I’ve really been looking forward to this organic Kukicha touting the same blueberry green flavor profile that got me through finals week. This kukicha style of tea includes twigs from the tea plant so it’s a bit lower in caffeine and usually a bit more woody tasting. To be honest I’m a little judgy about low caffeine teas, I have an assumption that they’ll be less flavorful but I’m more than willing to test my hypothesis, especially since this is my comfort flavors! The stars of this blend are plenty of flat greens (I’m guessing it’s Dragonwell tea / longjingcha) dotted with teensy dried blueberries.
As it brews, it smells earthy but pleasant and delicate, like walking through a forest in the summer, with teases of juicy berries begging to be eaten. Not getting as much lemongrass scent, though I see it. The different components stratify themselves by weight in my gravity strainer, producing a really neat effect in the deep caramel-colored infusion. You can blame my geology profs for that last observation 😉
The complex taste of the green tea seems to expand past my mouth! It makes a single sip seem impossibly full of flavor. It’s unexpectedly rich, and then the sweet berry aftertaste lingers for a nice long while. The lemongrass is hiding somewhere in all this, but it’s not undetectable, just subtle. My second steep included rock sugar, which eased the flavor intensity a bit and made it more my taste.
I have to say, despite my bias I’m impressed with how well this low caffeine tea passed my taste-tests. Each flavor amplified the others, but nothing is overpowered. Since I’m already committed to nerdy buzzwords here, I’m going to call this a synergy blend, where the end product is more flavorful than the sum of its parts alone. Yum!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Frontier Co-Op
Organic and Kosher loose leaf Kukicha
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Organic Assam Black Tea by Mana Organics
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Mana Organics
Description
A brisk tea with a malty, honey-sweet aroma followed deep character of taste and a pleasant pungency that will please even the most discerning of palates.Only Tippy Golden Flower Orange Pekoe Premier Grade (TGFOP1) Assam tea direct from our family’s estate, Chota Tingrai. Healthier for you and the environment thanks to our USDA certified organic practices. Packed onsite in re-sealable bag so you get that garden-fresh taste again and again. Tastes, smells, and looks so delicious that we got an award in the Global Tea Championship 2017
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Oaks SFTGFOP 1 CL SPL 2nd Flush 2016 Darjeeling Organic from Lochan Tea Limited
I steeped this tea for about 3 min at 212 with almost 2tsp and 1 cup water. I couldn’t find the product on the company’s website, so I just guesstimated the steeping specs. Which is always fun. I prefer to use the recommended specs if possible, in order to give the tea a chance to put its best foot forward (as it were), but I’m also fine with just doing whatever seems to work if there aren’t any recommendations.
The water started turning amber pretty quickly after I put the leaves in to steep. I used a generous amount of leaf due to not knowing the specs; probably a heaping teaspoon would have been sufficient, but of course that’s all up to personal preference. The leaves seemed to be chopped pretty small, but they’re not crushed into dust or anything. The fragrance was a bit malty and flowery while steeping, but also a bit astringent.
After steeping, the tea was a warm golden-brown color, transparent enough to see a stray leaf at the bottom of the cup. It smelled very inviting. Once I tasted it, though, I decided I’d steeped it a bit strong. The astringency was prominent, although fortunately the tea wasn’t bitter at all (despite using boiling water). The flavor wasn’t as malty as I expected, but there were still floral notes especially at the end of the sip. It’s a solid black tea, especially astringent but also somewhat sweet.
With sugar, the astringency is wonderfully mellowed and the floral notes emerge a bit more–I’d definitely recommend this. With milk added, I love it even more. (But what did you expect? I always do.) I’d consider this a great breakfast tea, and steeping it strongly is a good plan if you’re going to add sugar and milk, otherwise I’d recommend steeping it not quite so long (maybe 2 minutes?).
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black/Darjeeling
Where to Buy: Lochan Tea Limited
Description
This tea is no longer on the website but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Organic Greek Mountain Tea by Klio
Steeping time 4 minutes, 1/2 cup boiling water, 2 g of tea leaves and stems.
