So I am only about half a year late but I am getting into the 12 Teas of Christmas. This particular tea, Coconut Flan Genmaicha, was from the 4th night of Christmas and unfortunately that means it is no longer available. However, in case it comes back, I will probably try snatching some more of this up because it is a tasty tea.
I have never had flan personally but my understanding is it is a gelatinous custard with a caramel top (drizzle? coating?). So if I am wrong about what flan is I am sorry but that is what I am basing my interpretation on and based on that, I would say this tea is pretty true to its name.
The first thing I notice is the almost thick and creamy custard quality. A little bit eggy and a little bit sweet. In fact, a caramelized sweetness floats atop the sip. Underneath the custard, the genmaicha – a pop of roastiness to keep everything else in check. It is both desserty and like cereal which makes this tea great as either a nighttime treat or a morning pick-me-up.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for green teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Mango Sticky Rice Green from Ette Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green/Black
Where to Buy: Ette Tea
Tea Description:
Mango Sticky Rice is a blend of genmaicha, black tea, roasted barley, mango dices & candied coconut. Very much inspired by the Thai local dessert, the tea brews like a platter of roasted glutinous rice with the coconut and mango coming in towards the finish on the palette.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is the tea that got me interested in Ette tea in the first place! The idea of mango and genmaicha is definitely very, very appealing. Really, any genmaicha with a twist gets me excited – it’s the first variety of green tea I ever really liked, and I’m still incredibly partial to it.
Dry, this is very roasty smelling with a distinct, and very fresh coconut aroma. I’m not getting much of the mango yet, but I can see several chunks of it in the dry leaf so I have faith that it’ll shop up in the flavor. For my preparation, I did a very quick 1 minute steep Western style in boiling hot water; I find that’s long enough to draw out the flavour, especially the roastier notes of a good Genmaicha, but not long enough for the brew to get bitter.
This method has worked well here; this has a very strong toasted rice flavor with absolutely no bitterness. It’s also accented by a lovely, clear toasted coconut flavour that pairs phenomenally with the rice and subtle vegetalness of the green tea. There’s also a slight creaminess to the coconut as well. There are some very light nutty notes as well, imparted both from the toasted rice and the green base. The black tea in the blend is a little less pronounced than the green; but I think that’s how it should be.
The mango is less obvious than anticipated, but still very much present and distinct; true to Ette Tea’s description of their blend it’s more show cased in the end of the sip and aftertaste and the sweet, tropical and fruity flavour it provides alongside the coconut does make me think of Thai food, though I don’t know if it specifically conjures up images of sticky rice. It’s delicious though!
This is an incredible tea, and while it’s not totally what I imagined it to be at this point I don’t think there’s a thing I’d change about it either. It’s very comforting, and because of the gentle wave of flavours both sweet and slightly savory I think it makes a really nice tea to curl up with at the end of the day. That said, unlike I would do with a conventional Genmaicha I think this would also work very well iced as something to take with you on a day out and about: the unconventional fruit flavors give this a little more life and lend themselves well to cold prep.
This is definitely my favourite Ette blend so far (something I feel like I’ve said with nearly all the Ette Teas as I’ve had them) and I would definitely buy more of this one!
