Teakruthi

I have to apologise, profusely, for the utterly ridiculous amount of time that it's taken me to publish this review. I mean - seriously - babies have been conceived and born in less time than it's taken me to write this. So, my apologies to you, Teakruthi, and thank you for your kindness and patience.

Ceylon is just about my favourite everyday tea. So I was very pleased when Teakruthi offered me the opportunity to select a range of their Ceylon teas to review.

All of these teas are exquisitely fragrant, and I was surprised at the vast variations in flavour, influenced by factors such as the region the tea comes from, the altitude at which it is grown, its age when picked, and how the leaf is processed.

Teakruthi supply a lot of information with their teas, and it's hard to beat the aroma descriptions and tasting notes on the cards, so I have included them here, along with my own thoughts. The size of their testing samples is generous, and they were even nice enough to include a little infuser with the package.

Each tea comes with specific brewing instructions, and I have followed these as far as possible, paying attention to weights and measures, brewing temperature, and steeping time.

Sampling this range of Ceylon teas has been a delightful experience, and one that I would be happy to repeat.

If you'd like to learn more about Ceylon teas, then head on over to Teakruthi's blog.

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Island Heritage
Ingredients: Pure Ceylon black tea.
Strength: Medium.
Brewing guide: 1 tsp (1.5g) per 6oz cup at 85-90 C for 3-5 mins.
Serve: Without milk. Up to 3 steepings.
Aroma: Burnt wood.
Liquor: Orange.
Taste: Flowery, mild.

This is a large-leaf tea from the Dimbulla plantation region. These leaves come from tea bushes that were planted in the late 1800s. I had no idea that tea plants were so long-lived! These leaves - 'two distinctive leaves and a bud' - are so large that it is hard to measure by the teaspoonful, so if you're serious about your tea you might want to weigh each measure for your pot. Brewed up, Island Heritage is orange in colour, and highly fragrant - almost like perfume - on the tongue. Don't add milk to this one: drink it plain in order to fully experience the floral notes.

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Rainforest Indulgence
Ingredients: Pure Ceylon black tea.
Strength: Strong.
Brewing guide: 1 tsp (3.0g) per 6oz cup at 85-90 C for 3-5 mins.
Serve: With or without milk. Up to 3 steepings.
Aroma: Mellow notes of malt, fresh milk, and dark wood.
Liquor:Reddish orange.
Taste:Strong, full-bodied.

Grown in the shade of the Sinharaja Rainforest in Sri Lanka, this blend is hand-picked and then mechanically processed. This creates small torn leaves, slightly larger in size to the fannings that you would find in generic teabags, and graded as Broken Pekoe. This is a good tea for your morning cuppa: strong and flavoursome but without being too fancy or floral.

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Colonial Mornings
Ingredients: Pure Ceylon black tea.
Strength: Medium.
Brewing guide: 1 tsp (2.6g) per 6oz cup at 85-90 C for 3-5 mins.
Serve: With or without milk. Up to 3 steepings.
Aroma: Dominant note of fresh fruits with a hint of roasted almonds.
Liquor: Reddish amber.
Taste: Sweet, spicy, aromatic, flowery, strong.

This medium-leaf tea comes from the Dimbulla region of Sri Lanka: one of the oldest plantation regions, and founded by English colonial traders, hence its name. The leaves in this blend are from high-altitudes, which apparently impart 'slightly fruity, mineral notes' and 'a medium to full body'. At 4 minutes of brewing time it has a beautiful golden-brown liquor, and is sweetly scented. Without milk it has a light flavour, but I did detect a hint of bitterness. With milk it's strong, and and I really enjoyed the slight creaminess. 
 

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Zen Mint
Ingredients: Pure Ceylon black tea, mint leaves.
Strength: Strong.
Brewing guide: 1 tsp (2.0g) per 6oz cup at 85-90 C for 3-5 mins.
Serve: Without milk. Up to 3 steepings.
Aroma: Peppermint.
Liquor: Orange.
Taste: Fresh, spicy, cool.

When I was selecting my tester teas from Teakruthi I wanted to include a blend, something that wasn't solely a single type of Ceylon tea, and this fitted the bill perfectly. It has an incredibly strong mint flavour, given depth by the black tea. And the mint tastes far stronger than it smells: I usually find the opposite with mint or mint blend teas. This is tingly and refreshing: a really delightful dessert tea that keeps giving.

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Afternoon Ritual
Ingredients: Pure Ceylon black tea.
Strength: Medium.
Brewing guide: 1 tsp (2.0g) per 6oz cup at 85-90 C for 3-5 mins.
Serve: Without milk. Up to 3 steepings.
Aroma: Hot honey, unsweetened chocolate, and faint apricot notes.
Liquor: Copper.
Taste: Burnt rose.

This tea is from 'a low country plantation belonging to a beautiful estate that sits high and overlooks the fields and rainforests below'. It is supposed to produce 'a sweet honey fragrance and appears a warm russet hue in the cup'. However, I found it hard to find anything that stood out about this one. It wasn't particularly full-flavoured, and it had a slight bitterness to it - possibly the 'burnt rose' flavour that the tasting notes suggest? For me it just tasted like an average cup of tea.

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Wild Monsoon
Ingredients: Pure Ceylon black tea.
Strength: Medium.
Brewing guide: 1 tsp (2.1g) per 6oz cup at 85-90 C for 3-5 mins.
Serve: With or without milk. Up to 3 steepings.
Aroma: Roasted nuts.
Liquor: Dark gold.
Taste: Mild, malty, fine.

This is blend is from 'the Southern province of Sri Lanka in the Ruhuna tea district... in an area nourished by high humidity and monsoon season, and surrounded by diverse wildlife'. This tea has a slightly nutty scent to it, and with milk added is mild and slightly creamy, with malty notes. It has an overall fresh taste that is very enjoyable.

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Blissful Harmony
Ingredients: Pure Ceylon black tea. Pure Ceylon white tea.
Strength: Mild.
Brewing guide: 1 tsp (2.3g) per 6oz cup at 85-90 C for 4-5 mins.
Serve: Without milk. Up to 3 steepings.
Aroma: Mellow note of roasted cashewnut.
Liquor: Dark copper.
Taste: Flowery, light.

I very much enjoy mixed colour teas, as they can combine body with lightness. In this blend 'the black leaves are delicate and wiry and produce a refined taste, while the white leaves were naturally withered and gently hand-rolled before firing'. This produces a sweetly-scented tea with honey notes, lightly floral, and a flavour that alternates between light and strong. It is highly perfumed, with just too many notes to identify! I think that this is my favourite of all the Teakruthi teas that I selected.

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