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I have a lot of green teas in my cupboard. I used to kind of like green tea so I bought a bunch of different kinds of tea, some large amounts, some samples, some straight, some flavoured, a couple bagged, the rest loose. I was just trying things out.

Then I decided I am not the hugest green tea fan. I much prefer dark roasted oolongs and black teas. I don’t mind greens, but I have much more in my cupboard than is feasible to drink. But like any good tea drinker [addict], I will keep them in my cupboard until I drink them, or drink most of them.

In saying that, I do like to have a small cup (4oz) of green tea after lunch at work, I have to a lot (and I mean A LOT) of talking/verbal teaching at work. No matter what I eat for lunch, I always feel bloated and burp-y when I have to immediately launch into a speech after lunch. So I like to have a bit of green tea which seems to help calm my lunch-stomache. Of all green teas, sencha is my all time favorite, dragon well is a close second, but I like to have my sencha. And some of you may or may not agree, but it is hard to find a good sencha.

I picked this one up at my local tea shop. It smells like delicious sencha. Like buttered steamed greens. The taste is a bit bland. Not as strong as the smell. I would like it to be a bit more buttery. But it is smooth and silky. The vegetal part of the green tea is a bit more steamed cabbage than steemed spinach. I will definitely be able to drink this at work. I may try for a bit longer steep next time.

I had a few bags of this in my cupboard and decided to make it as a cold brew. 4 bags, 1 liter, for about 13 hours. I brewed it for a bit longer than I had originally intended to. I forgot about it… I find for me, with cold brewed greens, I like a much shorter cold brew time.

This one is ok. The mint is kind of refreshing after shovelling snow for the last hour (and I am not even done). The mint though, is bordering almost on toothpast mint. The green tea is light. It didn’t get bitter or astringency which is why I don’t like to cold brew greens for too long.

Definitely will be able to drink the last of this.

Received this in a generous swap from Terri HarpLady.

This one is quite a good oolong. To be honest, it doesn’t really even taste like an oolong. The liquor is very thick. There is definitely a fruit juice taste and quality to this tea. It reminds me of a fruit punch type juice- a little bit of everything, some citrus, some berry. There is a slight sweetness that reminds me of brown rock sugar or beet sugar. There is no bitterness or astringency. I was expecting this one to taste more like a dark roasted oolong. But there is no roasty flavour to it. It is also not a green oolong with the vegetal taste.

Quite enjoying this one.

ARGH!!! So I am pretty sure on this new steepster,the save this tasting note and delete this tasting note were switched from the what it was on old steepster. I have pressed delete instead of save from muscle memory. Now I have to re type. GAH!

I came here to write this note for 2 reasons. I have this in a tea bag form. I do not prefer tea bags but that is how this tea came.

1. I oversteeped this tea by 30 minutes at least. When I got to work I made my tea, but forgot to put the timer on, usually for 2 minutes. About 15 minutes later I was in a different room with a client and realized the timer never when off and my tea was still steeping. I couldn’t escape for 15 more minutes to rescue my tea.

It was still drinkable. Definitely strong. The tea base overshadowed anything earl grey. There was some astringency but it was not bitter. I always think it is a good tea when you can steep it forever and it is still drinkable.

2. Why do tea bags come without strings? The whole idea of a tea bag is for it to be easier. Easier to use, easier to dispose of. It is more economical.

But how do you get a tea bag out of the cup if there is no string? You can’t fish it out with your fingers without burning yourself. I have settle for the fork method. While trying not to tear or stab the bag, I get the fork underneath it and lift it out gently. Usually it falls off of the fork at least once, splashing everywhere. Then I try to fling it into the garbage can without dripping tea all over the place. Definitely not easier :P

So I made a cup of this cold brew yesterday. And it wasn’t too bad. Kind of like apple cider but a bit flat. So I cold brewed again today, only for about 6 hours, with some white sugar and WOW. Definitely apple cider. Not fake apple cider from a bought carton or from a mix, but real, traditional apple cider. Complete with the bite you get from fermented apples. I am a little disappointed I waited so long to cold brew this one as now I am all done with this tea.

Well the secret to this tea is a super long brew time. But the mystery still remains, how long was that super long time?

I started a cup of this to brew. Then I got busy doing some cold brews, cleaning up the kitchen, flipping through the channels to find Olympic mens hockey (Canada vs. Finland), checking steepster. Then while I was staring at the computer I reached out to grab my cup of tea but I couldn’t find it. Because it was still brewing. How long did I leave it, 10, maybe 15 minutes? Not sure. At least 10. I forgot to push start on the timer so there was no annoying repetitive beep, beep, beep to pull me out of my dead computer stare.

I tried it and it actually wasn’t too bad. The black tea base is quite strong, but the apple is quite strong as well which is good. The cinnamon is also predominate. It is thick and creamy. As the cup cools, it is starting to become more bitter, but I think a loooooonnnnnnnggggg steep suits this tea.

Initially I did not like green tea as iced or cold brewed at all. But the more I try it, the more I start to like it. The key is doing it right (well that is the key to everything, I guess). I find you still have to watch how long you brew it for, because if it is too long, it starts to get bitter.

I cold brewed this one 1.5 tsp in 10 oz for about 13 hours.

This one is heavy, thick, and creamy. I am getting apricot and peach flavours. The hops add a subtle beer type flavour. It is like a light, blonde beer without the bitterness, carbonation, or foam. I never thought I would like beer like that, but I guess I do.

The green tea flavour is light and lingering in the background. It add a slight sweet vegetal flavour.

I think I will finish off the rest of this tea as a cold brew.

I received this one a super long time ago, it was from my very first swap with Sil, which would have been over a year ago. I recall trying it at work and thinking this would be awesome cold brewed. So I brought the rest of the sample home and I am pretty sure it has been sitting on the counter for a year. I was moving things around this weekend and found it shoved into a corner so I thought I better get on that cold brew.

This makes and excellent cold brew. Brewed for about 13 hours. It is peachy, and vanilla-y. Very creamy. There is a very light green tea undertone to the tea. I am glad I finally tried this one cold.

You know it will be a good tea when you open the bag for the first time and the tea leaves are light, fluffy, and curly. You cant even get them scooped up in your tea spoon because they are all entangled together. It actually “hurts” to use a metal spoon to get the scoop because you can hear the tea leaves crunching into smaller pieces. And because it is so “airy”, 1 teaspoon is not really even 1 teaspoon.

This tea is as delicious as expected. It is heavy and thick, roasty. Hints of roasted nuts and also roasted hay. There is a slight honey sweetness to the tea. Just a subtle hint o astringency at the end o the sip, it quickly disappears. A pleasant, thick, roasted aftertaste lingers for a long time.

Another one from my swap with TerriHarpLady.

To me this one has a bit of a spice to it. I am having a hard time putting my finger on it. It reminds me of menthol a little bit. Kind of like a cough drop without the medicinal flavour. It is very light. It is possible it could be a bit of flavour contamination, but I do not have any other teas that taste like this, that I know of anyway.

The black tea part of this tea is really good. It is a strong black tea but not astringent or bitter. It is also quite smooth.