Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas (better hurry on this one … at the time of this writing there were only 3 pouches left in stock!)
Tea Description:
Don’t let the silliness of this week’s label fool you. This is a serious tea: Seriously delicious. We’ve combined a premium Yun Wu (Cloud Mist) green tea with marshmallow root and all things lemon for a smooth, refreshing lemony green tea with some extra marshmallowy sweetness added in. Plus, you get a package with this cute kitten on the label!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Aww… just look at this label. Isn’t it cute? A lemony sun, marshmallow-y clouds, and an adorable kitten. How could anyone NOT buy this tea based on the label alone?
But if the label isn’t enough to draw you in – heck, maybe you’re a dog person – then the flavor of this tea should. It is one seriously tasty tea!
The base of the tea is a Yun Wu (aka Cloud Mist) which is a temporary departure from the usual Chinese Sencha tea that 52Teas usually uses in their green tea blends. While I do enjoy the Chinese Sencha that is the go-to green tea base for 52Teas, I must say that the use of the Yun Wu is very refreshing. It is a little lighter overall, and offers a slightly sweeter, nuttier flavor than the usual buttery Sencha tea, and I think that the Yun Wu melds very harmoniously with the lemon and marshmallow flavors of this blend.
And while I probably wouldn’t have thought of combining the flavors of lemon and marshmallow, I really like the way these two come together. The marshmallow flavor is a bit soft, but I find that it emerges more after allowing the tea to cool for a minute or two.
The lemon is strong, however, it is not overwhelming the other flavors of the tea. Instead, it saves much of its strength for the aftertaste, which ends up tasting a bit to me like Lemon Meringue Jelly Bellys (one of my favorite flavors), and it’s making me want to reach over for the jar that is just slightly out of my reach at the moment and start munching on Jelly Bellys!
But I won’t. I will instead enjoy this tea … and it is really so good. And as good as it is hot, it is even better iced! YUMmmm!
Indian Meghalaya Cloud Tea from Rare Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Rare Tea Co.
Tea Description:
From high in the cloudy hills between Assam and Darjeeling this unique tea really holds the best of both regions – light and floral with deep malty notes.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh. My. Goodness! This tea is really amazing.
I have had this tea for a little while now, receiving it at the same time that I received the Royal Air Force tea from Rare Tea Co. But I wanted to save trying it for a day when I was ready to experience something really exceptional, because I was confident that this would be just as exquisite as the RAF tea. I tend to do that with tea companies when I try the first tea from them, if it really impresses me, I mean REALLY impresses me, I tend to place very high expectations on them for future tastings. Sometimes this leaves me vulnerable to disappointment, fortunately, that is not the case with this tea. This is indeed EXCEPTIONAL.
The website did not tell me whether this was a black tea or something else, but on Steepster, this tea was added to the website by “Rare Tea Lady” so I figured that someone from the company added it and they categorized it as black, so I went with it. But that doesn’t mean that I brewed this the same way I would brew a black tea … because something about the name immediately made me think “Darjeeling” so I chose to brew this the way I’d brew a Darjeeling, using a lower temperature – in this case 195°F – and steeping it for 2 1/2 minutes. And I’m really glad that I did, because I can’t imagine this tea tasting any better than it does.
This has such a pleasing sweetness to it, and it is remarkably smooth from start to finish. It does have a lot of Darjeeling-esque qualities to it, it has a strong fruit taste to it, with hints of muscatel. But it doesn’t have that sharp astringency that so many other Darjeelings tend to have. There is some astringency to this, but it is very slight. More like it’s “trying” to be astringent like the other Darjeeling teas, and it almost gets there but, it doesn’t quite make it … does that make sense? Instead it is slightly tangy toward the finish and that tangy note morphs into a clear citrus-y tone in the aftertaste.
I really love this tea. It is so smooth and delicious. This is the kind of tea that you’d serve to very special guests that you’d want to impress. I find that this is best served hot – but not too hot. Allow it to cool a few moments (maybe 2 minutes) before you take your first sip, and then prepare to be taken on a beautiful journey in the Clouds!
Huang Shan Yun Wu (Yellow Mountain Cloud) from Life in Teacup
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Life in Teacup
Product Description:
Production Year: 2011
Production Season: Spring
Production Region: Anhui Province, Yellow Mountain
Style: Chao Qing (stir-fry to kill enzyme)Small amount of leaves of this tea end up a lot when brewed in hot water. Therefore, use less than normal amount of leaves.
Taster’s Review:
This is a fantastic green tea, one that I’d recommend to someone who is just starting out with green tea because it is not too overly grassy tasting (which can be somewhat off-putting to someone who is new green tea). It is pleasant and mild, and yet so rich in flavor.
The sip begins with a pleasant savory flavor that tastes vaguely of stewed vegetables. It is a vegetative taste, but, it is quite unlike the vegetative flavor that I often encounter with green tea. This is a unique kind of flavor that is quite rich … like vegetable broth. The texture of the tea further emphasizes the brothy quality of this tea.
Quickly the sip transitions to a sweeter flavor: a honey-esque sweetness where I can almost taste the floral nectar. It doesn’t have a strong and distinct floral taste, however, there are hints of floral notes that seem to dance around in the background, enticing me to take another sip so that I might pinpoint exactly what I taste. Sweet and incredibly pleasant. There is also a hint of spicy taste, similar to fresh ginger that lies beneath the surface, and peeks out every now and again to keep me intrigued.
A wonderfully contemplative tea, this Yellow Mountain Cloud!