Lupicia

Brewed cold in ~350 mL water

A delicious muscat flavour paired with citrus and green tea flavour

The second steep has more nuance – less grape and more other fruits. Still a nice grassy matcha and sencha undertone but with less obvious muscatel grape

Sipdown (2990)!

To be honest, I really haven’t done much exploration at all of Lupicia’s straight teas since their blends have always been so much more interesting to me. So, I’m kind of glad to get to try a few now! Dry leaf aroma on this one was very nice. Fruity and muscatel but with hints of florals and spice too.

Steeped up, it’s nice but not mind blowing. I can taste all of the notes I was getting in the aroma: muscat grapes, florals, and spice. Cinnamon, specifically. However, it’s also a little more flat/muted than I’d have expected and there’s a strong woodiness that I’m only feeling so-so about. That’s NOT to say it’s flat tasting overall. Just flatter than anticipated. As it cools more of the fruity notes come out though, and a touch of honey as well. The woodiness also mellows a little. So, it got better over the course of the mug and was perfectly fine for a blend of plain black teas, with the emphasis on the Darjeeling.

This is one of my favorite flavored teas out of any brand, especially for milk tea. I would never have thought that puer would be this good as a flavored tea, but this is delicious. The earthiness of the puer compliments the chocolate so well, and the strawberry isn’t overwhelming, but just strong enough to cut through the other strong scents to round out the taste.

Chocolate and Strawberry Puer 5577. Lupicia
Lot no. 605155H1 (?). BB: 03/2027.

[Ingredients: China Puer tea, India Black tea, Roasted cacao, Rose petal, Heath flower, Flavourings.]

GONGFU:
2.5 g leaf prepared Gongfu style wih 8 serial infusions of 3 oz. boiling alpine spring water (without wash), for 30s, 30s, 30s, 30s, (pause), 20s, 40s, 80s, 3m.

Like drinking a chocolate bar! Dry leaf strong aroma of milk chocolate, ripe strawberry. 1st–4th infusions with aroma and flavor of strawberry & chocolate dominating; notes of geosmin, malt and black tea, silky smooth and sweet in the mouth; no compost or fishy or seaweed or astringent or sour or bitter notes at all. Just smooth, sweet, sips with a long-lasting finish. Primary flavors began tailing off by 4th, with a note of assamic varietal slipping through now and then. In 5th, a petrichor aroma burst through the declining strawberry while the primary flavors remained balanced, if reduced. Trends continued in 6th, which had a lighter amber liquor despite the lengthened steeping. In 7th & 8th the infusions were notably weaker, though still sweet and having notes of chocolate and strawberry, so I concluded the series here.

WESTERN:
2.5 g leaf prepared Western style wih 3 serial infusions of 8 oz. boiling alpine spring water (without wash), for 1 min., 2 min., and 4 min.

The first and second were combined and tasted: delicious liquor, tasting the same as the 1st–3rd gongfu infusions above. The remaining combined tea was allowed to cool, sweetened with sugar, and iced (see below). The third infusion was sipped as-is. In the 3rd, the ripe puer nature asserted itself, among the strawberry and chocolate notes, contributing an earthy base note that rounded out the entire experience. Very satisfying, with a long pleasant finish.

ICED:
The iced preparation was outstanding, and is right up there with my favorite peach or blackcurrant iced teas. Very refreshing and the sweetness worked well with the chocolate and strawberry flavors. Unfortunately, splashing milk into the sweet iced tea seemed to quench the cocoa and berry flavors, leaving a rather dirty or earthy impression. Maybe there was just too much going on. Nevertheless, the hot-sweetened and sweet-iced preparations were wonderful and will be my choice of method for this tea, going forward.

Overall, I recommend with emphasis, no matter your choice of prep method, and rate this as 92. I guess that aligns with the notes of many others here, so I’m running with the crowd! Thanks Lupicia, for broadening my flavored-puer palate!

