On the ninth day of Christmas, 52Teas gave to me…Lemon Cardamom Chun Mee!
On first sniff, this doesn’t seem all that different from Sun and Cloud Mist. It has the same creamy lemon scent, and they’re both green teas albeit with different varieties for their bases. I’ve sniffed the two side by side, and this one is a little stronger/sharper smelling. I can also see whole cardamom pods in the dry mix, so I’m hopeful that this could be an interesting experience. The cardamom certainly intrigues me!
First impressions can be deceiving. The liquor is darker than I expected. I’ve never come across Chun Mee before, though, so I really had no idea what I was going to get. I’ll have to find out some more about it, since it’s certainly one I could come to like. Any non-bitter green I can get my hands on is fine by me.
The initial taste is, as I suspected, very similar to Sun and Cloud Mist. It’s slightly less sweet, but the same flavours are there. What’s different is that the cardamom comes through quite strongly in the aftertaste, which I like a lot. The middle of the sip is a bit flat, though, with almost no taste. I found that a bit odd. I think I might need to brew this one a touch longer than 2 minutes to try and counteract this, but it’s one of the reasons I want to research Chun Mee a little more. If I understood its characteristics, I’d feel better able to brew is properly.
Ultimately, this is a potentially nice lemon and cardamom flavoured green tea. I could happily drink it any time of the day. If I can counteract the flatness in the middle, it’ll be another easy winner with me.
