Dragonwell

Tea: Dragonwell Green Tea
Vendor: Teavana
Price: $9.30 / 2oz.
Source: Lung Ching Garden, China
Vendor Description: Legendary tea from the Lung Ching Garden. Flat jade-green leaves produce a mellow-sweet tea with a nutty undertone. Known in China for more than 1,500 years, Dragonwell is still hand picked and processed according to the ancient methods of “Ch’a Ching.” Dragonwell is thought to boost mental alertness and and fend off disease.

When I found out that Teavana had some Dragonwell I felt that I had to try it. I have heard very interesting things about Dragonwell tea, from it being one of the ten legendary teas to it having it's very unique flat leaf shape. This was unfortunately before I had tried the sencha that I had picked up from Teavana at the same time.

The tea has very large leaves, due to the difference in Chinese and Japanese harvesting methods. It is apparent from the second you scoop up some of the tea to the final brewed tea. There is a different aroma to this tea that differs greatly from the regular aroma of Japanese green tea that I am used to.

The brewed tea has a very different taste than a sencha. It starts off with a very mellow start which builds up over time. This leads to a bitterness that is different in a sencha in that it lasts for a surprisingly long time, and it lasts at the same level for a surprisingly long time. It tapers down from that to leave you without a sense of astringency to it at all. Unlike a good sencha this does not leave your mouth with a particular clean feeling. It somewhat stays with you.

Rating: 5/10

Conclusion: Given the different nature of this tea it is difficult to tell if this is due to it being from Teavana or if this is indicative of Dragonwell. Regardless, I found this to be an unremarkable tea that did not live up to it's name. I'm not giving up on Dragonwell though and intend to try it when I can source some from a better vendor.

Champagne Rose

Tea: Champagne Rose 5532
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $6.50 / 50g
Vendor Description: Flavored with sour-sweet strawberries and champagne, a typical drink for celebration. The pink and silver Argent blended in the tea are like bubbles in a glass.

At first I thought that this might be a novelty tea with the little silver and pink balls in it. According to the vendor they refer to these as Argents. When brewed these little silver and pink balls which at first reminded me a lot of nerds candy, dissolve to add a sparkle to the glass of tea. They cause tiny metallic flecks to float around the tea. This actually is not the first time that I have tried this tea, but the first time that I noticed the flecks. The first time I tried the tea was from a teabag, so it is possible that these are only present in the loose leaf version of this tea. I'm not sure.

The leaves themselves have a very strong strawberry smell to them. I found the aroma to be one of the most appealing aspects of this tea. This aroma carries very strongly into the brewed tea as well, an aspect that rarely carries over into brewed tea.

The brewed tea has a very slowly developing flavor. When it first reaches your tongue you don't really notice much of a flavor at all, and then the flavor of the tea slowly comes out and builds until it finishes with a moderate astringency. I was unable to distinctly discern the taste of strawberries and champagne as the description suggests, but they are definitely present in the aroma.

Rating: 8/10

Conclusion: While I am somewhat inexperienced in the tastes of black teas, this tea has a beautiful appearance and aroma. I was somewhat expecting something more to be found in the taste. As it is this is a very interesting tea.

Lupicia special

I know that I tend to harp on how much I like Lupicia, but even if any other vendor had the same kind of a deal I would feel compelled to post about this. Currently with a purchase of $30.00 or $50.00 you can get a free 30 piece or 50 piece Mille-feuille de the set. The Mille-feuille de the sets are packs of loose leaf teas in individual packages. So it is essentially a 30 or 50 piece sampler set. They normally sell these for $30.00 or $50.00 respectively. The great part of the deal is this, to hit your minimums you may purchase gift certificates or gift cards. Please note that they have a distinction between certificates and cards, certificates are for online purchases only and cards are for in store purchases only. If you don't live near one of the CA or HI stores I wouldn't suggest a gift card.

But if you end up getting the $50.00 gift certificate and the free set you can try out 50 of their different teas of all kinds and sources and then use the certificate to buy ones you like. A really good deal if you ask me.

