Leaf Type: Oolong
Produced By PT Harendong Green Farm
For More Information, visit the Tea Farms webpage
About ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club:
By subscribing to the Global Tea Tasters Club, you will receive tea from ITFA tea farms 6 times per year. Each time, we will select a different region to feature and as we grow in tea farm members, so will your tea experience.
Your tea will also be accompanied by info about the tea and the tea farms themselves.
To know where your tea is coming from, who has grown and produced it, to taste the difference in teas from around the world…what could be better?
Taster’s Review:
December’s Shipment from ITFA was unique in a couple of ways. First, it was teas from Indonesia, and I don’t think I’ve had the opportunity to try teas from Indonesia prior to receiving this package. Second, it was unique because all three teas were from the same farm: PT Harendong Green Farm.
So far, I’ve reviewed for you two of the three teas I received from December’s Shipment: the Black Tea (aka Red Tea) and the Green Tea, and I enjoyed both of those quite a bit. Now, I’m reviewing the third and final tea in December’s Shipment: the Oolong!
And this is unlike any Oolong I have ever tasted. Dry, the tea looks very much like a Tie Guan Yin with its tightly wound, deep green pellets. But it doesn’t smell like a Tie Guan Yin. This one smells fruity and a little floral before steeping, and the brewed tea smells a bit vegetal, losing much of the fruit and flower notes that I noticed prior to infusing the leaves.
The flavor is also different. It has a smooth vegetative taste with sharp floral tones in the background. The contrast between these two flavors is quite compelling. The vegetative flavor is earthy and somewhat reminiscent of fresh herbs, and this herbaceous taste lingers in the aftertaste. The floral tones are sharp yet sweet. The finish is dry with strong astringency at the start of the cup, and as I continue to sip, I notice that this astringency seems to taper. In subsequent infusions, the fruit tones develop, and I notice a juicy taste that begins to emerge as the astringency wanes.
I really enjoyed this memorable journey to Indonesia by way of tea, and I’ve been so honored to take part in the Global Tea Taster’s Club. I look forward to what the next shipment might have in store!
ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club, October’s Shipment, Part 4: T.T.E.S. No. 18: Ruby Black Tea
Leaf Type: Black
Produced By Yuan Shiang
For More Information, visit the Tea Farms webpage
About ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club:
By subscribing to the Global Tea Tasters Club, you will receive tea from ITFA tea farms 6 times per year. Each time, we will select a different region to feature and as we grow in tea farm members, so will your tea experience.
Your tea will also be accompanied by info about the tea and the tea farms themselves.
To know where your tea is coming from, who has grown and produced it, to taste the difference in teas from around the world…what could be better?
Taster’s Review:
This is an incredible black tea, unlike others I’ve tasted. And that is something that I am enjoying so much about the Global Tea Taster’s Club: it offers the amazing opportunity to try teas that I probably would not have otherwise tasted, and these teas never fail to impress!
And this Ruby Black Tea is certainly impressive. It brews up incredibly dark, and the aroma of the brewed liquor is fascinating. It has a spiced tone to it that intrigues me, beckoning me to take a sip.
The tea is strong and intensely flavored. In one sip, I taste notes of earth, fruit, malt, spice and even the slightest hints of smoke. Each of these flavors meld together so well. There is a pleasing sweetness to the cup too, somewhat caramel-y as it melds with the malty tones, but I wouldn’t really characterize it as a caramel undertone in comparison to other black teas that I’ve tasted. That is to say, it’s not like a buttery caramel flavor, it is more like burnt sugar, sweet but with a hint of bitterness to it as well. There is a fair amount of astringency to the cup – not too much, but it is certainly noticeable.
This tea offers two very splendid infusions (perhaps more!), the first tasting bold and hearty, while the second is a bit smoother with more malty notes. This is a very pleasant black tea, and one that I’m very honored to have tried and to be able to recommend to others.
ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club, October’s Shipment, Part 2: Oolong Tea with a High Degree of Fermentation
Leaf Type: Oolong
Produced By GoeTea
For More Information, visit the Tea Farms webpage
About ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club:
By subscribing to the Global Tea Tasters Club, you will receive tea from ITFA tea farms 6 times per year. Each time, we will select a different region to feature and as we grow in tea farm members, so will your tea experience.
