hi, this is my first tasting note on steepster. for my first i have chosen the organic japanese sour cherry green tea from silk road teas.
i prepared this tea hot in my two piece tasting set (125ml/4oz), and cold brewed (first cold brew) in a 33 oz bodum french press. lets start with the hot brew..
the 1st infusion was at 71 C for 30 sec-
the cherry was present in the aroma but less so in taste. it had a tannin-y taste, slightly vegetal with a lingering bitterness that hits the tounge and cheeks and coats it with that sour, slightly citric taste/feel. not the most pleasant cup.
2nd, 45 sec, 74 C temp-
aroma was sweeter with stronger cherry. tastewise, chlorophyll was prominently picked up. this infusion as well as most of the others reminded me of the taste of a cherry flavored cough drop.
3rd, 60 sec at 75 C temp-
aroma: cherry comes at you with the vegetal smell, following is a sweetness.
still has an astringent, green taste with less fruity notes (at this pointed i suspected it’s life was coming to a end..)
..but i pushed for one more infusion- the 4th for 70 sec at 75 C-
aroma: strong smell of green (chlorophyll) with the the cherry twisted somewhere in there being harder to detect. taste: less bitter as a result of the tea slowly dieing i suspect. overall less of it’s previous notes and feel.
session duration: 1 hour
i would recommend this tea to those of you who are willing to pick this tea apart and like/love it for what it is. i personally appreciate it but would not dub it a favorite.. more of an educational experience. i believe i would order it again for one reason… cold brew.
indeed i commenced my first cold brew the same night of the hot brew. the thought that it may be the best way to brew this tea, just hit me out of nowhere.
i used 3 slightly heaping scoops with teavana’s perfect tea spoon. 33 oz of cold filtered vancouver tap water. i left it and went to sleep. 9 hrs and 53 min later i strained, decanted, and tasted it.
i love it, bitterness about 15- 20%, more of a lemony/lime taste in place of tannin. its quite sweet (as cold brew tends to produce,) and mellow. the cherry comes at around the tail end of the middle and through the last wave. unlike the hot brew the bitterness in no way dominates. i personally find it to have an almost honeydew/honey note, plus a note of sweetend grass underlying. despite the taste and aroma of the honeydew you still pick up cherry. the aroma is sort of like candied cherry instead of sour in my opinion.
will experiment with shorter cold brew times such as 2- 5 hrs for example.
i expect to brew this almost exclusively cold from now on unless the urge to refer back to hot comes up. may ice tea this also with a bit of rock sugar.
thanks for reading.
- Raswalt
