14 Tasting Notes
Decent Tea.
Light floral hints that disappear on your tongue and turn into more green hints, though the smell is QUITE floral. Almost like a died down version of Jasmine Pearls.
Not too impressed, and the cooler it gets the more floral it gets. (not a fan of the floral taste)
The Green/Oolong mix is always up for grabs, and I feel that this one should have had more Green in the mix.
Oh well, I won’t give up on it just yet. . . .although, argh, first cup..blah-
Could smell the roasty/ smokiness of our beloved Genmaicha from the moment I poured the water in the cup. . . .Picked up a few tea bags at one of the Fancy Food Shows, and it’s about time i steeped it! This is not their loose leaf version, but bagged….those of your familiar with Kusmi Tea should know that they really have awesome tea bags, basically sewn around the edges. .
First Steep. . .tasting the rice right away. This is the lightest version of Genmaicha i’ve tried. . . not too much of an after taste. Very smooth though. . . wanted something a bit stronger perhaps. .should have left the bag in longer. . .
Exquisite tea this Silver Needle from Earthbound. Yet, another one from the white tea sampler, and each white gets better than the next. . . although, I must admit that I saved this one for last.
The liquor is also a beautiful color, just the right yellow . . pasty almost, and the aroma so fresh. I feel like these leaves were just plucked the other day. . .
Vegetal Central. . . loving this Sencha and for some reason Sencha always makes me crave apples. . is it just me?
Under steeped this tea, as I do with most Sencha’s (personal preference) but maybe I should have left it a bit longer. . . the New Year is coming up folks!! Gotta get ready to party…any suggestion for some pre-gaming tea for tomorrow (some tea nerd better suggest one).
Until then………thank you Ito-En for a good start to my day.
I haven’t tried it yet but that Strawberry Champagne one I have seen floating around here sounds RIGHT for the OCCASION
Ha! Pre-gaming tea…. The image that comes to mind is sitting on the couch at home with the family covertly slipping splashes of peach schnapps into my tea while my mother goes all out with the noise makers.
Anywho! I think I only have enough sencha left for two, maybe three, more cups and Ito En always struck me as a good company. I might have to order some of this.
ha….the peach would be perfect! Also…maybe I should have some of that Tea Vodka they have out now. . .or a Long Island Iced Tea (HA!). . . Ito En is nothing but a good investment, they really have amazing Japanese Tea ..and the best RTD (ready to drink) stuff out there.
Cheers to the New Year Micah and Bliss !!
Aw thanks! You too. I might just a LITTLE jealous that you’re in NYC and I’m in Great Falls, MT… but! That just means you’ll have to have a little extra fun.
I heard about that tea vodka too. Pretty intriguing. I’ll have to check out where to get some.
yeah, had it once at some tasting. . . but I have a friend that is absolutely in love with it, this is the one that I tried: http://www.zenliqueur.com/
But if you’re under 21 you can’t get in the site (you’ll get that joke once you click the link, LOL)
and don’t get too jealous!! It’s insane here on NYE. Luckily I live in Queens. . and will be spending it there, so no mayhem for me!
CHEERS back!
Hahah pregaming tea, that’s hilarious! Ohhhh I’d go with something memorable, like a Pu-Erh or something of the like, but that’s just me :)
Got the White Tea Sampler from Earthbound. . . so i’ve been having lots of Whites lately. Today I started off with White Mu Dan Peony. . .the nutty flavor of this tea is something I could get used to for a morning pot.
White tea in the morning you might ask? YES. This is one of the “stronger” white teas i’ve had. . . . but its so smooth at the same time.
Been sipping on this delight of a pot all day. . . .Indian White tea. . . white tea that’s not from it’s homeland. . but still a MUST TRY.
India has been slowly been hitting the white tea market with these teas. . .some are a hit and miss. . .but Earthbound really seemed to have found a winner. The perfect tea to end the work day with.
Side note. . . the two best Oolongs that i’ve had this year are Earthbound Tea “Moon Crest” and “Green Wink”.
Green Wink i’ve found that you could steep for an entire day and still get the same results, and the Moon Crest is like no other. Both are completely different in taste…Green Wink leaning more towards a vegetal strong Oolong flavor (as of a Green/Oolong) and Moon Crest steeps leaving you with a beautiful sweet scent that is just as sweet on your tongue. For those of you familiar with Dan Cong’s (Feng Huang Dan Cong). . Earthbound sells one of the best Dan Cong’s in the market for an extremely affordable price, I believe they have the best deal out there for Dan Cong’s and once again, this oolong is another one of those that you could steep all week if you wanted to.
What a delightful cup of tea. For those of you that like Oolongs that are on the light side, this is the perfect tea for you. I also like to steep my Oolongs at a much lower temperature and shorter time than advised.
I agree with DavidT on this one. . . double the amount of tea that you steep for one serving of this cup if you want a stronger flavor. I’ve always been a fan of Golden Dragon Oolongs, and for an RTD version of this, get Ito En’s Golden Dragon Oolong.
