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$ 10.00
$ 10.00
Tasting Notes: Dark amber liquor with bold notes of wood smoke and cedar.
The classic pine-smoked Chinese black tea, Lapsang Souchong has a bold woody flavor, with sweet-smokey cedar undertones. Lapsang Souchong is a black tea for lovers of cigars, campfires and bacon.
Sometimes referred to as the first black tea, the origin of Lapsang Souchong is up for a bit of debate, so we will leave it up to you to decide which story you find more plausible. One origin story credits the resourceful villagers of Tong Mu in the Wuyi province with rescuing their tea crop through creativity. In this legend, picking and processing in the Wuyi region that traditionally produces full-leaf oolongs was interrupted by an invading army. As the army arrived, villagers abandoned their crop and came back to find their leaves turning brown (oxidizing), so they quickly dried them over pine fires, creating the first black tea: Laspang Souchong. Another story for the origin of this tea is much more banal: the traditional green (unoxidized) teas that the Chinese had been trading with Europeans were losing quality over the long trade routes. So, tea makers devised a new way of drying leaves over pine fires that preserved their quality and imparted a distinctly smokey flavor.
Whichever origin story you believe, we are certainly glad that an enterprising tea maker developed the process to oxidize and smoke tea, creating Lapsang Souchong!
Lapsang Souchong has a distinctive, smokey taste that makes for an excellent and bracing morning cup - especially when camping. Add a little Ghost Pepper honey for a cup of tea that'll warm you up like no coffee can!
We also highly recommend using Lapsang Souchong to make hot toddies or cocktail syrups. Lapsang Souchong also makes a great addition to vegan cupboards, as it will impart a smokey, bacony flavor to meat substitutes and vegetables when used in broths and marinades.
You can brew your Lapsang using Western-style or traditional methods. Learn more about how to brew black tea using a traditional gaiwan or yixing teapot here!
Black teas are fully oxidized tea leaves that are created by the will of the producer to create a robust and structured cup. Bearing this in mind, they are the most likely to become bitter and astringent if over brewed. Black tea should be brewed between two and four minutes, according to the style of the tea and your taste, with water just off boil at around 205 degrees. Our high quality black teas may be infused multiple times and will yield different expressions in each infusion.
$ 10.00
Tasting Notes: Robust sienna-colored liquor with balanced tannins and notes of tobacco and sweet malt.
Coming from Assam, one of India's largest growing regions, our organic English Breakfast tea is not only certified-organic, but also Fairtrade!
Our English Breakfast Assam comes from the single garden and is made with a nice proportion of tippy golden buds that help to balance the natural tannins in traditionally produced Indian black teas.
This English Breakfast tea is full-bodied with flavors of tobacco, sweet malt, and dried fruit. Naturally very sweet and generous with perfectly balanced tannins, every cup of our Assam is ready to be enjoyed however you prepare your tea. For those who enjoy a dollop of milk and honey, this English Breakfast takes milk especially well!
If you prefer a sweetened breakfast tea, we recommend our English Breakfast Assam Banaspaty paired with Saratoga Wildflower, Cinnamon Infused or Palmetto Honey.
We recommend our English Breakfast tea enjoyed after brewing in the Western-style that made this style of tea so popular in Great Britain all those centuries ago. You can expect 2-3 steeps from each portion of English Breakfast tea, sometimes more depending on your brewing habits! We recommend steeping your tea leaves for increasing intervals with each subsequent steep.
$ 10.00
Tasting Notes: Medium-bodied amber liquor with well-structured tannin and notes of fruit.
Coming from Sri Lanka, our Ceylon Orange Pekoe black tea is a classic, full-leafed example of one of the most famous of the English colonial teas. Orange Pekoe is a specific grade of black tea coming from India, Sri Lanka, and other parts of Asia - though Chinese teas are not typically classified this way. While it is not clear where the name for this grade originated, we do know that Orange Pekoe or OP tea has been used to indicate a high grade, full-leaf tea since Dutch and British colonial trading in tea originated.
Medium bodied and fruity with a good, firm structure, our Ceylon Orange Pekoe is good with a splash of milk or by itself. We particularly love this tea with a little cinnamon honey.
We recommend brewing this black tea Western-style and enjoying with or without a splash of milk and honey! Ceylon Orange Pekoe iced tea is also one of our favorite cold brewed teas to serve in the summer, so be sure to try this delicious tea every way possible!
$ 10.00
Tasting Notes: Deep and full-bodied umber liquor with notes of tobacco, smoke, and spiced fruit.
This popular, lightly smoked black tea blend originated in the 18th century as something of an accident. As traders carried sacks of tea on a 6,000 mile journey across Russia on their way to bring tea from China to Europe, it is speculated that the campfires added a smokey quality to the original black teas that has become so much a part of the character of Russian Caravan teas. Now, master tea blenders blend Chinese black tea with smokey Lapsang Souchong to create a robust black tea with just a whiff of smoke to ward off the chill on winter mornings.
