Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Crazy? Or genius? You’ll have to be the judge. I’ve taken some smoky gunpowder green tea and blended it with ginger, cinnamon, cardamom and freeze-dried pineapple to make a chai-napple gunpowder. Get it? Chai-napple? I kill me.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn how to subscribe to 52Teas’ Tea of the Week program here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh, yum, nom, nom!
I generally brew ‘chai’ blends using either a teapot or my Kati tumbler because I find that the spices of a typical chai seem to attach themselves to my Breville tea maker and the scent (and the flavor) stays with the tea maker until I give it a good soak brew in baking soda. I learned this fairly early on with my first tea maker (about four years ago!) and so I changed my approach to brewing chai teas as a result.
For this “Chai-napple” tea, I used my Kati tumbler. I added a heaping bamboo scoop of tea to the basket of the Kati system and then filled the tumbler with 175°F water and let the tea steep for 2 minutes. I generally add a little bit of turbinado (raw) sugar to a chai to bring out the spice, but I found that the pineapple lent a certain sweetness to the cup and it really didn’t need additional sweetener. I guess if you want to add it, it wouldn’t hurt … but try it first!
For the record, the spices do cling to the basket of the Kati too, and I find to rid the tumbler and basket of the spices, I simply sprinkle some baking soda into the cup and basket, and then fill the tumbler with boiling water and let it sit for a while. This does the job!
When I took my first sip of this tea while it was freshly brewed and still rather hot, I could taste the pineapple and the green tea notes very distinctly. I wasn’t tasting a lot of the spices, but the pineapple and green tea flavors were quite strong.
After allowing the tea to cool to a more drinkable temperature, I began to pick up on more of the warm notes of spice. I find that the three spices – cinnamon, cardamom and ginger – are blended in such a way to provide a deliciously warm medley of spiced flavor without tasting too spicy.
The pineapple is the real star of this cup, though. It is sweet and juicy tasting, and I like the way it melds with the spices as well as the sweet, slightly nutty, softly smoky note of the Chinese gunpowder green tea.
And I noticed that the leaves had not yet completely unfurled with the first infusion and they were begging for another infusion. Who am I to refuse? I infused the leaves again, adding an additional 30 seconds of steep time.
With the second infusion, I could really taste the cardamom! The cinnamon and ginger were a little more forward with this infusion as well. I still got a good flavor from both the green tea and the pineapple too. This is a blend you really SHOULD infuse a minimum of two times to get the true “chai-napple” experience!
The pineapple was a little softer in flavor with the second infusion, but I like the balance of flavors better this time around. I can taste each of the components and it becomes a really tasty alternative to the “usual” masala chai! I taste a little bit of ginger’s bite, a cozy, sweet cinnamon flavor and the warm, comforting flavor of cardamom along with the juicy, delicious flavor of pineapple.
The gunpowder green tea is a delightful base because it’s gentle earthiness and understated smoky note offers a compelling contrast to the sweet burst of flavor of the pineapple and the warm notes of spice.
This truly is a unique chai. If you’re one who wants your chai blends to be hot and spicy, this blend might not be for you, because the spices are pretty mellow when compared to some of the spicy chai blends I’ve sampled. But if you’re one who likes something with a mild level of spice and something just a little different (like pineapple!), I recommend giving this blend a try.
Library Blend Tea from Murchie’s Tea & Coffee
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & Green Blend
Where to Buy: Murchie’s Tea & Coffee
Product Description:
Murchie’s Library Blend Tea is a mild blend of green & black teas featuring Ceylon, Jasmine, Keemun and Gunpowder teas that is delightfully aromatic with a rich, smooth flavour. Anything but boring, and as great as the classics in literature!
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
Because this Library Blend Tea from Murchie’s Tea & Coffee is a blend of both black and green tea leaves, I brewed the tea at a lower temperature (185°F) and steeped it for just 2 minutes to avoid scorching the tender green tea leaves.
This is an interesting blend. I’m not quite ready to call it “tasty,” but it’s interesting. The black teas – Ceylon and Keemun – brewed at a lower temperature and for a shorter period of time offer a mild black tea flavor and they meld with the green tea flavors. There’s a gentle flinty flavor to this. It’s … smoky … but not quite … if that makes sense. It tastes like the soft wisps of smoke when attempting to light a fire: before the fire becomes a blaze.
The green tea lightens the body and the flavor. There are notes of earth, hints of a grassy taste, and the aforementioned wisps of smoke. There is a light astringency to the cup.
The one thing that is holding me back from really liking this is the jasmine. It just tastes a little off. You know me, jasmine is one of my favorite florals, but, it isn’t working for me in this blend. The floral notes here taste contrived.
Overall, I would say that this blend is just OK. Not spectacular in any way, and I found myself wishing that this would have been made a “simpler” blend by eliminating the jasmine. It’s alright, but not a tea at the top of my list to try again soon.
Berber Tea Blend from Tay Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tay Tea
Tea Description:
The light and sweet Moroccan spearmint is a crisp counterbalance to the rich, smoky gunpowder green tea. So refreshing, this tea goes down easy. Re-steep this tea a few times to let the rolled gunpowder tea unfurl and release its full flavour. If you want to get authentic with this tea, sweeten it until your heart’s content.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
Wow! Minty! After I opened this Berber Tea Blend from Tay Tea, the first sampler packet from this month’s Amoda Tea Tasting box that I decided to try, I was a little overwhelmed by the fragrance of mint. The aroma reminds me of Wrigley’s Spearmint gum. It’s very, very minty.
