Indonesia Toba Wangi 'Pandan' Green Tea

This was the last tea I drank in August, and of course, I only managed to motivate myself to review it today. On a positive note, I actually have very few reviews left in the backlog for July and August, so getting completely caught up is more of a possibility now than it has been for several months. I found this tea to be a very interesting and satisfying green tea, but I can’t say I was surprised by it as Toba Wangi teas always seem to fascinate me.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 176 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 14 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of sticky rice, grass, and chestnut blossom. After the rinse, I picked up aromas of chestnut, corn husk, malt, and hay. The first infusion then introduced a subtle spinach scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of corn husk, hay, malt, grass, chestnut, and sticky rice that were chased by impressions of butter and lemon rind. The following infusions saw umami, cooked lettuce, and seaweed come out on the nose. The tea liquor was smoother in the mouth. Stronger notes of lemon rind, butter, and chestnut appeared alongside new impressions of minerals, seaweed, umami, and cooked lettuce. I also noted a cooling herbal presence on each swallow that reminded me of eucalyptus. The final few infusions presented mineral, seaweed, spinach, and cooked lettuce notes that were balanced by impressions of malt, butter, sticky rice, and eucalyptus.

This was a very unique green tea, and I initially was not sure how to rate it. I think I went into the review session expecting something smoother, sweeter, and creamier, but instead got a very malty, nutty, herbal, and vegetal Indonesian assamica green tea. After some consideration, I determined that this tea was very good, though I would not likely choose to seek it out regularly. Check it out if you happen to be looking for a unique green tea with some bite and punch.

Evening cuppa.

It’s been a long time since I last had a tea with pandan in it, and prior to that tea I don’t think I’d ever tried anything with pandan so it’s a flavour I have a very limited familiarity with. That said, this does have a faint sense of familiarity to it.

It’s a soft, delicate flavour with a very smooth, silky mouthfeel. There’s an overall grassyness that’s sweet and refreshing, I think probably partly from the green tea base and partly from the pandan? Like in the company’s description, this does have a sticky rice sort of flavour to it but it’s also not quite that simple. It’s got a bit of a vanilla kind of flavour to it, but also not vanilla? It’s like some sort of sweet confection or bread too. Citrusy finish; but very light and refreshing without any acidity to it.

I really, really like it! It’s incredibly peaceful and relaxing, and I appreciate that it has this beautiful, subtle flavour to it that separates it from the typical green tea.