Benico

Tea: Benico - 5538
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $6.50 / 50g
Vendor Description: An invigorating black tea blend with ruby colored acerola, hibiscus and rosehips. Pakced with vitamin C, enjoy this blend iced to combat the fatigue of hot summer weather.

Leaf: The leaf is a rather typical looking black leaf base. It has a sweet, apple cider like aroma. The aroma is very broad.

1st Infusion Parameters: 3g, 5Oz, 208F, 3 min

1st Infusion: The aroma to the tea is very broad and sweet. The tea itself is a clear brown hue. The flavor is very broad and short lived. There is very little to no aftertaste. The center of the tea is a nice solid black tea flavor. The flavor is broad, warm and enveloping. It finishes with a light sense of astringency.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This tea is a pretty nice flavored black tea. The flavor is sweet, but very general. It is almost like sweetening a tea without sweeteners. The price isn't too bad for a flavored black, but isn't particularly inexpensive either.

Earl Grey Grand Classic

Tea: Earl Grey Grand Classic - 5204
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $9.00 / 50g
Vendor Description:Reproduction of tea loved by Earl Grey of England and used to produce Earl Grey tea. Smoky flavor, matching delicate fragrance of Chinese fruit dragon's eye. Graceful distinct character like an English gent.

Leaf: The leaf consists of typical black leaf with some green/brown accents to it. There is a very very bold aroma to it. It is almost an overpowering bergamont aroma. This is somewhat to be expected though of an Earl Grey tea.

1st Infusion Parameters: 3g, 5 oz, 208F, 3 min

1st Infusion: The infusion shares the same strong bold bergamont aroma that the leaf has. The tea is a moderate brown color. The flavor is strong, but the bergamont is almost overpowering. There is a snappy sharpness early on in the flavor, but that dissipates as the flavor continues further. It leaves with a definite bergamont aftertaste.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This is probably the best Earl Grey that I have had thus far, but that still doesn't make me a big fan of it. I'm just not a big fan of bergamont. But the flavoring in this tea is large and in charge as opposed to some more mildly flavored Earl Grey teas. It is priced somewhat high for flavored black tea. Great for fans of the type, or Star Trek fans.

Teabag - Apricot Houji

Tea: Apricot Houji - 8228
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $6.50 / 10 teabags
Vendor Descripton: One of our proudest products, which is a blend of Houjicha with the rich sweet fragrance of apricot. Aroma of Houjicha and faint sweetness match unusually well and produce this delicious tea.

Teabag: The teabag has aroma of dried apricots. It is a slightly sweet aroma. The leaf looks rather small and dustlike, smaller than the normal houjicha leaf used for most of the flavored houjicha from Lupicia.

1st Infusion Parameters: 3 min, 208F, 5 oz, 1 teabag

1st Infusion: This tea exhibits a beautiful brown houjicha hue. The tea has a light aroma. It still reminds me of apricots. The flavor is smooth with no bitterness or astringency. There is a little bit of an apricot flavor on the front end. The middle and back end of the flavor is filled with a light houjicha flavoring. It is a very relaxing feeling houjicha.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This tea shows promise, but as a teabag it feels rather light. The teabag could stand to use more leaf in it, but because of that I feel the need to try this out in loose leaf as well. The flavor hints that it could be great in a bit bolder form, but at a 5oz to one teabag ratio this is a bit light for my tastes. Thankfully the flavor carries in from the aroma unlike some flavored teas.

Se Zhong

Tea: Se Zhong - 7007 (Glorious Seed under the new Lupicia naming scheme)
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $5.00 / 50g
Source: Fujian, China
Vendor Description: Popular oolong tea from Fujian Province, has a faint floral aroma and a greenish sweet flavor. The tea leaves are rounded small and firm.

Leaf: This tea is rolled into little balls similar to a Taiwanese oolong, but not as tightly. They're still farily loose. There are some rather sizable pieces of stem in the mix as well. The balls have a mix of green and brown hues to them.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5oz, 208F, 5s rinse, 45s

1st Infusion: This infusion has a clear yellow brownish hue to it. There is a very light yet uplifting floral aroma to this tea. The flavor is light and clear, to match well with the aroma. There is no aftertaste to speak of, just a simple clean flavor.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 208F, 1:15

2nd Infusion: This infusion has a rich dark yellow hue to it. The aroma is still floral, but lighter than the first infusion. The flavor is still somewhat light, but it is bolder up front this time. There is no aftertaste, but the front has a feeling like a very well balanced tea. It is bodied, but does not have much flavor behind it. It is like you can feel the texture of the tea, but can't bring to mind much in terms of a central flavor to concentrate on. It's an almost creamy flavor, but it has a very warm mouth feeling to it.

