Tasting Notes
There are notes of chocolate and a malty richness. With a short infusion you can find a silky subtlety with intense cacao aromas. With a longer extraction (and milk), the tea becomes creamier and the malty, milk chocolate flavours develop even further.
Quantity
Use 0.1 oz of leaf per 5.5 fl oz of water (2.5g per 150ml).
Temperature
For the optimum infusion (without milk) use 185°F (85°C) water.
If you prefer milk, use 212°F (100°C) water.
Time
Infuse for 1 minute at 85°C, and 2 minutes at 100°C.
Taste regularly to find your optimum time.
Infusions
You can infuse this tea at least twice. With each careful infusion, different subtleties of flavour are revealed.
Cost Per Cup
26¢ per cup based on 0.1 oz of leaf per 5.5 fl oz of water and 2 infusions.
Jun Chiyibari Tea Garden & Satemwa Estate
This blend comes from the highest tea garden we work with – Jun Chiyabari right up in the foothills of the Nepali Himalayas; combined with rich leaves from Satemwa in the Shire Highlands of Malawi. These mountain teas combine ethereal elegance with great profundity and depth.
AFTERNOON TEA
A thoroughly British invention
Tea in the afternoon has been enjoyed for millennia. It would be almost inhuman not to long for a cup as the day ebbs. But what we now think of as the ritual of Afternoon Tea is a thoroughly British invention that arose in the middle of the 1800’s around wealthy aristocrats and their need of a boost, and to demonstrate their wealth and good taste.
AFTERNOON TEA
Showing off...
Tea was expensive and they had the good fortune to not need to work. So the afternoon became a time to show off; not just their wealth and good taste in being able to purchase tea, but having the leisure to enjoy it in the afternoon.
(For the working classes tea was taken in the evening, often with the evening meal- which is why in some parts of the UK, dinner is still called “tea”.)
Serving Suggestions
We recommend drinking this tea without milk if you are eating something sweet and creamy or buttery alongside it. The tradition has always been that the cream or butter and jam (on bread, crumpet, scone or a slice of Victoria Sponge) was there to have with your black tea to balance the bitter tannins. It’s the perfect flavour pairing. You only really need to put the milk in your Afternoon Tea if you don’t have something sweet and creamy to eat with it.
A piece of shortbread is also wonderful. A simple piece of good bread and butter is sublime.