The teas that were in my 50 pack are:
4300 - Diksam FTGFOP1
7465 - "Kanaya" (Taken from the Japanese catalog)
5800 - Mint Tea
5803 - Rose Hip Tea
7006 - Tie Guan Yin
7401 - Chiran Yutakamidori
7405 - Ureshino Tamayokucha
4303 - Silonibari, BPS
4400 - Nilgiri BOP
4520 - UVA Highlands BOP
4530 - Monte Cristo
4701 - Keemun Special Grade
5000 - The first flush
5020 - Nuwara Eliya
5031 - Yojo-Health care Puer Tea
7408 - Takachiho Takachiho
7430 - Nara Tsukigase
7441 - Kaga Bocha
5101 - Afternoon Tea
5102 - English Blend
5104 - The au lait
5110 - La Belle Epoque
5201 - Earl Grey
5215 - Momo
5218 - Muscat
5219 - Grapefruit
8231 - Momo Oolong Super Grade
5040 - Kilimanjaro
8001 - Gyokuro Seiran No Homare
8201 - Jasmin Chun Hao
8210 - Lotus Tea
8223 - Grapefruit Green
8225 - Tsugaru Green
8230 - Ume
5226 - Ile Maurice Vanille
5500 - English Caramel
5503 - Wedding
5504 - The Au Chocolat
5513 - Pardise
5518 - Chaud Les Marrons
5532 - Champagne Rose
8814 - Ginger Oolong
9000 - Rooibos Naturel
9011 - Mate Green
5223 - Sakuranbo
8803 - Soba Seed Green Tea
8500 - Honey and Pear
8502 - Strawberry and Vanilla
8506 - Tokio
8508 - Happiness

Tokio

Tea: Tokio 8506
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $5.50/50g
Vendor description: Green tea is delicately flavored with sweet berries. Fresh tasting tea can be enjoyed by everyone. Try as iced tea in the hot summer.

On one of my recent visits to Lupicia I came across this while smelling random flavored/scented green teas. This one was rather surprising in that it smelled very strongly like bubble gum crossed with a sweet strawberry flavor. This tea is rather unique in that it is a blend of green and black tea, as you can notice from the leaves. When brewing the strong sweet fruity smell comes through very well.

The flavor for this tea is very abrupt and very short lived, it comes on strong, dissipates quickly and finishes that wayl. It leaves with almost no astringency and no bitterness at all. This is very different from most other green teas which have multiple portions to the flavor. The life of the flavor is very rich and very strong though.

Rating: 8/10

Conclusion: This tea is an interesting blend which produces a very unique flavored tea. I very much enjoy the smell and it is not very expensive. I would say this one is worth a try, and be sure to take in the aroma and enjoy it.

Uji Shincha 2007

Tea: Uji Shincha 2007 6530
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Source: Uji, Japan

After reviewing the Sayama Shincha 2007 from Lupicia I was quite excited to try out the Shincha from Uji. Uji is a famous region of Japan well known for its tea. The Nara Tsukigase is also from an area close to Uji and that also was a very good tea so I had high expectations for the Uji Shincha. I was actually quite disappointed.

The aroma and color to the tea was nothing special, it had a very faint grassy scent, but it was very weak and actually somewhat mundane.

The taste of the tea started off with a somewhat weak start and worked its way up and left with a medium sense of astringency. There was no bite to it as there is with many sencha teas, and to be honest no bitterness at all. The flavor for this tea was very hard to notice very much and left much to be desired.

Rating: 3/10

Conclusion: I expected more from this particular tea, but it looks like I was disappointed. All the aspects I was hoping to see in this tea were lacking or not even present. It was a very mundane experience. Not recommended at all.

Strawberry and Vanilla

Tea: Strawberry & Vanilla 8502
Vendor: Lupicia
Price: $5.50 / 50g
Vendor Description:Green tea blended with Matcha and flavored with sour-sweet strawberries and vanilla. It goes well with milk.

This tea has a very strong strawberry smell when you first smell the leaves. As you brew the tea the strawberry scent dissipates and you start to notice the vanilla scent more.

The actual brewed tea is very smooth and retains the faint smell of vanilla. At the first taste there is a sweet strawberry taste which carries into a faint vanilla flavor. There is no sense of bitterness to this tea and only a light sense of astringency when finished.

Rating: 7/10

Conclusion: This is a very pleasant tea to try out, although I don't know if I would drink more than a few cups of this in a row. It is a pleasant change and has a very nice aroma to it. If you are looking for a mild tea this is a very good choice.

White Blueberry

Tea: White Blueberry
Vendor: Adagio
Price: $8.00 / 2oz
Source: China, Fujian Region
Vendor Description: Premium white tea from Fujian region of China flavored with sweet blueberries. A wonderfully smooth and subtle treat, delectable both hot and cold. If you're new to white tea, this would be a good place to start.

Adagio's white blueberry was somewhat what I expected it would be. This tea has a very pleasant and strong blueberry scent when smelling the leaves and at the time of brewing, but this scent is very short lived.

The actual taste of the tea is very smooth, but with next to no actual blueberry flavor to it at all. It has a nice smooth flavor which leads to a medium level of astringency when finished. The initial taste of the tea is low profile while builds up in intensity in your mouth and finishes off with the medium level of astringency.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: While this tea is called white blueberry , the only place where the blueberry comes into play is before brewing and at the initial onset of brewing. There is little to no actual blueberry flavor to the tea. This is a very average white tea.