3rd Infusion Parameters: 2:25, 208F

3rd Infusion: This infusion has the same yellow-brown color as before. The aroma is even less noticeable this time around. Despite the decreased intensity it is still the same aroma. The tea has the same texture as before. There is a certain smoothness to it that is hard to describe. It finishes with a light astringency. Overall this infusion has a floral and pleasant oolong flavoring to it.

4th Infusion Parameters: 3:30, 208F

4th Infusion: This is again the same hue as the previous infusions. There is not much aroma to it this time around. The flavor is a little bit lighter. After sipping this tea there is a cooling feeling in my mouth. There is a medium sense of astringency on the backend, but not much else besides that.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This wasn't a particularly mindblowing tea, in fact it feels quite mundane and average. It is however a very nicely priced oolong. It produced 4 rather solid infusions, which for it's price is quite good. I haven't had many oolongs which have a very similar flavor, so the flavor is somewhat unique.

Mint Tea

Tea: Mint Tea - 5800
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $7.00 / 50g
Vendor Description: Plenty of dried peppermint is mixed with black tea. A perfect refreshing tea when you want to change your mood or after meals.

Leaf: This leaf consists of primarily black orthodox leaf with a bit of chopped mint leaves mixed in. There is a very strong peppermint aroma to the leaf.

1st Infusion Parameters: 3g, 208F, 3 min

1st Infusion: This tea produces a dark chocolate brown hued infusion. There is no murkiness, but a deep rich color. The aroma has a nice mix of black tea with mint mixed in together, the aroma overall though is on the lighter side of things. The flavor is very traditional black tea with a minty crispiness to it. The black tea portion of the flavor feels a bit light, but it is an appropriate amount of flavor though. There is no bitterness or astringency to this blend.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This is one of the more subtle black teas that I have run across. The mint is at just the appropriate level where it is not overpowering nor is it underwhelming. However this tea is quite pricey for a flavored black tea, especially when it's flavored with peppermint. If this tea were cheaper I would consider it to be a good option.

Jasmin Mandarin

Tea: Jasmin Mandarin - 8200
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Source: China
Vendor Description: A Jasmin Tea with Chinese Green Tea as a base. It has an unforgettable sweet fragrance like a light spring wind.

Leaf: This is a dark colored green tea with some dried yellow flowers in the mix. There is a fair amount of dust in this tea. The rolled appearance to the leaf reminds me of a kamairicha. There is a strong jasmine aroma to the tea which has an uplifting and invigorating feel to it.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5oz, 185F, 45s

1st Infusion: The tea has a honey brown hue to it. It is mostly clear with a light murkiness to it. The distinctive aroma of jasmine is bold and assertive. It dominates over the warmth and aroma of the green tea base. The tea itself is a smooth full bodied green tea. The jasmine aroma is quite noticeable all throughout the drinking process. The green flavor is quite bold with the flavor centered on the front to middle of the tongue. There is not much to be found at all on the back end of the tongue. There is a light astringency and a little bit of an aftertaste which houses a little bit of jasmine flavoring.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 185F, 1:30

2nd Infusion: This infusion has a bolder brown hue to it. It is lighter on the Jasmine aroma, but it is far from gone. It is still quite distinctively Jasmine. There is an early bitterness in the flavor that transitions into a sharpness. Aside from that there is not much taste that lingers past that. The green flavor isn't as impressive as the first infusion.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: I would have liked the green flavor in this tea to have held up stronger in the second infusion. The Jasmine scenting was enjoyable and prominent, but not overpowering. I'm still not that big of a fan of Chinese green teas though. Like a lot of people I know say with coffee, this is a tea that you love to smell, but don't so much care for the drinking part of it. Not to say that the flavor is bad, but it just doesn't compare to the aroma.

Guangzhou Milk Oolong

Tea: Guangzhou Milk Oolong
Vendor: David's Tea
Price: $9.00 / 25g
Vendor Description: This limited-edition oolong from the Wuyi Mountains of China is velvety smooth and lightly creamy, with a subtle hint of orchid. It’s said that it came about when the moon fell in love with a comet. The comet passed her by, as comets will do. The moon cried milky tears, which chilled the tea fields, withering the leaves and giving them a delicate creaminess. It’s been a rare luxury ever since.

