Minto Oregon Grown

I’ve been looking for something interesting to include in the BBB and landed on J-Tea based in Eugene, OR. The owner, Josh, has an interesting selection of teas and I’m excited to try them all! I ordered 4 for now and this was one of them. As I’m a born and raised oregonian, I had to give this a try! Oh, and I placed the order late wednesday day night and got it first thing this morning. Granted, I’m only 1.5 hours away, but he packed it up right away and the USPS was at it’s finest!

On to the tea…The leaves are not pretty. More like leaves you that you’d sweep up. Some are large, some are small, broken and whole, all different shades. I was intrigued. I brewed up a cup in my test tube steeper so I could see the leaves. They floated. All of them. Right up at the top the whole time. I waited for some to drop and it never happened. When I poured it into a cup all I could smell was honey. Super sweet and fruity honey. Very nice. Not bitter at all and full of flavor. Overall a really nice afternoon cup when you need a sweet treat.

Terri and Sil this is coming your way! And a couple more from J-Tea in the next round.

pretty good…it reminds me of a tung ting hong or a jin xuan hong… those teas always make me think of my moms rhubarb pie…110ml gaiwan 8g tea…

It being Thanksgiving Day – and given the fact that I’m working – I figured it a perfect time to down at least two pints of an American-grown tea. Not just American, one grown and processed in my own state. The leaves for this black tea were picked from a small tea garden as part of the Minto Island Growers outfit. J-TEA International purchased a heap of their leaves and processed them into a black tea product. Similar to a Taiwanese black.

This is my go-to tea when I’m on the go. I can steep it forever, and it doesn’t bitter. The taste is malty, sweet, kinda fruity and…well…’Merica.

I even had to visit the garden it was grown from once WITH the tea in question. (http://steepstories.com/2013/08/14/tea-garden/)

Happy Thanks-Teaing, Steepster.

Not the world’s most amazing tea, but it’s from my home state in my home country. Considering I’m in Oregon, USA, that’s saying something.

The leaves are very thin which appears to result in the need for longer steep times. I’d go with nice hot water and let it sit until it takes on a greenish brown color.

Unlike many black teas, the flavor is not very strong, which, in my mind, is a big plus. It’s more delicate. I’m not a huge fan of black teas (I could take them or leave them), but this is rather enjoyable.

Another from tastybrew that i’ve had before and really i’m just trying to drink up since i know there is another round of the BBB Box on it’s way in a week or so when ipick things up from Terri. yes, that’s right TEA SISTERS UNITE! I get to visit with my dearest tea sister in a couple weeks. We won’t have a lot of time, but it makes this stupid work travelling worth it. I will get to play in the garden! And see terri’s sun room…and the porch and it’s going to be awesomesauce!

I picked this one up after reading reviews from TastyBrew and Geoffrey Norman.

While I probably wouldn’t buy any more of this batch, it was very fun to try. I would probably buy a sample of this year’s production (if there is one) just because of the novelty and to see how things develop. This tea smelled and tasted like watery honey and freshly chopped dandelions to me (the latter being not a good thing). Still appreciate that there is someone is growing tea in the US!

Thanks to TastyBrew for including this one in the BBBBox!
The leaves aren’t pretty, they are fragile looking & a little clumpy & irregular.
The tea itself is very gentle, it kind of reminds me of a very light Ceylon with that kind of ‘even’ taste, combined with a little of the fruitiness of a Taiwanese black.
It is, of course, neither tea, but it’s own product of the terroire from whence it came. I’ll use more leaf next time, to see if I can get more flavor, as it was a little bland, at least for my palate. Still, nice to sample it! Thanks TB!