This is a review of loose leaf black tea Black Silk (Golden Bi Luo) . It was reviewed by by The Little Yellow Teapot of The Little Yellow Teapot Tea Reviews.

Water temperature: 212° F
Steeping time: 3-5 mins.
Tea type: Black
Dry leaves: Curled, tan to black, raisiny/plumy/date-ish aroma

1st Infusion:
Steeping time — 3 mins.
Aroma, plain — Malty, light
Taste, plain — Malty, light, not bitter, great straight, takes on slight date quality as cools
Color, plain — Reddish brown
Taste, enhanced — Caramelly quality<

2nd Infusion:
Steeping time — 4 mins.
Aroma, plain — Light
Taste, plain — Light
Color, plain — Lighter, reddish brown

Comments:

The company’s site says only that this tea is made of Chinese black tea. Actually, this is Yunnan Gold, also called Golden Bi Luo. I tried one from Chicago Tea Garden a little over a year ago and another one from TeaGschwendner in August, 2010. The ladies of Element Tea have also just confirmed this. Yunnan Gold is considered one of the better black teas, and their price is quite reasonable, certainly when compared with their competition in the tea market, as shown here:

Element Tea price as of 29 Dec 2010 on their site:
4 oz (up to 50 cups) at $15.95 — $3.99 per ounce

Chicago Tea Garden price as of 23 April 2011 when I checked their site:
3.53 oz at $28.99 — $8.21 per ounce
5.29 oz at $40.99 — $7.75 per ounce

TeaGschwendner price as of 23 May 2010:
.05 kilo (1.77 oz) at $7.76 — $4.38 per ounce

We opened the foil-lined pack and saw a lovely sight: curled tea leaf pieces of the typical size, shape, and color for this tea type. After steeping, the full story is revealed, the careful plucking and sorting this tea underwent to give you just those tender tip leaves:

This tea can take milk well in the first infusion. Hubby and I also added a touch of sweetener. The second infusion is lighter and tastes great straight. You could just do one stronger steeping if you prefer. Play around a bit to find out what suits you. At their price, you can go with one infusion and still get your money’s worth. Another option is to only use half as much water for the second infusion (we used 16 oz. for each).

Hubby loved the sight of those tip leaves so much, he laid one out by itself in a little white bowl to be photographed.

Overall, this is another high-quality tea from the tea ladies in the Mile High City of Denver, certainly worth being served in one of our special bone china rose-covered teacups and saucers.

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Why Element Tea?
1. We’ve hand-picked and sampled thousands of teas so you don’t have to.
2. We sell high quality products at very low prices. How? By selling our products online, we greatly reduce our costs.
3. Our packaging is designed to keep your tea tasting great and smelling fresh time, and time, again.
4. We save you more money by offering you easy, affordable ways to sample our teas.
5. We promise to ship your order within 2 business days.

Our Story
When we discovered that tea drinkers had expanded beyond nibbling cucumber sandwiches and sipping on an oh-so-familiar Black tea, we tea lovers became curious. We familiarized ourselves with teas from around the globe, relished in new exotic flavors, and explored delectable, new food pairings. Yes, we tea fans had found ourselves in our element. Later, our passion for tea led us to holding tea tasting parties, traveling to conventions, attending seminars…and, soon after, we launched Element Tea.

At Element Tea we practice strict quality control and we follow strategic guidelines when purchasing our products. Those practices involve numerous samplings, improving formulations, buying tea from renowned tea estates and suppliers, and hand-selecting products with raw, natural ingredients. We also carry certified organic teas for every one of our categories.

Our goal is to introduce people to some of the world’s healthiest and most delicious teas, to expand tea palettes and tea knowledge, and to answer all tea-related questions. We want people to have fun exploring this popular beverage by learning about the origin of tea, the different flavor varieties, how tea is prepared, and understanding all the health benefits of this delicious drink. We also preach that tea is not in competition with coffee. In fact it is very much opposite to the ‘get up and go’ coffee buzz. Instead, the daily ritual of tea encourages people to take a break or steal a moment to themselves, or better still, to bond with close friends.