Leaf: The leaf smells very much like a sweet milk candy. It has a very prominent sweet and milky aroma. It is rolled into tight little balls. There is a light green to almost black spectrum of colors. There are a few rather varied shapes and sizes to the balls.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5 oz, 208F, 45s

1st Infusion: The first infusion has a clear yellow hue to it. There is a very strong milky aroma. The flavor matches the aroma and is very milky. The amount of milky flavor makes the overall flavor sweet and smooth. The flavor component of the tea is smooth and light with a light sense of bitterness. The milk and oolong flavors seem to be almost clashing with one another.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 208F, 1:15

2nd Infusion: The second infusion has a darker yellow hue. The aroma is less milky, and a more oolong like aroma. The tea is much more noticeably a green oolong. The flavor feels rougher than the first with some of the more distinctive notes of a green oolong. The flavor is shifted very heavily to the back end of the profile. It ends with a light sense of astringency and a little bit of milkiness on the aftertaste.

3rd Infusion Parameters: 208F, 2:30

3rd Infusion: This infusion had yet an even darker yellow hue. There was still a little bit of milkiness to the aroma, but for the most part it was gone. The flavor had a little bit of tang and bitterness to it, the notes of being a green oolong were shining through much brighter now. They were not overwhelming though. The flavor was less astringent and it felt a little empty. The majority of the flavor was there, but it showed signs of lightening up.

4th Infusion Parameters: 208F, 3:30

4th Infusion: At this point the hue started lightening up to a lighter shade of yellow. The aroma was light and barely noticeable. There was a little bit of milk aroma left. The flavor felt milkier than the 3rd infusion probably because of a less pronounced oolong flavor.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This tea is very unusual. From what I have read to generate this flavor the oolong is effectively dipped in milk during the process to add the milkiness flavor. This makes it effectively a flavored oolong, just as jasmine scenting would be as well. I felt like the flavors were not blending well together, more like fighting for the front seat pushing the other aside momentarily. It is also fairly highly priced, and for that level of pricing I would opt to look for a Dan Cong instead.

EDIT:  Apparently what I have previously heard about milk oolong is incorrect.  The flavor is apparently generated through artificial flavoring and not the use of milk.  This explains why it tastes more like milk candy than it does actual milk.  

Bai Hao Yin Zhen

Tea: Bai Hao Yin Zhen
Vendor: David's Tea
Price: $20.00 / 50g
Vendor Description: This is a true luxury, considered by many to be China’s most famous white tea. To create it, only the first leaves and downy, silvery unopened buds of the tea plant are picked by hand during the April harvest. How does this influence the flavour and aroma? Connoisseurs rave about its sweet complexity, and about an underlying grassy taste that makes it uniquely perfect.

Leaf: This tea was a very mixed bag of needles. Some where very broken for a Silver Needle (Bai Hao Yin Zhen), but yet it was very fluffy. It was primarily a budset tea, but did not appear as purely of one compared to others. It has a light and fresh aroma to it and an interesting green hue amongst the silvery white hairs.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5 oz, 185F, 1:00

1st Infusion: The tea has a very sweet aroma to it. The color is a clear yellow hue. The sweetness of the aroma reminds me of the Emerald Needle from Adagio. The flavor however does not seem to match the aroma well. The flavor is light and smooth, but lacks the sweetness of the aroma. It is a subdued and subtle taste, very conservative for a Silver Needle. The flavor feels muddled and mixed, more akin to a white peony than a Silver Needle.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 185F, 2:00

2nd Infusion: This infusion has a darker straw yellow hue to it. The aroma is distinctively a silver needle. The flavor is richer and more appropriate. The backend of the flavor feels emptier and there is a light sense of bitternes, partly from the increased strength of the infusion, but also from the tea itself I suspect. There are honey tones in the flavor, similar to a honey smoothness. It finishes off with a light sense of astringency.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This Silver Needle didn't seem as pure as some of the others I have tried, most notably the Seven Cups and Swan Sisters have better flavor to them. The flavor of this one is a bit muddled like it's mixed with a little White Peony. The cost is higher than that of the Seven Cups or the Swan Sisters versions, for something that does not perform or look as appealing.

