Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Sara’s Tea Caddie
Tea Description:
A variation on two classic Japanese green teas: Genmaicha and Hojicha. With this blend you get the sweetness and buttery popcorn of a genmaicha and the toastiness of a roasted hojicha. Savoury and sweet, nutty and smooth. This tea is a perfect warming green tea for winter weather.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s a happy day when I go out to the mailbox and find my monthly Amoda Tea box in there! But I have to admit that when I opened my Amoda Box this month, I was a little disappointed. There was a repeat of a tea that we’ve had from Amoda in the box before: Minty Winter Wonderland from Tiesta Tea. I mean, sure, the tea is tasty. I enjoyed it last winter when it was part of December 2012’s box. But I subscribed to Amoda Tea to experience new teas, not to be reintroduced to teas that I’ve already tried. So I’m hoping that this isn’t going to be a trend on the part of Amoda Tea.
But, I am glad that this month’s box also included a packet of Genmai Hojicha from Sara’s Tea Caddie. This is a really tasty Genmai. I love the way the sweetness of the toasty Hojicha brings out the sweet, toasted rice flavor.
In a “typical” Genmaicha, the bittersweet grassy tones of the Sencha (or Bancha) are softened and sweetened by the addition of toasted rice. Here, the sweet, roasted flavor of the hojicha is compounded by the toasted rice – creating a deeper roasty-toasty flavor that is sweet and a little bit buttery.
It is a warm, cozy kind of flavor that is comforting when served hot, and very relaxing and refreshing when served chilled. I found that the toasty notes still came through nicely with the iced version – I liked that. When served iced, it’s especially tasty with a drizzle of honey!
Hojicha Green Tea from Aiya
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Aiya
Tea Description:
Known for its unique, strong, roasted flavor, Hojicha is made by roasting lower grade Sencha and Bancha. Although Hojicha is from the green tea family, the roasting process turns its leaves to an autumn brown. Hojicha has a very distinct, mild and nutty flavor. It also contains less caffeine and tannins, resulting in a less astringent flavor.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love the toasty, cozy taste of this Hojicha Green Tea from Aiya. The roasting of the Sencha and Bancha leaves creates such a lovely, nutty flavor that has a hint of caramel undertones.
Aiya has delivered another excellent tea! This tea is just exactly what I’ve come to expect from a good Hojicha. The leaves are a beautiful shade of tan that smell warm and toasty, like freshly roasted nuts. When brewed, the liquid is golden tan and fragrant.
The cup tastes smooth with a light astringency. There is no bitterness. The usual “vegetal” notes that you’d experience with Sencha and Bancha teas have become a sweet, warmly roasted flavor that is not grassy or vegetative. Instead, it reminds me vaguely of almonds that have just come out of the oven after being lightly toasted. The aftertaste is delicate and sweet.
The flavor is so soothing. It’s the kind of tea that I like to curl up to on chilly days like this one. When it’s cold and blustery out there, I like to be inside with my hands wrapped around a warm, porcelain mug of hot Hojicha like this one.
Guìyuán Roasted Dong Ding Oolong from Steepster
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Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Steepster Select
Tea Description:
Our Guìyuán Roasted Dong Ding is a classic style produced using the traditional method of hand roasting over charcoal. Exposure to high heat gently changes the leaf sugar composition to a naturally sweet liquor.
Read other Steepster thoughts on this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The Steepster Select monthly tea tasting box is back and it’s better than ever! Here are some of the changes that have been implemented since the last tasting box: first, the boxes include not three but FIVE different teas. Second, these are truly “samples,” and as a taster, I like that. I get two (2) one-serving packets of each tea in my box. Like I said, I like this new feature, it’s just enough tea to allow me to taste it but not so much that I feel overwhelmed by the amount of tea in the box.
The first tea that I’m tasting from this month’s box is this Guìyuán Roasted Dong Ding Oolong from Steepster. This is an outstanding Dong Ding! From the moment I opened the sampler pouch, I could smell the roasty-toasty goodness of the Oolong. It smelled warm and nutty, and evoked thoughts of the smell of a log cabin in the woods with a roaring fire in the fireplace.
The flavor is sweet and smooth. I notice only a faint astringency with my first cup, which is a combination of the first two infusions following a 15 second rinse. The nutty tones are sweet and there is almost a creamy texture to this tea that allows the liquid to glide over the palate very smoothly. This creamy note is almost reminiscent of toasted coconut.
This first cup has a very silky taste and texture! As I progress to mid-cup, I start to pick up on faint vegetal tones, hints of flower, and insinuations of fruit, but, mostly what I’m tasting is sweet, toasty, nutty flavor with notes of cream, and maybe a hint or two of freshly roasted coffee.
