Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Tea Description:
Mango is a flavorful tropical fruit. The only improvement we could think of is to combine it with our rich Sencha. Fresh Sencha flavor and sweet Mango will bring a tropical summer treat to your tea time!
These large 5 gram teabags contain specially steamed and fired Sencha leaves which have been blended with a hint of Matcha. Specially processed to brew in cold water, just add a bag to a 20 oz bottle of water shake and you’re ready to go! They also have enough flavor to be infused up to 5 times so just keep refilling your bottle and one teabag will last you all day!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I didn’t steep these according to the above suggested parameters – that is, I did not add a tea bag to a 20 oz. bottle of water and shake it to produce the tea. What I did instead was to drop five of the teabags into my half gallon tea pitcher, add cold, filtered water, and refrigerate overnight. Today, I am treated with a pitcher full of ice-cold, mango refreshment!
This tea is very flavorful! Sweet and lots of delicious fruit flavor, I like that the mango is strong and distinct – no second guessing what I’m tasting here! – the fresh, slightly vegetative flavor of the Sencha comes through.
But what I like even more than the delicious flavors of mango and Sencha … is the Matcha! It gives the tea a smooth creaminess, almost a buttery quality that marries with the mango flavor so well.
This is so refreshing and it has a restorative, energizing quality to it too, making it a perfect to-go beverage for to enjoy after a hike or run. Summer is coming, and this is a tea you’ll want to have on hand – it’s easy to brew and so tasty too!
Organic Sencha from Den’s Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Den’s Tea
Tea Description:
Our Organic Sencha is carefully and naturally grown under strict control of NOP (National Organic Program). Result is a natural gift from mother nature.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
HAPPY EARTH DAY!
I thought I’d celebrate Earth Day with this organic green tea from Den’s Tea.
When it comes to Japanese green teas, I’ve found no finer teas than those offered by Den’s Tea. They’ve a pleasing selection of high quality Japanese green teas, and all the teas that I’ve tried from them have been excellent.
This Organic Sencha is a perfect example of what I’m talking about! It tastes remarkably fresh and pleasantly sweet. Such a clean, pure taste that’s light on the grassy tones, and has no bitterness and very little astringency, just a slight tangy note that hits the back of the palate toward the tail of the sip that’s really quite enjoyable.
It has such a refreshing flavor to it, and it’s delicious served hot or iced. I generally prefer my iced teas to have a little sweetener to them (it seems that the flavors need a little perking up, usually) but this is one of those teas that does not need sweetener whether its hot or cold! It just tastes great, no matter how you serve it.
It’s a perfect tea for Earth Day … and in my opinion, Earth Day should be every day of the year!
Season’s Greetings Tea (AKA Caramel Tea) from Empire Tea Services
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & Green Teas
Where to Buy: Empire Tea Services
Tea Description:
Sencha green tea, Ceylon black tea, Almond slivers, and Caramel flavoring.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I debated with myself about whether or not I should publish this review now, or if I should wait until it was closer to the holiday season, but decided that since this tea is indeed available year round (and certainly quite enjoyable any time you choose to brew it!) I would publish the review now.
I was also a little confused by the tea, because the sample I had received was called “Caramel” and I couldn’t find it on the website! Fortunately, though, the staff at Empire Tea Services is very friendly, and they got back to me to let me know more about this tea, including that it is also called Season’s Greetings!
Well, whether you call it Caramel or Season’s Greetings … and no matter what time of year you steep it … one thing that remains consistent with this tea is that it is AWESOMELY GOOD!
The base of this tea is a blend of black Ceylon and green Sencha teas. I infused it using a lower temperature water (175°F) to ensure that the green tea would not be scorched, and this made for a perfect cup. The flavor of the black tea was not quite as rich as it would be if it were brewed with boiling water, but, this allowed for the buttery nuances of the Sencha tea to come through.
And it was those sweet, buttery tones that really made this tea shine. The sweet, creamy notes of the caramel married beautifully with the flavors of the green tea, while the black tea flavors seemed to meld naturally with the sweet almond notes. Together it created a fusion of amazing flavors.
Normally, when I think of a “Christmas Tea” … this isn’t the combination of flavors I envision. But, I love this different interpretation of the holiday season … it makes for a perfect cup of tea any time of year.
Green Citrus from BourgeaTEA
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: BourgeaTEA
Tea Description:
The light freshness of the Chinese Chinencha green tea pair well with the real citrus flavors of lemon and lime to make a fantastic lighter-bodied tea. Your taste buds and your nose will agree that the sensation of smelling and drinking Green Citrus is like a warm, blossoming spring day in which the flavors of winter still barely linger.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I like this tea a whole lot more than I expected to. At first, my thoughts were: another citrus flavored green tea, okay… I’ll try it. But I didn’t really expect a whole lot from it, and considered the combination to be boring, to be honest. But, even though the combination of lemon, lime and green tea seems rather ordinary, this is one citrus flavored green tea that’s worth trying.
The sip starts off with sweetness from the green tea, followed by hints of a slight grassy taste. The grassy flavor is very mellow – not at all sharp or bitter – a bit like sweet grass. The citrus tones are subtle but it is easy to distinguish the lemon-lime combination, especially when the tea is hot.
But here is where it gets interesting. As the tea cools, the sweetness intensifies. By the time the tea is warm (somewhere between piping hot and room temperature), it became so deliciously sweet that I found it difficult to put my cup down! And I also noticed that the citrus note changed somewhat. It was still a distinct citrus-y flavor, but, somehow, the lemon and lime notes seemed to morph into an almost grapefruit-like flavor, evoking images of eating a half a grapefruit that’s been lightly sprinkled with sugar. Sweet and absolutely refreshing.
As I said, I wasn’t expecting much when I first brewed this tea, but, I was very pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed it. This one gets two enthusiastic thumbs up!
Sencha of the Summer Sun from Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantations
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantations
Tea Description:
Sencha of the Summer Sun or 太陽の煎茶（夏） is the companion to Sencha of the Spring Sun, with a bitter taste that is strong at first. But the as the aftertaste spreads through you mouth, you begin to taste the sweet early summer sun shining brightly. Great for washing down oily meals (like summer BBQs…yum!).
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I think that the description above, while somewhat bardic, is pretty spot-on to what I’m experiencing with this tea. The sip begins with a savory bitterness, and as it washes over the palate, there is a bright, fruity sweetness that comes through. It’s really quite remarkable, this Sencha of the Summer Sun!
When compared to other green teas – or even compared to other Japanese Senchas – this Japanese Sencha has a strong, assertive flavor. I would categorize it as a full-bodied green tea. It has a fair amount of astringency to it, and some may find it to be too astringent (personally, I do not find it to be too astringent, but I could see how others might find it so), so I recommend steeping for just 1 1/2 minutes to start (175°F) to help taper the astringency.
But even though it is a bold green tea, I’m not finding it to be overly vegetative. There is some vegetal notes in there, sure, but it tastes more like creamed spinach to me than a grassy taste. Sharp floral notes that meld with the aforementioned savory bitter tones give it an umami kind of effect which then subsides into a lovely fruit-like sweetness.
A true delight, this Sencha from Obubu Tea!