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TTB. Thought this would be the perfect complement to my eggs on avocado on bagel. Oooo. Yes. Very good. I made it a bit more astringent, aka steeped it longer, so that it didn’t get lost in the food. Quite a lovely tea this one is.

Flavor: Woody. Dark wood. Resin. Cream. A bit of port? A hint if charcoal

Dry leaf: I think the aroma is contaminated. Which is amazing because it tastes great. But this aroma doesn’t smell like I know it should

Wet leaf: Woody. A bit of raisin bread.

Edit (I’m editing as I think I may have come off a bit too strongly the first time.)

I have a speech in Sept. It’s on matcha. When I started learning about mo cha, it really threw a curveball. I want to say first that I absolutely, 100%, hope that farmers experiment and try to reclaim lost arts. I have nothing against that. However, I personally disagree with fully calling it mo cha at this point. It’s no different than powdering any other green tea made in China. Like Lu An Gua Pian, which Tea Trunk/Ooika used. Do they have more right to call it Mo cha because theirs is unshaded? If you blur the lines, things get sticky real quick.

Dry Powder: Very different aroma from those who are used to matcha. It’s very herby. Reminds me of dandelions. The coloring is decent. Not quite as amazing as some higher grade matcha, but not the worst I’ve seen either.

Flavor: Oh man. Bitter. Like I stuck a dandelion in my mouth and started chewing on it. But not unpleasant like industrial grade matcha is on its own. To make this, they used Long Jing #43, which I love as a loose leaf. Not sure how I feel about this one, though. The herbaceous/medicinal qualities through me for a loop.

The coloring is also a bit different. It’s less of a jade green and more yellow, which makes sense as it is pan-fried. Need to try again with less powder.

Teagschwendner is now known as Chicago Teahouse. Things pretty much look the same on the website but they are no longer part of the Teegschwendner franchise.

You can read more on those changes here: https://teatiff.com/2023/02/13/chicago-teahouse/

I messed up a bit. In my morning hay fever delirium I added too much leaf. This one is like an oolong, you don’t need much. So my cup is a bit astringent and the taste is a bit more bitter then I expect it should be. The overall tones are nice and woody.

TTB.

Dry Leaf aroma: Notes of contamination. Generally, I sense notes of nutty and pan-fried toastiness, but this one has some issues. Just a bit of the nutty and toasty, but it has some musty, like it’s been next to too many flavored teas.
Wet Leaf: Better. More nutty notes. A bit of passion fruit. But still, that contamination lingers.
Flavor: Maybe it’s just me but still does not taste like a Lung Ching/Dragonwell/Long Jing should I know this is most likely not a good show of what their product actually is like so for now I won’t rate.

TTB – This is reminiscent of some Japanese greens. The ever-so-slight metallics and bitterness of bancha, the grassiness of sencha, and a hint of umami from gyokuro. All tea grown in Hawaii has some of the same terroir qualities. That slightly volcanic minerality that is so unique. Not my favorite, but I think I need to try more to develop a palate for it.

TTB – Rebagging this one because I can barely read what it says. I wasn’t going to ty it at first, but after reading some comments, I’m curious as to what it tastes like.

The dry aroma is somewhat unappealing. A bit of old vanilla and dusty cabinets. Bourbon barrel.
Wet leaf reminds me of some of the other typical tea company greenhouse blends. Lower-grade leaf tends to smell like this. And not that that is a bad thing. The Japanese consider bancha a lower grade, but many love to drink it.
Flavor: I think this one has been around a bit too long. It’s rather dull. I am going to assume it’s due to the packaging, and maybe it’s been traveling around for a while?

TTB – Finished. Just the dust left. It may not be a good example of what the rest of the tea is like. The dry leaf smelled okay. The wet liquor does not. Old and disgruntled tea. Nothing is appealing in that aroma.

Flavor: CLOYING! If ever you wanted to know what cloying was, this is it. It sticks to your mouth. It gets up your nose. Your eyes buldge out of their head. This smooth sugar texture is a weird entrance to the world of wtf. There is way to much going on with this. It’s like a 70s movie where they need to have one of those tripping scenes and everything is spinning and ALL THE COLORS DUKE! Good heavens…

It’s a no for me.

TTB

Dry Aroma: Lemon, Lemon grass, a hint of ginger
Wet Aroma: Not much there. Kinda spicy. Allspice, nutmeg, and orange.
Flavor: This is the definition of “I drink this when I’m not feeling good” tisane. Medicinal and all the good-for-you flavors. The Hibiscus isn’t quite as strong, so it doesn’t quite take over, but don’t think about it too much.
Smooth mouth feel.

TTB. IF I said the butter had a buttery taste. You’d probably squint your eyes at me and say… ‘well.. yeah’. That is how I feel when I read their ingredient blend on the front of the label. Saying Roasted Hojicha is redundant. Just like chai tea or matcha tea. “houji” (焙じ), meaning “roasted,” and “cha” (茶), meaning "tea. Of course, for those who don’t know it’s easy to put that in front but now you know =D

Dry Aroma: Lemon myrtle. Lemon candy. Minty. Hints of lavender.
Flavor: Lemony, Bits of lavender. A bit bitter. Medicinal.

This is quite a unique mix of ingredients. Blending is an art. While it seems like it would be easy to just throw stuff in, there is a lot more that goes into it, and you can tell when someone has really thought things through.

TTB. Something just bloomed, and it hates me. I honestly thought I had a cold. But I stopped sniffling as much after a while when we closed the windows so… Thankful, I am fully stocked on Benifuki and elderberry. Good for colds and allergies.

Dry aroma: Very herbal and a bit medicinal. It has that same type of nose-clearing ability as camphor.
Flavor: Slight vanilla, a bit of candied lemon. Medicinal.
Wet Liquor: Very dark blue. Very pretty.