Flavored Black Teas with Different Bases

[AlexZorach]

Flavored Black Teas with Different Bases

by AlexZorach » Oct 31st, '11, 13:56

I've tried a handful of Adagio's flavored teas now, and they all seem to use the same base tea, a Ceylon, which in my opinion, is a very good base for flavored teas.

However, in some cases, the blends seem to work better than others. For example, in the Pumpkin Spice tea, I thought the base tea really clashed with the flavorings. I think the base tea is a much better match for the Cranberry tea. Others are in-between.

Have you considered using different bases? I'd really recommend this. My intuition might be to use a Keemun as the base for the Pumpkin spice tea...just as an example.

All this said, I'm not a huge fan of flavored teas, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

[JayLay189562]

Re: Flavored Black Teas with Different Bases

by JayLay189562 » Dec 31st, '11, 15:45

Why do they call them BLACK teas? Is it really as simple as the color of the leaves or is it the flavor profile also??

[AlexZorach]

Re: Flavored Black Teas with Different Bases

by AlexZorach » Feb 6th, '12, 13:54

Why do they call them BLACK teas? Is it really as simple as the color of the leaves or is it the flavor profile also??

They're called black tea primarily because of the dark color of the leaf and brewed cup. The Chinese name for black tea, hongcha(紅茶) means "red tea".

But there are teas classified as black teas which are light in color...from Yunnan Gold teas made out of exclusively tips (a golden orange color) to Darjeeling "black teas" that have a leaf color much like some green teas, and brew a light amber-colored cup.