Second Cuppa

Dynasty Oolong Tea Review

This equable brand-name tea from the same folks who bring us Chinese Restaurant Tea has been my afternoon beverage of choice (and circumstance) for the last three days. Thirteen more afternoons and the pack of 16 will be depleted.

There’s nothing fancy here, just a mild oolong with a roasted, earthy aroma and semi-sweet taste. I’ve discovered that I prefer this type of oolong — the darker variety that has undergone more oxidation and roasting — to the lighter variety which is closer to green tea. I suppose that’s how it goes when you start from a black tea point of view.

Aroma:	Roasted wood, earthy
Body:	Medium
Flavor:	Mild and slightly sweet; a little like unsweetened chocolate
Color:	Brown

The New Trader Joe’s Original Irish Breakfast Tea

Back in March, I reviewed Trader Joe’s Irish Breakfast Tea for this blog. A couple of months later, a few blog visitors posted comments, complaining of a change in the tea. One commenter confirmed that Trader Joe’s had, in fact, changed suppliers for its Irish Breakfast Tea.

My reaction to these comments was twofold. First, I was happy that one of my posts attracted a small discussion; any blogger will tell you how difficult it is to get real comments. Second, I felt compelled to investigate the matter further.

To be honest, I wasn’t a big fan of the original formula. For an Irish Breakfast tea, I found it quite lacking in aroma, strength, and flavor. I still have more than half of the original package left.

Based on commenters’ laments over the loss of their beloved TJ’s Irish Breakfast Tea, I didn’t have much expectation of its replacement.

The new package is smaller and not nearly as green. The name has changed from ‘Trader Joe’s Irish Breakfast Tea’ to ‘Trader Joe’s Original Irish Breakfast.’ The tea bags are now round instead of square and vacuum packed into two 40-bag columns.

I opened the package, plopped a rounder into my mug, added boiling water, and steeped for three minutes. A strong, malty, citrusy aroma greeted my nose. My tongue and cheeks delighted in the heavy, chalky, slightly astringent nature of the tea’s flavor. This is what I expect from an Irish tea!

Curiosity got me. I wanted to find out who the new supplier was. The tea bags are round, so it could be Tetley … but it doesn’t taste like any Tetley I’ve ever had.

I’ve got it! Republic of Tea (ROT) is supplying Trader Joe’s Irish Breakfast. The tea bags look identical to the ones on the ROT website, and both companies are based in California. To confirm, I emailed both Trader Joe’s and ROT. I never heard back from Trader Joe’s, but ROT replied with the following:

Dear Citizen Leo,
Thank you for your email. We do not supply Trader Joe's with tea.
Sip by sip,
Minister of Citizen Services

Oh well. Who am I kidding? I’m no sleuth. I’m just an amateur tea expert with a blog, and this case is going cold. Nonetheless, I’m impressed with this tea.

Sure, there are better Irish breakfast teas out there but not by much, and not for $3 a pack. For this reason, I officially recommend the new Trader Joe’s Original Irish Breakfast tea as a Second Cuppa best buy.

Aroma:	Malty, citrusy, mossy
Body:	Full
Flavor:	Chalky, bitter, bright finish
Color:	Dark amber

UPDATE 6/19/2013: Trader Joe’s finally got back to me. I’m a bit shocked by what they said.

Hi Leo,

Thank you for contacting us! The packaging of our Trader Joe's Irish 
Breakfast Tea has recently changed but the actual tea leaves have 
not changed. In any case, were glad you are enjoying it! Please 
know that Trader Joe's and it's private labeled products are 
privately owned, therefore we follow a very strict disclosure
policy alongside our suppliers. Due to this policy, we do not 
disclose any of our supplier information.

Thank you,

Nicki K.
Trader Joe's
Customer Relations

I’m not surprised that they won’t disclose the supplier, but claiming the tea leaves are the same is incorrect. There is a vast difference between the old and the new Trader Joe’s Irish Breakfast tea. Somebody gave somebody some bad information somewhere along the communication chain.

Season’s Pick Special Purchase Tie-Guan-Yin from Upton Tea

My best experience so far with Tie-Guan-Yin, a special type of oolong tea, involved an unknown Chinese brand purchased at an Asian supermarket. That tea, while quite good, was nothing like the kind I recently ordered from Upton Tea. That’s no surprise though because Tie-Guan-Yin varies greatly depending on oxidation level and other processing techniques.

I don’t have a fancy tea kettle with a temperature gauge, so I boiled water and let it sit for 30 seconds, hoping to get somewhere close to the recommended 190°F. I let the leaves steep for about 3 minutes, which resulted in a golden color.

Initially, the Tie-Guan-Yin’s aroma seemed grassy to me, like you would expect from green tea. A few more whiffs revealed a floral fragrance with a little sweetness. True to the description on Upton Tea’s website, the tea had a light, buttery feel on the tongue.

As the third of many oolongs I intend to try, it may be too early to make a final decision about this Tie-Guan-Yin. But I will say this: the tea is light, pleasant, and smooth. Maybe that’s all that matters.

Aroma:	Grassy, floral, mildly sweet
Body:	Light
Flavor:	Smooth, buttery
Color:	Gold

The Honeybush Seduction

First impressions aren’t always great. It took me a while to appreciate so many things in life like beer, jazz, writing, Grateful Dead, vodka, work, desert scenery, etc. Such was the case with rooibos tea, and such is the case with honeybush tea (from Adagio for this review).

Like rooibos, the honeybush plant is native to South Africa. Also like rooibos, honeybush exhibits a sweet woody aroma and flavor, although slightly sweeter and weaker. Don’t worry about over-steeping this one; it’s impossible.

The “medicinal” characteristic that so many people complain about in rooibos is also present in honeybush; however, any diminished enjoyment this caused during my first cup was gone by my second and subsequent cups. In other words, the honeybush seduced me.

Honeybush doesn’t have any caffeine, so I can drink as much as I like after 5:00pm without disrupting sleep, except maybe for a trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night. All in all, it’s a smooth, light-bodied tisane that seems to have a gentle, calming effect.

Aroma:	Sweet, cedar wood, honey
Body:	Light
Flavor:	Smooth
Color:	Caramel

Tetley Blend of Both Review

Green tea is believed to offer more health benefits than black tea. Tetley Blend of Both attempts to capitalize on this assumption by offering black tea drinkers the benefits of green tea.

I found this blend, composed of 72% black tea and 28% green tea, at bit odd at first but gradually came to like it. It’s supposed to be prepared and enjoyed like regular black tea. Tetley suggests drinking three cups per day to realize the benefits of one cup of green tea.

It looks and almost smells and tastes like standard British black tea; however, the small amount of green tea adds a pleasant twist. The green tea’s grassy aroma is more dominant than I expected, and the flavor is slightly bitter (from using boiling water, I think). Milk is necessary in my opinion.

As a side note for black tea drinkers, I wouldn’t be too concerned about missing the widely reported advantages of green tea. Black tea offers many of the same benefits, including antioxidants, with extra caffeine to keep you going. Recent studies have shown that black tea drinkers show reduced risk of stroke and heart disease.

If you still want to hedge your bets or simply want find out what happens when black meets green tea, Tetley Blend of Both is not a bad way to go. I’d continue drinking the stuff regularly if the cost of having it shipped to the States wasn’t so high.

Aroma:	Mossy, chalky, and grassy
Body:	Full
Flavor:	Malty, creamy, and a little bitter
Color:	Dark