Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: BigTeaHouse
Tea Description:
This beautiful gold-tipped organic black loose leaf tea from the Yunnan Province of China is full-bodied with hints of spice and a delicious flowery undertone.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea is indeed beautiful – lots of golden tips!
The flavor is also beautiful! It tastes rich and has a full, satisfying flavor that is warm and inviting. The kind of tea you want in your teacup in the morning. Something that will embrace you and invigorate you at the same time.
The flavor is complex, with sweetness that starts out as a heavy caramel undertone, and then lightens as the sip progresses to a honey-esque tone. The spice note is a gentle peppery taste, and it contrasts with the floral tones of this tea quite nicely – sort of sweet and exotic melding with warm peppery heat. There is an earthy/leathery kind of taste, as well as a malty tone that emphasizes a freshly baked bread note in the distance. The astringency is what I’d categorize as medium, and it leaves the palate feeling energized and ready for more! Yeah, as I said … complex. So much flavor!
A very lovely cup, indeed; a thoughtful cup, one that you’ll with which you’ll enjoy spending the morning.
Shou Mei White Tea from BigTeaHouse
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: BigTeaHouse
Tea Description:
If you prefer the “Shou Mei” style of white loose tea with a bold flavor and aroma, this is the tea for you. Vanilla brings out the flavor while the flowery, dried fruit and spice round it out. It has a pleasant mouthfeel and is perfect for those days when you want to feel light.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Who says white tea is delicate?
Having tried Shou Mei white tea before, I was pretty sure what to expect from this tea. But this tea had a few surprises in store!
There is the sweet, slightly vegetative aroma and taste that I would typically experience with a Shou Mei, but, there is a sweet, creamy … almost vanilla-like tone to this tea. When I read the above description, I thought that maybe it was a mistake … this appears to be a pure Shou Mei, so I wasn’t really expecting the vanilla, the fruit notes, and the hint of spice in the flavor. But this tea has all of that!
The fruit notes are especially noticeable in the fragrance, but as I continue to sip, I notice a slightly raisin-y kind of flavor, sweet … almost candy-like! There are hints of spice, mostly pepper, but a soft peppery taste, like the peppery note you’d experience from basil. It’s a little bit warm, but at the same time, it’s quite crisp and cooling.
A really delightful cup that keeps me sipping to discover more about it.
Garden Bancha Tea from BigTeaHouse
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: BigTeaHouse
Tea Description:
A traditional loose leaf green tea with a hint of sweetness and a medium astringency. Bancha is known for its earthy tones and scents.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is the second tea from my “Around the Clock” Steepster Select box, and it is one with which I was pleasantly surprised. I would not have thought of including a Bancha in this box, but, when I really think about it, it makes perfect sense, since Bancha is considered an “every day” type of tea in Japan.
However, if I were to make a list of Japanese green teas with which I’m familiar, Bancha would not be at the top of the list. I’d immediately list Sencha, of course, and Matcha, followed by Genmaicha and Gyokuro. Then I’d probably add Houjicha and Kukicha to the list. At that point, somewhere down toward the bottom of the list, I might add “Bancha.” I just haven’t tried all that many Bancha teas, so I’m just not all that familiar with them.
But, I am really glad that I’m getting to know this Garden Bancha from BigTeaHouse. It’s really quite lovely. It starts out very mild. Almost too mild. It took a few sips for me to really get much out of the cup, but, once the flavor started to build upon my palate, I found this to be a very enjoyable cup of tea.
The tea is quite vegetal, as you might imagine. I’d call this an “earthy vegetative” taste, it doesn’t taste real grassy, nor does it taste strongly of vegetables, but, it has more of what I’d think of as a forest-y vegetative taste, a taste that I might get from the air while hiking in the woods here in the Pacific Northwest, where it is thick and green and wet. From that note you should draw upon the word “air” because even though it does have a strong herbaceous note, it has an airy quality to it too, giving it a fresh character… like a breath of fresh air!
It has a sweetness to it, but I don’t find it to be incredibly sweet or buttery the way I’d usually classify a Sencha. It is more mellow and relaxed, with a gentle sweetness and a pleasant savoriness. A bit brothy … soup-like! Yes, that is what this reminds me of, a delicious cup of soup! Very comforting and soothing.
Very nice, indeed!