Ceylon black tea is a real taste pleaser. The island nation of Sri Lanka has become a big player in the world of tea. They are ranked 3rd (or possibly 4th after Kenya which has increased its tea production greatly in recent years) in tea production worldwide. Most of the tea is processed as black tea and is usually known as Ceylon (the nation’s former name) tea.

Not all Ceylon teas are alike, but they seem to have a characteristic raisiny aroma and flavor to them that hubby and I find very appealing. We recently tried a pretty straightforward version (a lot of Ceylon teas are used in blends instead of being sold by themselves) and were definitely not disappointed!

Open the airtight pouch carefully (we usually cut across with scissors, but you can tear across if you prefer) and then take a good whiff of the contents. The heavenly aroma of raisin (or some say it’s currant) will greet you. The leaf pieces are large but not whole and have a unique blue-greenish tint to them.

Time for the steeping!

We filled the kettle with water and set it on the stove (so much more romantic than other ways of heating water). Time to prep the teapot. Our little yellow teapot was selected for this important task. We always steep the leaves loose in the pot, not in an infuser of any kind. This means straining into another container when the steeping is done. Worth the extra effort to us since we feel sure of getting every bit of flavor from those leaves. Considering the price of teas, it’s a great way to get the most bang for our tea bucks.

A steep time of 2-5 minutes is recommended for this tea, so it was up to us how long to let it steep. We went whole hog with 5 minutes. The results showed we made a good choice. The liquid had a rich aroma that was mainly raisiny but with a very faint peppery quality. The color was a sparkling ruby. And the taste was strong with only a slight tang at the end. A touch of sweetener may be needed here.

Being fond of milk in our black teas, we tried this tea that way and also used some sweetener. Having been steeped up strong, the tea took the milk well with the tea flavor coming through.

A few good foods to pair with this tea:

• Grilled burgers with all the “fixins”.
• Various foods such as pizza, lasagna, macaroni and cheese, pork or turkey dishes, and Mexican foods.
• Desserts with bananas such as banana cream pie, banana bread, and banana pudding (with those lovely Nilla vanilla wafers in it).
• Desserts with raspberries such as tarts or jams and preserves glopped onto your scones or toast.
• Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

We went for some pork tamales and found the tea was a great complement to them. What could be better?

See also:
Angel’s Dream Tea — Heavenly Sweetness in a Cup
Pairing Tea and Food — Stuffed Bell Peppers and Ceylon Black Tea
Sylvakandy Estate Ceylon Tea — Sheer Delight!
Reading Tea Leaves — Ceylon Teas
Ceylon Blends
Main Ceylon Tea Growing Regions  

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