Sencha Ashikubo

Tea: Sencha Ashikubo
Vendor: Davids Tea
Price: $9.38 /25g
Source: Ashikubo Valley, Japan
Vendor Description:If you’re a lover of Japanese sencha, this tea is a must. It comes from the stunning Ashikubo valley in Japan, and is dried the traditional way – using wood fires. As a result, it’s milder and less grassy than regular senchas. Admirers point to its characteristic fruitiness and to the hint of toast that comes from the firing process. Most say they can’t go a day without it.

Leaf: the leaf is either a chumushi or asamushi, it's along the line between the two. The life has a nice glossy appearance to it, there are a few nice long needles and not too much powder.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5 oz, 185F, 1 min

1st Infusion: The infusion is a clear yellow hue. There is no sedient or murkiness. The color has a brilliant yellow radiance to it. The aroma reminds me of a heavy grassy sencha aroma. Even though it's a thick and heavy aroma it was not very strong. The tea has a certain woodiness to it. It is lightly bitter and has a hint of grassiness. While the tea is very subdued it has some very mild tones.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 185F, 15s

2nd Infusion: This infusion was lightly murky. It has a sweet aroma and a light astringency. The flavor is lightly marine.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This is a very puzzling sencha. It is mild and very much like an asamushi or a chumushi, but it's hard to tell where between the two it lies. The first infusion had an interesting woodiness to the flavor, possibly a result of the wood fires from the description. In a way it reminded me of the Kuradashi Sencha from Hibiki-an. The flavor is light and appropraite and quite good. It's hard to describe, but it was a very solid tating tea. The downside of it is that this tea is very highly priced. At almost 40 dollars for 100g, this is one of the pricier senchas around. While quite tasty, I'm hesitant to say that this tea is worth the cost.

Jade Oolong

Tea: Jade Oolong
Vendor: Mighty Leaf
Price: $28.95 / 4oz.
Vendor Description: Jade Oolong tea, made in China's Anxi province on a small co-op farm, is a competition grade, lightly oxided oolong tea with a complex, orchid-like taste. This oolong tea has a distinctive silk mouth feel and a medium body. The perfect loose tea for multiple infusion as the flavor will become more nuanced with each steeping.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea consists of large balls down to small fleck. This is probably the first oolong that I have seen with this degree of size variance. The leaf is a spectrum of light green to a dark green.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5 oz, 208F, 45s, 5s rinse

1st Infusion: There was quite a bit of sediment in this cup. The tea is a pale clear green color. The tea has a very light green oolong aroma. The tea flavor matches the aroma in being a typical green oolong. It has the normal green oolong tanginess, and it finishes with a light sense of astringnecy.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 208F, 1:00

2nd Infusion: This infusion has a clear yellow-green color to it. The aroma is richter and more full bodied in flavor. Again it has alight sense of astringency. The flavor is still quite distinctively green oolong. It's hard to describe the flavor more than this. It seems to have the same bitterness and tanginess as before.

3rd Infusion Parameters: 208F, 1:45

3rd Infusion: The color is still a strong yellow green hue. It has a very ful bodied and bold flavor. The flavor is starting to show signs of emptiness. The strength is a bit sharp for an oolong.

4th Infusion Parameters: 208F, 2:30

4th Infusion: The color switched to a darker yellow hue thi time. The aroma was all but gone and the flavor started to lighten up. It felt full bodied, but empty. The flavor was very light and still characteristic green oolong.

Used Leaf: The spent leaf was rather small leaf for an oolong. The leaves themselves were very thin and had a lot of tearing around the edges. This was probably the source for the significant amount of dust / sediment.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This tea is a very generic tasting green oolong. It feels hard to distinguish it from other green oolongs. The price seems a bit steep, but as with most oolongs it turns into a rather nice price per cup. The leaf seems to have been handled a bit roughly, and the sorting seems a bit lax. The tea was flavorful and enjoyable, despite being a bit mundane.

Uji Shimizu

Tea: Uji Shimizu
Vendor: Ippodo
Price: 300 Yen / 150g
Vendor Description: An original Ippodo creation, Uji-Shimizu is a matcha-based beverage developed in 1924. It combines matcha powder and sugar to provide an easy to prepare, easy to drink tea for those who prefer their matcha a bit sweeter.

