Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea Wing
Tea Description:
Sourced specially for Steepster, this fresh, first flush shincha is the “beaujolais nouveau” of tea. An intoxicating, dry leaf aroma and deep emerald color leads to a grassy, sweet, and heady liquor. This is the taste of real tea.
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Taster’s Review:
The theme of this month’s Steepster Select box is “First Flush” – a celebration of this year’s first harvest of tea leaves! Sounds like a good theme to me. And this Yame Shincha #3 Green Tea from Tea Wing is the first that I’m tasting from this month’s box, and it’s absolutely lovely!
The dry leaves smell reminiscent of green vegetables. Another reviewer on Steepster suggested that the smell of salty chicken broth and I get that too, although the chicken broth I make doesn’t really smell like this. However, the stuff that you buy in the cartons in the grocery store, yeah I can get that comparison. Once brewed, there is a strong vegetable smell with notes of salty kelp.
The flavor is very soothing. It is very reminiscent of a broth, something you’d want to be sipping on if you were feeling under the weather – it tastes wonderfully nourishing, as if it nourishes the very soul. It has a sweet and salty/savory taste to it, and there is a balance between these two. It doesn’t taste too sweet, nor does it taste too salty or savory.
It doesn’t really taste “grassy”, although I would see how that comparison can be made. For me, this tastes more like the “liquor” you’d find at the bottom of your steamer after steaming spinach. Or … what I’d imagine that to taste like, as I’ve never actually scooped that up and taken a sip. Perhaps I should sometime.
It is deliciously invigorating, and I can almost feel it replenishing me from the inside out. Revitalizing me so that I can get the things done today that I need to get done! It’s a great pick-me-up for the afternoon, but it’s not something that you’d want to rush through. You don’t want a “fast” cup of tea with this, take your time and enjoy the wonderful flavor of it. This is a first-flush green at its finest!
A really wonderful Steepster Select box this month! If you haven’t signed up for this great subscription, you’re missing out!
Genmai-Matcha Matsujirushi Green Tea from Steepster
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Steepster Select
Tea Description:
Sencha leaves are expertly mixed with popped brown rice and milled matcha powder. A most comforting and delicious afternoon tea. You won’t find a greener tea anywhere!
Taster’s Review:
During my years as a tea reviewer, I’ve tried several different Genmaicha with Matcha type blends like this Genmai-Matcha Matsujirushi Green Tea from Steepster. It’s essentially a Genmaicha blend that has been dusted with Matcha powder. As the tea brews, the Matcha mixes into the hot tea and it becomes part Genmaicha and part Matcha.
And, it surprises me to say this, but this may just be the best Genmaicha with Matcha blend I’ve yet to try. I’m not sure why that is, perhaps it’s because the Genmaicha here has a base of Sencha leaves rather than Bancha. I don’t know if that’s the reason, but I do know that this tastes exceptionally good!
The flavor is much of what I’d expect from a Genmaicha: roasty-toasty and warm, but with that strong note of freshness from the green tea. The Sencha is light and refreshing with just a hint of bitterness that contrasts with the sweetness of the rice notes as well as the sweetness from the Matcha. It’s absolutely more sweet than bitter, with just hints of bitterness popping up around mid-sip that offer something a little different for the palate to explore.
And of course, it’s the Matcha that makes this different from your ordinary, run-of-the-mill Genmaicha. The Matcha makes the tea a little smoother and richer. It’s a thicker consistency, so the palate enjoys a smooth, velvet-y texture.
This is really a refreshing drink. I drank most of it while it was hot, but since the temperatures are reaching the 90s these days, I decided to let some of it cool so that I could see how it tastes chilled. And it makes a tasty iced beverage too. It’s very invigorating!
Lapsang Souchong Black Tea from Steepster
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Steepster Select
Tea Description:
Our Lapsang is a hearty black tea which has been lightly smoked over aged pine. Surprisingly sweet and complex, note how the pine aromas start strong up front and soon diminish revealing a very structured and delicate flavor.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve never made any big secret of the fact that I’m not particularly fond of overly smoky teas. And as I typed the previous sentence, it occurred to me that is probably not the first time that I said that here on this blog. So, when this Lapsang Souchong Black Tea was included as part of the Steepster Select box this month, I wasn’t exactly doing the happy dance. I wasn’t … unhappy … exactly, but, I wasn’t thrilled either.
As I sit here typing, my hot cup of tea sits before me and the aroma of smoke wafts from the teacup. It isn’t an overpowering scent, that is to say, it doesn’t make me feel as though I’m sitting ’round a campfire. But, the smoke is there. It’s smoky.
I brewed this cup the way I typically brew a Lapsang Souchong or other strongly smoked tea, I gave it a quick, hot water rinse.
This time, I did a 20 second rinse rather than my usual 15 seconds, not sure that the extra five seconds will do a whole lot different, but, I just kept counting after the fifteen and I didn’t realize – hey, it’s time to dump out the rinse water. What can I say? It’s still early and this is my first cup of the day, I haven’t had any caffeine and my brain isn’t functioning properly.
Anyway, after the 20 second rinse, I brewed the cup for three minutes. I’m glad to say that the tea tastes less smoky than it smells. It still has a fairly strong smoky taste, but there are a lot of other interesting flavors in this cup as well.
I can really taste that delightful caramel-y undertone. As much as I am not fond of smoky teas, the thing that I’m quite captivated by with a smoky tea (and the one thing that keeps me coming back to try a smoky tea now and then) is that caramel-y undertone. I love the way the smoke and the caramel meld together. It’s quite magical.
