15695 Tasting Notes
Marika brought in this stick pack of instant tea for me to try, and honestly it was surprisingly pretty solid. Dissolved quite easily, and was very flavourful on top of having clear body and tannin from the black tea. The mint was very spearmint, and I liked it a lot at first. However, as this cooled it got kind of herbaceous in a weird way? Marika said it reminded her of sage, but for me it was very dill in the finish which was. strange. Not bad, exactly, but just not a flavour I really would ever seek out in a tea I don’t think.
Also, I don’t know if this is a coincidence or not but after I finished this cup I ended up getting some pretty gnarly heartburn.
Cold Brew Sipdown (2518)!
This was such an incredibly old tea that it really was time to finish off these last dregs. Like, I think I may have even had this tin from back before I moved to Montreal. Yikes! Even still, it made for a really delicious brew. Cool, crisp and refreshing white tea and bamboo with just enough of that vegetal cucumber pulp-like note complimented by smooth, approachable cranberry. Not tart, not tangy, and not really sweet. Just fresh.
(Even so many years old!)
Gongfu!
I’ve been fortunate enough to taste more than a handful of Japanese black teas, and I have to say this is definitely the most fruity I’ve crossed paths with. I love how the deep red liquor almost seems to mirror the pungent notes of waxy ripe red fruits and plums that make up the body of each sip. Additionally, there’s a welcome touch of bitterness and astringency to this medium to full-bodied brew, both of which lean into the finishing notes of dark chocolate, leather, and exotic woods and incense. Great complexity!!
As so many of y’all know, I very rarely drink straight Japanese teas outside of Houjicha – so it’s probably not a surprise that I haven’t spent a whole lot of time really thinking about the unique challenges the Japanese tea industry is facing right now. However, hearing Rikko’s talk about sustainability and the Shizuoka Tea Auction was incredibly fascinating and eye-opening!! Drinking this really amazing tea has me thinking on it once more. If we want amazing teas like this one to continue to be available for the next generations to drink and enjoy, then sustainability of the industry can’t be something we push to the back of our minds. Very thankful that this tea and talk have re-emphasized that to me in new ways!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C23KyU-uIGf/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqQPDaRrIko
Gongfu Sipdown (2519)!
As such a lover of all things pineapple I was very skeptical of this smooth and medium bodied oolong, but it quickly won me over. Though I can’t help but wonder how much of this was suggestion bias, I really did get a lot of pineapple notes from this tea along with basically all of the other named tasting notes from the packaging: charred and roasted peanuts, and a hint of malt. There was also some gentle floral character to the undertones, and the fruit and floral duo in particular made me nostalgic for some oolong blends I fell in love with in my early tea drinking years that I miss quite dearly. But backtracking to the pineapple; what I tasted was specifically a rich and golden grilled pineapple note where it’s succulent, sweet and just a little caramelized. The kind of pineapple that kind of falls apart and melts in your mouth. Certainly not as intense as the real deal and with a lot of accompanying mineral and roasted notes more typical of an oolong. Very impactful and authentic to this tea’s namesake, bias or not…Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C25n4zPuEjY/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGdu0KNNRYg
Gongfu!
I had a chance to sample this robust and fruity black tea at the Toronto Tea Festival and, of course, I couldn’t resist bringing some home with me!! This is a full-bodied tea with brisk and ever so slightly funky notes of brandied and fermented red fruits and stonefruit, with a roasty and woody undertone and accent notes of leather, musk, and char, and Amaretto. Very coating on the palate, and yet the finish was crisp and finite. I probably could have squeezed a few more steeps out, but I was running a bit behind my morning commute. I look forward to picking up where I left off later tonight, though!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C2-1NcuOFwx/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfQ9WDKfaEk
Gongfu!
Steeped this while reading the latest issue of Eighty Degrees magazine!! It was tough to gauge from the dry tea leaf visual how much heat this blend would have, but it definitely has a bit of a kick to it! Nothing unpleasant, though – far from it, in fact. The smooth, gentle flavours of roasted grains and nuts from the hojicha marry perfectly to the peppery heat to create a profile that wraps you up in a hug and warms from the inside out. I also really liked that the more umami and oceanic notes of the hojicha were still present on the backend of each sip. I’m certainly guilty of fixating on the roasted elements of hojicha to the point where I often neglect the more characteristically “green” tasting notes, so I appreciated the presence of them here!
Like a lot of the teas I’ve been drinking, this is one of the teas from my Toronto Tea Festival haul. I have such a fondness for hojicha that I simply couldn’t resist and, though I enjoy the matcha that I’m more used to seeing them sell, it was nice to see the new and arguably more playful offerings that Tea Sakao was carrying for the festival!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3BSJmcORhT/?img_index=1
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t9NyKROIRQ
Had this last night and it was pretty good, but was it acai!? Definitely an intense berry flavour with a lot of top note tang and tartness from the hibiscus, but I don’t feel like it specifically said acai to me. More generic (though tasty) mixed berry. Maybe a blueberry and raspberry cross, if I had to name something?
I don’t really ever think of making iced tea with teabags, but this is maybe one teabag option that would be pretty good chilled…
Haven’t had this tea in ages and I just had such a strong urge to brew it up today! I love the balance of sweet orange and aromatic lavender with the brisk base. Still probably my favourite Arthur Dove/Biscuit & Brew blend – and by a landslide. I actually shared some with some coworkers today and they were not fans of the floral elements, which did make me a little sad because I just want this tea to be appreciated by everyone. But then I realized more for me, and I was less sad.
I hate MF’s stupid gimmick of adding butterfly pea flower to oolong blends. The swampy green colour this tea steeps just makes it feel so much more cheap and tacky, and it’s a shame but I love the crisp, sweet notes of rhubarb with the floral undertones of the oolong. Marco Polo in general is such an iconic Mariage blend and this rhubarb flavour really does sing on the black tea base, but it almost like it more on the oolong. They just compliment really well.
That liquor colour though… So gross.
I think I liked this??
This is a new MF blend that appears to maybe be for Lunar New Year? It’s supposed to be plum blossom flavoured which I thought was very unique and fun. Steeped it certainly has both floral and stonefruit notes but I just don’t know that I either make me think of plums? It’s tasty though, and plums are also a notoriously hard flavour to capture in tea.
What it does taste like is sweet, bright and lively apricots or nectarines. Not so sweet or cooked down to be jams or compotes, but more of a puree/curd type of vibe where there’s still some natural acidity and tangy. The floral is a little orchid-like, and does seem to be more from the oolong itself. I love the combo though – it’s very fresh and cheerful in tone and I think that words with something that’s in theory linked to fresh starts and celebrations.
All of that said… it steeps a dreadful swamp green colour because of Mariage’s stupid gimmick of adding butterfly pea flower to all of their oolongs. I wish they’d stop. It’s not very pretty, and it feels drastically at odds with the actual taste of the tea.
