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…’kay time for some organic Kukicha.

This is my first time to drink Kukicha actually, because one person asked me to write a review for it. Otherwise, I wasn’t attracted to Kukucha… until I tried it that is. I couldn’t believe that twigs and stems can bring up such a pleasant flavor.

Tea soup resembles Sencha in appearance, just to lack that grassy note with some aroma that I somehow closely relate to roasted corn on a cob. I was surprised how refreshing and tasty it was. You know when you try something for the first time and you get less than you expected, well, it’s the other way around with this cuppa.
Few sips into familiarizing with Kukicha and slight sourness arises, just a dash, and no astringency. Few sips more and subtle grassy Sencha flavor comes about. I drank it all the way to the bottom (:eeeew:). No really, it was that tasty.

I wasn’t feeling like washing my teapot for some Keemun so I dared to re-steep it on lower temperature and at least 5 minutes. And it was worth it. Maybe not as flavorful as the first steep, minus freshness, but I could feel some Gyokuro, and boy, that made my day.

To wrap it up, an excellent tea, I could drink it almost on a daily basis. Nice to meet you Kukicha.

Here’s the album, sorry for low res I had to resize for the forum I post my reviews.

http://imageshack.us/g/401/311220111477.jpg/

I’ve heard of this tisane few weeks ago. I stumbled upon it last week and purchased 1 Oz, just to give it a try. I’m really not fond of tisanes, but I really can’t drink any C. Sinensis in evening, or I’ll be staying awake for couple more hours than usual. Anyways, this cuppa has cooled enough for sipping, so let’s get to the point.

Liquor reminds me of rich red wine in color, and aroma rising from the cup is somewhat fruity with a dash of honey. Taste itself reminds of rooibos, it has that earthy body and tobacco-y finish. Besides that, it derives from rooibos with some short lasting sweetness culminating to freshness in the end. There’s a certain fruity aroma that lingers about, that I just can’t put my finger on. And as I strain my brain cells to reach for it, it slips away. I don’t want to bother about it right now, I pretty much enjoy this cuppa.
Few sips to finish this one, and I notice that liquor slightly changed color, looking more like Ceylon than rooibos.

To wrap it up, this is pretty neat cuppa, like rooibos on steroids (lol). But seriously, I don’t fancy drinking plain rooibos, only in blends, but I could hang out with this one for quite the time.

I bought this one couple days ago from tea shop in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. I really hesitated to buy it, since I’m not fond of white teas, although I do enjoy some now and then.
So, let’s see… Recommend parameters on package goes as following: 75-85 Celsius, 5-7 teaspoons of dry leaf per liter, brew 2-3 minutes.
I’m going for lower temperature-longer infusion (2 gr, 5.5 fl Oz, 75C, 3 min.).

Dry leaf smells kinda funny to me, almost like flour when it rises and gets to your nostrils. I guess it’s more of natural tea aroma than of greens and blacks. I don’t dislike it though, just find it a bit funny and somewhat alien in this occasion.
One more detail caught my eye – it seems that due to leaf shape some leaves can’t sink but float on water surface. This gives me that ‘lifting one eyebrow and grin’ moment, meaning that I could steep it at least one more time. I’m using glass teapot, BTW.

Three minutes later, and I’m straining it into cup. At first glance, tea soup seems to have a light green note, but as it settles down bright yellow hue takes over. Aroma is somewhat sweet, but I can’t notice anything else.

First sip… wow. Soup is crisp, herbal and sweet. It’s rather unique in appearance to me. At tip of mouth is crisp, on the middle it gets more herbal and sweet lacking crisp notes, and when swallowing crispness emerges to surface again. Aftertaste is just tiny tiny bit astringent, and I can sense that funny dry leaf aroma evaporating from the throat.
After few sips it gets more herbal and some fruity notes move about.

I’m re-steeping it with 85C – 2 mins.

Liquor came out more golden in appearance and had bolder herbal note to it. It also dries up mouth a bit, just a bit. That quirky flour aroma is gone but I got short for crisp note in the end.

In the end this tea is excellent, except that fuzzy aroma. Otherwise, I could rate it almost 90. I’ll experiment with it though, maybe I’ll find sweet spot for my palate.

This one is from Teekanne Green & White 6×5 pack. I almost never buy tea bags, but this was a nice opportunity to try out few different teas for decent price.

