Howdy ya’ll! Today I’ll be taking a look at a new tea subscription service, Curious Tea! Cue and lights and dancing! With so many tea subscriptions popping up left and right these days, does Curious stand out? Read on and find out! 😛 Each month, Curious Tea offers a variety of teas in the choice of a “dark” (black, pu-erh, dark oolong), “light” (white, green, light oolong), or mixed box for customers to choose from. Each box contains two 50g samples of your preferred type of tea, packaged in resealable pouches, along with small tasting cards for you to write your personal tasting experiences on. In order to get a feel for the range of Curious’ blends, I chose the mixed box, and was sent a sample of Jasmine Pearls and Golden Monkey King tea. Now, for the fun bit! 🙂

Jasmine Pearl Tea

I LOVE the smell of jasmine tea, and for me, the fullness of the scent is the first indication of the quality of the brew the leaves will produce. The scent of these pearls was so strong and well-rounded (buh-dum-tsh!), it instantly reminded me of the insanely addictive jasmine bubble tea I used to buy from a shop near my university in between classes. So fragrant.. so.. intoxicating.. @_@ Phew, anyway!

Brew Temperature: 80° C

Leaf Amount/Steep Time: 2 tsp/1 minute per 100mL of water

1st Infusion

The pearls opened quickly, and watching them was a sheer joy- like witnessing a million tiny flowers bloom at once. I also noticed a distinct lack of stems in the unfurled leaves, a low-quality filler producers will sometimes attempt to hide in pearl teas. More points to Curious Tea! 🙂

The resulting brew possessed a very gentle, sweet jasmine taste, with nutty and floral notes indicative of the green and white teas used in the blend. I also could detect a slight hint of honey in the aftertaste.

2nd Infusion

Since the leaves had mostly unfurled at this point, I scaled back the steep time to ~45 seconds to reduce the chance of any bitterness. The already-subtle jasmine taste was quite toned down with this brew, with the vast majority of its floral flavor profile being contributed by the green/white blended base of the tea. A cube of rock sugar or a tiny touch of honey would definitely help coax out further flavor in the infusion.

Further infusions resulted in the essentially the same mellowed version of the first steep with increasing lightness.

Golden Monkey King

Holy graham crackers the dried tea smells good! Strong scents of peach, molasses, and honey happily mingle together, making this a pleasant departure from the mostly malty black teas I’ve been tasting as of late.

Brew Temperature: 90 C

Leaf Amount/Steep Time: 1 tbs/2 minutes per 400mL of water

1st Infusion

Don’t let the beautifully rich, dark red color of the brew fool you- the taste is exceptionally brisk and peachy with honey and sweet chocolate notes, accompanied by a lightly astringent aftertaste. Absolutely delicious, with no malt in sight. Before I knew it (and before I could take a proper photo, the one above is of my second time making this tea altogether :P) my cup was empty!

2nd infusion

I bumped the steep time up to three minutes for the next infusion- the resulting liquor had more of a floral taste than the previous steep, like a combination of orchid and caramel. It was just as easy to sip down as the first infusion, and the brew quickly vanished from my teapot into my belly. 😉

I attempted a third infusion for roughly five minutes, which produced a faint peachy tasting tea- definitely the end of the leaves’ life cycle. I’d stick to two infusions for maximum flavor.

While short-lived, the easy drinkability and smoothness of this tea cannot be overstated. I think it would make a marvelous introduction for a tea newbie into the potentially complicated world of black/red teas, and is a great everyday brew for the more habitual tea drinker. I actually had this tea for breakfast this morning- I meant to have it with some biscuits, but actually ended up enjoying the brew so much I drank the entire pot on its own while my poor Hobnobs sat off to the side, neglected. 😛

Overall Thoughts on Curious Tea

Every experience I’ve had with Curious Tea thus far has left me thoroughly impressed. Their website is beautifully designed and well maintained, with lengthy, descriptive articles about the teas they source each month- including adorable maps detailing exactly where the individual teas are from!

My tea arrived literally a day after I requested a box, and my correspondence with the company has always been prompt and very courteous. I am pleased with the quality of these two teas, and am confident the rest of Curious Teas’ blends are produced with the same care. I believe this company has a lot of enthusiasm for the products they make, as is clearly evidenced by the painstaking amount of work they’ve put into every aspect of their business. This subscription is a fantastic fit for newcomers to more high-end varieties of loose tea who are looking for a meticulously and lovingly guided introduction to various blends from month to month. Honestly, even if you’re not in the market for a monthly tea box, I’d highly recommend following their blog anyway- their entries are immensely educational and a joy to read. 🙂

Check out Curious Tea at: http://www.curioustea.com/

x

Tea provided for review courtesy of Curious Tea