Sencha Uji 7434. Lupicia.
Lot no. 927876 (?). BB: 01/2026.
Wow, just wow! My first impression of the dry leaf fragrance was “oh, this is like Chinese Dragonwell”. But no… this goes far beyond the measure of that yardstick! I steeped 4 g leaf in 8 oz. alpine spring water at 165°F for 90 sec. in a stainless micropore infusion basket. The leaf swelled into a bright green shade, and the liquor was a vibrant green-gold hue, and became crystal clear as the fines settled. Strong umami and nutty flavors on my tongue here, with notes of chestnut, edamame, buttered artichoke, and a slightly bitter zing of fresh-mown grass, probably the result of breakage and the substantial amount of fines (dust) present. The aroma reflected these flavors, and these tastes continued for many minutes after each sip. As the tea cooled further and I continued to slurp, the nutty fragrance and flavor came to dominate, while the bitter grassiness receeded into the background. This is among the most enjoyable green teas I’ve had, and I’ll recommend it and rate as 92. It could reach 100 if the leaf was more intact, without the fannings & dust. Very happy with this purchase, nevertheless.

ETA: A re-steep of the leaf (same parameters) produced a bright gold liquor tinged with green that was mildly fragrant and having the same flavor profile, albeit muted in intensity. By itself a good cup, but nowhere near the experience of the initial steep. In the future I’ll cut the dry leaf to 2.5g, for a single 2 min. steep, using fresh leaf for each cup.

Admittedly I only had a single sample sachet of Sencha “Chiran” 7401 that was included with my Lupicia order, so I’m trying to be fair with this “gift horse”. Flavor and aroma were nice, but more gentle than the other Lupicia sencha I ordered, plus this had considerable astrigency, which I disfavored. The closest I can describe the taste is of brothy, soft buttered atrichoke, without the nuttiness that I’ve come to expect in other senchas. I had steeped the sachet (about 3.2 g leaf) in 8 oz. alpine spring water at 170°F for 90 sec. Just now I see that Lupicias site recommends only 5 oz water, so maybe the gentleness was my fault for over diluting the infusion. Still, it was enjoyable, though not earning a place on my shopping list. Recommended, with a rating of 60.

There I was, reading @Roswell Strange’s review (posted minutes earlier) of this tea when it dawned on me that this was the same tea I was expecting to arrive momentarily!

What was my experience? I loved the fragrance, both of the dry leaf and the steeped tea. Along with the blast of peach, I got notes of rose and other floral elements. I am not sure I could detect aroma from the base oolong, but there was more than just peach here, in aroma and flavor, so that must have been the oolong contributing. A second steep taught me that while the forward peach aroma had subsided considerably, the peach flavor— on my tongue— was essentially gone. But as I slurped, I feel I was getting more of the base oolong, with some heavier tastes, including a now pronounced vanilla note. Understanding this, I enjoyed both infusions equally, for what they offered. I never really got the fresh peach juiciness of flavor on my tongue (as I do when eating a fresh, ripe peach), despite the powerful and lovely fragrance! Maybe that is asking too much. I’ll rate this as an 83 and recommend, with the comment that you look more to the aroma for satisfaction than any oolong flavors. [ I brewed 3 g leaf in a stainless micropore infusion basket in 8 oz boiling alpine spring water for 2 minutes with one subsequent re-steep. The liquor was light gold in hue and the leaf a dark olive green, after unfurling.]

ETR: Irrelevant commentary.

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Another iced milk tea! This has a similar base to Castella, with those teeny tiny CTC pellets.

I’m not generally a chocolate tea person, but this is lovely as a milk tea. The chocolate tastes very dark and cocoa-y, and even a touch boozy, as if there were rum in the cake or buttercream. I don’t taste coffee, but it’s unclear from the description whether there’s intended to be any here or not. The base is very strongly malty and a touch woody.

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Another one from Valhallow, thanks again!

Prepared as an iced milk tea. This has a teeny tiny CTC base – it almost looks like fannings, but upon closer inspection there are little pellets. I assume this probably means it’s meant to be enjoyed with milk, so I figured this was a good way to send it off.

It’s a tasty enough tea, there’s definitely a caramel note to it as well as the cake. To be honest, I find castella cake kind of bland and uninteresting, though obviously I’ve only had the mass-produced type. I prefer the flavored ones, as just plain sponge cake isn’t very exciting to me. So I appreciate that this tea leans heavily into the caramelized notes as it adds interest. Not a tea I would personally order, but really enjoyed trying it and it does fare well as a milk tea!

Another tea (in sachets) that my coworker brought back from her Japan trip! She was there kind of around Easter, and the packaging this came in was egg shaped so I’m guessing it was being pushed/promoted for the holiday even though it doesn’t specifically seem like it’s an Easter blend!?

