Silk Road

I wanted to get a different genmai cha to compare to the stuff that I’ve gotten in the past from Maeda-en. I know that the Silk Road Teas have a good reputation and I got a bit of this at the local Whole Foods this afternoon in the bulk section.

I believe this blend has slightly more green tea than what I am used to. And I’m not sure I’m a huge fan of whatever green tea this is here as the base. I am getting a bit of astringency/bitterness which is one thing I am not fond of about senchas. It does have a nice nutty quality and I like the brown rice but in my opinion it’s just ok. If I was on a desert island with no other Japanese green tea I would be happy with it, I’m sure. Of course now I am spoiled after drinking gyokuro this morning!

mint, lemongrass… lovely. i can barely detect the seaweed in the smell of the steeped tea, and just a little bit more in the flavour, but it works well overall.
a nice herbal! refreshing on winter evenings :)

hoping to quell this scratchy throat! goes well with chicken strips and Bombay Bicycle Club :)

yes! one of my favourite teas. lovely peach fragrance, strong black tea taste and a sweet lingering floral peachyness afterward.
this is my second to last cup and i must get more!

i love this tea. i love silk road. they’re the ones that really got me into loose leaf. the atmosphere and the ‘self-serve’ type tea wall, just a great idea!

anyway, on to the tea… really lovely warming spicy blend. the cinnamon and clove are so nice with the black tea, and the slight citrus taste reminds me of mulled cider in the winter, though this tea would be equally excellent on a warm summer evening.
definitely one of my favourites – and i’m running low! must make another special tea trip to victoria, bc! :)

love this tea! one of the first flavoured greens i tried. lovely light cherry aroma, seems more like a bing cherry rather than a sour one to me, but i’m not complaining. really nice green tea flavour with cherry aftertaste. delicious!

second steep just as good :)

This lovely herbal blend is perfect for sipping while relaxing in the evening. The spearmint adds a wonderful freshness to the existing floral taste from the lavender and rose petals. Lovely, just lovely!

The first loosed leaf tea I ever bought. Recommended to me by the fact that if I like the green tea they serve as complimentary drinks at Japanese restaurants then I’ll probably like this. I do c: Sweet and nutty, I like to drink this when I’m eating something like sushi or okonomiyaki.

Nope, I tried it a second time, and this tea although blissfully fragrant is just not a tea for me. I wish it were, I love m ango, but it’s more black tea than mango when steeped and that is just a huge let down for me. Esspecially when the leaves are so fragrant before steeping.

This tea is so fragrant I actually breathed in the leaves and choked on them in the store, after a few giggles of embarassment I filled a small tin and wisked this one home for a taste test.

After following the directions for Black teas from Silk Roads I decided this time to steep the tea as little as possible and see what happens. The tea had a deep amber colour and the scent of fresh mangoes were intense enough to allude to enjoyable sipping… Not so much, I am starting to think that either a) I don’t like black teas or b) I just don’t like them from Silk Roads…

Here’s hoping it is “a” and not “b”

Must get more…

Must buy larger container next time…

I had quite the day, Dr’s with poor “bedside manner” and jerk like atittudes meets this tea… everything almost seems okay now.

Maybe I am starting to understand the more subtle notes of “black teas” but today detected floral scents under the manderine and spice. Soothing to the soul and the fractured sense of self – gotta love Dr’s and their ability to make one feel not only fat, but lazy all at once, and all because of a swollen, black finger… that is what I went in for and I came out with a sense of fat and lazy.

Delicious tea, to the point that I think I might be ready to venture into tasting straight blacks, no added flavours….

Hopefully the lab will garner conclusive results and show the Dr that he should stick to teh concern at hand… my puffy black finger that needs attention, and not my body fat, apparently my puffy black finger is a sign of high cholesterol… WFT?!

But I digress, this tea is delicious… I should buy more, soon.

I went to a few tea shops with my brother Saturday and walked away from Murchie’s with a Tuffy Basket Steeper and some new knowledge about steeping teas.

And….

I am on my second steep, and loving every minute of it!

First steep was fragrant and flavourful, with lots of intense mandarin taste. While the second steep allowed for more of the spice to come through, so much so that I am worried the third steep might be a little flat. That doesn’t worry me since I’ve already gotten my money’s worth with two steeps.

Not my most favourite tea, but for the tea connaisuer this tea is probably more up their alley.

Scent is fabulous! Even after it was steeped I truly enjoyed sitting in my favourite reading chair and sniffing the tea while ignoring the book I was reading at that time. But as for taste, if I wasn’t so against honey and sugar I am sure I could find more enjoyment in this tea if it was steeped less and sweetened with something.

Note: steep time is as suggested by Silk Roads

I forgot that I have a little tin of this tea and found it while digging through my tea stash. I bought it on a whim because it smells so good!

I absolutely love this :-) It just may end up being my favourite black tea. Very smooth, no bitterness, just the right hint of vanilla. I could drink this all day and not get tired of it. Now I wish I could remember where I got this little tin because I need to go get more ASAP.

This is one my fav teas from Silk Road in Victora, B.C. I sometimes drink this tea instead of the standard camomile to relax at the end of a long day.

One of my favorite tea’s. My cousin used to work at Silk Road in BC and sent me some (I’m in Moncton, NB) It has such a nice taste, very refreshing!

I love this tea. It’s dark, rich, honey-like flavor makes it one of my favorite black/red teas. I don’t drink it on a daily basis but rather when I’m in a special mood for that dark/rich/honeyish/nourishing quality.

I am one of those people who in general doesn’t really like green tea. I love white tea, red tea, yellow tea, oolong tea, and pu-erh tea, but I rarely encounter a green tea that I enjoy. This particular tea, with the toasted rice and popcorn flavor, is one of only two or three green teas that I really enjoy, even though I feel as though I’m “cheating”, because in a way it’s like drinking liquid popcorn. But that’s not really fair to it, because it does have a hearty, complex flavor. I wouldn’t drink it daily, but it is a treat.

This is the first pu-erh I have prepared at home. I tried a green pu-erh when I was in the Silk Road Tea shop in Victoria and really enjoyed it, so I picked up a few pucks to try…

As per directions, I brought the water almost to a boil, and then steeped the puck for about 3 minutes. I did, however, steep it in more than two cups of water as suggested.

The liquer is amber and there is only a faint scent (of green tea).
Hmm… I shouldn’t have a had dark chocolate right before… the flavour is very mild, especially while it’s still quite hot.
It’s kinda like a genmaicha without the roasted rice… but not sencha….Extemely subtle taste. There’s something that is almost waxy, but that might be leftover lip gloss. lol.
No complaints here, except it could be stronger. I’ll have to try sticking to 2 cups of water next time to see if that makes a difference

I’m not a huge black tea drinker, but this one just smelled so good I had to pick up a small tin. It smells so sweet and vanilla-y.
It also tastes very sweet, somewhat of vanilla, but also of something almost like strawberries. Very nice and not bitter or strong like some blacks.

yum yum yum
Gen Mai Cha is definitely my favorite green so far… well maybe it’s a tie with Jasmine green.

Either way, the Silk Road gen mai cha is as good or better than some I’ve had in Japanese restaurants.
The dry tea is almost equal parts roasted rice and green tea leaves, with a few popped pieces of rice.
The liqueur is quite dark, and the taste is distinctly nutty but still green.

This sweet blend goes perfectly with honey. It is one of my all-time favorites.

Definitely one of my favourite flavoured Green Teas. It’s surprisingly sour and fresh which is just a perfect summer afternoon tea. It also works really well as an iced tea. Be sure to brew at the proper temp for Green Tea if you don’t want that bitter flavour!