Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Amoda
Tea Description:
Sweet, thick and full-bodied. A grassy and vegetal green tea with
refreshing astringency and light cream aroma.From grower Furuichi Shoji. It is grown in the old Samurai town Chiran, in Kagoshima prefecture, Japan. Here, the climate is ideal for tea – warm air mixed with cool breezes from the Bay of Kagoshima.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Chiran Sencha from O5 Tea brings us something slightly different in a sencha. My SororiTea Sister Anne reviewd this tea here.
The reason I am pointing out her review is so that you can understand this is in fact a really good sencha, but I am not as in love with it as my sister is. Its good, its very grassy, but for me, I always appreciate the buttery note that is lacking in this one. I suppose I’m stuck in my ways but I say “bring on the butter” okay confession time… I’m a butter addict. I love butter, I’d eat a whole stick of the stuff if I knew it would not be terrible for me, but I digress, the only think truly lacking in this sencha is the butter note. So with that said, this is a really great sencha! It is in fact one of the greenest, freshest tasting sencha I have ever tried with the longest lingering after taste.
I will say this however, for those of you like myself who want that buttery sensation, wait for it. Really, wait for it, the buttery comes out when this tea gets to be around room temperature, depending on how cool you keep your home anyway. This would be a lovely iced sencha and I typically do not like sencha iced!
Be sure you have a really fine strainer when brewing this as I had quite a bit of bits in the bottom of my cup, but I really do need to invest in a new strainer. The color of the liquor is really pretty, a light almost limey colored green. It is not murky at all though even with the particles laying on the bottom of the cup, I can see them all. Hummm this is inspiring of a tea leaf reading when the tea is gone!
Quilan Oolong from White Lion Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: White Lion Tea
Tea Description:
Quilan Oolong Organic Tea is a traditional oolong with a full, round, satisfying finish that connoisseurs will surely appreciate.
Canister, 9oz $37.00Glass Jar, 2oz $15.95 Sample Tin, 0.7oz $4.75
25 Sachets In Bulk $16.80Silver Keepsake Tin with 18 Sachets $15.50Sample Tin with 5 Sachets $4.75
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Quilan Oolong from White Lion Tea is scrumptious, and its organic! I love this oolong! I too am not always fond of Wuyi – I like it but this is the first one I can recall that has really WOWd me!!
The aroma – wow – when I had that first whiff of this tea before sipping I instantly thought of Burnt Marshmallows! Now I indeed do love my marshmallows burnt till they are pitch black as long as there is still yummy melting marshmallow inside. This was the aroma! There was that smokiness to it that really had me.
I have to say, anytime I get a sample sized tin of any White Lion Tea I end up ordering more of it. I have learned my lesson and from now on I will always just go ahead and order a glass jar of their teas! So far I have sampled six White Lion teas and each one of them is above stellar!
This tea truly does hold up to multiple steeps without losing any of its flavor. In addition I experience the same flavor from the first two steeps before I get any change to the notes. Even once the notes begin to change they evolve more than dissipate which is indicative of an excellent tea.
I rated this tea a 100 on Steepster it is so good.
There are notes of caramel, vanilla, burnt sugar, rock mineral, toasty, roasty, and smoke to name a few.
The cup is a dark but clear amber color.
The flavor left on the palate is Wuyi all the way, with that clean rock mineral and fresh water taste, granted I am using good quality water to brew my tea, but this flavor comes more from the tea itself.
The tea is full but not so robust. The mouthfeel more light than heavy, yet its not a thin feel either. This is one of the more difficult to explain mouth-feels for me.
This tea is also perfection iced and I will be sipping a lot of this Quilian Oolong iced this summer!
Dong Ding Oolong from Far Leaves Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Far Leaves Tea
Tea Description:
A classic Taiwan Oolong, grown high above lugu valley this summit tea has a soaring floral opening and a rich lasting finish.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Getting some of this Dong Ding Oolong from Far Leaves Tea to sample from my SororiTea Sister Anne was such a lovely surprise! Not only do I love a good oolong, but I have never had a tea from Far Leaves Tea, so this is a real treat!
I love the cute canisters the tea comes in and while I did not find anything regarding this on the website, yet, I am almost certain that the container is fully recyclable, that is if you do not choose to reuse it!
The dry leaf is typical for a green Dong Ding oolong and has a lovely light floral aroma. I am getting a bit of a white lilac aroma from the dry leaf.
