I have so many tea's in my tea cupboard. I have black tea, green tea, white tea, fruit infusion's, herbal blends and oolongs. All I'm really missing is yellow tea.
Out of all this choice today, I wanted a simple black tea. It's been a quite busy morning, so as I sat down earlier for a spot of lunch I opted to go for this simple but delightful black tea from Basilur Tea.
It's a gorgeous Orange Pekoe tea from their Specialty range.
When I first started out on my tea journey (baring in mind that I knew no one with a interest in tea) I quite wrongly concluded that Orange Pekoe tea was actually flavoured with orange. Yes, I wince with embarrassment when I look back on that. And how delicately the young man from Twinings told me I was wrong. But, life is all about learning and I've learned a lot in seven years!
So no, Orange Pekoe is not a orange flavoured tea! Rather, it refers to the grading of the tea. And Orange Pekoe is one of the higher grades of tea. This is a beautiful Ceylon tea.
This blend came wrapped in single foil sachets and is of the standard teabag format. The teabag is filled generously with a large amount of tea.
I infused this blend for several minutes as I do tend to like my tea strong. I was enchanted with the tea because it steeped to a dark black colour, almost coffee like. It's really pretty to look at - I love richly coloured tea's.
This Orange Pekoe tea is a strong, sturdy black tea. It's the sort of tea that is good for the soul. It's the type of tea that will settle me when I'm nervous, comfort me when I'm upset or provide a warm hug when I'm not quite myself. This is tea how it should be.
I like that this Ceylon tea is strong. I have finally found a black tea that is strong and full flavoured without having that odd malty taste that Assam can have and which puts me off.
What made me fall in love at first sip is that it has such a smooth element to it. It has a rich, depth of flavour that you only really do get with higher quality tea. It's easy to drink and though infused for quite some time, lacks any sort of bitterness or sharpness.
In addition to the strength of the the blend and it's natural smoothness there is also a nutty element to this tea which does rather remind me of Yunnan blends that I've tried recently. It's a fully rounded, hearty tea that I think will satisfy even the hardest to please tea drinkers.
As the tea cools in the cup the tea almost softens, for want of a better word. That strength settles down a little and it takes on a richer flavour. It's like you will experience several different tea's in the one cup. I really like it!
Regular readers will know that I always take my tea black (with the exception of chai tea) and unsweetened, however, I think this tea would sit well with the addition of milk and sugar if that's how you like to take your tea. For those who like to add a slice of lemon to their tea, I believe that would work well with this tea also. So it's a very versatile cup of tea.
There is nothing simple about this tea, it's delightful. But if you want a pure, black tea, unflavoured, unfussy and tasty then this is a brilliant blend to to keep in the tea cupboard. I find it satisfying and comforting and exceptionally moreish.
I tend to judge tea companies by their pure, unflavoured tea's. You can mask a bad tea easily by adding flavours and additional ingredients. In it's pure state the tea is exposed. Basilur Tea never let me down. The tea is always of the highest quality, whether that be a Ceylon black tea or a Sencha green tea. I can honestly say I have yet to experience a "bad" tea with Basilur. They set a benchmark in tea.
This Orange Pekoe tea was a delight to drink and I fully enjoyed it. I needed black tea today, I wanted to get back to basics. I've had such a exciting time recently trying all sorts of tea's in exciting shapes and colours. Black tea though is like an invisible friend. Always there in the wings, knowing I'll return to it. Knowing that I'll need it before too long. Today I did and I've enjoyed a luxury of a tea.
In fact, I've loved it so much that I had my second cup within a half hour of the first. And I can't recommend this tea any higher than that.
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