Leaf: This is a very lightly colored powder. It is very light and fluffy with a pale shade of green. There is a light sweet aroma to it. The color is light enough that it was very difficult to photograph well. (Hence the lack of photo for this tea)

Infusion Parameters: 3 Tbs (37g), 12oz water, Refrigerator temp

Infusion: Despite the very light color of the powder the infused tea is actually very dark in color. It is a deep shade of green (which happens to blend quite well with my tablecloth, again no good picture). It is very sweet, although it is in a good combination with the matcha powder creating a good mix for a matcha latte type beverage. The flavor is very smooth, which is not unexpected considering no steeping involved.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This is a pretty good tea beverage mix. It doesn't feign to be anything grander or anything less. The price is appropriate for what it is, although the price of shipping from Ippodo is a bit steep. If you like things like matcha lattes order a lot in one shipment, it'll be cheaper. This won't be replacing a nice warm bowl of matcha, but it's a nice quick drink to have when you're in a hurry.

Teabag - Mecha

Tea: Mecha
Vendor: Zencha

About This Tea: This was a teabag that was a sample included with my latest Zencha order. I did my best to translate the packaging, and the title of it was Mecha, so I'm assuming that this is mecha.

Teabag: This teabag consisted of a satchel style teabag that had a very loose drawstring / tag line at the top and was sewn shut at the top. Unlike pyramidals this was not designed for expansion, just knowing that it had space in the bag to puff out though. The leaf is very small bits of stem and leaf, which correlated with my previous Mecha assumption. There is a like sweet Yutakamidori aroma to it.

1st Infusion Parameters: 185F, 5oz, 45s

1st Infusion: The infusion was lightly murky with a yellow green hue. There wasn't much aroma to the leaf, the aroma that was present with the dry leaf appears to be gone. The flavor is light and sweet. There is a bitterness at the tip of the tongue. The flavor is quite bold and strong and exhibits traces of a gyokuro like grassiness.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 185F, 1:15, 5oz

2nd Infusion: This infusion was much murkier in color. It however didn't have much aroma and not much flavor. It really seems like this tea was only good for one infusion:

Rating: 6/10

Conlcusion: While it's hard to give this tea a rating because I don't know the pricing for this tea. It's not particularly interesting as a tea, but it's not bad. It's a rather good teabag, and at around $6/10 this would be a good teabag to get. Good flavor, just not much of it after the first.

Hong Mu Dan

Tea: Hong Mu Dan - 4703
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Source: Anhui, China

Leaf: This tea is a flowering black tea. It is tied in the center like a star. It is not like the more commonly found bud shaped teas where there is a flower released from the center.

1st Infusion Parameters: 1 Flower, 200mL, 208F, 3 min

1st Infusion: Unfortunately I wasn't able to get a good picture of the infused flower. When infused a white particulate matter was settling on the bottom of the cup. I haven't seen this before and wonder if it is something from the actual leaf/flower itself. The tea was a light clear brown color. The aroma was thick and malty. The flavor was a light black flavor, and it reminds me of a Yunnan tea in flavor. It is medium bodied and has a mild smooth flavor. There is a nice clean bitterness and a light sense of astringency.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 208F, 3 min

2nd Infusion: This infusion was also clear and brown in color. The flavor was weaker but smoother in flavor. There is no astringency or bitterness, and the flavor reminds me of a light Yunnan flavor yet again.

3rd Infusion Parameters: 208F, 5 min

3rd Infusion: This infusion had a rich flavor to it. It was still good, but the flavor was quite light at this point. There wasn't that much left to it.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: I've never been a big fan of flowering teas. They are rather interesting looking, but tend to be more expensive for the amount of tea they make. That said, this probably made the best cup of tea that a flowering tea has ever made for me. It is also much more delicate than any other flowering tea I've had. Unfortunately I'm unable to find much more information about this tea as it is not listed on Lupicia's website.

Sencha Harebare

Tea: Sencha Harebare
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $7.00 / 50g
Vendor Description: Blend of aromatic Sayama tea and processed with a strong fire. The refreshing mint-like flavor, a characteristic of this variety called "Sayama Kaori" is very appealing.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea has a very fukamushi like appearance. It has a fairly rich aroma to the leaf, and a hint of yellowness in the color.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 50z, 185F, 60s

1st Infusion: The first infusion had a yellow murky color to it. Not surprising considering the fukamushi appearance to the leaf. The aroma was sharp and crisp. The flavor was very bold. Early on it felt very sweet and forward like a fukamushi normally is. The middle is dominated by a light bitterness and finishes with a light astringency. Overall this has a very clean feeling and a long lasting lingering aftertaste.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 185F, 15s

2nd Infusion: The second infusion was a murky yellow. There was not much different about the flavor, it was simply a distinctively fukamushi flavor.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: There was nothing terribly outstanding about this tea, nor did it have any major faults. It was a normal fukamushi and is not that pricey. All in all not a very interesting tea.