As part of our goal, we also believe it’s important to ensure that farm workers on tea estates are paid a fair, above-market price and that strict socioeconomic development criteria are being met in developing countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. That is why we have a Chari-TEA, a specific tea that, when purchased, will give a percentage of the profit to TransFair USA, a non-profit organization that issues Fair Trade Certifications.

Please enjoy your experience with us, share your thoughts with us, and, ultimately, be in your element.

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This is a review of our loose leaf black tea Assam Satrupa FTGFOP1. It was reviewed by The Little Yellow Teapot of The Little Yellow Teapot Tea Reviews.

Water temperature: 212° F
Steeping time: 4 mins.
Tea type: Black
Dry leaves: Broken leaf pieces, black color, faint aroma

1st Infusion:
Steeping time — 4 mins.
Aroma, plain — Strong and typical of Assams
Taste, plain — Strong, slightly bitter, toasty/malty, packs a punch!
Color, plain — Dark reddish-brown
Taste, enhanced — Milk and sweetener bring out malty/caramelness

2nd Infusion:
Steeping time — 5 mins.
Aroma, plain — Lighter
Taste, plain — Light, not bitter even as it cools
Color, plain — Lighter reddish-brown
Taste, enhanced — Too light for milk

Comments:
As with the other samples from this vendor, the foil-lined pack held a lovely sight: large tea leaf pieces, not dust in a bag. Bravo! While hubby and I realize that teadust does not always mean inferior quality nor do larger pieces, like this tea has, indicate better quality. However, they do mean that the steeping will be a bit more measured, not quite so immediate. It gives you more chance to “play” with the tea, steeping it longer or shorter to suit you.

After steeping, the stem and pieces show clearly and are a dark coppery color.

This is a fairly strong tasting tea, which was a bit surprising for an Assam like this. Not complaining. Quite the contrary. Hubby says it packs quite a tea punch, perfect for a breakfast tea. It takes milk well in the first steeping (the second one was a bit too light). With or without milk, some type of sweetener is necessary for us. If you like your tea plain, you might try rinsing the leaves briefly before the first steep (pour a little hot water over them in the pot, swish, then drain and add the rest of the water and steep. Another option is to do two steepings and combine them to give a lighter taste.

I was hoping that hubby could whip up some more pancakes to go with this tea as he had with another tea we had tried recently, but he had already had some toast and yogurt, so he was full. You might say, “You could fix them yourself.” I would have to answer, “Yeah, right!” Instead, I just had some yogurt and grapes with the tea.

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We often get asked, what exactly is a "decaffeinated" tea? Well, to make it simple, decaffeinated tea is any tea that has undergone a process to eliminate most of the caffeine content.

Our decaffeinated tea is produced via a chemical-free, “Supercritical CO2 Decaffeination” process, a method whereby caffeine is selectively removed from the tea leaf. Under high pressure, CO2 becomes liquid form and is able to flow freely through natural materials, like tea, where it can dissolve the caffeine. This is called its “supercritical state,” hence the process’ name. The tea leaves are left intact, and the caffeine-laden CO2 is filtered and recycled for further use in decaffeination.

This process is capable of extracting 97% of caffeine from the leaf. Therefore, decaffeinated tea is not completely caffeine-free and contains small traces of caffeine (between 5-10 mg). Carbon dioxide is a natural part of the air and physically harmless.

As with all teas, decaffeinated teas provide all the same benefits as those teas containing caffeine. They are loaded with cancer-fighting antioxidants, lower cholesterol, boost the immune system, prevent heart attacks and stoke, lower blood sugar, and help promote health skin, teeth and bones.

Check out our selection of Decaffeinated Teas here.

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This is a review of our loose leaf black tea Afternoon Pick-Me-Up. It was reviewed by The Little Yellow Teapot of The Little Yellow Teapot Tea Reviews

Water temperature: 212° F
Steeping time: 4-5 mins.
Tea type: Black
Dry leaves: Big leaf pieces; light, basic black “tea” aroma

1st Infusion:
Steeping time — 4 mins.
Aroma, plain — Malty, sweet, floral
Taste, plain — Strong, floral, some bitterness
Color, plain — Brownish-red
Taste, enhanced — Milk and sweetener bring out floral