I have always been an avid herb gardener (although not, alas, always a successful one) and today I noticed what exactly it is about this type of tea that I found familiar. The leaves are similar in appearance (silvery and fuzzy) and even similar in shape to Lamb’s Ear, and I think the fragrance may be similar as well, although Lamb’s Ear is not actually well-known for its smell. (Plus, I can never manage to keep it alive so I don’t actually have a Lamb’s Ear plant to compare right now). When I looked it up, I discovered that the two plants are in the same family, i.e. the Mint family . . . but then so are hundreds and thousands of other plants, so that doesn’t mean they’re actually closely related. I guess it’s just the type of family resemblance that sometimes shows up unexpectedly between distant cousins.
The other thing that the leaves remind me of is licorice, or at least those licorice-flavored herbal teas that you drink when you’re sick with a cold. (Actually I may be thinking of the combination of licorice and slippery elm flavors? But I’m not positive.) It’s not an unpleasant fragrance, and I can imagine this tea being pleasant to drink.
As I steep the tea, the fragrance emerges more, but not at overpowering levels. The tea liquid itself does not appear to change color greatly, and after steeping appears slightly yellowish but not extremely so. The fragrance hasn’t gotten much stronger in the last couple of minutes.
The first sip is not quite as flavorful as the fragrance, but it does support my impression of this tea as being similar to an herbal tea used to treat colds. It tastes slightly sweet in the back of the mouth. It doesn’t seem all that viscous, but it’s probably giving my throat a nice protective coating as I drink it. It doesn’t need sugar, which is a good thing because if you’re going to drink it every day for your health then you wouldn’t want to add sugar or you’d counteract the health benefits, right? It definitely tastes healthy, but in a good, gentle way, not in a bitter-green-smoothie type of way.
I’m not going to say that I want to replace my regularly scheduled tea breaks with this herbal tea, but since it’s caffeine free I bet it would be a great nightcap. Plus, it does have quite a soothing and calming effect, so add that to its other benefits (such as its health benefits) and it turns out to be quite a valuable beverage!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Klio Greek Tea
Description
This variety, Sideritis Scardica, comes from the legendary Mount Olympus, in the Balkans, situated between Thessaly and Macedonia.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Boo-Berry Cotton Candy Zomba Tea from 52Teas. . .
Who else but 52Teas would make this amazing breakfast treat into a Halloween inspired tea!?!?!
Boo-Berry Cotton Candy Zomba Tea is a blend of green tea, blueberries, and natural flavors and is a reblend from a few years ago. When you first open this pouch of Halloween goodness, you are pleasantly greeted with this resounding blueberry sweet-almost vanilla – aroma. Really lovely and one that just screams, brew me up!
I anxiously prepped up water per the parameters on the package and allowed the tea to cool for a few minutes. I was literally just starting at the timer willing the time to go faster. When this tea was released a few years ago, I was crazy over it. I loved the bright blueberry flavors that mingled with the green tea base perfectly with a touch of sweetness. I haven’t had a blueberry tea that fit the bill exactly and I’ve tried a ton trying to find something similiar.
First sip in and I’m hooked. The huge blueberries bring in this gorgeous bright and vibrant berry flavor where the natural flavors that have been added in almost bring a sweet yogurt quality. Toss in the gorgeous contrast of the vegetal tea base-Zomba green tea and you have yourself a proper Halloween treat. I don’t pick up a huge cotton candy flavor but I’m curious if a cold brew wouldn’t yield that flavor profile. Smooth, fruity, creamy with a slight vegetal twist-this tea has my name written all over it!
Cup after cup, this tea does not disappoint. Sure this tea isn’t like the original blend but I actually think I enjoy this re-invented blend even more. I’m extremely partial to 52Teas Zomba tea base and add in the hauntingly fun boo berry flavors, I’m sold.
Grab your pouch soon! This is an extremely limited tea and even though this is a Halloween inspired treat, this tea would be amazing hot or cold any day of the week!
Well done 52Teas! Well done!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is part reblend, part re-imagining. One tea that sold pretty well was the Boo-Berry Cotton Candy Green Tea that we reblended as part of a “You Choose the Reblend” incentive from our start-up Kickstarter campaign. I happened to have some Zomba Steamed green tea from the Satemwa Estate in Malawi on the shelf and I was trying to think of something to do with it – and since Halloween was approaching, I thought, “Ohh! How about the Boo-Berry Cotton Candy but with the Zomba steamed green tea base? That should be spook-tacular!”
And it is! This is hauntingly delicious! (OK, enough of the Halloween wordplay, already!)
An abundant blueberry AND cotton candy flavor to this – with a lovely sweet, creamy note that hints at vegetation from the Zomba base.
So tasty!
