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!
Harmony Tea from Mellow Monk. . . . . .
Genmai cha is a special type of green tea with toasted rice. Some of the rice kernels have popped in the toasting process, looking like little puffed, white popcorn pieces. I’ve sometimes seen genmai chai billed as the “movie night” tea for its inclusion of these popcorn-like rice pieces. No matter what you name it, genmai cha is a unique and delicious tea experience.
It was a long time in my tea journey before I put genmai cha tea into my usual rotation. Beyond the puffed rice in the dry leaf, the next most striking impression about the tea is that it is savory. If you aren’t expecting a savory experience, the brew can be a little unsettling at first. If you know this tea won’t be fruity or floral going into it, you’ll be much better off. Tasting Harmony Tea genmai cha from Mellow Monk was no exception.
Brewed, the Harmony Blend smells like warm bread or sticky rice. With these meal-like flavors, the warm tea might seem almost more like broth than tea. Over my years of drinking genmai cha, I find this warm brew and its toasty, starchy flavors to be supremely comforting, like sitting in the kitchen when the oven is on and bread is baking.
Despite all this toastiness, it is good not to forget that genmai cha is a green tea, so brew it with slightly cooler water to avoid burning the green tea leaves. Though the toasted rice is the prominent scent and taste of the tea, there is a role for the green tea to play in the flavor profile.
Green tea on its own can sometimes have savory incarnations, but it is usually a vegetable-inspired savoriness, like buttery bok choy or dark and nutty kale. The green tea in Mellow Monk’s Harmony Blend is much sweeter, and not too vegetal. It reminds me of a smooth green tea matcha, green and grassy but still sweet like nutty wheat bread.
It is a rainy, gray day today, and a warming cup of toasty Harmony Tea was just what I needed to turn my mood around.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Mellow Monk
Description:
Harmoney Tea™ is a genmaicha — green tea mixed with roasted brown rice. The rice imparts a nutty, toasty flavor that makes genmaicha one of the most popular types of green tea in America. Unlike some tea growers, this artisan roasts his own rice, which he buys from local farmers. (During roasting, some of the rice grains pop like popcorn. This popped rice is also included in the mixture to enhance the flavor.)
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Have a Sweeter Breakfast Blend with Aso Black from Mellow Monk
Aso Black from Mellow Monk is technically a black tea but it is processed a little differently that most black teas. If I understood their description correctly, Aso Black tea is made from the tea leaves that would normally go into making sencha green tea. Picked in the mountains of Japan, these leaves are less processed and less fermented than traditional black tea. Aso Black is also called “kocha” or “crimson tea”, perhaps due to its medium level of oxidation. But I digress.
The leaves in my sample were small and flat, though very dark in color. As it brewed, the tea smelled distinctly starchy like oats or bread. It had none of the citrus brightness I associate with other black teas.
Mellow Monk recommends letting this tea cool slightly before drinking to let the flavors come forward, so I stepped away from my cup to let it cool down.
When I took my first sip of the tea, I was once again hit with the starchiness of the flavors, though this time it also had quite a bit of sweetness. In an abstract way, the tea reminded me of oatmeal raisin cookies if they could be turned into a breakfast tea.
In the aftertaste there is a vegetal note that I expect more often from green teas. It reminds me of the sweet and sour fermented green tea note that I often taste in kukicha green. With all the sweetness and smooth mouthfeel of the rest of the blend, the green tea aftertaste is less grassy and more fruity, complimenting the sweet oat flavors in the overall smell and taste.
This is a unique tea, worth a taste by black tea and green tea lovers alike. If you are tired of ceylon’s sharpness, or assam’s full fuzziness, try Aso Black for your next breakfast blend and maybe you’ll find it makes for a sweeter morning.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black and Green
Where to Buy: Mellow Monk
Description:
How about a nice change of pace? Aso Black™ is black tea (kocha, or “crimson tea” in Japanese) made from the leaves of green tea varietals grown in the pristine foothills of Mt. Aso. Gently harvested leaves are only lightly fermented compared to conventional black tea, for a sweetness not found in ordinary black teas.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Frosty Garden from Mellow Monk
Frosty Garden from Mellow Monk is a Kumamoto-style guricha with tea leaf stems. Apparently, the curly-shaped guricha leaves are prepared using a steaming process, rather than a pan-fried process, which give this tea its special flavor.
First and foremost, let me say that I like the name of the tea, and it’s helped me be inspired while drinking this brew. This is a well-balanced tea, just the right mix of both vegetal and fruity notes, and both sweet and savory tones. The vegetal notes feel like spring grass that grew up fast and got caught by that last, sudden wet frost. This tea feels green and fresh, like melting frost on new grass, very wet and green.
There are also some brighter notes, which taste more lemony with a hint of savory herbs like sage or parsley. In the aftertaste, there’s a bit of green almost-melon sweetness. The most I drink this tea, the more I experience a buttery mouthfeel with hints of toasted nuts.
Reminding me of the cusp of spring weather where new greens meet the last clutches of cold, Frosty Garden from Mellow Monk is aptly named, and a fresh, fantastic brew.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Mellow Monk
Description:
Frosty Garden™ is a shiraore (also known as karigane), a tasty sencha mixed with some white leaf stems. That, plus a slightly different tea-crafting technique, results in a uniquely “soft” tea—a lightly herbaceous aroma, a gentle, creamy sweetness with nutty overtones, hints of sage, and a savory finish. This tea is always first flush—made from the first harvest of spring leaves.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Harmony Tea from Mellow Monk. . . .
I am a black tea sort of girl. Black just seems to work best with the flavorings I tend to reach for so typically when I am shopping, I hang out in the black tea section of shops. This has always been the case and though I have grown to enjoy other types of tea, I do still tend to gravitate towards black. However, since starting my tea journey, there has been one exception and that is genmaicha teas. Something about genmaichas just called to me and I made it my mission to try them all. This is one I have not tried so when I saw the familiar roasty rice and popcorn pieces peeking out of the traveling teabox I had, I immediately got the kettle brewing.
After just two quick minutes in 175 degree water, I had what my sister described as a canary yellow. Then she told me its like the color of a canary singing it’s melodic song that hints at its mellow nature. This is why I continue to ask her how she would describe the colors of my tea. I would have probably just said “yellow”.
As far as genmaichas go, this is a nice one. The first thing I noticed is that this has a strong roasty rice flavor. There is a touch of umami but mostly it is a rich, roasted note. The base is buttery and smooth and a tiny bit vegetal which provides the perfect counterbalance to the popped rice flavoring. Harmony tea seems to be a fitting name for this Mellow Monk blend since the flavors blend harmoniously (see what I did there?!).
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Mellow Monk
Description
Harmoney Tea™ is a genmaicha — green tea mixed with roasted brown rice. The rice imparts a nutty, toasty flavor that makes genmaicha one of the most popular types of green tea in America. Unlike some tea growers, this artisan roasts his own rice, which he buys from local farmers. (During roasting, some of the rice grains pop like popcorn. This popped rice is also included in the mixture to enhance the flavor.)
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