I did google search on opuncia, an it seems to be an edible kind of cactus (genus Opuntia). Aroma rising from cup reminds me of Aloe Vera with slight touch of sweetness to it. But then on second thought, it resembles rum punch as well.
With first sip that Aloe note refreshed my mouth, followed by a mild burst of astringency, but nothing overpowering nor long lasting. I never tasted anything like it. It’s kinda funny, but I enjoy it.
Sipping some more… hmm, I think opuntia flavor could fit well as iced tea. In fact, I might look for some loose leaf blend of this sort.
All in all, I quite enjoyed this one, but I don’t think it could be my everyday cuppa, maybe occasionally or when having cold.

This one is from Teekanne Green & White 6×5 pack. I almost never buy tea bags, but this was a nice opportunity to try out few different teas for decent price.

I’ll make this one short.
This cuppa is somewhat disappointing, it really goes with cheap brands’ dust & fanning. Although, if I had to choose between Zen Chai and this one, I’d chose the later. Astringency is key repulsing factor with this one, and I think I won’t be drinking this again unless I’m out of options.

This one is from Teekanne Green & White 6×5 pack. I almost never buy tea bags, but this was a nice opportunity to try out few different teas for decent price.

I’m almost done tasting all six teas from this pack. This one has a nice natural, a bit zesty lemon aroma. With first sip it reminds me of certain blend from local tea house, which reminds me that I’ll have to add those to my cupboard later… Now back to this cuppa. This one has decent body, with lemon notes lingering few moments after swallowing. I’m quite surprised since it lacks any astringency, which wasn’t the case in previous bags from this pack.
I’m getting the idea that this cuppa could achieve 85+ with few lemon juice drops and spoonful of honey. Alas, I drink my teas as is most of the time, and frankly I’m lazy right now to test my theory.
To wrap it up, it’s quite nice cuppa, I’m going to enjoy few more bags that I have.

This one is from Teekanne Green & White 6×5 pack. I almost never buy tea bags, but this was a nice opportunity to try out few different teas for decent price. I tried steeping it by instructions (100C, 3-5 min), but it was horrid, now I’m doing it my way.

It isn’t a rare for green tea aroma to be described somewhat peach-y, and flavoring it with the same might be a bullseye…or not…we’ll see.
I got used to tea bags giving murky liquor, so I won’t complain much about it. Actually I’m going to say that pleasant peach aroma rising from this cuppa makes me eager to sip it.
Seconds later… I get a bit surprised with green note, I really didn’t expect it here. It feels dry as it lingers and boosting overall impression with tobacco-licorice finish. You do get a bit of astringency if you slurp it, but all in all it’s a decent green cuppa for tea bag.

This one is from Teekanne Green & White 6×5 pack. I almost never buy tea bags, but this was a nice opportunity to try out few different teas for decent price. What confuses me with this one are steeping instructions: 100 Celsius, 3-5 min. I tried it their way, was terrible, now I’m going to do it my way.

This tea is rather murky with dull note to it. Aroma is better part though, I can sense something between mango and fermented watermelon. With first sip I feel its thin body ended with hint of astringency after swallowing. There isn’t much more to say about this cuppa, it doesn’t please nor punish my senses for sipping it, but it’s definitely better brewed on 82 rather than 100 Celsius.
I also note that as it cools it gets less astringent but it also gives you that dry mouth sensation, including tongue and throat. I think I’m pretty much finished with this one,.

Here I go… This is my first tea note on steepster. I want to start with something simple, tea bag that is. My loose leaf teas will have to wait a bit.

This one is from Teekanne Green & White 6×5 pack. I almost never buy tea bags, but this was a nice opportunity to try out few different teas for decent price. Instructions for steeping make more sense to me than other greens in the G&W pack (100C, 3-5m).

Tea seems a bit murky, but it has a longer steeped Bai MuDan hue to it. Aroma is more appealing, actually even surprising since I didn’t expect much from this tea bag.
With first sip you get that robust tobacco taste that lingers a bit and transforms to floral notes with exhaling through nostrils. After few sips there is a short sweet sensation in throat ended with that particular grapefruit peel note on the palate that rests for some time, along with moderate mouth dryness.
All in all, this is quite good cuppa for a tea bag, but I’m not sure if I’ll be restocking it, but hey, you never know… I still have four tea bags to go.