Gryphon Tea's Latest Grand Cru Collection

For some of us who have the habit of drinking tea be it once in a blue moon, weekly affair or part of our daily consumption, i’m fairly certain that Gryphon Tea is no alien to us. Of course, for the uninitiated, Gryphon Tea is founded by Tea Master Lim Tian Wee  with a mission to make high-quality, gourmet teas accessible to discerning tea drinkers seeking new taste experiences. For more information, do hop over here!

To be honest, i’m not much of a tea drinker until of late when it finally dawns to me the endless health benefits that i can reap from drinking tea on daily basis. I have not much love for tea (2000′s bubble tea craze notwithstanding) because well, it’s tasteless and erm, tasteless. Grin.

The amount of tea i have at home gifted by family, relatives and friends is crazy –> reason no. 3 why i started drinking tea on daily basis. HEH. So what’s reason no. 2 then? Well, because i’m a sucker for pretty cups and saucer and matching teapots that’s why. I mean, c’mon.. those tea sets, have you seen them?!? So dainty and pweettyyyy! How can i not buy and use them, righttt? Of course, having a number of new cute and adorable trays also chipped in to the reason too. Ssshh, i’m not on buying spree. Really. :P

Anyway, be excited. Very excited!

Because.

Gryphon Tea’s latest Grand Cru Collection is nothing but wow!

The Gryphon Tea Grand Cru Collection :

24 exclusive teas in its brand new range of single origin teas. Harvested from the world’s best tea regions, the collection boasts the finest loose tea leaf from China, Japan and India. House in tall and slender tins, the collection is for sophisticated and worldly tea connoisseurs and novices alike.

The few teas we tasted were : Silver Needle, Gyouro Pearl Dew, Dan Cong Magnolia, Darjeeling Margaret’s Hope TGFOP and Vintage Pu’erh.

Between Gyokuro Pearl Dew (Sping harvest green tea, grown in the shade from Kyoto Prefacture, Japan), Dan Cong Magnolia (A fine spring harvest oolong tea from Phoenix Mountain, China) and Vintage Pu’erh (A fine picking black tea from Yunnan Province, China), i can’t decide which i like best. I guess all these three will find its time in my everyday life, depending on my mood, the weather, the food i consumed on that singular day, etc.

But if you must know, i’m not a fan of Pu’erh. Really. However, this particular Pu’erh? I like. :)

To enhance the refined taste of these fine single terroir teas, the best brewing techniques are recommended to be utilized, including the use of premium water – FIJI Water. FIJI Water, a natural artesian water bottled at the source in Viti Levu (Fiji Islands), FIJI Water provides healthful benefits for the body and its balanced mineral content and clean taste notes do not interfere with the flavours of the leaves. After a short taste taste, my verdict : -

FIJI Water has smooth texture & soft body (the body of the water results from its mineral content. A water with a strong mineral composition and taste indicates a hard water and vice versa). It has no metallic after taste compare to spring water and distilled water.

Tea Tasting Methodology (Note to self)

• touch and feel the dry leaves before brewing
• smell the aroma of brewed leaves
• taste tea from lightest, subtlest teas and end with the darkest and most intense
• observe the colour of the liquor
• contrast tasting : taste two teas of same type for better assessment

I started with Gryphon’s Flavoured Tea such as Nymph of the Nile, Pearl of Orient, Earl Grey (which i still adore with milk) but i guess i’m taking my tea drinking to another new exciting level now. If you are a novice tea drinker or someone who doesn’t quite fancy tea, perhaps you can start with the mentioned flavoured teas? But the best thing to do is get yourself a set of gorgeous looking cup and saucer! HAHa. That, will get you started for sure. *wink*

As the ultimate in tea luxury, Gryphon Tea Company will provide a personal doorstep delivery service to each client for an exclusive period. Prices range from $38 for White Peony tea to $78 for a Iron Goddess of Mercy tea. Each tin holds 40-80g of premium quality single terroir loose leaf teas. Orders can be made via telephone at + 65 6779-2948 or through email at grandcru@gryphontea.com

Thank you FoodNews, Deone and Tian Wee for upping my knowledge of tea to another level!