2nd Infusion:
Steeping time — 5 mins.
Aroma, plain — Malty, sweet, floral
Taste, plain — Milder, floral, not bitter
Color, plain — Brownish-red
Taste, enhanced — Smooth, slightly floral

Comments:
We opened the foil-lined pack and once again saw a lovely sight: large tea leaf pieces, not dust in a bag. The vendor says that this is a Darjeeling tea from one of that area’s best known estates (they just told us it was the Margaret's Hope Estate). We didn’t know this before trying the tea. Quite frankly, after trying it we would have guessed more of a Keemun or other black tea, due to the floral character of the flavor, not a muscatel character. This does not mean this is a bad tea. We just want you to be prepared. The tea is not like a lot of Darjeelings we’ve had. In fact, it was a touch bitter on the first infusion, which we’ve not experienced from Darjeelings as far as I can remember.

The tea leaves were broken up a bit in the processing, but not ground to dust. After steeping, the stem and pieces show quite clearly.

We tried both the first and second infusions both plain and with a little milk and sweetener. Again, we had no inkling that this was a Darjeeling, but I think we would have tried it with milk anyway. The first infusion was stronger and slightly bitter, so at least some kind of sweetener was needed. The milk, though, added a very nice dimension and smoothed over the bitterness. It also seemed in both infusions to bring out the floral character of the tea.

Despite the non-Darjeeling character, we like this tea and are very impressed at getting two very good infusions from it. As for it living up to its name, we can say here, “Yes!” We definitely felt very picked up after the taste test.

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Tea cocktails are guilt-free way to enjoy alcohol and tea. You're using a calorie-free and sugar-free mixer, and you get the added bonus of all the health benefits tea has to offer.

This is a twist on a summer favorite! Not only is this tea cocktail recipe easy-to-make, but it's healthy and delicious, too!

Ingredients:
  7oz Pina ColadaTea
  1oz Coconut-Flavored Rum
  Juice of 2 lime slicesbr>

Use 2 teaspoons of Pina Colada Tea per 8 oz cocktail glass. Brew tea with boiling water for 6 minutes. Pour over ice to chill, add rum, and top off with lime juice.

For more low calorie cocktail recipes, visit our Tea Cocktails page!

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This is a review of loose leaf black tea Nepalese Orange Pekoe SFTGFOP1. It was reviewed by by The Little Yellow Teapot of The Little Yellow Teapot Tea Reviews.

Water temperature: 212° F
Steeping time: 4 mins.
Tea type: Black
Dry leaves: Broken leaf, dark-to-light green and copper color, fresh aroma

1st Infusion:
Aroma, plain — Richly nutty
Taste, plain — Light taste, slightly astringent
Color, plain — Light amber
Taste, enhanced — Sweetener tames astringency, more nutty

2nd Infusion:
Aroma, plain — Lighter, still nutty
Taste, plain — Light taste, slightly astringent as cools
Color, plain — Light amber
Taste, enhanced — Sweetener tames astringency

Comments:
If you like your black tea without milk, here is another one to add to your list. A bit of sweetener may be needed to curb the slight astringency.

The SFTGFOP1 means Special (or Super) Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe of the first quality. (The numeral “1” gets added sometimes as almost an exclamation point, as in “This is really good tea!”) See more info on this labeling system.

The tea leaves get broken up a bit in the processing, but they don’t get ground to dust. After steeping them, you will see the stem and pieces clearly.

We found the first steeping to be a bit astringent and needing some sweetener, but it was too light for milk. Hubby experimented to confirm this. The second steeping was milder and only became a bit edgy as it cooled, as is often the case with black teas. A touch of sweetener solved the problem, though. One thing you might try is to do two steepings and combine them. Sure the first one will cool a bit, but it’ll warm up when added to the second one and then only need that touch of sweetener, or just have something sweet to eat with it.

Overall, this is another nice tea from the tea ladies in the Mile High City of Denver. It deserved being sipped from one of our finer floral teacups.

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This is a review of our loose leaf tea black tea, Lilac. It was reviewed by by liber-teas of The Tea Review Blog.

Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Element Tea

Product Description:
Smells just like the first blossoms of spring. Fresh, yet mild, real lilac petals bring this fragment flower right to your taste buds.

