123 Tasting Notes
I’ve owned this tea for awhile and haven’t known what to make of it. After much experimenting and finding the “perfect” water temperature I finally “get” this tea. The description is right on when it describes the lime and basil flavors. If Thai food could be a green tea, this would be it. Its light and refreshing and the basil flavor rests on the tip of your tongue. It is quite a temperamental tea if water temperature or steeping time is off, but the payoff is worth it. As usual I’m never disappointed with Verdant tea.
This came as my sample in my recent Verdant Tea order and once again Verdant Tea wows me. I’ve had a lot of white tea and they always seem so bland or are doused with flavorings to hide the fact that they are fancy water. This tea has a wonderful vegetal flavor like a green tea and has a wonderful tingly feeling as well. The snap pea flavor is definitely there, I wouldn’t have even thought about it until I read the description but now that I know that’s all I can taste. I really enjoy this, mostly because it reminds me more of green tea then white. If this was a blind taste test there would be no way I would think this is a white tea. Very enjoyable.
This came in my monthly sweepstakes set and it doesn’t disappoint. I’ve tried a couple of yellow teas but this one has the subtlest and sweetest flavors. It reminds me of honeysuckle flowers but also has a wonderful apple flavor, almost like a honey crisp. It’s not overpowering at all and is a great substitute when you want green tea but aren’t in the mood for vegetables. There is a great thick brothiness to the tea as well and the leaves really hold up to multiple steepings. Other people mentioned it and it’s true, there is a wonderful breadiness to this tea, like soft french rolls with butter. This will have to be on the buy list.
This is one of my favorite senchas and that’s saying a lot. I got this in a generous sampler from Den’s Tea. Sadly it’s already gone. The tea is rich and brothy with a wonderful vegetal flavor that isn’t too dry or dusty. It’s sweet too with an almost brown sugar quality. Most senchas are nice but rarely are they robust enough to interest me. This one however really stands on its own without tasting like a salad. It’s like a cooked salad with something caramelized on top. Very nice.
Another generous sample from Den’s Tea. This tea has a very strong grape flavor, the smell reminds me of grape fun dip. Now flavored teas are not my thing, especially green tea, with the exception of genmaicha. The first time I had this I steeped it for two minutes which is way too long, a minute is much more appropriate. The grape taste is actually very subtle and when paired with the cranberry cuts the sweetness with the tartness. Not bad but not my thing.
Another generous sample from Teavivre! This tea smells like roasted vegetables. I did a two minute western style steep at 180. For a green tea its got a very strong vegetal flavor, almost like a gyokuro and chun mee blend. The strong vegetal flavors followed by a nice bite. Not a lot of natural sweetness going on in this tea but thats ok cause you just need to pair it with something, I tried it with dark chocolate and that was a good idea. Nice tea but I wouldn’t drink it on an empty stomach.
So I haven’t been reviewing teas too much in the last few weeks and thats mostly been because of the insanely hot and miserable weather here in chicago, as well as most of America. Its been so hot even the effort of making ice tea was too much. However, I just got AC so now I keep my room at a brisk 65 degrees and I’m always in the mood for tea. This genmaicha came in a generous sampler box from Den’s tea. I’ve had genmaicha with matcha before and it’s actually my favorite way to have genmaicha, the sweet matcha paired with the nuttiness of the genmaicha. This genmaicha isn’t bad but isn’t my favorite. As someone else mentioned there is definitely more of a seaweed salty taste as opposed to the matcha sweetness and the nuttiness doesn’t really pop out. I know the quality of matcha heavily effects the taste and the higher quality ones tend to be sweeter and less like seaweed. Not bad but I’ll stick to my tried and true genmaichas.
I just want to start this off by saying I never win anything. If there is a raffle or a contest or even eeny meeny miney moe, I will lose. So the fact that I won this tea in the steepster select monthly prize makes me think there was divine intervention in me receiving this tea. I even began my steepster account that same month! Anyway, I’ve had a lot of golden monkey tea but I’ve never had one that has had such a lovely blend of spiciness and maltiness. Its got this great creaminess that kinda fills your whole mouth, it borders on being a dessert tea without the sweetness. Very nice.
Got this in a generous sampler box from den’s tea. I’m very used to drinking roasted greens from china so it was nice to mix it up with this Japanese roasted green tea. This Houjicha is wonderfully roasted with a caramel sweetness, it never gets too ashy. It almost reminds me of a roasted Taiwanese oolong, but with a little more sweetness. A great afternoon tea and perfect after a greasy meal.
Another generous sample from Teavivre!
I’m really glad I read about the difference between Milk Oolong unflavored vs flavored and I’m glad I got unflavored first. For something called milk oolong its more of a subtle milk texture. Its a very nice oolong that balances a slight roastiness with the milky brothiness. It reminds me of miso soup thats been lightly sweetned. I understand that they also flavor this tea but I find the milk taste, although subtle, is more then enough for me. This tea is incredibly relaxing and makes me want to take a nap. Maybe thats because its warm and my brain thinks its milk. I just need some oreos and I’m good to go.