Once steeped the liquor smells of vanilla, cane sugar, and lilac. The color of the liquor is golden yellow, or a very light amber tone.
The taste in the first steep is more toward the floral side with just a hint at nuttiness, not as buttery or creamy as some Dong Ding, but there is a slight vanilla undertone to the taste. If you swish the tea around in your mouth you will feel more of the creaminess and richness. The resulting aftertaste is floral.
The leaf holds up well to several steeps, at least four, with each steep releasing the flavor notes at different intensity levels.
The astringency in this tea is the perfect level for this type of tea.
I generally prefer a dark roasted oolong but this is quite lovely and the quality of this tea makes me want to explore more of Far Leaves options.
Pistachio Ice Cream from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Pistachio Ice Cream has an Organic Mao Jian base with generous amounts of roasted pistachios and a dash of lotus stamens. The sweet roasted pistachio flavor is immediately noticed followed by prominent notes of heavy cream. Light notes of vanilla can also be distinguished. Add some sugar to turn this smooth full-bodied tea into a dessert treat that resembles pistachio ice cream.
Ingredients: Organic Green Tea, Pistachios (roasted, unsalted), Lotus Stamens, Natural Flavoring (vegan)
Recommended Brew Time: 2 minutes 30 seconds
Recommended Amount: 1 level teaspoon of tea for 8oz of water
Recommended Temperature: 180 F
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s been a long while since I sampled Pistachio Ice Cream from Butiki Teas but this fine tea was featured in the Amoda Sampler that I split with my SororiTea Sister Anne. I am happy to have some back in my tea stash!
Normally, when a tea has an oily like top coat I am not too fond of it, but this is so pretty because it literally sparkles like diamonds, or glitter on the top of my cup, and does not take away from the experience of taste of this tea at all. Even with the slight “oily like” top coat the cup is clear to the bottom and such a BEAUTIFUL golden color!
The flavor profile of this tea is lavish, creamy, indulgent, but not excessively sweet, unless you wish to add sweetener, but its not really needed, and just oh so good! The aroma is enticing with that distinct pistachio smell that translates perfectly into the sip.
The aftertaste falls more on the nutty side rather than creamy, but the vanilla does help pull the sweetness through just a little on the palate in the aftertaste.
The lingering result however is the fresh green tea aftertaste which is light but distinct, grassy, nutty, and even a bit buttery.
I love this tea.
Vanilla Sky from Steep City Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Steep City Teas
Tea Description:
“Just remember, the sweet is never as sweet without the sour, and I know the sour ”-Vanilla Sky.
Well, we know the sour, so we only bring you the sweets. Inspired by the movie’s frozen picturesque sky, this blend will leave a smooth, soft, velvety vanilla note wrapped with a slight grenadine touch. It really is a beautiful vanilla sky for your taste buds to behold.
Ingredients: Black tea, calendula, sunflower petals, and natural flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Vanilla Sky from Steep City Teas is their version of what many of you may know as Monk’s Blend.
There is a trick to this tea however, and it fairs far better when iced. I do not find this to be as true with Monk’s blend from a couple other companies I have tried, but with Steep City’s Vanilla Sky it is so much better when you let it cool to a room temp or even slightly cool. The vanilla flavor comes out so much stronger, and the grenadine is more present as well.
This is not a tea for everyone, I have seen many reviews for other companies Monk’s Blend get varied reviews – more of a love it or hate it, to middle of the road, meh type of tea. What I have found however may change some people’s opinions of this blend. Also I have seen that many people just don’t care for grenadine. Regardless if you have this tea, from Steep City or another vendor in your stash, give it a try cooled, or even iced or cold brewed in your fridge.
For me, Monk’s Blend was one of the first teas that I was introduced to loose leaf with so it holds a special place in my heart, I also do like grenadine. Vanilla Sky from Steep City Teas is a nice cup, with plenty to offer in the vanilla aspect with just a hint at grenadine, so for those of you who do not know if you care for the grenadine or not, this is a good one to try.
I will say, this is by far, not my favorite tea from Steep City Teas, they have some blends that are out of this world, but I can see why they would want this in their offerings, because it is a rather well known blend.
If you really want to indulge in some of Steep City’s amazing teas I suggest:
and
Just to name a few.
You can also check out all the Steepster reviews on their teas here.