Green Dragon from Canton Tea Co.

green_dragonTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Canton Tea Co.

Tea Description:

Blended for us by Rare Tea Hunter, Phil Mumby, this is a base of China Green Sencha given a full makeover with the citrus kick of lemon zest, lemongrass, lemon oil – and ginger. The combination of the fresh, green grass sencha notes, the lemony flavour and the warming ginger is completed by the subtlest hint of liquorice root to give a lingering sweetness.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Yum!  When Canton Tea Co.asked me to try their new Green Dragon – I was excited!  I’ve been really impressed with the quality of teas that I’ve tried from Canton and I love the combination of lemon and ginger – so I was sure that I’d enjoy this new blend of theirs.

And I do!  The lemony notes are tart with just enough sweetness to them to keep me from puckering when I take a sip.  The warmth from the ginger is mild.  And the licorice root is barely noticeable – even those who don’t typically like licorice root would probably enjoy this because the licorice root doesn’t really stand out as an obvious flavor.  It’s more like a hint of sweetness toward the tail.

The Chinese Sencha is a sweet, fresh taste with a hint of grassy flavor.  It has a pleasant creaminess to it, light and buttery.  I like the way this buttery quality melds with the lemon-y notes, creating an almost lemon custard type of experience with each sip.  It’s very smooth.

As I continue to sip, the warmth from the ginger builds slightly in the back of the throat.  It never gets really warm though.  It’s a very mild, gentle peppery note that offers contrast to the creaminess of the tea and the tangy lemon notes.

A really lovely tea – it’s a delightful summertime tea that tastes great as a hot tea or a refreshing iced tea!

Tai Ping Houkui Green from Min River Tea

taipingTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy: Min River Tea (However it’s no longer available)

Tea Description:

Hailing from the foothills of Huang Shan’s eternally misty peaks, Tai Ping Monkey King is one of China’s most distinct green teas. The mellow and refreshing Monkey King is processed from a special cultivar prized for its large leaves. Its leaves are individually flattened resulting in the typical often finger-long blades featuring a beautifully deep green colour.

Learn more about this tea on Steepster.

Taster’s Review:

Looks like I’m a little late to the game; Min River Tea has closed up their virtual doors and this tea is no longer available for sale – however I’m still going to review it because I think that even though you can’t buy it anymore you can certainly learn from it!

Personally; I’m way out of my comfort zone here. Not only am I not really big green tea person in general (though that is slowly changing) apart from roaster greens and matcha, but I’ve never had a Tai Ping Houkui before – though the concept has interested me for a long time. Personally, I think the dry tea leaves are one of the most visually interesting and stunning of ANY tea type.

For my first tasting of this I went with a cold brew, purely because my mason jar I use was the only brewing vessel I could think of that was actually deep enough for the very long leaves – each one is nearly an inch longer than my finger, though I do have tiny baby hands so maybe that’s not saying much. I didn’t really know how much leaf I should be using for a cold brew; in the end I wound up using six or seven of the long, steamed leaves.

I’m thinking that was pretty too lightly leafed; the taste was subtle and watery. Although, there were some differences though! The liquor was a very pretty, pale green and the taste was clean and grassy with some light seaweed seaweed notes and some sharpness. There was also a touch of sweetness that reminded me of honey. Honey and green tea is a great pairing; so it definitely worked.

I can’t say that I necessarily loved it, but I also didn’t hate it and to be perfectly fair I was also a little bit strained tasting it too. I definitely plan to repeat this cold brewing process again with more leaf to see how that changes the flavour and my impression.

I’ve also heard about the tea leaves ‘dancing’ when brewed hot so that’s something I’m eager to try as well! For now, I probably wont seek out this tea type but should it happen to find its way to me through a swap or something like that I’m definitely going to be very receptive to the chance to try different company’s take on this one.

As someone who’s done so little exploration into the world of green tea there’s always something really fascinating to learn and taste! I hope to grow to love the taste of this tea type enough to want to put more effort into tapping into that pool of knowledge.

Lemon, Ginger & Ginseng Herbal Tisane from Rington’s Premium English Teas

Lemon-Ginger-GinsengTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal Tisane

Where to Buy:  Rington’s Premium English Teas

Tea Description:

Naturally caffeine free, the Lemon, Ginger & Ginseng Herbal Tea is a refreshing and invigorating infusion that balances the lemon and ginger flavours.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Do you ever go through that moment when – as you’re brewing a cup of tea – you think to yourself:  what was I thinking, choosing this tea?  I actually go through that sort of moment more than I care to admit to.

And I experienced that moment as I was brewing this Lemon, Ginger & Ginseng Herbal Tisane from Rington’s Premium English Teas.  I mean, I like lemon and I like ginger and I actually enjoy the two together quite a bit.  But ginseng?  I think I’ve mentioned more than once here on this blog that I’m not a fan of it.  So, what possessed me to grab this tea to try it?

