Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green, Dark Roast

Where to Buy:  Mauna Key Tea

Tea Description:

Selectively harvested for naturally low caffeine contents.
We processed and roasted to make this tea good hot or cold tea.  Naturally sweet.  Easy to prepare and easy to drink without adding sugar.  One sample package (10g) makes 2qt of tea.

Organically grown at our farm in Hawaii.

 

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

This dark roasted organic green tea has a lovely aroma and flavor much like that of a genmaicha.

It has a deep roasted flavor, with a sweet finish.

Mauna Key Tea has a page that explains how roasting effects the flavors of a green tea here.

One cool aspect of Mauna Key Tea’s website is that it allows for you to select your roasting depth. Light, or Dark on this tea.

I have found this to make quite a nice tea, iced or hot, and just as the description states, you really need not add any sugar or sweeteners. It has such a pleasant naturally sweetened flavor.

There is a toasty roast-y depth to it – not quite a smoked flavor, and nothing near a lapsang souchong type smoke, but just this nice toasty note.

There is a vegetal note but it is different than most greens. It reminds me of when I caramelize veggies on the stove top, or when my asparagus gets slightly browned.

The leaf itself looks like Yerba Mate in my opinion. Little flakes of leaf. Like confetti almost. Haha tea confetti can be thrown at my parties anytime!

I keep asking myself if it would be fair to compare this to a houjicha but I can’t say that it would. It still to me is lighter than houjicha and not nearly as deep in flavor notes.

This could, I suppose, be called a lighter houjicha but even still that is not quite correct.

Truly this is one you will have to try for yourself. I can see this would not be to everyone’s liking but for any true green tea lover it is a must try!

Also be sure to check out their page on Natural Farming here.