Last week I submitted a post inspired by my hubby’s recent visit to Hawaii.  It was my desire to make this trip, with intent to visit the Hawaiian tea fields I read so much about, http://teahawaii.com/about/growers/.  I even had an opportunity to sample fresh tea leaves delicately coated in a light batter at a Tea Dinner at one of my favorite haunts. Well, this trip was not on the approved schedule so I did the next best thing I sent my hubby on a mission to find Hawaiian grown tea.

He updated me frequently on his “downtime” search and consulted with me on his findings prior to making purchases.  I am grateful for his support in my efforts.

When he arrived home bearing tea gifts several packages which looked more commercial than I would have liked but Hawaiian tea nonetheless.  

Each offering was a blend or fruit enhanced tea. As I am not fond of tea enhancements, I knew these would sit for a while until I decided to become more adventurous.

The package that intrigued me most was a chubby green bag with a brown paper hangtag.

I read the back for the contents and found it was a tea from a country I had not knowing explored, Vietnam.  I went online and looked up information about tea growing in this area

http://www.vietnam-tea.com/overview.html

On the site:

www.teaandcoffee.net/0504/tea.htm

the description is as follows,

“Vietnam black tea is widely exported, and finds its way into many blends overseas, even if many consumers are unaware of the fact that they are drinking Vietnamese tea.”

“Vietnamese black tea has a good appearance but is not so strong, with a light liquor. It also suffers from an image problem. While widely regarded as an average tea, exported black tea, often perceived as “cheap tea” in the international markets, is used for blending only.”

I also checked out a few tea reviewers, whom I respect, and saw they had reviewed teas from Vietnam (although not the same tea or the same supplier) so I could get more information.

http://ratetea.net/tea/simpson-vail/vietnam-black-tea/4212/

http://sirwilliamoftheleaf.blogspot.com/search?q=vietnam

I brewed the tea and found it to be delightful, a black, without the strong black tea aftertaste, smooth with a delicate hint of fruit.

I began wondering how I could celebrate finding a black tea I enjoyed hence the post “What Am I Drinking?”

The two responses I got were great,

thedevotea

“The other white fruit I can think of is coconut. Whilst there are coconut teas, they tend to have either vanilla o mango as well. And it would show up in the after picture as white.”

latteteadah

“Given the number clues, it would appear to be a Vietnamese green or a special type of oolong…”

both came up with good guesses and if combined the answer is close, Vietnam Coconut Black.  I thank them for their support and for their courage taking on this challenge.