1216 Tasting Notes
I purchased this at a booth at the PDX Tea Fest in 2019, and haven’t touched the cardboard tube “tin” since bringing it home (I deemed it a “fancy expensive tea” and somehow I just never drink “fancy expensive teas”). But this is the only Taiwanese oolong I have left in my stash, other than some Lupicia ones that I bought last year for my birthday and are still sealed. This one is older than those, so I’d rather break the seal on this one… so this is my “Taiwanese tea” for the February sipdown prompt!
I (vaguely) remember really enjoying the sample of this tea at their booth. I’ve brewed this cup like a heathen (aka “western”, when I know that “fancy expensive tea” should be brewed gong fu…) and my teacup smells incredibly malty… an Assam-esque malt/baked bread aroma, with an underlying fruitiness that smells of cherry compote and orange zest with honey.
The flavor is tasty… not as good as I remember drinking that fresh sample, but there is still some nice flavor despite its age. It is indeed very malty/bready (tending to the rye side), but is extremely smooth. About midsip and into the finish there is a strong honeyed fruits flavor, tasting a little like apple, cherry, plum, and orange, depending on the sip. There is a touch of florality that occassionally pops at the end of the sip, too, but paired with the fruitiness I get more of a “blossom” taste from it than a distinct “flower” taste.
It’s very satisfying. Perhaps there would be more nuance if I could bother to take the time for gong fu, but this is a nice cuppa, and I feel my early morning eyes starting to waken up from the liquified energy.
Flavors: Apple, Bread, Cherry, Floral, Fruity, Honey, Malt, Orange Blossom, Orange Zest, Plum, Rye, Smooth
Preparation
Wait, I’ve had this in my stash since 2018 and still haven’t tried it yet?! What is wrong with me?! Anyway, using this for the February sipdown prompt “Drink a tea flavored like your favorite muffin.” Pumpkin muffins are hands down my favorite! (Especially when they have added chocolate chips!)
This is a roasted stem style houjicha, which I tend to like just a bit better than the leafy sort. The dry aroma is super oaty, but with a noticable sweet squashiness… it’s a bit strange, since in America “pumpkin flavor” is typically utilized in food stuff as either “pumpkin spice” (the spice blend sans the squash) or as “pumpkin pie” (still mostly the spices, but with a very desserty-vanilla sort of squashiness). This is more of a savory scent… it smells quite nice on the houjicha. I’m uncertain if it will translate into the flavor, though!
The brewed cup does smell pretty on point to the dry leaf, with that fresh woody aroma of roasty hojicha blending with the oaty/squashy notes. None of the flower bed barky notes that I often get from (typically lower quality) hojicha. Huh. It’s hard to describe the flavor! Certainly I tasted wood, oats, and roasted walnuts, but there is a sweet squash taste to it. I’m not sure if my brain distinctly pegs it as “pumpkin” without the sweetness/spices that usually accompany the taste of pumpkin, but I can see it. It’s an umami sort of taste, but not vegetal. I actually really like it! It’s subtle, but gives a sort of added dimension to what would be a delicious hojicha on its own.
I’ll have to pull this one out more often! (I’m thinking a luxurious latte at some point…)
Flavors: Nutty, Oats, Pumpkin, Roasted, Roasted Nuts, Squash, Sweet, Umami, Walnut, Wood
Preparation
Mmm, sounds similar to 9209 Imo Kuri Kabo Cha by Lupicia… Huh, looks like I haven’t reviewed that one. It has Dried Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, and Pumpkin Powder, and no pumpkin pie spices.
I have that one from 2018 too… aaaaaaaaaaaaand haven’t had it yet because I’m an awful tea parent. :-(
Since I was able to restock this recently, I’m working on sipping down my two older (2019, perhaps?) packets while the coconut is still drinkable. Using this as the February sipdown prompt, “A tea you could happily drink every day.” (I’m also working on Bird & Blend’s Lazy Boy, another coconut tea that falls into the “could happily drink every day” category). Seems so many of my personal favorites are coconut teas, which leads me to want to horde them, when hording coconut is never a good idea. I need to enjoy them before they turn rancid!
There is nothing more I can say about this tea that I haven’t said before. Everyone knows how much I love it. The flavors of creamy coconut and tangy bergamot citrus just work together in a beautiful way.
Flavors: Bergamot, Citrus, Coconut, Creamy, Smooth, Sweet
Preparation
I’ve only seen it reblended if it gets enough votes for the 12 Teas of Christmas box (hense why I get into bad hording habits…)
@derk: I reblend it when I get enough requests for it. I don’t want to be in the habit of keeping coconut teas as part of my permanent collection because of the tendency for coconut to get funky.
@Mastress Alita: The first batch I crafted of this blend was in 2017 – it was a Tea of the Week for October 9. 2017. I reblended it the following year as part of our 12 Teas of Christmas. This past Christmas was the second time it was reblended. :)
Thank you both :)
52Tea, I totally understand why this isn’t in the permanent collection. I’ll keep my eye out for it later this year, hoping that your fans will vote it back!
