205/365
Pulled out the second of my green SBTs. In some ways, I’m glad I waited a while before trying them, because I feel like my appreciation of green tea is greater than it used to be. This one got the usual SBT treatment, modified slightly to take into account the green base (cooler water, slightly shorter steep time). I noticed this last time, but they seem to come out almost fluorescent yellow, which is interesting. It’s much brighter than a “normal” green tea colour, but I’ve no idea why. Answers on a postcard.
To taste, I get mostly candy strawberry and just a hint of kiwi. The strawberry is front and centre, the kiwi mostly in the background (and a little more in the aftertaste). It’s super smooth, with no bitterness or astringency from the base. I’m not even sure I’d peg it as a green tea, if I didn’t know. It’s so smooth and delicately sweet that I’d probably think it was just fruit. It’s nice to have the caffeine, though! The strawberry flavour is clear and fruity-juicy, but I’d really like a bit more kiwi. I feel like kiwi isn’t a flavour I see a lot in tea, and yet I can imagine it pairing perfectly with so many things. I feel like the strawberry here would come over a bit less sweet if the kiwi was more prominent, but I like sweet so I’ve no real complaints.
While I know it’s definitely time to drink these up, I’m also sad that they’re disappearing from my cupboard. SBT are a big part of my tea history, and mostly what got me drinking iced tea in the first place. It’s going to be fine, but it’s not going to be the same.
