15695 Tasting Notes
Gongfu!
This was the other tea that we drank as part of our post Toronto Tea Festival IG tea blogger steep session – it was one that Marco (of steap’d tea) has brought with and I was quite thrilled to see it because I missed out on the first version of this tea and had been eyeing this second version for some time. Both this and the previous version are white teas that were gin barrel aged, though this for a 100 days and the former for 70…
The dry leaf aroma of this was insane. Very bright and aromatic with a pretty distinct gin note to it but also a surprisingly fruity composition as well. In my opinion, barrel aged teas usually have a pretty great scent to them, but this was soooo good. I couldn’t wait to taste it! The first steep was light but with a distinct gin character. Very pleasing fruity aroma and a smooth sip. As Tracy (teainfusiast) pointed out, it was citrusy and that note only continued to grow in the second and third steeps. Very pink grapefruit, especially on the tail end of the sip. So unexpected for a gin barrel tea, but delectable. And fresh. So fresh and summery! By steep three much of the distinct gin taste was gone though the tea retained a bit of an ethereal booziness.
The festival had been packed tighter than a tin of sardines and it was hot so, as I was drinking this, I just kept picturing drinking an ice cold cup of this on a terrace in the middle of summer – maybe with a splash of gin or, to lean into the fruitier elements, a bit of prosecco. In those brief hotel rooms steeps I was living my best life picturing a time outside of winter.
It was also fortuitous timing because Volition Tea had a product launch today for their Lunar New Year/Year of The Dragon themed box and I was planning on order that already. So it only made sense for me to add this tea with that order since it’s surprisingly not yet sold out. I cannot wait for it to arrive.
Gongfu!
This weekend was the 10th Annual Toronto Tea Festival, and though I was only able to go on the Saturday I still had an AMAZING time. I bought a frankly ridiculous amount of tea, got to go to a few really good talks, and (perhaps best of all) was able to connect with so many tea friends – I think I saw over ten different tea bloggers I know from IG, some that I had met before like Yogateapoetry and some where it was our first time connecting in person, like with teaformeplease.
I actually flew in for the festival, and in order to be there in time for the 10AM open I had to catch a flight that departed at 7AM which meant I was up at 5AM. So, I was pretty tired at the start of the day – all the caffeine from the teas I sampled certainly helped push me through it, though! I did try to keep track of samples tasted at first, but it quickly became impossible so I think I’ll really only be doing tasting notes for the two teas I drank after the festival – like this one.
Since I was only doing one day, I also had a return flight on Saturday that left at 9:30PM. The festival ended at 5PM, but I wanted to give myself a few hours afterwards to hang out with the bloggers and drink some tea. A smaller groups of us (steap’d tea, teainspoons, and Chai Affairs) went out for supper and then afterwards Marco (steap’d tea) and Connie (teainspoons) and I met up with yogateapoety, teainfusiast, and chaimusafirblogs for some hotel room gongfu!
At this point I only had just under a half hour before I had to leave for the airport, but even still we managed to get in a few rounds of two teas! This was one, and it was really fun to be drinking something from UNYtea because Jeff was also one of the people I’d run into earlier in the day. I was also intrigued because I’ve never had a yellow tea from Taiwan before!!
Based on the two steeps I tried, I thought this was pleasant but a little too delicate and green-leaning for my own tastes. I really like when yellow teas have a strong nutty note, and the notes I got from these very light bodied and faint infusions were more like straw and dandelion greens. Nothing wrong with them at all, but just… not quite my jam.
Side note, I ended up leaving at the PERFECT time because I got to my gate about halfway through boarding. Closest I’ve ever been to missing a flight, which was kind of stressful. If I’d stayed for even one more round of infusions I would have missed that flight.
This was the last of LOOP’s sparkling iced tea drinks that I tried, and by the time I got to this one I did not have high hopes. I love so many of LOOP’s non-tea products so this taste exploration had really been a bit of a let down. However…
This one was a winner!
