Audrey C. Send Message

I keep buying this because it sounds good and I keep remembering that I don’t like it. Where’s the vanilla flavor? Completely unsubtle and just not that tasty.

This is a pretty solid tea that tastes exactly what you’d expect green tea+chamomile to taste like.

A nice white, slightly sweet and citrus-y (as advertised).

I’m not sure what it is about this tea, but I find the flavor/texture amazing! The first tangy sip surprises me every single time. I have to be in the right mood to drink it (and I swear, despite the lack of caffeine it always makes me need to pee) — but when I am, it’s, well — fun. A really fun tea, if you like different and tangy.

One of my favorite white teas for the days where I want something more subtle and less sweet. Very smooth.

Lately I’ve been experimenting with adding a little bit of jasmine pearl tea in and the two mix remarkably well!

A lot of people seem to like this one, but I’m not a huge fan. I’ve tried this particular Sencha a variety of ways – steeping shorter, steeping longer, covered cup, uncovered cup — it just never excites me. I can’t get a good flavor out of it without steeping it too long (and then it gets bitter, of course). If I steep it for the recommended time it’s not very good.

I’m going to try another cup at some point with lots of extra tea and a very short steep time to see if it helps. I don’t think I’ll be buying this tea again.

EDIT: Lots of tea and a shorter steep time did help – a lot! I think I need to stop trusting Teavana’s claim of 1 tsp for their teas… it’s really closer to 2 or 3 for the best flavor. Maybe they only do that so they can claim more servings? Unfortunately it’s still hard to time it right.

Anyway, increasing my rating, but I still prefer the Sencha from Peet’s.

This is my everyday work Sencha. It’s very clean and fresh tasting, at least when I don’t forget about it and over-steep.

The only downside is that some of the pieces get a little powdery towards the bottom of the container.

I tried this tea at Samovar in downtown San Francisco. The leaves are chipped out of the mandarin (literally with a tool similar to a chisel), then there is an initial quick rinse before the first steep. They said to steep for 30 – 45 seconds – I found I preferred the shorter steeping time. Once I put too much water in the pot for one cup and steeped for a few minutes… definitely a mistake!

I liked the tea both without and with the orange peel. I found it more subtle without (unsurprisingly). After drinking 4 or 5 brews I smelled the contents and I loved the sharp, earthy scent. Overall, really interesting and delicious.

(water temperature note may be off as I didn’t brew it myself)