14 Tasting Notes
Wow, I love this Sencha. This is my first Fukamushi and I’m so impressed. Such a lovely green cup and tastes exactly like it smells. It’s not too bitter or grassy, but lightly sweet and vegetal. It definitely tastes of buttery asparagus with a hints of artichoke, and it’s just a little bit brothy. Divine. I will definitely be purchasing more to this.
Preparation
This is a very summery green tasting sencha. It has a nice vegetal aroma, but the taste is a balance of grassy and a collard green like vegetal. However, there is a little bit of bitterness to it, but it’s energizing as well. Overall I do like it quite a bit and it has a very healthful feel to it. However, as with just about anything Teavana, you could get better, cheaper elsewhere.
Oh, and on a side note plain tart frozen yogurt bring out the flavor any decent sencha and makes it taste that much better. Yummmm!
IMHO, masala chai should be both bold and strong. This tea is made with assam, and I love that about this tea. It’s become popular her in the U.S. to use other teas to make masala chai, such as darjeeling, oolongs, and even green and white teas, because assam has a reputation for being bitter and astringent. Darjeelings aren’t quite bold enough, oolongs don’t cut it, and green and whites get completely over powered by the spices. Assam is used in India to make masala, and the power of it really stands up the boldness of the spices, so it’s certainly preferable to any tea . While I enjoyed the blend of spices in this one, I found it to be too heavy on the cinnamon. Overall though I am happy with this one, even though it’s too expensive.
Preparation
Wow, this really is an extremely bold Masala chai, which I adore. However, while the flavor is very good, there is a little too much cinnamon and not enough cardamom for my tastes. It still makes an excellent cup of chai though and does and wonderful job of waking me right up :)
Preparation
This is my favorite Masala chai blend. It’s a well balanced with a mix of traditional whole spices. They use curled assam, the same tea used in authentic Masala chai, which really gives it a nice full depth to the flavor. Most American Masala chai suffers from a lack of cardamom, but this blend has just the right amount. An excellent well rounded blend that you can add to if you prefer.
Preparation
Sweet, yet rich and full. I prefer this one with milk and sugar.
God Save the Queen – S*x Pistols
Preparation
I rarely purchase grocery store teas, but I was craving chai, had heard Numi was a good brand, and the box does say “full leaf tea”. After getting it home I just cut open a bag and put it in the teapot. That’s when I discovered that it doesn’t look like full leaf at all; it appears to be ground and twiggy. Well, I decided to try it anyway, just in case it was better than it looks. Cinnamon overwhelmed all the other spices and the tea was just weak. Not much more to say; I just really didn’t like it and was upset over what I feel was the false claim that it’s a loose leaf tea.
Preparation
Ah, so smooth and sweet with no astringency or grassy flavors. I’m picking up apple, almost and applewoodsy taste, as well as grape and a hint of pecan. I had three infusions of this one and the flavor doesn’t seem to vary much with each steeping.