It had just enough sweetness to feel less sharp/shrill as the past two I had tried, and the fruit note was authentic tasting without being either flat/stale (like the strawberry) or really sour/tart (like the lemon). Plus, the balance with the peach and black tea was great! The briskness worked with the sweeter fruit notes, and nothing was masked like sometimes happens with tea RTDs with fruit juices.
I would buy this one again!
This was markedly better than the Strawberry Hibiscus LOOP drink I tried a few weeks ago, but there was still something kind of “off” about it. The black tea was a little bit harsh for an RTD and the finish was metallic and chemical-y. As I said with the Strawberry Hibiscus, for a stevia sweetened beverage this is also shockingly not very sweet at all. Also, to clarify, when I say the finish was chemical-y in taste it was not in the way that stevia typically reads. Very different vibes.
The lemon may have been the best part, though it was sharp and quite taste. Very much a “lemon juice” and not a “lemonade” if that makes any sense. In makes sense for a company like LOOP though, because they focus so much on actual fruit juices.
But yeah – not quite for me.
Matcha Latte… but made a little bit funky!
Ever since the New York Times feature on them, one of my coworkers and I have had a light hearted debated on whether matcha and peanut butter cookies would taste good. We’re both very intrigued, but she’s quite skeptical the combo would work together and I’m more worried that the peanut butter would really over power the matcha.
Thing is, we’re both not willing to commit to actually making the cookies to find out. We then heard about someone who had tried the two as a latte (and not enjoyed it), and I figured that was something I could easily do! So, basically I melted a few teaspoons of peanut butter and stirred that in with some pre-whisked matcha until it was pretty emulsified and then I poured that mix into my Breville Milk Frother with some cashew milk.
Here’s the deal. It wasn’t good. It also wasn’t bad. The thing that it really was was savory. I could taste the nuttiness of the peanuts and texture-wise everything was creamy but it just brought out this DEEPLY umami flavour and all of the vegetal notes of the matcha in a way where the latte sort of tasted like fresh pea puree. It was weird. I had a hard time processing the combo as I drank it.
…and now I’m not sure where I stand on the cookies at all.
Iced Latte!
I went to a board game meet up this past week that take place in the evenings at one of the universities, and it was honestly amazing! I wanted to make sure I had something to drink during the meetup so I made myself a very large travel tumbler of this tea as an iced oat milk latte beforehand with just a bit of added agave.
Even though I’m not usually super into “plainer” chocolate blends I found myself enjoying this one. It was a nice balance between the milk chocolate notes and the maltier and almost biscuit-like black tea. I also got a bit of a nuttiness to the undertones and a faint caramel-like note as well. Rich, but not too rich. Like a fancier, “adult” chocolate milk in some ways.
Cold Brew Sipdown (2518)!
This cold brew was so smooth and delicious, but it really makes me sad that it was a sipdown. By far this is my favourite blend from Hot Cups! I thought this brew made me think a little bit of a melted cherry popsicle, and there was a huge nostalgia factor to it because of that. When I paused I could separate the deep red cherry notes out from the sweeter and more aromatic almond, but generally speaking those two flavours just blend together so well to create this very round and rich fruity profile.
Cold Brew!
Sakura? No. Strawberry? Yes! This was a pretty smooth cold brew with just a nice, upfront fresh strawberry note. Erring a little artifcial perhaps, but more in the way that a Japanese strawberry cake roll might be. Not unpleasant. I liked the creamy, thickness that the coconut contributed to the mouthfeel of the blend – not super present in taste. Even if it didn’t have those cherry blossom flavours it was also floral in its undertones and finish. From the rose, though.
Found this mug just a bit thin tasting with its delicate fruity lemon and berry notes, however the beautiful swirl of silver lusted dust in the mug was just lovely to look at as I sipped. It was also quite calming, and just made for a relaxing cuppa even if it was a smidge light.
