Just recently I was lucky enough to review a wonderful tea from Basilur. It was their gorgeous White Magic milky oolong. As I explained in the review it was a tea that made a staggering first impression and from the minute I took my first sip of White Magic, I fell head over heels in love.
Within a few minutes of trying the sample of the milky oolong I had gone online and ordered a substantial box of the tea, 100 tea bags in fact.
I also acquired a really gorgeous little musical caddie which has come from their Christmas line. It's really, really pretty and plays a lovely little Christmas tune. Though we are long past the Christmas season now, the caddie will be carefully stored and brought out this Christmas!
Within the caddie, there lay a packet of tea, and a packet of tea filters. What a brilliant idea! Sell loose tea and include a free pack of filters that will help you infuse it. I was very impressed with that little touch. The caddie is just so beautiful, but what about the tea included?
The magical tea which is included in the caddie is a wonderful Ceylon tea. I adore Ceylon tea. I know Darjeeling is considered the champagne of tea, but actually, as much as I like Darjeeling, I prefer Ceylon.
I love Ceylon's smooth elements. Whereas Darjeeling is delicate, Ceylon is rich and full of flavour. And Basilur's Ceylon is of a very high quality. And that quality makes this tea desirable, moreish and easy to drink.
However, this blend is not just a simple Ceylon. It has wonderful things added to it. These things include pineapple, ginger, apple and orange. And these flavours, when added together, make for something as heavenly as their White Magic tea, albeit it for different reasons.
The first thing that I really liked about this tea is that it is a black tea. I have been dipping between green tea and herbal tea recently so it's really nice to get back to a robust, truly satisfying and gorgeous black tea. I also like the fact that this blend has added flavours that should be quite strong and out there, yet, are delicate enough to not outshine the Ceylon but bring something unique to the blend.
Pineapple is not a typical fruit that is added to black tea, yet, within this blend it's sweet qualities are the first thing I noticed when taking my first sips of this tea. It is a fresh flavour and makes your mouth tingle slightly. It also adds just a tiny sharp twang to the blend. Not unpleasant but exciting.
The next flavour that comes through for me is the crisp, freshness of the apple. The orange follows slightly behind, bringing that citrus flavour I so love in tea. And towards the end of the sip, you get a burst of ginger which makes your tongue fizz ever so slightly.
This is a blend of many depths and layers. Rather like peeling an onion, with each layer comes a new flavour. Some layers are sweet, others crisp and some, as I've said with the ginger, are fizzy, a flavour that dances across your tongue, making your taste buds burst into life.
Many years ago I had a dream that I was floating down a river, sat in a massive cup and saucer. In the dream I was so happy as the river meandered, I enjoyed the feeling of weightlessness as I floated. Well, this tea is rather like that dream in as much as this tea has twists and turns. One flavour is sweet, another slightly sharp, all coming together to create something very special.
As you can tell by the caddie of course, that this is a Christmas item. And this is where the tea is really unique. Rarely have I seen Ceylon in a Christmas tea. And I certainly haven't seen fruits like pineapple, orange and apples feature in a seasonal tea. It's normally all spice this and spice that. And quite frankly, I find a lot of spiced tea's hard to drink as I no longer take milk or sugar in my tea. So, Christmas tea's tend to be a once a week treat.
However, with this tea, it's so different to what is typically sold at Christmas time. I can drink as many cups of this tea as I wish to, without feeling guilty, and even a bit poorly, as I don't have to add anything in it. (I really struggle with milk in tea now!).
This wonderful caddie and utterly beautiful and classy tea is still available on the Basilur website.
Who can deny themselves the pleasure of being able to listen to Christmas music whilst you infuse your tea? I have to say I'm a great fan of Christmas music and do listen to it through the year to it's absolutely perfect. The caddie is reduced from £13.99 to £9.99 so it's an absolute bargain.
I find Basilur's tea and the people who work there, utterly charming. This is a brand that values high quality tea and also knows how to package tea's so beautifully that you get a complete tea drinking experience. I really do wish I had discovered the brand so much earlier. However, I hope to be able to review many more from their line in the near future.
For the time being, though, I shall happily sit and make a second cup of this extraordinary tea and count my blessing's that I'm lucky enough to be able to!
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