17455 Tasting Notes
Cold Brew!
I haven’t loved this tea in the past, but with my recent interesting/positive reception to Japanese green teas I thought I would retry it and see if I enjoyed it more. And, well, I did! It’s definitely still really sencha forward which was my biggest hurdle to enjoying it in the past, but this time around I really appreciated the smooth, mellow flavours. A touch grassy and a touch on the oceanic side, but mostly lightly umami with a hint of fruity sweetness (the persimmon?) and an almost starchy undertone that was a bit floral and a bit like cooked pumpkin or other squash. So light and fresh feeling though, without any heaviness or bitterness/astringency.
Cold Brew!
The dry leaf aroma of this tea is so fresh and citrusy, like digging your fingernails into a the peel of a sweet orange and misting yourself with all the essential oils. Some floral undertones.
Steeped up I wouldn’t call this weak or flat, but it just has much less of those juicy, fresh citrus notes and instead leans more into the floral, lightly perfume-y notes of the jasmine and the crispness of the grassy green tea. Yes, it’s still got orange notes – but just mellower and with more lemongrass taste specifically. It was nice though. Definitely hydrating and summery.
Sipdown (2945)!
I didn’t realize I’d be as sad to finish this blend off as I felt when I took my list couple of sips. But, the cheesecake flavour is really good. Perfect balance of sweetness, thick creaminess, and then a light sort of tang that makes it feel specific to cheesecake and not some other creamy dessert. A coworker even noted that whatever I was drinking smelled like cheesecake to her, so that’s really spot on!!
And I’m not huge of bergamot, but I do think it’s well balanced here. In my opinion this feels exactly like the middle ground of both of those flavours. It’s not an EG tea first and foremost with a touch of cheesecake, and it’s also not really cheesecake with a touch of EG. No after thoughts, hidden/masked flavours, or disappointment.
52Teas should make more cheesecake teas, though. I feel like there’s some REALLY fun different options out there to be explored.
A late night cuppa! I’m always so pleasantly struck by the balance of floral lavender and smooth, creamy hazelnut notes in this tea. Depending on my mood I think sometimes I fixate a little more on one over the other, but they’re always both there and in harmony with one another. This time around I was all about that hazelnut. It was just so rich without being sweet/cloying. Just calming, grounding, and cozy.
Tea Pop Sipdown (2946)!
This is a teabag but I ended up steeping it up as a concentrate instead of as a hot cup, and then I mixed that with sparkling water to make a tea pop. It was refreshing with a really crisp, clean tasting citrusy and hebaceous flavour. Nice and refreshing with a brightness to it. I think it would have been so good as a cocktail foundation. Little splash of aperol or gin? Ooh, that would have been good!
Iced!
I’ve slowed down a little bit on drinking my way through my SuperBelly powders since I’ve bought a few non-tea related probiotic products to help me diversify my intake. However, these are still my favourite way to get that addition – they’re just so tasty! I’m getting used to this one not having quite the same intensity and tang as the others, while still being refreshingly tropical and juicy. Very, very mango.
Made myself a hot cup of this earlier in the week and it was very lovely. Light to medium bodied with a bit more of a soft, grassy flavour and citrusy lemongrass edge that both leaned in well to the refreshing, herbaceous notes of the basil. The strawberry wasn’t very strong, but it was pleasantly ripe and jammy tasting. The whole cup felt balanced and summery, with a refreshing air to it.
Iced Latte!
I had this idea that the rich pu’erh and smooth, starchy sticky rice flavours of this tea would be really well suited for milk tea, so earlier in the week I ended up steeping one of these coins up into a strong concentrate which I then used as part of an iced latte. Some may feels that’s a blasphemous use of this tea, but I just felt so curious.
It was pretty good, though maybe not quite as good as I’d hoped. The main thing is that it just didn’t taste quite as much of the sticky rice as I’d expected. I think the milk muted those notes a lot, though didn’t fully erase them. The shou was nice though, and came through really strongly. Very earthy and brothy, and almost still just a bit saline which was kind of interesting but somewhat weird with the creaminess of the milk.
I didn’t add any sweeteners, but I wonder how that maybe would have pulled everything together a bit better? Balancing out that savory salt note, for example.
Gongfu!
I almost didn’t pick up a sample of this sheng because at a glance, I mistook it for W2T’s Boat Captain, of which I was personally not a big fan. However, I’m glad I realized the difference because this was really, really good. Very bright and fruity with a sweet and thick feeling liquor. Thick without being syrupy and sticky, though, which I really appreciated. I found it to have a really nice balance between notes of cooked or steamed milk and juicier orchard fruits, like pears. I think those two notes are especially interesting because there’s a sort of creaminess baked into both comparisons, but in very different feeling ways. Minimal astringency/bite. This was honestly one of those rare pu’erhs I would probably recommend to both a veteran drinker and someone just dabbling with shengs; I think it’s approachable but interesting enough that both could find a solid point of interest!!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DLnuVN5yUqU/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8-zWsPR9RQ&ab_channel=Grady-Topic
Gongfu Sipdown (2947)!
Enjoyed this tea session with some ripe plums. This was so fresh and delicate tasting, with really soft and mildly sugary and soft notes of lilac, violet, sweet pea, and a buttery finish reminiscent of coconut milk, fresh linens, and snow peas. The plums are maybe a touch too strong to be enjoyed directly alongside this refreshing, crisp oolong but the lingering sweetness from snacking on them between each steep carries through in a way that only deepens how enjoyable this session has been!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DLqNg7oSXVA/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vl7Bkw4sfs&ab_channel=DJSEUMUNIZ
