Teatourist January Box - closer look part 1

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends!

Our last post about Teatourist talked about the January box that we had received, which included six different teas for us to try. We were very excited to receive a diverse selection of teas from six different tea companies. Today we're taking a closer look at the teas in the box from Morgan's Brew Tea Company and Exclusivitea.

Teatourist January Box 2017

Let's start with Morgan's Brew Tea Company and their Gunpowder Tea, which is a Chinese Green Tea from the province of Zhejiang.

Gunpowder Tea - Morgan's Brew Tea Company

Morgan's Brew Tea Company is an independent, family run company which operates out of a 19th century stone townhouse in Welshpool, mid-wales.  I just love how  this tea company began....

 In 2006 Geoff and Anne Meredith took over Poppy's Tudor Tearooms in Shrewsbury Shropshire and their regular customers enquired about tea they could enjoy at home. So, a plan was born where the regulars would taste 50 or so different teas and chose an overall winner. The tea they chose was a black tea from Kenya and Rwanda... and that was the beginning of Morgan's Brew Tea.

Gunpowder Tea - Morgan's Brew Tea Company

Gunpowder tea leaves are rolled into small pellets and the tea is believed to taken its English name from the fact it looks like black shot power grains.

Morgan's Brew Tea Company has a top tip when buying this tea - look for shinny leaves and the smaller the pellet the higher quality the tea which gives you a more fragrant delicate tea.

I followed the instructions found in my Teatourist box and brewed myself a wonderful cup of green tea...

Gunpowder Tea - Morgan's Brew Tea Company

People often say they don't like green tea because they find it bitter, this is usually because the tea has been brewed with water that is too hot. The brewing guide suggests pouring the water into your cup first and then adding the leaves as this avoids scorching the leaves.

I found this tea to be well rounded and easy to drink. A nice, refreshing cup of tea!

Exclusivitea is a small boutique tea company, which specialises in sourcing teas from Sri Lanka. The tea company, which is based in Kent, works directly with the growers and suppliers bringing regional teas to tea lovers across the UK and Europe.

Pure Ceylon Tea - Exclusivitea

The tea included in the January Teatourist box from Exclusivitea is a Pure Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka. It's a Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings (BOPF) grade, which is the most common grade, from a single estate.

Pure Ceylon Tea - Exclusivitea

As you can see these are intensely rich black tea leaves, so I was looking forward to a good punchy cup of tea - perfect for first thing in the morning! 

Again, I followed the instructions on my brewing card, using just one teaspoon of the leaves and allowing them to steep and develop for three minutes.

Pure Ceylon Tea - Exclusivitea

I was not disappointed by this cup of tea - it was rich in colour and bold in taste. If you love your back tea, then I would suggest this is perfect for you. 

I really enjoyed discovering the teas from these two companies and look forward to sharing with you the rest of the teas in upcoming posts - watch this space!

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel

The Friday Review....exclusivitea

Hello there,

Welcome back to Tea With Me and Friends....it's Friday so that means only one thing....time to find out what tea we have been supping this week.

Recently a company called exclusivitea got in touch with us to introduce the teas they source from Sri Lanka. Keen to try new teas they kindly sent us some Ceylon black tea from Halpewatte Tea, a tea factory in Sri Lanka. We were sent a couple of different grades to try....but we had to start with this one in it's rather cute packaging....

The packaging is made from dried Reed leaves, which makes it eco-friendly and really rather cute....not something that you want to hide away in your cupboard. In fact the tea bags themselves are also rather special as they are manually woven envelopes .....

Inside the tea bags there is FBOP1 graded Ceylon black tea leaves - otherwise known as Flowery Broken Orange Pekoe tea. This tea is high grown and medium grown in the hills on the estate, the high elevation at which it is picked gives the tea a bright colour and full flavor.

We found the tea to be bold in colour and flavour, not quite as mellow as we expected but very refreshing. All in all a lovely tea to be enjoyed in the afternoon with a slice of cake!

Exclusivitea have wanted to bring high quality Sri Lankan tea to European tea drinkers for a while now, they will be gradually introducing new ranges and individual teas from various parts of Sri Lanka. 

A little bit about Halpewatte Tea - they have been producing Ceylon tea leaves for over 35 years on their tea estate in Sri Lanka, exporting all over the world. They do not store teas in warehouses for long periods of time to keep the freshness and flavour in their teas. They offer a single origin pure Ceylon tea from their own plantations, and they do not blend their teas with other leaves.

Halpewatte tea is a bearer of the Lion logo, a symbol of quality granted by the Ceylon Tea Board, the body regulating the tea industry in Sri Lanka. 

You can buy this refreshing tea directly from exclusivitea for £9.99 for ten bags. This seems quite expensive....but we feel this is no ordinary tea experience. From the handmade box to the beautiful tea envelopes - this feels like a decadent tea experience to be savoured rather than a rushed cup of tea first thing in the morning as you are getting ready for work. For more information visit the exclusivitea website.

Thank you exclusivitea for sending us a selection of your teas, we look forward to trying the other blends. Please note that although we have received this product from the tea company, all opinions expressed in this post are our own.

So over to you...what do you think about this cute tea packaging.....does the packaging affect your tea purchases at all?

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel & Lorna