84 Tasting Notes
A very flowery oolong – if you like that sort of thing! If I’m in the mood for something floral… osthmanthus is the one for me. And the oolong base is good, and very crisp.
However… as far as osthmanthus goes… I prefer the Osthmanthus Silver Needle to the Osthmanthus Huang Guan Yin.
Osthmanthus Huang Guan Yin: Good. Osthmanthus Silver Needle: AWESOME.
Preparation
Ohhhhhh YuzuCha… I needed a Japanese Green. This was the right choice.
I hate to admit it, but I had no idea “yuzu” existed before I experienced this tea. But now I’d really like to see one for myself! I hate having an ingredient in something, that I am unable to acquire and try on it’s own, for the sake of flavour comparison.
Anyways… the tea is lovely. A glorious sencha, and the yuzu adds a flavour that’s… citrusy? I’m not sure citrusy is the right description. It adds a very pleasant sweet yet tangy note to the yummy vegetal profile natural to this sencha.
I enjoy it on it’s own but… it would be WONDERFUL PAIRED WITH A BAKED FISH methinks! :)
Preparation
So…what’s a yuzu?
Yuzu! Bless you! (sounded like a sneeze to me…)
@ Jillian, it’s an Asian citrus fruit. Glad I looked it up, I was thinking ouzo. LOL! No ouzo tea.:( Here’s an yuzo oolong you updated info on back in Sept. Looks yummy! http://steepster.com/teas/naivetea/4480-yuzu-oolong
I love the pairing suggestion, do you cook/bake w/ tea as well?
Yes!! Lots of cooking and baking with tea… Culinary arts are my hobby :)
Going to Fava Tea Co. today. They have tea hard candy. Maybe that’ll help get rid of my cough.
I’ve always wanted to try the Yuzu Sencha from Rishi but just never wanted to fork over the money for it. Now Wegmans stopped carrying that version of Rishi. Sigh….
Found another excellent one! Didn’t buy enough at once! :(
Moonlight White. Mmmmmm… It’s a very nectary white tea. Subtle hints of honey and ripe yellow fruits like apricot. This one I highly recommend for the white tea obsessee!!!
And as always the best comes from Yunnan. (Unless we’re talking green teas… Japan all the way!)
Preparation
Oh yes! White teas, Japanese greens, and matcha (which is just a different level of Japanese green all together) all the way!
I would have to disagree that the best green tea comes from japan. I guess it depends on if you like the steamed grassy flavor of japanese green teas. I prefer the mellow complex flavors of chinese green tea. You should try some varieties if you haven’t yet.
Japanese greens are just my personal favourite, that’s all :) My minor obsession with Japan, and the subsequent trip to Japan, is what started my tea interest actually.
I also loooooove Chinese greens! You’re right, the flavour profile of Chinese greens is so different as compared to those from Japan! I also love black teas, and oolongs, and pu-erhs, and yellows, and whites, and rooibos, and tisanes in general, and mate, and chai, and…
Oh Cha- you must take me w/ when you go back!:)
Sorry! Didn’t mean to imply that you didn’t know about Chinese green tea. And I have a fascination with Japanese culture too. I just wish i had the money to go there. I don’t hate Japanese green tea but I just don’t prefer the grassy flavor. But give me Genmaicha and I will be happy.
A trip to Japan when I was 15 was where I began drinking tea :) And so… the obsession began! Japanese greens will always be my first love… hehehe…
If only I were rich. I would move somewhere warmer and start a tea plantation! But first I would travel to Japan and get myself a custom made Katana by a registered Japanese sword smith all while drinking massive amounts of genmaicha and eating massive amounts of sushi!
Have you ever had Pu-erh Palace… With gingerbread cookies?
No?
If I were you… I WOULD ADD IT TO MY TO-DO LIST.
’Tis the season! :)
Preparation
Made a chai latte with this chai concentrate for the first time last night.
Meh.
It was good. Better than I presumed it would be. But… I’ve had better.
I’ve had much better.
Quite sweet. Rather mellow for my taste in Chai. And, I knew something was wrong right away when I saw how watery it was, as it poured out of the box.
Preparation
Concentrate… ick.
Yeah, I agree with Cofftea, ick. I have had both this and the green tea latte from this company and they are really lacking in depth and flavor. I guess that is just what you get for trying something that is meant to be convenient.
Why use a concentrate when you can use the real things? Baristas always look at me strange when I order my dirty chai lattes and dirty chai mochas and caramel mochas w/ bags.
