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I’m having a very weird last few weeks because I’ve been really gravitating towards green teas in a way that I so incredibly not typical of me…

This was one I pulled out specifically because I was craving that more umami heavy, unctuous note of a steamed green tea. The toasty nuttiness of the genmai and the more savory soybean were an added bonus. Overall just incredibly smooth with an almost oily/brothy kind of quality to the liquor and this absolutely dreamy combo of nori, roasted grains and nuts, and something almost sesame oil or seed-like in flavour. I wanted to melt in the mug.

Damn it was good!

Iced!

Made this one a few days ago in the afternoon. I’d been feeling a little nostalgic for summers spent back home in the prairies, so I went and dug out this tea which I am perilously close to finishing off. It’s so interesting that there was an almost nutty and peanut-like taste to the undertones of this iced tea that made me think of PB&J sandwiches, but overall it was just really juicy and tart with that sort of cranberry meets blueberry flavour that is so nostalgically Saskatoon Berry tasting. Makes me want all kind of Saskatoon Berry treats from home: pie, jams, milkshakes, you name it…

Little bit of a more sharp and almost sour tasting woodier top note to this tea that made me think of both chicory root and the smell of my grandfather’s wood working shop. Definitely out of place feeling given the concept of the blend. As it cooled I felt like the other flavours started to come out more, but maybe part of it is just that I got more used to that top note. It was a little more biscuit-like though, with a honey graham kind of feeling. Not sure on the cream/custard but at least we landed back in the realm of cookies.

Had this earlier in the week. There was a nice creamy and more full/round feeling to the liquor of this cup, but the taste left me wanting more. Given that it’s a bai hao yin zhen based blend I did expect it to be delicate, but I just wasn’t getting nearly enough of either the passionfruit or the cocoa – which seem to be the two “main” flavours here. Just a bit more of an overt, sweet tropical note would really go a long way here I feel.

Drank one of these yesterday morning. It’s still pulling a little “Juicy Fruit Gum” in flavour, which makes me think that maybe there’s something ever so slightly different about this batch compared to when I’ve had it in the past? Citrusy too, though, with the slightest lemon note alongside fresh, sweet earthiness and grassier notes of the guayusa.

Cold Brew!

Pretty and blue, but what I care about is the flavour which is very lavender forward and floral. Not soapy or anything like that, though the coconut in the blend is starting to come off as just a hint aged with more of a lotion-y undertone to it. Ultimately the creaminess of the coconut, hint of lemongrass, and overall sweetness keeps this floral blend feeling a little more balanced and less in the perfume territory. But it definitely wouldn’t be for everyone. You have to really like lavender, I think.

This tastes like a lot of the berry or red fruit flavoured teabags from Twinings with a bold, sweet and jammy flavour coupled with the tart punch of hibiscus. It’s not particularly unique in any way, but I still enjoyed it for that straight forward strawberry and hibiscus flavour. It has a slight citrusy undertone from the lemongrass and that almost creates a Strawberry Lemonade vibe – but ultimately it’s too much red fruit to totally nail the lemon. Fine, though. As advertised.

Whisked this up as usucha for a bit of a mid-afternoon pick me up. Not only does this matcha whisk up incredibly smoothly with such a thick layer of light, airy microfoam but it also tastes so incredibly delicate and smooth. It starts very floral on the tip of the tongue, with aromatic notes of night blooming jasmine and orchids and such a delicate sugarcane sweetness and clean, earthy finish on the backend. Such an easy matcha to sip on, without a lick of bitterness or astringency.

Though I do typically favour matcha with more buttery or creamy notes (Okumidori is a fave), this more fragrant and flowery-leaning Uji matcha is also very much right up my alley!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DK2sGTiSHvB/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyxsWyTYh0E&ab_channel=VundabarVEVO

Sipped on this while enjoying the sun and patches of beautiful purple flavours popping up all over my neighborhood. I wasn’t the only one obsessed with the flowers, as the bees were out in full-force and just caked in pollen! It’s also hard to believe that I almost didn’t pick this tea up as part of my Vancouver tea haul, because this oak ash fermented dark tea (very similar to a shou pu’erh) from Bhutan is so interesting to me! I haven’t had a lot of Bhutanese teas, and though I know this would be typically served with butter and salt, I decided to try it plain for this first taste.

It was so interesting because I could see the ash suspended within the liquor, almost as if it was frozen in time, the way you’d see in a piece of amber. Dark and smooth with heavy notes of mineral-rich soil, exotic woods, jujube, leatherbound books, and just a hint of spice and camphor on the finish. Delish!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DK0JxxcyfE4/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTb_ddGuTJU&ab_channel=DavidDeanBurkhart

Gongfu!

As far as Tian Jian goes, I find this to be a particularly savory one with a very brothy mid sip and really smoky overtones. It’s smooth, though, and surprisingly quite complex with peppered in notes of yeasted bread, petrichor, lichen, and golden apples alongside a general earthiness and umami profile. The finish, especially in the third and fourth steeps, had such a nice and delicate cooling feeling on the palate with hints of wintergreen sweetness to it as well. I am certainly not the most well versed in Tian Jian, but this seems like an especially interesting one to me!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DKxgod1S1Bf/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS68rArny7Y&ab_channel=ChineseAmericanBear%E5%8D%8E%E8%A3%94%E7%BE%8E%E5%9B%BD%E7%86%8A