@derk: I still have one unopened 15g packet from the 2018 12 Teas of Christmas reblend. The packet I just opened today was from the same reblend and the coconut was still okay. Would you like me to send you the packet that is still sealed?
Hoarding coconut is definitely a bad idea.
Luckily, with this tea, the coconut flakes are large, which seem to be a bit more resistant to going rancid than shredded coconut!
For the February sipdown prompt, “A tea gifted to you.” I received this from Todd over the last holiday season. Thank you, Todd!
I now keep a bag of culinary matcha in my cupboard at all times since I put it in my breakfast smoothie every morning. I am on a 3-month “auto” reorder with Mizuba, but this month the timing is such that I ran out a day before the new bag would arrive. So, I pulled out this Sakura Matcha to make my breakfast smoothie today!
1 cup vanilla almond milk, 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 tsp sakura matcha powder, 3 TBS yogurt, blended. It’s great! It has that nice, authentic sakura flavor, that is a bit of a cross between floral/cherry/umami that is hard to describe, and is lacking added sugars or salts, which makes the matcha pretty flexible for its use. I never taste the actual matcha flavor in my smoothies (I add it for the caffeine boost!), but I definitely taste the sakura along with the strawberries!
…I’ve been drinking a lot of sakura tea lately, and I’m still a month away from its season. Obviously I’m ready for spring now.
Flavors: Floral, Grass, Sakura, Umami
Preparation
Pulled this 2018 tea over to the sipdown corner for the February sipdown prompt, “Drink a black tea.”
I’m really enjoying this one! The maple is sweet but not overpowering; it goes well with the base, which is a Ceylon/Keemun blend with a really nice natural smoky note from the Keemun. I was worried the spices would be too much for me since the ingredients list chili pepper, but it isn’t at all. The sweeter cinnamon blends nicely with the maple, and I’m left with a sort of cardamom flavor late in the sip (cardamom isn’t listed in the spices, but I’m guessing it’s a combination of the ginger and clove I’m tasting), and there is a bit of warmth on my tongue after the swallow. Licorice root is listed in the blend, but I don’t taste it at all.
The maple makes this sweet enough to take without milk, but I’m sure it would be great as a latte as well (which I’m sure I’ll try while I’m working my way through the package). I really love the soft smokiness of the base without using (the far more abrasive for me) Lapsang Souchong, and it’s a lot smoother than their Canadian Breakfast.
Flavors: Cardamom, Cinnamon, Malt, Maple, Smoke, Smooth, Spices
Preparation
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve had this one! My hording habits are particularly bad with this because it’s a) one of the few sakura teas I’ve found that I really like since the leaves are preserved in sugar rather than salt, b) not particularly easy to get for someone that likes to avoid international shipping as much as possible. But I decided to make a cup this morning for the February sipdown prompt, “Drink a cherry tea.”
It still smells lovely in the cup, even though this is well past the prime of green tea now. Sadly the green tea no longer has that strong “buttery” flavor I was getting before, and the tea no longer reminds me of sugar cookies as a result, but it is still quite tasty. The base is perhaps a little flat now as there is a sharp minerality to it that I don’t recall from before, but also still a strong vegetal flavor that tastes like a mix of beans and peas. The sakura is more subdued now, too… I can smell it but there is only a faint florality and sweetness to the cup, with the strong vegetal sencha notes taking over.
This was definitely a tea that was better when I had it fresh… which just proves how stupid it is to tea horde. I guess I won’t feel so bad to move it over to the sipdown pile now, though. I’ve opted to not change the rating as I remember the sweet and delectable cookie-ness of this tea in the past, and am positive age is to blame, now.
Flavors: Beany, Floral, Mineral, Peas, Sakura, Sweet, Vegetal
Preparation
Ha! ‘how stupid it is to tea horde’ well I’ve never been accused of being a ‘smart’ tea drinker, so I think I can relate to this one. Someday I might have a reasonable sized and organized cupboard, or I might age some of my very favorite tea into less drinkable leaves.
This is for the February sipdown prompt, “Drink a grapefruit tea.” I’m not a huge fan of grapefruit in general, but over the years have found myself opening up to grapefruit flavoring in teas. I even have one, “Happiness” from Lupicia… but that was from my 2021 birthday order last year and still in sealed foil, and my own sipdown goals aren’t about opening up “new” tea I’m trying to preserve as long as possible, but rather focused on the oldest teas in my stash. I do tend to find the citrusy taste of bergamot sometimes tastes like grapefruit to me (other times it tastes more like a combination of lemon/lime, depending on the bergamot used). Going through my old tea notes, I found the bergamot used by Twinings, Stash, and T2 to have that “grapefruit” note to me, but the only one out of all of those still left in my stash is Twinings Earl Grey Lavender (which is one of the only Twinings EG’s not available in my area, and I had to pay way too much for a box of bagged tea to buy that variety from an online shop. Bah!)
