135 Tasting Notes
It’s low in caffeine, but not VERY low! Don’t drink it at night. If brewed well, it’s pleasant, sweetish with a roasted taste, and very drinkable. If steeped for too long or at too high a temperature, it becomes very bitter.
Flavors: Grass, Seaweed, Sweet
Preparation
The dry leaves smell markedly of butternut squash. This is an interesting tea! Wet leaves are even more squashy, with notes of pumpkin and yam… The taste is similar to the smell, while the aftertaste has a slight astringency and some minerality reminiscent of Wuyi oolong. It’s relatively affordable for a tea grown in the USA, and comes in a ‘loose puck’ form which I haven’t seen elsewhere.
Flavors: Astringent, Butternut Squash, Mineral, Pumpkin, Sweet Potatoes, Yams
Preparation
It’s smoky, but less like an actual campfire and more like an Islay scotch. The first few steeps are almost overwhelmingly bitter and smell of hay. On the third steep it becomes delicious, with a lingering smoky aftertaste.
Flavors: Bitter, Hay, Peat, Scotch, Smoke
Preparation
My default no-effort decaf bag tea. It’s not fantastic, but it’s not bad either – especially for a tea that’s both decaf and in a bag – and is available almost everywhere near where I live.
Flavors: Malt
Preparation
Well, this is an intense tea! By far the strongest green tea I’ve had. It’s thick, vegetal, slightly bitter, and just very… strong. I like it, but would never have it before bed. Of the two hot brewing methods detailed for it on the product page on HT, I definitely prefer the ‘traditional method.’
Flavors: Astringent, Broth, Thick, Vegetal