Taster’s Review:

Lilacs remind me of my gramma. She had a big, beautiful lilac bush in her backyard, and every spring as it came into bloom her yard became such a lovely, fragrant place to spend the afternoon. Since that time, lilacs have come to mean springtime to me, and the source of many happy memories.

This tea brings those memories to life right here in my teacup!

The dry leaf of this black tea is alive with color, thanks to a generous sprinkling of lilac petals. They add a beauty and a charm to this tea … not to mention a delightful fragrance!

The black tea base is a brisk, bright tasting black tea. It isn’t an overly aggressive black tea. There is a light, drying astringency to the tea. Overall, the tea is fairly mellow, and adds a smooth tranquility to the overall flavor of the cup, making this a pleasing afternoon tea.

The lilac flavor is rather unexpected! Of course, I knew that it was a “lilac” tea, but I don’t really recall ever having tasted lilac tea before, so, I didn’t know what to expect from it. It has an enchanting, sweet floral flavor to it. In trying to grasp for a way to describe the flavor … the word I come up with is serenity.

It is a very serene, relaxing tea, and I have enjoyed it immensely, as well as the memories it has evoked. Thank you, Element Tea, for this amazing trip down memory lane!

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You won't find a cocktail that's more perfect for any season. This tea-inspired cocktail is not only easy-to-make, but healthy and delicious, too!

Ingredients:
  7 oz Hearthside Toddy Tea
  1 oz Brandy

Use 1 heaped teaspoon of Hearthside Toddy Tea per 8 oz or mug. Brew tea with boiling water for 3 minutes. Add brandy and enjoy!

For more low calorie cocktail recipes, visit our Tea Cocktails page!

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This is a review of loose leaf black tea

Water temperature: 212° F
Steeping time: 4 mins.
Tea type: Black
Aroma, dry leaves: Mild, fragrant

1st Infusion:
Steeping time — 4 mins.
Aroma, plain — Lightly reminiscent of a malty Assam
Taste, plain — Touch of astringency, otherwise mild
Color, plain — Ruby brown
Taste, enhanced — Smooth, basic black tea flavor, not caramelly
2nd Infusion:
Steeping time — 4½ mins.
Aroma, plain — Faint
Taste, plain — A bit more astringent, but pretty nice
Color, plain — Lighter, orangey-brown

Comments:

We opened the foil-lined pack and saw a lovely sight: large tea leaf pieces. So very wonderful. No dust in a bag. The larger pieces, though, mean a gentler steep. The dust steeps up fast and strong. That’s one reason why it’s become so widespread. This tea, made from full leaves as indicated by the OP1 (Orange Pekoe 1), steeps up more mild than the teadust stuff.

The tea takes milk well in the first infusion. A touch of sweetener suited us fine. If you like your tea plain, just cut back on the steep times, with 3 minutes for the first and 3½ minutes for the second. You could go 4 minutes on the second infusion to make it a bit stronger. Play around a bit to find out what suits you.

Overall, this is a nice, reliable, basic black tea to enjoy for breakfast or even your afternoon pick-me-up tea break. It’s tasty with scones, pie, cake, and just about anything you usually enjoy at teatime. Another nice tea from the tea ladies in the Mile High City of Denver.

Of course, those tea leaves get broken up a bit in the processing, but they don’t get ground to dust. After steeping them, you can see the stem and pieces quite clearly.

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This is a review of loose leaf black tea Scottish Highlands. It was reviewed by by The Little Yellow Teapot. of The Little Yellow Teapot Tea Reviews. LYT has great tweets on Twitter, too!

Water temperature: 212° F
Steeping time: 4 mins.
Tea type: Indian black teas (not specified)
Aroma, dry leaves: Very light

1st Infusion:
Aroma, plain — Subdued maltiness, almost regal
Taste, plain — Mild, slight tang as cools
Color, plain — Ruby
Taste, enhanced — Smooth

2nd Infusion:
Aroma, plain — Faint
Taste, plain — Weak – not recommended
Color, plain — Lighter ruby

Comments:

Think of the Scottish Highlands: heather and mist, bagpipes wailing like the mythical Banshees, castles and lochs (lakes), and of course the men in their kilts! Got it? Great. Now, picture all of that with a cuppa this tea in your hand. Ah, a real tea moment!

