78
drank Earl Grey Guayusa by 52teas
119 tasting notes

I’ve never had a guayusa before. In fact I’ve only ever heard of it in passing. So I decided to research a little bit about it before making this tea.

I read a little about it one these sites:
http://www.runa.org/enjoyment/healthbenefits.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilex_guayusa
And found that it’s one of three caffeinated holly trees known in the world, and that out of the three it has the highest amount of caffeine (for those like me who have never heard of this strange plant). I also found that it has more antioxidants than green tea, so it’s pretty good for you.

Anywho, on to the tea. I brewed it with boiling water for 4 minutes and it is now a very strange (and slightly unappealing) brown-ish green-ish color. It looks a little bit like dirty water (as in actual dirt in water). The dry leaf smelled like Earl Grey, but the wet leaf and the tea itself smells strangely like tortilla chips…. Like a lot like them. I surveyed the tea with the rest of my family and they agreed: there’s a definite tortilla chip smell. I added a little bit of sugar (half a teaspoon) because I was worried that it would taste like it would smell.

Surprisingly, it doesn’t. At all. In fact, it tastes a lot like traditional Earl Grey. It’s slightly sweeter with the citrus aspect (it may have helped that I added some sugar), and the guayusa tastes slightly earthy, which plays with the bergamont’s sweetness.

Pretty nice. I wouldn’t repurchase this if Frank does a reblend, but it is pretty nice.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
Southern Boy Teas

I personally think the guayusa makes a really nice, rich, dark iced tea.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

People who liked this

Comments

Southern Boy Teas

I personally think the guayusa makes a really nice, rich, dark iced tea.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

Hello!

I’m Ian and I’m a 15 year old student who lives in Vermont. I started (heavily) drinking tea in Late 2010 and have been obsessed ever since!

I tend to drink more black and herbal teas, though I do enjoy oolong, green, and white, and I’m exploring other facets of the tea world (I’m still trying with pu-erh!)

I tend to lean towards sweeter and fruity flavors in my teas, and I’m not a big fan of smoky flavored teas, or anything that’s VERY bold.

I also enjoy a cup of coffee every once and a while, though it does mess with my stomach sometimes so I don’t drink it as often as I drink tea.

In addition to tea drinking, I’m also really interested in:
Classical music (I’ve been playing clarinet for 5 years now and it’s my favorite thing to do), independent arts/music, education on environmental sustainability, reading, Fair Trade and safe-trade practices, Cognitive science, art history, and a lot more.

I’m open to swaps, but I don’t have a very wide collection. Regardless, if I review a tea and you would like a sample, feel free to message me and we can work something out! If you would like to just try something without a swap, feel free to ask too! I know that I personally don’t have a lot of teas to swap and if you’re in the same position as me just feel free to ask for a sample and I’ll send you some, no strings attached!

I run a blog on TeaTrade which you can find here: http://serendipitea.teatra.de/. The goal of my blog is to better connect tea with the arts and go beyond just the taste aspect of tea. Enjoy!

Location

Vermont

Website

http://serendipitea.teatra.de/

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer