Hua Ki

This is another of the few bagged teas I own. Not only that, it’s also from Lupicia, an anomaly in itself – I generally only buy greens and oolongs from them. Not because I’ve had a bad experience, but their blacks always come off as so very lightly scented, and I tend to go more for really full-bodied, rich black teas.

But hey, this was on sale.

In the bag(s), it smells light and fruity. In the cup, it smells light and fruity. The first taste is also very light and fruity, but the high temperature isn’t really doing it any favours – now that it’s cooled, however, it’s very smooth and light and nice. And yes; fruity.

On the one hand, I feel that Lupicia’s delicate, perfect flavourings are better suited for greens, on the other, I get a craving to fully explore their assortment of blacks, as this is so much more easily drunk than the ones I usually favour.

I’m increasingly aware of this divide in my tea preferences lately – on the one hand, there are all those lush, elegant French blends, and on the other, unassuming, fresh, gorgeous Lupicia everything.

I really love this tea company over any other.

[Purchased at Lupicia in Honolulu, December 2012.]

First impression…this has a a strong fruity scent and large pieces of dried fruit scattered throughout. A very tropical vibe from the start.

I am also somewhat sentimental about this particular tea as I drank it many mornings while waking up and looking at the sunrise over O’ahu.

It brews up to a rich color, the black tea base is a little malty but mellow overall- just watch the steeping time since I suspect this one will turn undrinkable quickly. I find some Lupicia blacks are prone to being unforgiving if steeped even 30 seconds too long.

Flavour is strong in the brewed cup too- I get a lot of mango and general “tropical fruit” notes. It’s not artificial tasting. The balance is lovely- the tropical fruit notes are dominant over the tea, but that’s what I look for in a tea that’s supposed to evoke a sense of place like this one. If you like a subtle hint of flavour, this one is probably not for you. If you want a fruity black blend that immediately says “HAWAII,” you can’t go wrong with this one.

An Ode to Tea, H entry!

I’ve only made one tea order in 2021 so far, to Lupicia, and was very happy that one of the single-serve sampler sachets was this one, because I’ve been curious to try some of their Hawaiian blends.

Brewed the teabag for 3 minutes in 350ml 205F water. The tea has a lovely tropical aroma, a bit like pineapple, passionfruit, and most notably, mango. The black base, with this preparation, is brisk and malty but smooth and not astringent (I imagine steeping it any longer would have trended it that way), with a bit of a baked bread and a subtle raisin/muscatel note. The fruit flavor is pleasant but not overpowering; it seems to settle in midsip and linger on the tongue long after the sip. I taste papaya first (that sort of topical melon note), followed by mango, and perhaps a very subtle touch of pineapple. The papaya seems to be the strongest flavor for me on the tongue, and the mango the strongest on the nose.

It’s a pleasant afternoon cuppa. I don’t think it’s my favorite mango tea in Lupicia’s lineup, but I certainly wouldn’t ever turn any of this down if it came my way.

I recently went to Hawaii. With 100 high school band kids. Awesome kids, awesome trip.

While there, we rented equipment and played with a friend’s school program. We had become friends over the years, so this year, we did an exchange concert at the local high school.

As a gift from the host to the guest, I got this tea package. Good work Jason, you know me well!

Anyway, I am finally getting around to giving it a proper taste. Here we go!

To start off, I’m normally not a huge fan of blends. I’m more of a purist, unless it’s done in an interesting and tasty way. And it must be well balanced. Too many tea companies hide bad tea base taste by dumping in whatever might taste good.

This is not that. Right off the bat, opening the package, I get a beautiful, tropical fragrance. The smells of mango, apple, papaya, and pineapple popped out and made me think I was still on the islands. But the black tea base was still present, nice and gentle. Good sign.

I brewed this in my 32 ounce Bodum Assam tea pot with boiling water over 7 grams (the package said 2-2.5 grams per 1-2 cups of tea…), and steeping for 2:30, after rinsing, of course.

The aroma of the liqueur is surprisingly even better than the dried leaves. The dried fruit smell is still present, but not as in your face. The black tea gets to stand out just a bit more, bringing out a wonderful balance, one that I am not used to in a tea with this much fruit presence.

The taste is right there as well. The hints of all those fruits are still there, mixed wonderfully inside the black tea base. And it is a great black tea base, not over the top itself, trying to be something it doesn’t need to be in a tea blend, but still confident and right at the front, with just a touch of that velvety smooth roast, just a touch of earthy malt that defines a really good black tea.