The aroma of the leaves are VERY strong. Like, the kind of intensity that comes with either heavy handed use of flavouring or flavouring that just hasn’t had time to air out and settle properly yet. I really smell the raspberry, but it’s more of a candy-style of raspberry. The peach is also really packed in and discernable.

Steeped up, it’s much more manageable flavour-wise which to me indicates the intense aroma was more of an airing out situation. It feels more balanced now because those potent carriers have “burned off” during the steeping process. The raspberry jumps out the most to me, and it’s jammy and sweet in the way a raspberry filling of a jelly donut might be. The peach/stonefruit note still comes though though, and the two play very nicely together. I know neither peach or raspberry are, like, “common” jelly bean flavours but there isn’t something to this tea that kind of feeling jelly bean inspired. The generic ones though, not something super gourmet. And I don’t mean that as an insult, truly.

Overall verdict? I think I like this. It’s growing on me more as I sip it, and as a fan of fruity rooibos blends it is checking quite a few boxes for me.

Green tea fixation still going strong…

This was something my coworker brought back when she visited Japan. The tea is in sachets, which was very convenient for me to brew up at work this morning. It was smooth and bright with a zesty, fresh lemon note layered over more crisp and resinous or pine-like green tea. I really need to work on building up my green tea tasting note vocabulary because as I’m going deeper down this rabbit hole of Japanese green teas I’ve struggling to convey the tasting notes as strongly as I feel I can with other tea types.

Regardless, this was fresh and flavourful and a very nice way to start my work day.

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A rehome from Valhallow, thank you!

This is a nice buttery lemon black tea. To me, it tastes like a shortbread or butter cookie with a mild lemon flavor. The lemon isn’t quite strong or sharp enough to be a lemon tart IMO, but it’s still scrumptious! The base is fairly smooth and lets the flavoring shine.

This tea just reminds me that I need to get Dammann’s Noël à Venise back in my cupboard, as that is my favorite desserty lemon black tea. I’ve already been plotting my tea order for when I pick up their advent this year, and my goodness it’s going to be difficult to narrow down the choices… There are too many I want to try, and only in 100g increments! T.T

Anyone else pondering their advent selection already?

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July Sipdown Prompt – a decaffeinated tea

This was a Christmas gift from my son and daughter-in-law ChelseaR – many thanks!

I had a sample of Momo many years ago as well as Momo Vert. I like Lupicia’s white peach flavoring and I think Merci Milles Fois is right up there with my all-time favorite flavored teas.

For a decaf tea, which I really need past three in the afternoon if I want to sleep, this is pretty tasty. The flavor is at a similar level with Harney Midsummer Peach, but the peach flavor itself is a bit different, this one being white peach and the other being a good old Georgia peach. This resteeps well if you are combining the two steeps.

One of the teas that my coworker brought back from her Japan trip!

I believe this is a Japan exclusive blend, though I’m not 100% sure of that. The dry leaf smells fucking incredible though. Just the most absolutely mouthwatering fresh, juicy and effervescent sweet orange and zesty lemon notes. I was basically drooling just smelling it…

The base appears to be sencha and usually I’d be wary of that, but lately I’ve been on a really hot streak when it comes to my enjoyment of Japanese green teas. So, I just went for it. Eh. It’s not that I disliked the taste, but certainly it wasn’t the smashing success I hoped it would be. The oceanic and kind of kelp-y taste of the sencha was really strong and I immediately found the savory notes of it quite at odds with this otherwise really sweet citrus profile. Steeped it was a more yuzu/lemon than orange which, at least in aroma, I had expected to be stronger. I like yuzu though.

I think this might be smoother and more up my alley is cold brewed!? I don’t know. I still feel like there’s something really promising here if I can just find a way to taper the notes of the sencha a bit to better suit my own tastes. If I’m able to, I’d like to keep experimenting with steeping parameters. Will definitely depend on whether my friend/coworker lets me, though…

Iced Latte!

This was something that my coworker brought back from her Japan trip, and I was excited to try it because I’ve never had a matcha from Lupicia before. It comes in a stick pack format, and I wasn’t sure if there would be a built in dairy/creamer component since it’s advertised as a bit of a matcha latte mix – but, though it was sweetened, there wasn’t any dairy element so I added in my own.

I tried it as a “plain” (ie. just the mix and my milk) iced latte first, and I thought it was fine. Not a super strong taste, but smooth with a bit of a grassier umami note. After trying it on its own I did add in some strawberry jam/syrup because social media has successfully influenced me into being obsessed with that drink right now. Definitely tastier with the strawberry, but also obviously less matcha forward too.