The strong minty scent worried me a little. I started thinking this was going to end up tasting more like a mouthful of toothpaste than a cup of tea. Fortunately, this doesn’t taste quite as much like toothpaste as the aroma led me to believe. I am happy to say that I can taste the flavor of the gunpowder green tea in this tea as well as the crisp flavor of spearmint, and while it is a minty tasting tea … as I’m sipping it, my palate recognizes that I’m drinking tea and not mouthwash that has been heated up and poured into a teacup.
The Moroccan spearmint was a good choice to use in this mint tea blend, because I generally find spearmint to be a “lighter” tasting mint than peppermint. I’m also finding that this spearmint seems to unite with the gunpowder green tea to create a smooth flavor. The spearmint is crisp and refreshing, but not overpowering.
The gunpowder green tea is light and sweet, and there are some vegetal notes that meld beautifully with the herbaceous tones of the spearmint. It all comes together in a very pleasant way. The texture of the liquid is somewhat broth-y which offers an intriguing contrast to the invigorating mint flavor.
It’s a very clean and fresh taste. It’s revitalizing but also soothing. I’m not about to say that this is my favorite tea that I’ve ever pulled out of my Amoda Box, but, I am enjoying it, and I’m happy that I got this opportunity to try something from a new-to-me company like Tay Tea. Thanks, Amoda!
Cumulus Green Tea from Pelican Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Pelican Tea
Tea Description:
Cumulus. A light, contemplative brew of gently habanero-infused Pinhead Gunpowder green tea, organic peppermint and spicy cinnamon.
Yeah. We also like the sound of that.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love the aroma of this Cumulus Green Tea from Pelican Tea! The dry leaf has a warm fragrance from the cinnamon and habanero, but there is also a crisp, exhilarating note from the peppermint and a slightly fruity note … which I originally thought must be from the green tea, although I don’t usually smell “fruit” when I smell a gunpowder green tea, so I guess that the fruit note I smell could also be from the habanero, which is technically a berry, right?
Once brewed, I smell cinnamon and peppermint primarily, with background notes of habanero and green tea. It smells zesty, warm and inviting.
Mmm! This is really good! All the flavors have a really nice balance and each note seems to meld in a really harmonious way with the other notes. It is one of the more “fluid” tasting teas – that is to say, everything just sort of moves along in a very smooth, effortless, seamless way.
The sip starts out with the cinnamon and peppermint and these two notes are pretty well paired – they aren’t competing with one another, and they aren’t overpowering flavors. This doesn’t taste too minty or too cinnamon-y.
Next comes a very soft wave of heat from the habanero. The warmth of the habanero sort of builds on the back of the palate, but it never becomes a really strong flavor. It’s just a gentle sort of warmth. If I slurp the tea, I notice more habanero notes, but, even then, it isn’t a bold peppery flavor.
The notes of the gunpowder green are ever present in the sip, sitting there, in the middle of things, offering its sweet flavor and light lushness of green tea notes. There is a hint of smokiness to this too that is off in the background, and this marries especially well with the cinnamon flavor.
A really good tea. If the idea of a habanero infused tea is a little intimidating to you, I recommend starting with a tea like this one because it’s “gently infused” with the habanero, and that gentle infusion allows for enjoyment of the pepper without too much of the spice.
I’m really happy I got to try this one!
Organic Gunpowder Green Tea from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
Named for its shape, Gunpowder is one of the most popular teas throughout Asia. Our harvesters use a special rolling technique to craft these shiny, compact nuggets of tea out of the freshest, sweetest leaves. The result is immaculately clean, translucent liquor with a smooth, round taste followed by the subtle aftertaste of fresh green leaves.
Organic Chinese Gunpowder Green Tea
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s NEW Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!
And since it is St. Patrick’s Day, what better tea to celebrate with than a green tea? Specifically, this Organic Gunpowder Green Tea from Simple Loose Leaf!
And this is a really good quality Gunpowder Green! I love that it’s an organic tea. The more I’m trying organic teas, the more I’m starting to notice a slight difference in flavor in the organic teas versus the conventionally grown teas. Maybe it’s all in my head, but … I think I do notice a slight difference.
For the record, I did at one time do a side by side comparison of an organically grown rooibos versus a conventionally grown rooibos, and the organic rooibos did taste better. Now, that’s not saying that it is true of camellia sinensis leaves. I just noticed a difference in the taste of the rooibos.
Anyway, let’s get back to this Gunpowder Green. It has a pleasant, smooth texture to it. I want to call it “brothy” because it reminds me a bit of the mouthfeel I’d experience if I were sipping a vegetable broth. Sort of thick and silky. But I’d much rather be sipping on this over a vegetable broth!
It does have a vegetative tone to it, though. It tastes of lima beans, only sweeter! There is a light buttery note to this as well as a toasted nut flavor. It has a nice complexity and a well-rounded flavor. Unlike some Gunpowder teas, I don’t taste the slight “smokiness” that I sometimes taste. This tastes cleaner … fresher!
One of the better Gunpowder Green teas I’ve tasted!