It’s very pleasant. The bergamot is a nice strength for me… it’s bold but not BOLD! (I see from an old review that past-me thought the bergamot was a bit too strong, so obviously my tolerance has steadily increased over the years… it’s hard for me to believe there was once a time I couldn’t stand it at all!) The bergamot itself does taste a bit grapefruity at the beginning of the sip, but leans into a more lemony finish. The lavender is present but quite mellow in this blend… I can make out its distinct florality, and it blends nicely with the lemony qualities of the bergamot. I’d actually be happier with even stronger lavender (because I’m a lavender fiend), but I think this subtle touch is just right for the majority of tea drinkers. The base is malty and smooth, with a lingering citrus aftertaste that is slightly drying but not enough to feel problematic.
Could do a lot worse than this for a simple grocery store lavender Earl Grey. Raising the rating slightly.
Flavors: Bergamot, Citrus, Floral, Grapefruit, Lavender, Lemon, Malt, Smooth
Preparation
I prefer my EGs with extra ingredients to take my mind off the bergamot. This sounds like it would qualify!
In the early years of my tea journey, I didn’t like bergamot at all. The tea that became the “stepping stone” for me to start acclimating myself to it was T2’s “French Earl Grey” which has added peach flavoring and rose petals. That combo tasted like lychee to me… lychee with a bit of a sharp citrus. I stuck with blends for a while until I finally started to drink EG plain and straight-up. I still don’t like the “double bergamot” or “extra strong” varieties, though, unless I’m using them in a London Fog or smoothie.
Grabbed this packet to drink tonight. Using it as the February sipdown prompt “a tea flavored like a favorite snack food.” I’ve been really into popcorn lately, and genmaicha is known as the “popcorn tea” due to the bits of toasted rice that get popped, so I grabbed one of my oldest genmaicha, from 2018.
Steeped up, I really am just getting the strong notes I associate with genmaicha and not any additional flavorings… smooth, sweet grass, toasted rice, and roasted nuts. While I don’t get a distinct cinnamon flavor note, there is a sort of “sugary sweet” taste to the tea, and combined with the toasty rice notes, it really is reminding me of kettle corn. The base is even coming off more buttery than vegetal, adding to the illusion.
Satisfying!
Flavors: Butter, Nutty, Popcorn, Roasted Nuts, Smooth, Sweet, Sweet, Warm Grass, Toasted Rice
Preparation
I was already craving a genmaicha for tomorrow, so possibly I will steal your prompt idea (since I do not have a Cheez-it tea…)
Haha, came here to comment on the clever use of the prompt! I probably just need to pick a chocolate tea for mine, haha.
I’ve been working on this tea and Myrtle’s Tea House since last month and am really ready to move on, so I decided to go with some iced and latte preparations (which use more leaf) to speed up the process. So I used the remainder of my packet of this for a latte with Vanilla Almond Milk. Using it as the February sipdown prompt “Drink a tea that starts with a Periodic Table abbreviation” (O for Oxygen!)
I found in the latte it was still quite malty and bready, but I didn’t really taste any floral or muscatel notes. Rather, a sort of lemon citrusy flavor came forward, which was quite pleasant with the very sweet milk.
Not a bad send-off.
Flavors: Bread, Citrus, Malt
Preparation
Decided to finish off what I had left of this favorite tea as cold brew for the February sipdown prompt “Pair a tea to a favorite fairytale.” I collect mermaids, so obviously “The Little Mermaid” is one (among many) of my favorite fairytales, and the tropical flavor plus the name give me a water/ocean vibe.
Not much to say about the tea itself; it’s a strong hibi-hip fruit tea, the kind that is tart and fruit punchy, but I like my teas on the tart/tarter/tartest side. It has a really nice, refreshing pineapple flavor as well. I like it cold and straight up, with no sweetener.
Flavors: Citrus, Fruit Punch, Hibiscus, Pineapple, Sweet, Tangy
I’ve got several that fit your “fancy expensive” category that I recently dubbed “what are you waiting for, silly?”
I know! It’s akin to that grandma that has super fancy china locked away in a cupboard for “special occassions,” but no occassion is ever “special” enough to use it!
Simply design, but not so simply tea! Looks good indeed, though maybe not truly fancy expensive tea. Hopefully gongfu brewing will bring another dimmensions for this cup.
I’m working on the “good china” thing, too. And quilts made by mom, sister, grandma.
@Martin: It cost $20 for one ounce, which definitely qualifies as “fancy expensive tea” for me.
Oof! Taiwanese black teas don’t usually cost that much. I’m the same way with “fancy expensive tea,” though I’m trying not to hoard it.
It was definitely overpriced. But when you are at a physical tea festival, drinking the samples, and not sitting in front of a computer with 20 tabs open to compare teas and prices, it is very easy to get had like that. It’s good, but I certainly wouldn’t reorder it at that price point!
LOL, I get caught up in the moment sometimes as well. :) I hope you enjoy the rest of your tea and can steep some of it gongfu.
Oh dear, that’s very expensive! But I mean tea itself isn’t that fancy at all. But I completely understand your mishap.