Uji Gyokuro Gyoku Hou

Tea: Uji Gyokuro Gyoku-Hou
Vendor: O-cha
Price: $44.95 / 100g
Source: Uji, Japan
Vendor Description: Uji Gyokuro "Gyoku-Hou" - A very high quality first-flush gyokuro from Uji, near Kyoto. Gyokuro is shade grown before harvesting, giving it a greener color and sweeter taste. Once you learn to make it properly, you wil be hooked for life! Make sure to read our brewing instructions, as it is brewed differently than sencha.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea was lightly glossy with a dark green color. The green color was very even and consistent throughout this tea and there were a few very noticeable long leaves in there.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5 oz, 140F, 60s

1st Infusion: The first infusion had a pale light green almost luminescent hue to it. There was a very faint murkiness to it. The flavor was smooth, with a light sense of grassiness. There was a mild sensation of rich umami flavoring, but not much marine flavor. There was not much flavor on the backend of this tea. It had a very strong showing in the early to mid portions of the taste and had a very mouth opening feel to it. It was different than the clean sensation from a good sencha, but similar.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 145F, 15s

2nd Infusion: This infusion was slightly murkier. The color was green, but not quite the same luminescent hue as before. The flavor was light and had a certain emptiness to it. It felt like the core of the flavor was not well represented in this infusion, but the surrounding aspects of flavor were still present. There was more flavor in the back end than the front and mid. This flavor represented itself as a light grassiness, but aside from that there was not much else.

3rd Infusion Parameters: 150F, 60s

3rd Infusion: The color was light and clear again. The flavor was once again very clear. There was a light sense of astringency in this one, but it still felt like the core of the flavor was missing. There was a light flavor hiding toward the back of the flavor, but it felt like it was hiding.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: As much as I've heard wonderful things about the gyokuro offered by O-cha, I was disappointed by this tea. It felt like after the first infusion, the tea didn't really open up for the successive infusions. It may have been that upping the temperature or infusion times could have opened it up more, but it felt like there wasn't something there to open up to. I find that in second and to a lesser extent third infusions of gyokuro, the flavor should be open and almost only need be rinsed to get the flavor out. I was not impressed by this gyokuro as being a top end contender, but it wasn't a bad gyokuro. This would be an ok frequent drinking gyokuro if someone was looking for something to have once a week or so.

Takibi

Tea: Takibi - 5539
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price : $7.00 / 50g
Vendor Description: Chinese oolong tea flavored with tropical fruit. Enjoy the aroma and sweet aftertaste.

Leaf: The leaf takes the form of large leaves in oddly twisted shapes. It is a rather normal appearance for an oolong though. There are also yellow blossoms mixed in with the oolong leaf. It has a very sweet and fruity aroma to it. The aroma almost reminds me of bubble gum.

1st Infusion Parameters: 3g, 5 oz, 208F, 2 min

1st Infusion: The tea has a clear brown color to it. There is a very noticeable and enjoyable sweet fruity aroma to it. The tea itaself has a very fruity flavor mixed with the flavor of a heavily roasted oolong. The flavor keeps reminding me of bubble gum. The flavor however is veyr short lived and light. For it's short life though it is a very smooth flavor.

2nd Infusion: This infusion was lighter in color, and the fruity aroma had waned as well. The flavor however was fruiter, but it also had less of the oolong flavor of the first infusion. It was a longer lasting flavor with no bitterness or astringency. It still managed to retain it's smoothness though.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This tea was enjoyable, but there was not enough presence from the tea itself. The flavoring was not overpowering as it is with some flavored teas, but it feels like the tea was still not pulling its weight. The second infusion was especially weak on the tea flavoring, which should be more dominant in a tea such as this.

Kyobancha - Iced

Tea: Kyobancha Iced- 7433
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $6.50 / 100g
Source: Kyoto, Japan
Vendor Description: Typical Bancha tea in Kyoto. The tea leaves are sun-dried and look almost like dead leaves, but their uneven roasting process makes the tea's flavor richly alluring.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea reminds me of the fallen leaves in a forest. It's a mix of leaves, large twigs, and lots of large full leaf. The leaves aren't rolled, folded, compressed, or otherwise manipulated like most teas are. The leaves are all dark brown / black in color. There are a few greener leaves in the mix.

