Wednesday, February 29, 2012

A Better Bagged Tea

I don't drink much bagged tea, unless I'm travelling or feeling very lazy in the office. I do however keep a box of either Taylors of Harrogate's Yorkshire Tea or PG tips on hand for emergency tea situations. You never know when you'll need a strong black tea!

There are many different types of tea bags out there from round to pyramid shaped. One thing I've noticed is that a larger leaf plus more room to expand, usually helps yield a descent cup (but of course there are exceptions to this). These two characteristics can be found in the teabags used by two leaves and a bud.

The company sent me a generous box of samples to try. They offer both organic and conventional teas. Each pyramid bag comes individually sealed to protect freshness. In my experience thus far with the company, they have great customer service and truly care about their product.

I decided to focus a review on their organic Darjeeling tea. Darjeeling is one of my favorite teas, so I naturally reached for it first. The dry leaves have that lovely, sweet signature Darjeeling smell. This aroma translated to the brew as well. The tea is sweet, floral, and contains something that I'd describe as 'dried grass'. I found a slightly earthy, gently toasted flavor that conjures up images of crispy dried grass just before a snowfall. The tea is smooth, without any hint of bitterness and just a slight astringency.

A random fact about this tea is that if you drink it while eating kimchi ramen, the sweetness is further enhanced. I'm guessing the spiciness of the kimchi is somehow accenting the sweet muscatel flavor in the tea. It pairs up quite nicely! I don't usually drink teas that I'm reviewing with food, but I had some left over while I was eating my lunch.

I have also tried the Assam and Tamayokucha (green) teas, and they are both of good quality for bagged teas. I am eager to try the other teas they sent, in hopes that they are equally as good. I noticed that two leaves and a bud offers loose teas on their website, which I haven't yet seen in stores. I'm glad that I was able to give these a try, as a box may get added into the emergency tea rotation.

2 comments:

  1. Two leaves and a bud is definitely not a company that offers bad tea. They have become much more mainstream now that tea is in the foreground and not the background of America.
    Thank goodness for companies taking tea far!

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  2. I also like the teas from Two Leaves and a Bud. I became familiar with most of their teas from Saxby's Coffee shop in Newark, DE. The Saxby's chain as a whole stocks this company's teas, although only some shops have a good selection (one Saxby's in center city Philadelphia only had two to choose between!)

    My favorite of their teas is the Darjeeling. I've noticed it change character somewhat over time with different batches...I've had it over the course of more than two years now.

    Maybe I can write a detailed feature about this company some time soon.

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