Mango Green Decaf

Tea: Mango Green Tea Decaf
Vendor: Mighty Leaf
Price: $8.95 / 4 oz
Source: Nilgiri, India
Vendor Description: Mango Green Tea Decaf, is a sweet blend of decaffeinated green tea from the Korakundah estate in Nilgiri, India combined with mango piences and calendula. With an intoxicating aroma, this fruity and flavorful green tea provides the perfect introduction to those new to green tea, or simply looking for a delicious, caffeine-free green tea blend.

Leaf: This leaf has a brown-green hue to it. There are yellow blossoms mixed in amongst the twisted green leaf. There are small dried pieces of fruit in the mix. The leaf appears drier than a green tea from China or Japan. The shape of the leaf somewhat reminds me of a Darjeeling.

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

1st Infusion: This infusion had a brownish caramel hue to it. Considering this was a green tea this was rather surprising. There is a light sweet aroma that quickly fades away. The flavor of the tea is very sharp. There is not much mango in the flavor of this tea at all. Most of the flavor from the tea is up front, but it is very short lived. It quickly dies off leaving not much on the back end. There is no astringency to the back.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 15s, 185F

2nd Infusion: The flavor was very similar to the first infusion. Not much flavor overall, and very short lived.

Rating: 2/10

Conclusion: I don't drink many green teas from outside of Japan and China, let alone decaf. This tea was somewhat of a reminder of why. Normally I don't drink many decaf teas either. The flavor was light in comparison with the tea flavor, and I acknowledge that flavoring a green tea is a difficult proposition, but it still could have been better.

Coco Chai

Tea: Coco Chai
Vendor: Mighty Leaf
Price: $8.95 / 4oz
Source: South Africa
Vendor Description: Coco Chai rooibos tea is a handcrafted, caffeine-free chai tea made from South African rooibos blended with shredded coconut, red peppercorns and aromatic spices including ginger, cinnamon and cardomon. This twist on a classic chai tea will surprise with its intoxicatingly aroma and spicey but sweet flavor.

Leaf: This is a rooibos based chai blend. It has a mix of coconut, peppercorns and cardomon. There was also some ginger in the mix that I saw. There is a very sweet and distinctive coconut aroma to this tea. It has a much bolder aroma than most chai.
1st Infusion Parameters: 3g, 12oz, 5 min, 195F

1st Infusion: The tea had a golden brown / light reddish hue to it. Again the distinctive coconut aroma was easy to pick out. The flavor was sweet and flavorful, it felt like just the right amount of rooibos flavor in comparison to the flavor of the spices. There was no bitterness or astringency to it. The flavor was just at a right level for making htis without using a milk/sugar mix for this chai.

Rating: 7/10

Conclusion: This tea is a good value. The suggested mix was to use less tea than I would normally have used for a test, and it turned out to be a good amount. The price by itself is quite good for a 4 oz bag. The flavor was well balanced. That said it lacked having a little bit of distinguishing characteristics from other chai aside from being rooibos based. A more prominent coconut flavor might be interesting.

Kuradashi Gyokuro Pinnacle

Tea: Kuradashi Gyokuro Pinnacle
Vendor: Hibiki-an
Source: Uji, Japan

About This Tea: The Kuradashi Pinnacle was the highest grade of aged gyokuro offered by Hibiki-an. This product has since gone out of stock and been removed from their website. Hence the lack of price and vendor description. This particular Kuradashi Gyokuro was stored and aged for 18 months before packaging.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea is dark green and very uniform in color. The leaves have a more twisted appearance thanis normal for a gyokuro of this caliber. There is a sweet gyokruo aroma to the leaves that has hints of grassiness to it.

1st Infusion Parameters: 10g, 5oz, 140F, 45s, preheated hohin

1st Infusion: The infusion is lightly murky with a yellowish hue to it. There is a very sweet and calming aroma to this tea. The flavor screams umami. It is very strong and promient in this tea, moreso than most other gyokuro that I have tried. There is al ight grassiness to this tea and it actually has a thickness that reminds me of a soup broth more than any other gyokuro. It is smooth, bold and full bodied. The flavor is very round, with no strenght on the backend. The back does make up for this with a very strong brothy aftertaste though. Overall this feels very mellow and thick. There is a ligthly raspy feeling on the tongue after finishing.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 140F, 15s

2nd Infusion: This infusion has a clearer yellow green hue. The flavor is not as centralized this time. It is still rich, but it is lacking on strength in the core. There is a light sense of bitterness and astringency to this infusion. The flavor is still brothy, but not quite as much as the first infusion. It still has a strong umami feeling to it.