1st Infusion Parameters: 15g, 2L, 3 min, Rolling Boil

Infusion Instructions: The infusion for this tea is very different than most teas. The water used was boiling, but the brewing instructions were to boil it rather than infuse with boiling water. And 15g of leaf are used to make 2 Liters of tea. Quite a lot of tea for that amount of leaf.

1st Infusion: After infusing I placed this tea in the refrigerator overnight. The infusion had a clear brown color with no murkiness. The flavor was very smooth and it reminded me of a mugicha in flavor. The flavor was much richer than when it was hot. It is full bodied and has a woodiness to it. The woodiness reminds me of a scotch in a way.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: Based on this tea before and after icing, it's apparent that it should be iced. It develops more flavor when stored and given the pricing of it, generates a rather large amount of tea for very cheap. Still it is not an amazing tea, although a very nice summer tea for when it's hot out.

Masala Chai

Tea: Masala Chai
Vendor: Wegmans Food Markets
Price: $29.99 / lb.

Leaf: This chai has less of a clovey aroma than some other chai mixes that I have tried. The mix has a very peppery aroma to it. The tea leaf is very small broken.

Infusion Mix: The mix I used for this tea consists of 4 oz water, 4 oz milk, 1 tsp leaf (3g), 1/2 tsp honey.

Infusion Parameters: Boil water and milk, add tea and boil for 4 mins. Add honey

Infusion: This chai has a light and creamy chocolatey brown color to it. The aroma is very noticeably sweet and milky. The tea flavor is very well balanced between the milk / tea / sweetness. The flavor is very milky like a heavily milked black tea. There are hints of spiciness, but only light hinting. More tea may increase this flavor.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This tea was enjoyable, but like most chai it doesn't have a very strong distinctive presence. I don't see this chai standing out more from any other chais. It seems to be a good reference chai.

Shincha Houryoku

Tea: Shincha Houryoku
Vendor: Den's Tea
Source: Shizuoka, Japan

About This Tea: This was a bag of '08 shincha that I had forgotten to open up and try out from back in May.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea was a browner leaf color than normal. It had a very faint yet fresh aroma to it.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5 oz, 140F, 1 min

1st Infusion: This tea still had the bright and vibrant green hue normally associated with shincha. It is not as luminescent as some were back in the spring, but it was still a beautiful color of green. The flavor was very smooth and well rounded. It was rich and full bodied for a green tea. There was no sense of bitterness or astringency.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 30s, 140F

2nd Infusion: This infusion was darker and murkier than the first. There was a light bitterness to this infusion and the flavor was richer and more intense than the first. It was more lacking of the bright shincha freshness at this point though.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: Considering this tea was well past it's optimal freshness time, it was still an enjoyable cup of tea. Even though it was a bit on the older side, it was still quite flavorful, but the flavor was a little more subdued. I look forward to next year's shincha.

White Christmas

Tea: White Christmas - 5524
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $7.50 / 50g
Vendor Description: Tea flavored with white chocolate and apricot, conjuring up images of baked Christmas sweets.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea looks like a mixture of a black CTC mixed with a bit of orthodox leaf. The orthodox leaf is fairly uniform in size at about 1cm in length. There are also a a few small silver pellets like in Champagne Rose and white balls resembling konpeito. The leaf has a very strong sweet aroma and reminds me a lot of the cookie tea. There is a bit of fruitiness to the aroma of this tea.

Infusion Parameters: 208F, 5 oz, 3 min, 5g.

Infusion: The tea has a deep dark brown color to it. There is a lovely shimmer from small metallic flecks in it similar to those in Champagne Rose. There is a thick sweet aroma to the tea which reminds me of the Au Chocolat. There is a medium linght sense of astringnecy to this tea. The initial up front flavor is very light and sweet, followed by an emptiness in the middle. There is a light bitterness at the end of the tea, but just enough to accentuate a good body to the tea.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This tea is a rather normal flavored black tea for Lupicia. It seems almost like a combination of a few of their other teas, primarily the Au Chocolat and Champagne Rose with just a hint of Cookie. The flavor is appropriate as a holiday tea if you enjoy any of the three which it seems quite like.