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Sakura & Berry/Lupicia -Stephenia-

Each year Lupicia Tea, a Japanese tea company, comes out with a Sakura collection to celebrate cherry blossom season. The collection changes each year and for 2021 the theme is traditional Japanese culture that has been handed down through the generations, such as crafts and traditional Japanese patterns. The collection is well balanced and features…

Oolong

2020 Cai Cong Anxi Oolong/Verdant Tea -skysamurai-

This is one of the more difficult oolongs I’ve tried to decipher. Some are your basic sudokus while others are kenkens. This one is a different puzzle. A kendoku! It has mineral quality the twists along with a unique vegetal feel. They say cucumber as a descriptor and I can definitely taste a bit of…

AkovaTeas

Notes on Beyond Blueberry/Akova -skysamurai-

I’m taking a leap out of my purist comfort zone to taste some cuppas by a new tea company. The smell immediately pulsates up your nose when you open the bag. The blueberry aroma is like a club playing EDM. Makes me wonder if we’ll ever see clubbing again… This wonderful smell prepares you for…

FruitHerbalTisane

Blue Mountain Pea Flower/Tin Roof Teas -Ashmanra-

A new tisane to try! This comes from a tea shop a couple of hours away. They were kind enough to allow me to sniff tin after tin of tea and answer my questions when I was a new tea drinker many years ago. They had really educational tea flights before the pandemic, and hopefully…

GreenTea

Notes on Gyokuro Superior/Sorate -skysamurai-

Lush, deep green. These leaves are a fantastic color. If you are going to call it superior it better be a green like this. The liquid is a clear, light amber. The mouthfeel is very smooth. Barely any astringency. Wet leaf smells of umami. Not sure of how to explain that smell besides umami. It…