The second cup (infusions 3 and 4) offers more toasty and sweet notes. I can taste a charcoal-y sort of note along with the still present nutty flavors. The aforementioned notes of vegetation, flower and fruit are a little stronger now, but they are still distant flavors within the layers of complexity in this cup. The astringency becomes slightly more dry this time, but it is still not an overly astringent tea.
With my third cup (the fifth and sixth infusions), I began to pick up on more of the fruity notes of this tea, tasting a bit like what a bunch of purple grapes might taste like if it had been grilled over a bed of hot charcoal embers: the heat encourages the sweetness of the fruit to emerge while there are background notes of tart and touches of toasty, smoky notes.
I’m still tasting notes of charcoal and the nutty flavors, but the nutty flavors are a little less distinct now. The vegetal and floral tones are still rather distant. I notice more of a drying sensation with this cup as the finish leads into a mineral-y sort of taste.
With this third cup, I also notice the coffee notes I first tasted in the first cup. Here, they are beginning to define themselves, tasting a bit more like coffee, complete with that hint of coffee bitterness. I like how this bitterness contrasts with the sweetness of this cup.
If you’d like to try this tea and the others in this month’s Steepster Select box, I’m currently offering my second sample packages from this month’s box (one of each of the five teas sent in this month’s box) in a sampler at a discounted price. I only have one of these offers available! Check it out here.
Roasted Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea from Spire Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Tea Description:
This rare and tippy dark oolong from Taiwan produces golden-coloured liquor with a deep nutty and honey-flavoured fruit taste.
Learn more about Spire Tea on their website.
Taster’s Review:
I love a good Oriental Beauty Oolong, and this Roasted Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea from Spire Tea is really good. I am loving the strong essence of fruit that I taste: I taste a peach-like flavor that has a slightly roasted taste to it, as though someone had roasted a peach and then topped it with a drizzle of honey. It’s sweet and juicy and delicious.
As with most Oolong teas, I brewed this in my gaiwan. I combine the first two infusions into one cup, and then the third and fourth infusions are combined into the second cup … and so on.
My first cup was lighter in flavor than the second or third cups, but, it was still quite delicious. It had a pleasant toasty flavor with a slight mineral-like tasting finish. There were notes of fruit – sweet juicy peach! – and hints of a woody note, as well as a honey-esque undertone.
My second cup was the most enjoyable of the three. It had a very pleasing, silky texture and a smooth flavor that was reminiscent of the aforementioned roasted peach with a drizzle of honey. With the third cup, I started to notice a bit of tangy astringency toward the finish. The aftertaste had a sweet citrus note
I really enjoyed this Oriental Beauty from Spire Tea. The roasty-toasty tones are very autumnal to me, making this a perfect time of year to enjoy this cup; although, I’m more than happy to enjoy an excellent Oriental Beauty like this all year ’round!
Muzha Tikuanyin Oolong Tea from T-Oolong Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: T-Oolong Tea
Tea Description:
This Premium Muzha Tikuanyin tea is competition grade. The tea is handpicked, handcrafted and produced from Tikuanyin varietal. The production method of Taiwan TKY is complicated as the tea leaves must be repeatedly rolled and cloth twisted and then charcoal roasted for several days. The aroma and taste is this tea is fruity and sweet with this attractive and lovely Tikuanyin fragrance. It is rich and complex, and stands up very well to multiple infusions.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
My first cup (the first two infusions after a quick rinse) of this Muzha Tikuanyin Oolong Tea from T-Oolong Tea was lighter than the subsequent cups, but it was still very flavorful. I could taste the charcoal roast, nutty notes, and a sweet, fruity tone come through.
But the second cup (infusions 3 & 4) is where the taste really came alive with this tea. It is so delicious and roasty-toasty. The nutty flavors and the fruity notes are coming through stronger now. There is a creamy, buttery taste to this, but instead of a typical cream/milk/butter type of taste, this is more reminiscent of browned butter. Sweet and toasty! The creamy notes accentuate the nutty tones, and the fruit flavors evoke thoughts of sweet stone fruit. This cup started out really smooth, and as I neared the end of the cup, I started to notice a mineral-y sort of taste and texture toward the finish.
With my third cup (infusions 5 & 6), I noticed more of the mineral notes begin to emerge, although I wouldn’t say that this was an overly “mineral-y” cup at all. It was deliciously sweet with notes of fruit and nut. It was less creamy than the second cup, though, and I noticed more astringency with this cup. The flavor was still deliciously toasted.
I was hesitant to actually publish this review since this tea is currently sold out on the T-Oolong Tea website, however, I decided to still offer the review in case my readers might be interested in watching T-Oolong Tea for when this tea might be back in stock … it’s definitely worth checking for because this is a really delightful tea!