Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Zen Tara Teas
Tea Description:
Enjoy great tasting tea and good luck in the new year with our exclusive green tea blend that celebrates the 2012 Lunar New Year, the Year of the Dragon.
A pleasant combination of premium green tea, warming floral ingredients and tropical citrus creates a flavorful cup of tea perfect for drinking throughout the year.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
My first couple of sips of this tea were a little disappointing. I thought that maybe I did something wrong or had over-steeped it. It kind of tasted sour, but not a lemon-y kind of sour that I had expected. It just tasted … off. I decided to give it a couple of minutes to let it cool and try it again before tossing it, and that’s all it needed.
After allowing it to cool for about two minutes, the flavor of the tea has improved tremendously. No signs of over-steeping, no bitterness, no sour taste. Just really delicious green tea that has been flavored with the essence of passion fruit and lemon. A hint of chrysanthemum offers an intriguing contrast.
The green tea has a mellow flavor to it. It’s a little sweet, and offers a slight kelp-y vegetative taste in the background. It’s a soft green tea taste, one that I’d recommend to someone who seeks a green tea that doesn’t have that strong grassy flavor. Instead of a strong, grassy flavor, the green tea base here lends a smooth and almost creamy texture to the cup, allowing the flavors of lemon, passion fruit and chrysanthemum to do their thing.
And while lemon and passion fruit are not two fruit flavors that I’d have thought of combining, they really work well together. The lemon is tart and tangy without being TOO tart, thanks due largely to the sweet, luscious flavor of the passion fruit. And while the chrysanthemum is not a strong flavor in this cup, it adds just a little extra interest to it. Just a little extra *something* that make the taste buds perk up and say “hey, what is that? That’s different and I like it!”
Overall, a very vibrant cup of tea, soothing and yet energizing in its own way.
Ripened Chrysanthemum Pu-erh Mini Tuocha from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Product Description:
A Premium Pu-erh Mini Tea Cake infused with Chrysanthemum flowers
- Plucked and manufactured in June 2008 in Simao, Pu’er, Yunnan, China
- Premium Pu-erh tea leaves and Chrysanthemum flower individually wrapped and compressed into beautiful bird’s nest shaped tea cakes for convenient brewing and storage
- Brews a tea with a deep mahogany color
- Chrysanthemum lends a light sweet floral note to the rich complex flavor of the Pu-erh tea
Read more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This mini tuocha cakes are neat! There is one chrysanthemum flower tucked inside each little nest, and as the Pu-erh steeps and begins to fall apart, the chrysanthemum flower is revealed. This isn’t like a blooming or flowering art tea, it is more like a buried treasure tea!
The aroma of the dry tuocha is what I’ve come to expect from Pu-erh – earthy. I don’t know if I’ve just become more acquainted with that scent from Pu-erh or if this is a lighter earthy scent in this Pu-erh, but I’m not finding this off-putting as I normally would. It doesn’t smell delicious or anything, but, it isn’t revolting either. I tried to see if I could smell the flower, but I did not, perhaps the delicate scent o f the chrysanthemum was overwhelmed by the earthy tones of the Pu-erh.
I used my gaiwan and infused using short steeps (a quick 10 second rinse, then a 30 second infusion for the first steep, and added 15 seconds with each subsequent infusion). The flavor is rich and deep. Earthy, yes, but, I find that the subtle sweet notes of flower from the chrysanthemum provide contrast to the earthy tones.
There is, of course, that amazing sweetness to this Pu-erh … a deep caramel-y flavor that is what finally won me over and helped me develop an appreciation for Pu-erh. The floral tones are very nice, and they develop as I continue to sip. The floral note has a slight sharpness to it which when juxtaposed to the strong sense of earth in the background tempers what would otherwise be quite a heavy flavor. A nice balance, and certainly an enjoyable Pu-erh experience.