Sencha Premier

Tea: Sencha Premier
Vendor: Adagio
Price: $26.00/5oz.
Location: Shizuoka, Japan
Vendor Description: Green tea from the Shizuoka region of Japan. Special occasions call for a Japanese tea that is truly sublime. Our 'Sencha Premier' is just such tea. Made only from the dark green leaves gathered in the treasured first (early spring) flush, this tea infuses with an aroma and taste unsurpassed by any other. If you enjoy green tea, do not miss an opportunity to revel in this unique treat.

This sencha is as they describe, it is a very nice sencha. The leaves themselves are very long and slender when you first take a look at it. The leaves are all dark green and very uniform. The color of this tea is a very delicate light green (although the picture I took doesn't do it justice). I will get better at taking pictures of tea, I promise. It has a very light scent to it that captures the freshness and grassy flavor of this tea perfectly. The scent is also very delicate and a pleasure to the senses.

The initial taste of this tea is very grassy and vegetal, not quite as strong as the Yame Gyokuro from Lupicia though. After the initial grassy taste it is followed by the sencha bite, but the bite is not as strong as some other senchas, it is a bit more subdued than normal. The tea finishes off with a medium sense of astringency, enough to leave the mouth slightly dry and clean, but not enough to make you reach for the glass of water.

Rating: 9/10

Conclusion: This is one very solid sencha. While not the best that I have had, it is far from the worst. The most appealing part of this tea is the delicate scent that it has. The downside is that its price makes it a bit steep for a daily tea. It is worth a try and if it is your cup of tea for your perfect tea, personally for me my quest continues.

Sayama Shincha 2007

Tea: Sayama Shincha 2007 - 6570
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Location: Saitama, Japan
Vendor Description: A Shincha from Sayama in Saitama with, sublte sweetness and deep flavor.

This is actually my first chance to try out a Shincha. For those who don't know the term Shincha refers to the tea from the first harvest of the year. It is actually a small subset of the first harvest.

I was actually rather suprised when I first opened the package, the tea was a lot more fine than I had expected. I was expecting something consisting more of large thin needles like a fine sencha. Instead the package contained very small particles, which when brewed formed an almost paste like substance. The only real downside of this was a fairly significant amount of material made it into my tasting cup.

The color of the tea is a bit murky, probably from the smaller particles, but an enchanting shade of green. It is not quite as brilliant of a green as some gyokuros produce, but rather a darker shade of green with hues of yellow. This is a rather difficult color to attempt to describe, but I keep finding myself gazing into this cup staring at the tea.

The tea itself is quite remarkable. At the initial onset it is not particularly strong, but rather a very delicate sweetness with a sense of grassiness. It is a very mild flavor, but not weak. There is no strong bite like there is with some senchas, but a sense of the bitterness develops in your mouth over time. It has a low level of astringency with each sip, but does build up over time with the drinking of a cup. This tea is rather remarkable and makes me think about the taste as I drink it more and more.

I normally don't run multiple extractions on green teas, normally the second extraction tastes very similar to the first, but normally not as good. In this case though I decided to try making another extraction. This one was a very unique exception. The second extraction for this tea had a very strong vegetal taste. I almost like the second extraction more than the first.

Rating: 10/10

Conclusion: If you are able to get yourself some of this tea I would highly highly suggest it. I noticed that it is not for sale on Lupicia's website, and I ended up getting my pouch from one of the actual stores. Granted due to availability this wouldn't be well suited for daily drinking, but it would serve well as a tea for special occasions, while sitting out at night just relaxing and enjoying the company of a friend and your tea.

Sencha Fuka-midori

Tea: Sencha Fuka-midori
Vendor: Den's Tea
Location: Shizuoka, Japan
Price: $6.50 / 2oz.
Vendor Description: Sencha Fuka-midori is produced with an equilibrium of natural sweetness and refreshing bitterness. This is complimented by a slight roasted aroma.

This the leaf for this tea is smaller than most senchas that I try. It may partly be due to being a sample pack, but the tea had a lot of small particles and dust. This is partly the cause of the large amount of dregs in the photo.

This tea is very full bodied and bold. It has a very present vegetal taste at the onset followed by a very strong bite. It leaves me with a moderate to strong level of astringency leaving me with a fairly dry mouth.

The flavor does not seem to be particularly outstanding in any way although there is nothing bad about it. It seems very average.

Rating: 7/10

Conclusion: While I don't really have any faults with this tea, there is nothing particularly outstanding about it. If you want a bold sencha this is a good choice. I don't think I could drink this one on a regular basis due to the astringency.