3rd Infusion Parameters: 145F, 30s

3rd Infusion: This infusion has the same yellow hue as the second infusion. It exhibits a lightly grassy aroma. There is a medium bitterness to be found in this infusion surprisingly. The flavor again shows strength, but the umami portion of the flavor is much lighter this time around. It feels very light and sharp with hints of a marine flavor to this tea. The tea finishes off with a light sense of astringency, and has the same roughness on the tongue as the first infusion.

4th Infusion Parameters: 1:00, 130F

4th Infusion: This infusion has a richer gyokuro aroma to it. The tea is a light straw yellow hue. There is a medium astringency to it, yet despite this there is a soft and rich flavor to it. The marine flavor is starting to show itself more, stronger than the second infusion, but not overly powerful. There is a sharper aftertaste to this infusion, paired with a sense of bitterness.

5th Infusion Parameters: 130F, 1:30

5th Infusion: The color of the tea switched to a light yellow green hue this time. There is not much of a noticeable aroma to the tea. The flavor is smooth and finishes with a medium sense of astringency. There is a light sharpness on the backend. Ther eis not much flavor in this infusion and the tea is starting to feel a little watery.

6th Infusion Parameters: 145F, 2:00

6th Infusion: This infusion was a pale yllow color. It has a smooth and light flavor to it with a medium sense of astringency. There is a light bitterness on the backend, but it's starting to let up.

Rating: 9/10

Conclusion: This tea is an interesting experience. Not the finest gyokuro that I've had, but not the worst. It's definitely a good drink, but I'm not sure that I would order it again. The aging of a Kuradashi has an interesting effect on the tea, but even with a gyokuro I find myself missing the vibrance of freshness. The price of this tea was quite prohibitive. If I remember right the next grade down was a times cheaper. I expected a more interesting flavor out of this tea, but ended up disappointed. Don't get me wrong though, this tea is a good drink and beats quite a few gyokuro out there, but it's just not what I expected from pinnacle grade.

Snow Orchid Dan Cong Oolong 2007

Tea: Xue Lan Xiang (Snow Orchid) Dan Cong Oolong 2007
Vendor: Seven Cups
Price: $11.80 / 50g ( for the 2008 currently)
Source: Chaozhou City, Guangdong Province
Vendor Description: Snow Orchid is the most popular Dan Cong tea due to its strong peach aroma and taste. The strong oxidation and roasting allow the special character of this tea to remain stable for at least two years. Appreciate the dry leaves that smell like the local orchids blooming in winter from which this tea is named. After brewing, the clean honey tea color will yield a robust flavor that fill the mouth and leaves a complex lingering aftertaste. The Chaozhou people, from whom this tea comes, are famous for their rich diet and frequently pair this tea with meals to improve digestion.

Additional Vendor Information:
Tea Bush: Mi Lan Xiang descendent from original Feng Huang Shui Xian
Tea Master: Ye Han Zhong
Harvest Time: middle of March
Picking Standard: zhong kai mian (2-3 slightly open leaves)
Brewing vessel: glass cup, gaiwan, glass or porcelain pot, yixing pot
Brewing Guidelines: 1st infusion 1 Tbs per 12 oz 212F for 1 min
Infusions: at least 6 times

Leaf: The leaf for this tea had smallish leaf for a Dan Cong. It is still large in size. The leaves are black with brown highlights and grey on the edges.

1st Infusion Parameters: 4.28g, 5oz, 208F, 45s, 5s rinse

1st Infusion: This infusion has a light brown color. It is almost red in hue. The aroma is interesting, it has a certain woodiness to it. The flavor is light with a pronounced sharpness on the back end. I found that the aroma was quite captivating with a very nice smoothness up front. There was a very light astringency on the back end. The flavor is lighter than most Dan Cong.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 1:30, 208F

2nd Infusion: This infusion has a stronger core Dan Cong aroma to it, the aroma was much sweeter this time. The color was a red-brown hue. The flavor is much richer and quite full bodied. It was lightly sweet, but much more flavorful. There is a medium sense of astringency. It gives me a peaceful feeling.