I find that although i do love a good chai tea, I admire the simplicity and complexity of a good pan fired chinese green tea over something such as chai with all of those ingredients anyday. It just seems to me sometimes that a lot of the ingredients in a chai are just used to mask or make up for inferior black tea often used in the formula.
my comment should say chinese black tea not green tea. sorry.
@Fred that’s why I buy chai spice mix (sans tea) and add it to my favorite tea- black, green, oolong, yellow, white. It’s REALLY good w/ Adagio’s chocolate chip or Botanical Indulgence’s Caramel Creme Oolong.
@Cofftea – I like your last post! That sounds like a great thing to try!
And… concentrates do not HAVE to be bad. Many of them just… are. :(
I’M ON THE HUNT FOR A GOOD ONE! I will never prioritise chai over my other teas, but, a good chai latte has it’s place in the world! And chai concentrate can be important to certain recipes… (mmmmm… chai ice cream.)
For chai ice cream why not steep real chai in milk then cool?
I’m already flavouring my own ice cream! ;)
Yes, you’re right. :)
If you’re still looking for a good concentrate, have you tried Tazo yet? I haven’t had it in years, but I remember it being infinitely better than this sugar cane mess.
Wait… is this a mix or a concentrate?
Sorry, I meant concentrate. :)
But the name says mix…
I know, but it’s a liquid concentrate.
Sigh Misrepresentation again.
Yummmm! At first I wasn’t sure what to think about this tea… I started drinking it because I was sick (hence choosing an ayurvedic blend)… and it hit me differently. This is probably because when I drink “tea” I think of more “tea”-like flavours… but this is a botanical blend, and not one that I necessarily thought would appeal to me. BUT I LOVE IT. Especially with winter settling in here in Milwaukee, I’ve really come to depend not only on it’s healthful properties, but also on it’s really unique spicy, sweet, zingy taste. The most dominant flavours are of the lemongrass and the licorice root. I highly recommend it. And it’s still completely lovely if you feel a cold coming on, and want to steep it extra long to get the real benefits of the tea.
Preparation
So soothing… lovely! :)
Today was my first time trying this tea!
I think it would go really well WITH MIDDLE EASTERN FOOD! I’m craving now…
Next meal: Babaghannoj, Foule, Hummus, Chicken Kabobs, a Rosewater Lemonade, and WHITE TEA ROSE MELANGE. And maybe a hookah. Reeeeeally craving now…
…Sheesh, you’d swear I was pregnant. But no hookah if I was pregnant. WHICH I’M NOT. :)
Don’t forget the rose flavored Turkish Delight!
Oh jeez, that sounds delicious! I’m eating pomegranate seeds right now, which is as close as I’m likely to get to anything that good. :D
Yay, I can make all of the food you mentioned! I’m half Syrian so you’re talking right up my alley. And umm….my three pipe hookah is in the attic. (shhh)
:)
FIRSTLY… I LOVE Turkish Delight!
SECONDLY… Lena… you are welcome to send me recipes anytime!!!!!!!!!!!!
How about making lemonade w/ this instead of water? That’d be even more healthy than rose water lemonade!:)
That’s an AWESOME idea! I’m gonna pull out a hario pitcher, and buy some lemonade and give that a try…
Just use bottled lemon juice. There’s a recipe right on the bottle. That’s SO much healthier! and I normally do it unsweetened but if I do sweeten it, I use stevia.
Fava Tea Co. has this and Rishi’s Wild Rose almost 50% off! It’s expensive, but so good! I was going to wait til summer… but…
I really love this tea!!! A hint of peach, that enhances the white tea, rather than distracting from it! Just the way a white tea blend should be :)
I’ve found that when it comes to sharing with guests or gift giving, this is a great route to go, because it seems to appeal to most palettes! Everyone seems to either really like fruity teas, or really not like fruity teas… and this one bridges the gap!
1/4 cup of this in a bottle of VODKA… Overnight… Decant… Mix with orange juice (or anything else)… enjoy! :)
I brought a bottle like this with a pretty purple bow to a party a few weeks ago… BIG HIT! I felt cool!
Detox with tea… retox with tea… can you blame me? ;)
That sounds amazing! I will have to keep it in mind.
you just combined booze and tea…two of my favorite things! this sounds great!!! :)
Waukesha! I’m from Oshkosh!:)
Oh Cha…, have you ever been to Fava Tea Co. in Appleton?
No, I haven’t! I’ve heard very good things about them though, so I’ve been meaning to drop by next time I head up north :)
DEFINITELY send me and me an email and we can meet up!
Always looking for silver needle and Japanese recommendations, thanks!