Sampling Seven Teas from Kaley Tea

Kaley Tea was gracious enough to send me some samples of their tea for free so I will be sharing my thoughts on seven of them. The teas include: Three black, two green, and two white. So, let’s get into it.

First up is the aptly named Black Pearl. I can’t say that I’ve ever seen a black tea rolled up like this and I have to say it looks really interesting. I did 4 grams at 200F for 25 seconds. I noticed right away a distinct flavor note but I couldn’t quite pin it down. It took me a while but I finally did, and hang with me here, it was tomato basil soup. We eat tomato basil soup a few times a year and it has a distinct smell and taste and this tea tasted just like that. It was unexpected. Overall, it was smooth and pleasant and not too crazy. A very agreeable black tea.

The Mellow Black Tea is exactly what it claims to be. A nice smooth easy drinking black tea. This one however, also had the tomato basil soup note to it. I would be interested to try it western style and see if that tomato note still comes through as strong.

Up next is Mild Spice Tea. If this is mild, then I don’t want to know what a very spicy tea is like! It should be noted that I am a total wimp when it comes to spicy things, so even a little spice is too much spice for me. If you like it spicy, then you will probably like this one. I also picked up the tomato soup note on this one. Is this a thing on Ceylon black teas?

Time for the greens! First up is A Graceful Green. I did 175F water with 3 grams for 15 seconds. The wet leaves had an ever so slight smoky aroma to them, which I quite enjoyed. This one was indeed graceful. It was smooth and pleasant with a smidge of a vegetal note but in the good way that is comforting like an old familiar green tea that you used to drink with your grandma. I liked this one.

Next we have Green.Tea.Flowers. this one was floral and sweet and slightly vegetal but still very good. I’m not usually one for flavored teas, but I was being adventurous and it paid off.

Now for the white teas, the star of the show in my opinion. No joke, when I smelled the wet leaves on this one, I wrote enchanting aroma before I realized the name of the tea was Enchanting White. Whoever is naming these teas is nailing it. Note that this is all buds, which makes it silver needle or yin zhen grade, which is the higest grade of white tea that you can get. I was very pleasantly surprised and pleased when I opened up this packet. It had that familir silver needle taste of being sweet, floral, nutty, and syrupy, but it doesn’t end there. You see, this is Ceylon silver needle, and in my very humble opinion, is better than Chinese silver needle. Ceylon white has an added note of peppery almost spicy but not hot spices just flavorful if that makes sense. It was really yummy and I think everyone should try some Ceylon silver needle at least once.

Last but not least is Special White. This is very similar to the Enchanting white but more of a Mu Dan picking than a Yin Zhen, which means it has more leaves and less buds. It’s still really delicious and has the same flavor profile. The white teas are a real hit.

I’m not exactly sure where to order the tea from Kayley as their website says under construction at the time of this writing. I would send a message on Instagram (@kaleyteaceylon) and go from there.

These were gifted, so I can’t comment on price.

If you are looking for something new to try and you haven’t explored Ceylon teas very much, take a look at Kayley Tea and you just might be surprised. Cheers!