Your tea will also be accompanied by info about the tea and the tea farms themselves.
To know where your tea is coming from, who has grown and produced it, to taste the difference in teas from around the world…what could be better?
Taster’s Review:
This Oolong tea is AMAZING! It is quite unlike any Oolong I’ve yet to encounter.
The aroma is floral and sweet, reminding me a bit of orchid and lilies. It is a very intense fragrance. This floral essence translates into the flavor of the cup, but, I would have to say that the floral notes do not become the main focus once I’ve taken a sip. 
That is because this tea has an incredible savory overtone to it. It tastes a little salty, a little buttery (with a soft, creamy mouthfeel that compliments the buttery aspect), and vegetal tasting … a bit like steamed vegetables, yes. And, by now, you may be thinking “how does this make it unlike any Oolong I’ve ever tasted?” because I’ve often used the terms “buttery” and “vegetal” or “vegetative” to describe an Oolong.
What makes it different, in my opinion, is that these are more savory than sweet, which is characterized by a saltiness that I don’t think I’ve ever really tasted in an Oolong. This savory aspect makes this quite like soup, like a rich, nourishing broth … rather than a sweet Oolong tea.
But yes, there is sweetness to this tea as well. Remember the floral notes I mentioned earlier? Well, they are there, and they provide a sharp note that is quite complimentary to the savory tones, as well as a sweetness that seems to provide contrast to those same savory notes. Instead of a savory note that cuts through some of the sweetness, here I find that the sweetness is arriving just in time to cut through some of the savory flavors.
This is an Oolong I’d recommend to all the Oolong enthusiasts out there … it is one of those MUST TRY Oolong teas!
ITFA Global Tea Taster’s Club, August Shipment, Part 3: Organic Gemmai cha
Leaf Type: Green
Produced for the Kyoto Obubu Tea Plantations
For More Information, visit the Tea Farms webpage
About ITFA Global Tea Tasters Club:
By subscribing to the Global Tea Tasters Club, you will receive tea from ITFA tea farms 6 times per year. Each time, we will select a different region to feature and as we grow in tea farm members, so will your tea experience.
Your tea will also be accompanied by info about the tea and the tea farms themselves.
To know where your tea is coming from, who has grown and produced it, to taste the difference in teas from around the world…what could be better?
Taster’s Review:
Editor’s Note: I know it is usually spelled “Genmaicha” or “Genmai Cha,” however, the label on the package says Gemmai Cha.
Genmaicha stands out as my first really positive green tea experience. Way back (about 15 years now! yikes!) when I first started drinking tea “seriously” (err… that is, buying and drinking loose leaf tea), I had decided (rather prematurely) that I wasn’t crazy for green tea. Most of what I had tried was bitter. I have since realized that it was my fault because I had not yet learned the proper way to brew green tea. It was about the time that I started learning more about brewing temperatures and steeping time that I tried Genmaicha, and I really enjoyed it.
So I am always happy to receive Genmaicha, and was thrilled to find a package of Genmaicha along with the other teas that I received as part of August’s Shipment for the Global Tea Taster’s Club.
About this Genmaicha:
Obubu’s Genmaicha, or brown rice tea, is made with new leaves harvested in the summer. Instead of regular rice, Obubu uses sweet rice grown locally in the valley of Wazuka, creating a tea with a strong, sweet, toasty flavor and an aroma that fills the room.
While I am enjoying this Genmaicha immensely, I do disagree with the above quote regarding this tea. This has to be one of the lighter Genmaicha teas that I’ve ever tasted. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It is sweet and toasty, and it is very aromatic, but, it doesn’t have the strong flavor that I usually experience with a Genmaicha.
Yes, I do appreciate the strong flavor of a typical Genmaicha, but, I am finding the lightness of this Genmaicha to be very refreshing, and I’m liking it a lot. The green tea tastes fresh and exhilarating. It has a crispness to it, and a moderate amount of cleansing astringency.
The sweet brown rice adds that cozy, comforting toasty flavor, but it doesn’t taste overly roasty-toasty. It is the brown rice flavor where the lightness is especially noticeable. The brown rice isn’t overpowering the flavor of the green tea, which I think is often the case with Genmaicha. With this Genmaicha (Gemmai Cha?) it is the green tea that is celebrated, and not the toasty rice.
A very unexpected yet delicious Genmaicha!