The dry tea is good-sized pieces, which indicates this is more of an orthodox tea, not a CTC tea. The tea has a very faint aroma when dry. The sample came in one of those cute little packets that is foil lined. Unfortunately, they are not sealed, so air can get in. We don’t know if it affected this tea or not, but we think not. We suspect that the faint aroma is natural for this tea.

A frustration is that the company does not specify which teas were used. Hubby and I suspect an orthodox Assam and possibly a Nilgiri or some Autumn Flush Darjeeling.

One thing we always bear in mind is that the sample is a small portion of a larger batch and, as such, occasionally contains something — er — odd. In this case, it was a strange-looking stem with part of a leaf attached. We made sure this did not get into the teapot.

The aroma and flavor of this tea is about as mild as the Assam #1 we tried recently. Unlike that one, however, this one develops a faint tang as it cools, only a slight flaw since the tea tastes so good you’ll drink it all before it even has a chance to cool.

Like that other tea, this one has a flavor that doesn’t really need anything added. It is mild and pleasant. We tried it with stuff added anyway. Hubby likes it with just a touch of sweetener added. I like it with sweetener and milk. If you want to add either of these, remember “Easy does it!” The tea can easily get overwhelmed. If you like honey as a sweetener, use just a few drops.

I tried to get hubby to wear his kilt, complete with sporen and skeendoo, while we tried this tea but wasn’t successful. Sigh!

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Julia and Rachael, the owners of Element Tea, were recently featured on a local radio station to discuss tea, tea, and more tea. Topics included the health benefits of tea, loose leaf tea vs bagged tea, tea cocktails, and the overall experience associated with drinking tea.

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This is a review of our decaf black tea Serenity. It was reviewed by by liber-teas on The Tea Review Blog

Wow! This is … decaffeinated? This is really good.

I still wrestle with the decaf demons of my past, having tasted far too many decaffeinated teas that just weren’t very good some years ago, I still experience a familiar cringe when I contemplate tasting another decaffeinated tea.

But, I really need to get past that (as I’ve said before!) because most (if not all!) of the decaffeinated teas that I’ve tasted in the past couple of years have been quite tasty. Serenity from Element Tea is a perfect example of that!

The flavor of this tea is rich and smooth and has a pleasant, full body. No thin tasting tea here! There is a moderate amount of dry astringency that hits the palate toward the end of the sip, and there is a savory bitter taste that hits just before the astringency. The astringency seems to clean the palate of the bitterness, so it is barely noticeable, but it does add a certain sense of depth and intrigue to the cup.

The fruity taste of the grenadine is sweet but not heavy, and is nicely complimented by the creamy vanilla tones. With these sweet tastes added to the decaffeinated leaves, it’s hard to believe that this is actually a decaffeinated tea. But it is! (or at least, that’s what they tell me!)

Element Tea describes this tea as:

This tea combines the decadent pleasures of delicious vanilla and grenadine. The warm and comforting finish will make this your tea of choice.

This was a very pleasant decaffeinated tea. It has a nice sweetness to it (taste it before you sweeten), and the creamy flavor can be intensified with the addition of milk if you wish. Because it is decaf, it is a tea you can enjoy any time of day. A really nice tea choice to serve to guests too!

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Subsequent to water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage around the globe. It is the simplest of processes, an infusion of leaves and water. The leaves are infused with hot or boiling water and sometimes mixed with other ingredients to create unique flavors, such as Jasmine Tea, which is infused with Jasmine petals. Tea leaves and leaf buds stem from the Camellia sinensis plant, grown primarily in India, China, Sri-Lanka, Taiwan, and Africa. The Camellia sinensis plant is also grown in Turkey, Georgia, Japan, Vietnam and Malaysia, but mass produce is mainly exported from the former countries. The tea leaves undergo different drying and oxidation processes in order to create the teas you are probably more familiar with: Black Tea, Green Tea, White Tea, and Oolong Tea. Because Herbal Teas and Rooibos Tea do not stem from the Camillia sinensis plat, they are technically not a "tea," However, Herbals and Rooibos are often referred to as "tea" because they are brewed and infused in the same way. Read More