Our Russian Caravan is blended from top Chinese teas in the assertive and slightly smoky style favored by the Russians for centuries. Full bodied and strong with flavors of dried fruits, tobacco and spice, Russian Caravan is excellent hot or iced and stands up very well to a bit of milk and honey.
We recommend Russian Caravan to lovers of Irish Breakfast tea, for its similar lightly smoked flavor profile. For tea drinkers who enjoy an even smokier tea, don't miss our gorgeous Cedar-smoked Lapsang Souchong!
Black teas like the Russian Caravan are more traditionally prepared in the Western-style, as they are the result of the tea trade. Your Russian Caravan leaves will steep a delightful 2-3 times in a Western-style teapot. Or enjoy this blended Chinese black tea 4-5 times in a Gaiwan or Yixing.
$ 14.00
Tasting Notes: Amber-colored liquor with mellow tannins and notes of sweet brioche and salted caramel.
Jin Die (Golden Butterfly) organic black tea is comprised entirely of hand-rolled golden buds (hence its name). Jin Die is one of our favorite and most-recommended black teas in our Saratoga Springs flagship store.
Golden bud teas like Jin Die or our Yunnan Da Ye black tea are unique among black teas because they are made not from the mature leaves of the tea tree, but the buds. Usually in tea picking and processing, we associate bud teas with white teas, which are comprised of the unoxidized buds or buds and first few leaves of the camellia sinensis tea plant. In the early twentieth century, tea cultivators began experimenting with oxidizing the buds, creating Golden Bud black tea. Golden Bud black teas like Jin Die (Golden Butterfly) are characterized by smooth liquors with mellow tannins but satisfying body and a naturally sweet flavor profile with notes of malt and caramel.
Jin Die is silky smooth and mouth filling with flavors of sweet brioche and salted caramel. Though this organic black tea has a mellow tannin profile, it still holds up extremely well to a little milk and honey. You will enjoy these hand-rolled buds unfurling as if a golden butterfly from its chrysalis as you steep your morning cup.
Jin Die black tea may be enjoyed brewed in either a Western-style teapot or a traditional gaiwan or yixing. Learn more about how to brew teas here.
$ 14.00
Tasting Notes: Rich sienna-colored liquor with notes of sweet malt, citrus and spice.
The goldilocks of black tea, Yunnan Da Ye is just right, with a rich and full-bodied liquor but mellow tannins. Made from the indigenous large leafed varietal known in Yunnan as "Da Ye," this organic black tea is lightly hand rolled and contains a generous amount of golden twisted bud contributing to its balanced sweetness.
A gorgeous combination of finesse, rustic malty sweetness, and citrus fruit briskness, this tea is an example of the huge potential of the Yunnan. A staff favorite, Yunnan Da Ye is often highlighted when introducing our black tea.
Black tea lovers might enjoy comparing Yunnan Da Ye with our other golden bud tea, Jin Die.
Yunnan Da Ye may be enjoyed brewed in either the Western-style or using traditional Chinese teaware. If brewing using a Western-style teapot, you may anticipate 2-3 lovely steeps from each portion of Yunnan Da Ye. Traditional brewing techniques using a gaiwan or yixing will yield 4-6 steeps.
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Tasting Notes: Robust, burnt-siennna liquor with notes of spice, fruit, and honeyed toast.
Arriving to us from Africa's Rift Valley and grown from the same varietal as India's famous black teas of Nilgiri, Kenya Kangaita black tea tea is produced with uncharacteristic care using traditional Orthodox methods from an area where many teas are industrial, CTC grade (CTC or Cut, Tear, Curl is a grade of tea generally made for mass production in tea bags).
Spicy, and fruity with a sweetness something like toast, Kenya Kangaita is tannic but balanced. This full leaf African black tea is sure to be a favorite with lovers of strong, smooth tea.
Kenya Kangaita steeps well using both Western and traditional methods. Brewing in a Western-style teapot you may anticipate 2-3 steeps. Traditional brewing in a gaiwan or yixing pot will yield 4-6 steeps.
Kenya Kangaita also makes an excellent iced tea that stands up well to sweeteners like honey or sugar.
What is Black Tea?
Black teas are made from fully oxidized leaves. The Chinese refer to black teas as "red teas" in reference to the copper colored of their infusion. Developed in the 18th century, the production process of black tea begins with withering of the leaves, and then moves to rolling, oxidation, drying, sorting, sifting and sometimes, an optional firing.
Health Benefits of Black Tea
Congratulations, if you are drinking tea, you have already chosen an incredible, healthful beverage. Tea is considered in many cultures to have medicinal properties. All tea comes from the same plant family, camellia sinensis, and therefore all types and styles contain the same components that contribute to significant health benefits. Influence of the varietal, growing conditions, production techniques, and your brewing practices play a role in the antioxidant and caffeine levels of your cup. Although black tea is considered to have higher caffeine than other tea types this is not necessarily true, and we encourage you to read your body's response to each tea, as caffeine levels in any category can vary from tea to tea.