I don’t know.  But, now that it’s brewed, I might as well try it, right?

I brewed one bag in 6 ounces of hot water (195°F) for 5 minutes.

The aroma offers a strong lemony note with hints of ginger.  I also detect an earthy ginseng aroma.  Ugh.

Fortunately, the ginseng smells stronger than it tastes!  Happy day!

The lemon is the strongest flavor of the cup and it’s bright and invigorating.  It’s not overly tart, it’s more of a sweet lemon note with hints of tangy.  But I’m not puckering here.

The ginger is somewhat subdued, it’s not an overly peppered flavor from the spice of the ginger.  It’s warm enough to offer some contrast to the zesty flavor of the lemon but not so spicy that it distracts from the lemon.  This cup is really all about the lemon!

I can also taste the slightest hint of a cinnamon-y flavor to this.  It’s very slight and it complements the ginger in a very enjoyable way.

What I don’t taste a lot of – thankfully – is ginseng.  Even when I attempt to focus on the ginseng flavor to determine how much of it I actually do taste, I don’t taste a lot.  A slight earthiness – that’s it!  And the earthy notes meld favorably with the earthy notes of the ginger and cinnamon.

It really is as I said earlier, this tea is really all about the lemon.  This would be something nice to keep on hand for those times when you’re feeling a bit under the weather and want something lively to sip.  It would go nicely with a dollop of honey and would be soothing on a sore throat.

It’d also be nice if you’re cold-brewing some basic black tea – add one of these tea bags in along with the black tea and you’ll have a pleasant lemony flavor to your iced tea.

Overall, I’m pleasantly surprised by this tea!

Green Rooibos from M&K’s Tea Co

greenrooibosTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal.

Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Co

Tea Description:

The non-oxidized, green counterpart to the redbush rooibos you may have heard everyone talking about! Less red, more green, less autumn, more spring! Green rooibos tastes much more vegetal and refreshing and less robust than regular rooibos. 

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

The weather is getting warmer and the spring bug is starting to set in.  I’ve noticed that my iced tea intake has gone way up.  My kids have the bug too.  Everyday they ask me if they HAVE to go to school.  My five year old who goes to a pre-K program has already declared himself as being done with learning and school.  I had to inform him that he has many years ahead of him and that next year he will be going all day next year versus the half day he currently goes now.

This tea reminds me of springtime.  The dry leaves smell very vegetal and have a hay/grass like smell to them.  Brewed up (212F-3tbsp-5 minutes in my Breville-then poured into a tumbler of ice) this is honey goodness.

Beautifully done. Smooth and honey like. A well done yet simple tea.  I’m not picking up any kind of vegetal flavor like the description had said.  That is fine with me.  This hit the spot.  Just wish I would have brought more along with me. I could drink this all day. Yum!

Lemon Grass Herbal Tisane from Simple Loose Leaf

Lemon_Grass_HerbalTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal

Where to Buy:  Simple Loose Leaf

Tea Description:

Lemon Grass is a native herb of Southeast Asia.  It is said to help with digestion, calms the nerves, and helps with high blood pressure.  Our Lemon Grass has a delicate Meyer lemon flavor with a hint of sweet ginger and an uplifting floral aroma.

Learn more about this tea here.

Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Co-Op Membership here.

Taster’s Review:

It’s been a little while since I’ve had pure lemon grass.  It’s not something I drink often but I do enjoy it when I drink it, so I wasn’t at all disappointed to find it in last month’s Co-Op box from Simple Loose leaf.  It’s a lovely herbal tisane:  soft, soothing, and uplifting.

I brewed this in my Breville, using three bamboo scoops (I usually use more leaf when I’m brewing an herbal than when I’m brewing a tea) to 500ml of water.  I set the temperature to 195°F (my go-to temperature for herbals) and the timer was set for 10 minutes.  Because this is a pure lemon grass, I didn’t have to worry about tannins making it bitter.

This is a fine quality lemon grass and it tastes very much like I’d expect a good quality lemon grass to taste.  It’s smooth and buttery with a sweet, lemon-y note.  The lemon taste of lemon grass isn’t a pucker-y tart, it’s more like a lemon curd.  The description above suggests a Meyer lemon, which tends to be a little sweeter than a typical lemon, but I think that it’s even a little sweeter than a Meyer lemon.

The description above also suggests a sweet ginger note and I can pick up on a hint of spice.  I don’t know if I’m tasting ginger but it is a subtle note of spice, reminiscent of white pepper.

It’s a really nice tisane to drink after I’ve had several cups of tea – it’s a nice change of pace to the caffeinated beverage.  It’s naturally caffeine free and it’s quite soothing to sip.  I like to keep lemon grass on hand for times when I’m starting to feel a sore throat come on because it’s very comforting to my throat.  It’s also makes a refreshing cold beverage – my daughter loves it!