I’m having a very weird last few weeks because I’ve been really gravitating towards green teas in a way that I so incredibly not typical of me…

This was one I pulled out specifically because I was craving that more umami heavy, unctuous note of a steamed green tea. The toasty nuttiness of the genmai and the more savory soybean were an added bonus. Overall just incredibly smooth with an almost oily/brothy kind of quality to the liquor and this absolutely dreamy combo of nori, roasted grains and nuts, and something almost sesame oil or seed-like in flavour. I wanted to melt in the mug.

Damn it was good!

My coworker who was recently in Tokyo stopped at a Lupicia store and brought a few different teas back with her. I’m honestly not totally sure why she picked this one, but it’s a new to me Lupicia blend so I figured I’d give it a try…

It came in sachet form, but was definitely a pretty generous portion of tea for the sachet. Steeped up I find this mostly tart, with a very bright and sour top note of hibiscus and lemongrass. Very citrusy! There’s a little bit of a slight ginger heat to the back end of the sip, but it’s mild. Not really very distinct tasting, in my opinion. However, for what is clearly meant to be a wellness blend using some fairly unpleasant tasting ingredients (ie. Lady’s Mantle) I think it’s pretty palatable/approachable. So if you think of the taste in isolation to the function I think it’s a bit “whelming” but given the actual ingredient composition for the function I think it’s fairly nice…

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This tea smells so good and I have tried so hard to like it. I just don’t.

I like Lupicia’s grape flavors. I love their Muscat and Jingle Bells teas, but this one is probably my least favorite tea of all that I own right now. I have had other green tea blends that taste like this and I don’t know what the base is, but I dislike it. For a long time I thought all Japanese green tea tasted like this so I avoided them. After trying many Japanese greens that I like very much, I know that is not the case.

I have tried this tea several times and every time I have high hopes based on the dry leaf smell and I am disappointed every time. The aroma reminds me of Pomegranate Oolong from Harney but the taste certainly does not.

They mention it being great for iced tea so I cold steeped it for lunch today hoping it would shine this time. Nope. Just as bad if not worse.

I have one serving left and I am going to both cold steep it AND sweeten it and see if that salvages it at all. Counting it as a sipdown tonight as the tin is now empty while the cold steep waits for the verdict tomorrow.

Edited to add: cold steeped and sweetened heavily it will do as tomorrow’s lunch drink. I can’t recommend this one and I hope someone can tell me what the sharp, angry taste is. I steeped at 175F and then dropped temp to 165F for future steeps then resorted to cold steeping and the sharpness is still there, so it is not temp related. Must be the base.

Sipdown

I like this one best full strength and not making a resteep and combining the two. You seem to get more rich chocolate that way. Some teas I don’t notice a big change in flavor doing the “two steeps and combine” method, but I do with this one.

I am not the world’s biggest fan of Earl Grey but I do like it on a Keemun or other base with deeper notes, and I also like it with orange, cream, or vanilla flavor added. The chocolate was good, too, and I shared a sample with a friend who adores almost all Earl Grey and she really loved it.

This reminds me a bit of their Hawaiian tea series in that it’s definitely tropical but a bit difficult to pick out the individual flavors. Apparently it’s supposed to be mango and pineapple with “other fruits”. I do get something mango-esque, though it also leans a bit more toward peach IMO. Not sure I can taste pineapple, but there is a slight tang.

I think this is one that would be nice as a milk tea, as the base is quite strong and has CTC leaves included. I’ll have to try it that way soon!

Not my absolute favourite of the Lupicia flavoured barley teas but that’s only because the bar is so high! The lychee surprised me with how well it went with the barley, although I might be biased because I love lychee anything. I would still usually choose the apricot or apple barley teas over this one but a good tea nonetheless.

To get through sampling more teas from the 2025 TTB, I made a small cup of each one rather than a full-sized mug. Since I still have a bit of Cookie, I thought it would be fun to do a comparison with the Deb Cookie Butter in the TTB. Surprisingly, I think I prefer the Cookie Butter! Lupicia’s base tea is very brisk, which isn’t bad, it’s just how a lot of Lupicia black teas seem to be. The base on the Cookie Butter blends in with the flavoring more, which means that the creamy, sweet, cookie-ness can take center stage.