Mai Tai Green Tea

Backlog:

I really was blown away by how strong this smells. I’ve had a few Mai Tai cocktails in my time … you know how they say there’s a time and place for everything and that time and place is college? Yeah … so, I found Mai Tai cocktails to be a very refreshing beverage in college. And this … when I opened the pouch, it brought me back to those college days.

The brewed tea has a subdued fragrance, it is not quite as overpowering as the dry leaf. The flavor is really nice – the green tea is buttery and sweet, and it’s a really interesting dimension of flavor to this once familiar cocktail. Tangy, sweet, and delicious … and even better iced than it is hot.

Another delicious tea from 52teas. I found the blend of green teas used is what set this tea apart. The full bodied Young Hyson is balanced by the subtle sweetness from the Yun Wu which is paired perfectly with the slight plum notes from the Chun Mee. This combination of green teas would have made an outstanding tea all on their own but the addition of the citrus notes really makes a nice spring time tea. I have only tried this one brewed hot but I can imagine that it would make for a refreshing iced tea.

Another sip down of the day. The dry leaves smells like cocktail lime juice. Prepared using 1tsp per 6 oz in 175F water for 1.5 mins brought about a medium brown liquid with a green and orange tinge. Brewed, the lime smell still stands out. The greens on this tea melds well together. Without sweetener, the lime taste lingers. After adding a little bit of rock sugar, the lime became a bit milder, and it added a small hint of orange to the mix. I will have to try this iced next time.

Good when resteeped. Lime a tad bit milder, but the greens are still very good.

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge January 2022: A Tea that reminds you of an Alcoholic Beverage

I polished this off by steeping it today in the fridge. I think it brings out the “rum” and tones down the nippier ingredients in the blend (the green base blend and vibrant citrus). It tastes more like the essence of Mai Tai this way, minus the sweetness I associate with the cocktail (kind of wish I’d experimented with sweetening it, maybe with grenadine). I also wish there was a hint of vanilla here, to mimic dark/spiced rum that’s sometimes used, but that’s just me!

June 2021 Reblend Tea

Review for the Anne reblend.

Could have fooled me, I thought there was grapefruit in this. It was ok; I believe I got some savoury green tea flavours in there which I enjoyed, but pretty much a citrussy, somewhat grapefruity, green.

Sipdown (1453)!

This was a freebie sample from my last order. It’s not something I probably would have ordered for myself, because of the base tea, which kind of makes it the perfect freebie. I love being challenged in my preferences! The dry leaf aroma was kind of off putting to me; the orange had an almost chalky kind of smell to it that reminded me of children’s chewable vitamins. However, it didn’t translate into the cup at all and the result was a miedum bodied and smooth infusion of sweet orange with a tropcical leaning undertone. Simple, but effective in communicating that “Mai Tai” flavour profile, and I did enjoy it.

This is one of the older 52Teas blends in my cupboard. It’s not alone, so I’m going to start working on drinking up some of these next. It’s immediately obvious upon opening the pouch, so I’m going to have to say it. The dry leaf smells amazing. Very strongly lime-y, and really quite alcoholic. So far, it’s a pretty good representation of a cocktail in tea form. I used 1 tsp of leaf, and gave it 2.5 minutes in water cooled to around 175 degrees.

The resulting liquor is a medium yellow-green, and smells like a milder version of the dry leaf. Very citrussy; predominantly lime, but I’m also picking up a hint of orange now. Less alcoholic, too, but that’s a hard thing to replicate in a tea.

This is such a summery cup to taste. It reminds me a little of Della Terra’s Sunshine, which I loved. Sipping this is almost like drinking a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice that’s had a twist of lime squeezed in. Only hot, obviously. The green tea base is fairly unobtrusive, although I can taste little flashes. It’s smooth, fairly sweet, and a little vegetal in the way of sugar snap peas. It fits the flavouring well, so no complaints here. Part of me is actually a little disappointed that I can’t taste more of the base – I would think the trio of greens here would make a good blend alone, although that’s clearly not the point of a flavoured tea. The flavoured tea lover in me is delighted that this one is so flavour accurate, anyway. It’s definitely a win-win.

I’m enjoying this one a lot more than I thought I would. It’s really good hot, especially on a cold, sleety day like today when summer seems so far away. This tea clearly exists in a little bubble of sunshine. I’ll probably enjoy a few cups like this, and then keep the rest for cold-brewing when it’s actually summer. I reckon it’s going to taste sensational like that, too!

This is a delightfully fruity, summer-y tea.

You can’t really taste the underlayer of green, but the overlay of pineapple and fruit is all kinds of wonderful (both hot and cold). With a little sugar it’s a pleasant drink for a not-so-wintery day.

Tasty and pleasant…I’d recommend this one.