water Temperature: 95 degrees Celsius
Steep Time: 1-2 minutes

– APPEARANCE+AROMA –

Dry Leaf: thin, black and gold tips with woodsy and dark chocolate aroma
Wet Leaf: deep brown, malt like an aged whiskey
Liquor: beautiful amber colour, damp forest aroma
First Sip Thought: “Chocolate covered espresso beans.”
Tasting Notes: thick mouthfeel, dark cocoa notes throughout, tobacco and mushroom essence, musky aftertaste lingers.
Verdict:

The Results

Connie and I experienced chocolate notes in the aroma and taste.

James and I experienced tobacco essences in the aroma and taste.

All three of us experienced woodsy and malt notes throughout the tea.

I like taking a look at the differences in our “First Sip Thought”. I kept thinking of chocolate covered espresso beans that my dad used to snack on when I was younger. This is mainly because of the dark cocoa characteristics. James had more thoughts of nature with the tea and Connie also thought of chocolate notes but similar to those in another black tea.

We all really enjoyed this mystery tea, scoring it a 4 and 4.5 out of 5.

After our reviews were said and done, I reached out to Sabrina at Tearoma to get more information about the mystery tea. Here is what she said:

“The tea I gave you are “Amber Red”. It is made from the same tea master as “Ruby Red”, Mr. Mu Xiaohu. “Ruby Red” is made for everyday drink whereas “Amber Red” is a luxury black tea that is made only with tea buds. This “Amber Red” won golden prize for Chinese Famous Tea Award.

Both “Amber Red” and “Ruby Red” are from Guiyang city, Guizhou province in China, which is my hometown. Teas from my hometown are known for clean and great value for money. Mr. Mu Xiaohu is from a family that has been making tea since 1964.”

Now it’s your turn! I challenge you to try tasting more “mystery teas” and compare the similarities and differences in your tasting notes with others.