Within this past week, I have come down with the slight flu. Resulting in which I couldn’t for the life of me taste anything for my nose was not cooperating in the slightest. So when I became able to taste something that wasn’t my mentholated cough drops I looked to tea for a safe hot beverage to soothe my illness. I turned to Mellow Monk’s Top Leaf tea blend.
This tea is a sort of Sencha (fukamushi, which means deeply steamed in Japanese) and compared to the sencha I have had in the past this tea is a softer variant. It was a nice cup to soothe my stomach and a pleasant change to my taste buds, other than crackers and soup. I would have to agree with the description that is on the Mellow Monk’s site for this blend has a slight earthiness to it but just enough to have a modest sweetness. Now I don’t seem to catch the grapefruit overtones that is described but that could be because of my previously deadened taste buds.
Now on to the price of this tea. It seems to only come in one size and that is a 100 gram (3.5 oz) bag retailing for $15.95 which is a little over four dollars per ounce. Which I believe that is pretty fair compared that I usually pay $4-7 for an ounce for other loose leaf blends.
In closing, I believe that this is a good blend for any green tea/Sencha lover. It is moderately priced for the amount you get, it is direct from the source, and if this has any leverage with you dear reader Top Leaf won first place in its category in the 2011 North American Tea Competition. As for me, I don’t think I will be picking this up anytime soon but I will definitely keep this blend in mind for the future. I may even explore their other blends from Mellow Monk.
See you for the next cuppa!
Kara
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Mellow Monk
Description
This is our top-of-the-linehoncha, or traditional green tea. Top Leaf™ Green Tea, a fukamushi (deeply steamed) sencha, is specially pampered in its own separate corner of the tea orchard. Not only does this tea receive extra fertilizer (organic, of course) during the growing season, but at harvest time, the growers pick only the top layer of young tea leaves. The result is a distinctive, more subtle, gentler flavor. This tea is alwaysfirst flush.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
