Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Yunomi
Tea Description:
Grown under the strong summer sun and harvested in autumn, this bancha tea has stronger astringency and less caffeine than sencha.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Yunomi’s Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club here.
Taster’s Review:
The Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club package from Yunomi promises to be FUN! In addition to this Organic Autumn Bancha from NaturaliTea, there is also a package of Genmai … which is just the toasted rice! I get to custom blend my own Genmaicha! Yay! I look forward to that … so, that review will be coming later. (I’ll probably be using some of this Bancha to make my first cup of custom Genmaicha!)
Before I do that though, I think I’d like to sample this Bancha on it’s own and give you my thoughts on the tea. And my thoughts? This is a really nice Bancha! The dry leaf is cut small, and I noticed a couple of stems in with the leaves.
I like Bancha … it’s less celebrated than Sencha tea, but, I find that the two are really quite similar. It is as the description above implies, though, it does have a bit more astringency than a typical Japanese Sencha. But here’s what else I’m noticing … this is deliciously sweet, vegetative, and has less noticeable bitterness – at least to this taster’s palate – than a typical Japanese Sencha. This is perhaps a little less sweet than a Japanese Sencha, but it has a nice, buttery taste and texture to it that I quite enjoy.
It’s a smooth, delicious green tea with a brothy mouthfeel – reminiscent of the broth of a soup that might have been crafted with mild green vegetables. It has a sweet yet savory taste to it … and I find that the sweet and the savory notes are well-balanced. It’s a mellow, lovely cuppa, and I look forward to blending this Bancha with the Genmai that was provided in this month’s Mystery Tea sampler’s Club package for a tasty Genmaicha!
On The Eleventh Day of Christmas, Della Terra Teas Sent to Me …
By the time you’ll be reading this, my family will have already celebrated their holiday, because we chose to celebrate on the 23rd. My oldest daughter, who is now married, will be spending the 24th and the 25th with her in-laws, and we decided that we’d rather push up our holiday celebration and have her enjoy the day with us than to have it on the “official” day and not have her here.
And really, that’s what holidays should be about. Not about presents, not about decorations … but about family. And of course, TEA! (with me, everything is about tea!)
And here is the tea that Della Terra Teas sent for this Eleventh Day of Christmas …
Winter Nog
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Della Terra Teas
Tisane Description:
Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for you … and you are awake to steep this delightful, creamy rooibos nog tea!
So, sit back, relax, and enjoy this sip by sip as you wait by the chimney for Ole St. Nick.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
The first thing I noticed about this tisane is the cute little snowflake candies … very festive! The aroma was noticeably vanilla-y, and I also detect a note of spice to the scent.
If I recall correctly, this 12 Days of Christmas tea box from Della Terra Teas has had 2 rooibos tisanes in it (well, thus far … there’s still tomorrow!) and of the two, I have to say that this one delivers much more of the flavor that the name of it promises. This tastes much more like egg nog than the Gingerbread Man tasted of gingerbread. Oh, that one still tasted good, it just didn’t taste like any gingerbread that I had ever tasted. This one, though … this tastes like egg nog. The only thing that is missing for me is the texture … it’s not quite creamy enough – texture wise – for me to declare this as a perfect “Winter Nog.”
It’s still good though, and flavor wise, it is plenty creamy. Unfortunately, with rooibos tisanes, the texture is a difficult thing to capture, because rooibos tends to feel rather thin on the palate. I will say that this feels a little creamier on the palate than say … unflavored rooibos. And it tastes a whole lot better than unflavored rooibos too! ha!
And actually, I kind of like the combination of egg nog flavors together with the nutty flavor of the rooibos. It just kind of … works together. I taste a heavy note of cinnamon, a hint of nutmeg, and creamy vanilla. I find myself wanting just a tad more of that egg-y custard-y taste that is present in a glass of egg nog, but, overall, this is pretty tasty. And every once in a while, I think I’m tasting a hint of rum … but, maybe that’s just my imagination.
A nice way to spend Christmas eve … curled up with this tisane!