As the description above suggests, this is a hearty tea, but it isn’t quite as hearty as you might expect such an aggressively smoked tea as a Lapsang Souchong to be. It doesn’t quite have the roundness that other hearty teas have, like a top-notch Assam or a Fujian Black tea might have. It certainly doesn’t qualify as a “thin” tasting tea, but it’s lighter than I’d like my first cup of the day to be.
That said, the lighter body of the tea allows me to explore some of the other flavors in this cup. I taste notes of fruit which marry beautifully with the smoked notes, giving them a taste of charred fruit, as if I grilled them. Nice! The fruit notes are difficult to distinguish, but I do taste a distinct stone fruit, like perhaps plum or nectarine, or a hybrid of the two.
I also taste notes of pine. Not surprising, right? This is a Lapsang Souchong. But, I actually taste the wood and not just the smoke. I taste the woodsy tone of pine, and that is very complimentary to the smoky tones, not adding to the smoky flavor but giving it some dimension and making the cup not be all about the smoke.
Overall, this is a pretty decent Lapsang Souchong. One of the nicer ones I’ve had. I enjoy the complexity of this.
Li Li Xiang Anxi Wulong 2013 Oolong Tea from Seven Cups
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Seven Cups
Tea Description:
The name “Li Li Xiang” means each leaf is fragrant. Most versions on the market are made from a blend of several tea bushes such as huang dan, ben shan ,mao xie and tie guan. This year we are excited to introduce Li Li Xiang made purely from leaves of the Tie Guan Yin Bush. Experience the stronger dark chocolate aroma, rich lightly roasted flavor and complex aftertaste of this high quality tea. While this tea’s level of oxidation is similar to other Anxi teas like Monkey Picked, it has undergone more intense roasting in its processing. This stronger roast gives Li Li Xiang a golden liquor color and a flavor that is reminiscent of Anxi’s traditional style. The interesting flavor and affordable price makes this a great everyday wulong tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
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Taster’s Review:
The aroma of the dry leaf of this Li Li Xiang Anxi Wulong 2013 Oolong Tea from Seven Cups was very interesting to me, it had a fragrance that was familiar – smelling of a top-notch Tie Guan Yin Oolong – but, the scent was much more intense than I have experienced with other Tie Guan Yin Oolong teas that I’ve tried. It smelled very lush and “green” but there were also some very intriguing notes of raw chocolate. The brewed tea loses much of this aroma, smelling mostly of vegetation, but there are some faint hints of raw chocolate if I really focus on the scent.
The raw chocolate notes translate – surprisingly! – to the flavor, and what a delightful surprise that was. I’m not sure if it’s because I was smelling the chocolate in the aroma that my palate simply wanted to taste the chocolate but … it still took me aback because I’m not used to experiencing chocolate from a pure Oolong like this.
The vegetal notes are present too, but they meld with the other flavors of the cup. I taste notes of flower and peach, with hints of toasted nut in the distance. There is a creaminess to the cup too. This creaminess reminds me a bit of vanilla, but it’s not quite a sweet as vanilla. I like how the creaminess complements the notes of cacao.
My second cup (infusions 3 and 4) was even more delightful than the first. The vegetal notes are softer now, and the fruit notes are emerging. The floral notes blend in with the fruit notes and I like the flavor that the two produce together. The notes of vanilla remain although this isn’t quite as creamy as the first cup. I’m still noticing the subtle raw cacao notes.
With my third cup (infusions 5 and 6) the flavors were beginning to soften a bit. This is still a very flavorful cup, but, I don’t think that I’ll continue to infuse this tea for a fourth cup. I taste a sweet peach/apricot note mingling with the floral notes. The vanilla is less discernable now, and I taste very little cacao as well.
This is a really wonderful tea. One of the very best Tie Guan Yin I’ve ever tasted!
Zhejiang White Pearls from Steepster
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Steepster Select
Tea Description:
Hand rolled from the earliest picked buds, this spring harvest tea is light, refreshing, and incredibly floral. A beautifully soft and golden liquor that will focus your senses and revitalize your spirits. A wonderful example of quality white tea.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve had white tea pearls a couple of times in the past, but it’s been a while, so I was excited to see these Zhejiang White Pearls featured in this month’s Steepster Select Box! And these pearls are amazing!
The size of these pearls are smaller than I remember the white tea pearls that I’ve had in the past being. Size wise, these are similar to jasmine pearls – but they don’t smell like jasmine pearls! They have more of a vegetal aroma.
And they certainly don’t taste like jasmine pearls, either!
The flavor is sweet and like honey! Imagine a very thin honey! That’s what I’m drinking right now! It is very light and crisp. There are very subtle notes of melon, air, earth and a light floral tone in the background. For those of you who consider a white tea to be too delicate – you should try this one, because the flavors stand out!
Later infusions were a little earthier than the earlier infusions and a little less like thinned honey. Still sweet and the floral notes begin to emerge. Still a delightful tea, I think I preferred the first two infusions to the last two. (It’s still well worth the effort to keep on infusing!)
I am thrilled with this month’s Steepster Select box! And I want to take a moment to express how happy I am with the customer service from Steepster. I encountered some issues with my account, and they worked very hard to get these issues resolved, and when the resolution took more time and effort than expected, they sent me this month’s box free of charge to make up for my troubles. Thank you, Steepster! If you’re on the fence about trying this amazing monthly subscription, rest assured knowing that you’re in good hands with Steepster! They’ll take good care of you!