Now, the tea package that this tea came in also had a small bear container of local Hawaiian honey, so my 2nd cup I added about a tablespoon to my 1.5 cup mug. I’m not normally a honey-in-my-tea fan, or anything else, really. milk, sugar, lemon, anything. Just give me my tea straight. But, if a company is going to go through the trouble of making a tea package with local honey in it, they must be pretty proud of it, so I’ll give it a shot.

Damn, that’s some good honey. It really does go well, surprisingly, with this tea. You don’t need much, I probably could have used a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon, but it mixes very well with the fruit overtones and the black tea base, without taking away from those flavors, or worse yet, the flavors battling and fighting because they don’t get along, either in my mouth or in my stomach.

None of that, this honey matches this tea very nicely. I’ll be honest, I prefer it alone, without the honey. But either way, this tea is very, very good.

I think I’ll be buying more from Lupicia in the future. Thanks, Jason!

-E

Holiday TTB

Although Lupicia makes numerous amazing fruity-flavored blends, I’m not a huge fan of their black teas. Unfortunately, this one was no exception. The aroma was an enticing tropical fruit sweetness, but the flavor came across a bit artificial with a slight sourness that reminded me of gummy candies.

Exclusive Hawaii Lupicia Blend! This one is loaded with fruity chunks, I had one giant ball of fruit that weighed 3 grams.

The flavor is very fruity as tastes like the ingredients mango, papaya, and pineapple. The base is a malty black. This tea would make a really good iced one!

My sadness is there is another mango papaya in the Hawaii collection, Kuuipo, and 2 other teas that have mango, papaya, and pineapple (so 4 teas out of 8) and 3 of those are the same black tea base. For the entire collection of 8, all are fruity teas except for one – Malama. I wish there was more variety between the collection. As I drink through the set, I’m getting a lot of “tastes kind of samey as the other blend”.

I reviewed a few others awhile back on Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/exclusive-lupicia-hawaii-original-tea-blends-collection-lupicia-oolong-owl-tea-review/

The first steep was more then 2.5 mins. Not sure about the flavor but the dry leaf and fruit smell good. Otherwise I’m not really a fan of this one besides the smell. I’ll give it a couple more goes just in case.

What I really love is the picture on the tin. The mountain image in the background is in Hanalei, Kauai, Hawai’i. One of my favorite places in the world.

It seems like there’s no end to the Lupicia teas that I haven’t tried or heard of—but I’m not complaining!

This one is a black tea with flower petals and numerous dried fruit pieces mixed in. The smell is a cheery mixture of tropical fruits, and pretty much what I think of when I hear “tropical iced tea”. I made this one hot, however. The tea base is light and crisp; no complaints here. The fruit flavors are abundant and vibrant, with pineapple, mango, and probably quite a few others. There is a sort of candy-like sweetness to it. It doesn’t stand out too much from the other mixed-fruits black teas from Lupicia that I’ve tried, but it’s a fun and enjoyable one on its own.

Shared a pot of this one with my sister today! (She’s a mango fan.) This is one of Lupicia’s more complex Hawaiian-inspired teas, with lots of different kinds of fruit. According to the ingredients, there’s mango, papaya, apple, cranberry, and pineapple in here. I can taste each one, I think, if I pay really close attention while I sip. But the overall effect is more of a general “tropical fruit” taste, sweet with just a touch of tartness. It’s well-balanced, and the tea base is on the lighter side (like many of Lupicia’s flavored black teas).

I’m glad to have this one in my cupboard! It’s a great tea to offer tropical fruit lovers. (Though my all-time favorite Lupicia Hawaiian tea is still Palekaiko… But that’s probably because I’m such a ginger fanatic.)

And Lupicia day #2 commences! This one is from Dexter. The black tea leaves are quite small and dark and somewhat broken, and there are crushed dried green leaves and a couple fruit pieces mixed in. Dry scent is extremely sweet and fruity, like sniffing a bowl of tropical fruit hard candies.

The steeped tea also smells sweet and fruity, but more specifically like mango with a touch of pineapple. This tea is definitely full of fruit flavor, and there’s something about it that make it taste like hard candies or gummies (is there cherry…?). I dunno, it’s nice but overall it’s a little too artificial tasting for me. I can see it making a very nice fruity iced tea though.