3rd Infusion Parameters: 2:15, 208F

3rd Infusion: This infusion had a lighter red-brown hue to it. The flavor was even richer than the second infusion. It was smooth and a bit more subdued. There was a medium sense of astringency. It leaves a bit of a rough feeling on my tongue.

4th Infusion Parameters: 3:00, 208F

4th Infusion: This infusion had a light brown hue with a very light aroma. The tea is still smooth and flavorful with a medium sense of astringency.

Rating: 9/10

Conclusion: This was a very flavorful DC. This was very enjoyable and is rather inexpensively priced. The flavor got richer for the second and third infusions for three very pleasant infusions. I can't think of any significant downsides to this tea. Thank you to Jessica over at Authoritea for this sample.

Da Wu Ye - Big Dark Leaf 2008

Tea: Da Wu Ye - Big Dark Leaf 2008
Vendor: Tea Habitat
Price: $30.00 / oz
Source: Guangdong, China
Vendor Description: Da Wu Ye in literal translation is Big Dark Leaf, one of the 2 main varietals of Phoenix Oolong Tea. This particular varietal is suitable for making Jiang Hua Xiang-Ginger Flower Fragrance Dan Cong tea. Ginger Flower Fragrance Dan Cong is one of the most difficult teas to produce and the most sought after. All Ginger Flower Fragrance Dan Congs are made of Big Dark Leaf varietal, not all Big Dark Leaf varietals can be made into Ginger Flower Fragrance Dan Congs.

Aroma of this tea is magnificent, distinctively pure, subtly rich, shyly beautiful. Flavor is honey water in a desert, nourishment that eases away tension. Texture is rich and buttery. A tea you want to drink if you like to lay on a chaise and day dream.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea had absolutely no dust to it, the leaves were all very large long thin black leaves. All beautifully formed with just a light sweet aroma to them.

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

1st Infusion: This tea has an absolutely astounding aroma. It is floral with a certain thickness to it. Even within the floral aroma is a calming sweetness. The tea itself is an amber yellow-brown hue. The flavor is very rich and up front. It starts out strong and then tapers to a nice aftertaste. The aroma is bolder than that of any other Dan Cong that I have tried. The taste is floral and pleasant pairing well with the aroma.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 1:15, 208F

2nd Infusion: This time the tea was more of a chestnut brown hue. The aroma is richer and stronger, and a bit less floral. Instead of a floral loftiness it has a more savory thick feel to it, yet despite the thickness it feels clear and clean. The flavor is smooth and pleasant with a light bitterness and finishes with just a hint of astringency. The flavor is quite intense and tapers down into a lingering aftertaste paired with a clean feeling.

3rd Infusion Parameters: 1:45, 208F

3rd Infusion: This infusion was smooth with a little less assertive of a flavor. The core of the flavor is still quite strong, but the sides of the flavor were a little less intense with this infusion. There was not quite as much aroma to this tea this time, which was a bit saddening. The tea felt very graceful with this infusion though.

4th Infusion Parameters: 2:30, 208F

4th Infusion: This infusion had a lighter straw yellow color. The aroma was not very prominent, but it felt very thick and heavy. The flavor was light, and not terribly flavorful, but the tea had a very strong thickness. The underlying flavor was still there, but the forward portion of the flavor wasn't as prominent. There was a medium sense of astringency on the backend.

5th Infusion Parameters: 3:30, 208F

5th Infusion: This infusion had the same straw yellow color to it. The aroma felt the same as it was with the 4th infusion. It was lighter, and a little bit less flavorful this time around. The flavor is thinning out at this point, but it is still light and smooth. It has a long taper to an aftertaste.

6th Infusion Parameters: 6:00, 208F

6th Infusion: The tea was quite honey colored with a light and sweet aroma. The flavor was a bit watery, it showed that there was not much left to this tea. It still has a tastiness to it though which was quite enjoyable.

Rating: 10/10

Conclusion: This tea was absolutely phenomenal. The flavor was strong and intense on the front end and held out for a surprisingly long time. The aroma was in a word; sublime. After doing this review I actually brewed it a few different ways, and the most surprising of which was a 6 oz infusion I made using only 3 leaves. Despite only three leaves being used it had an absolutely sublime aroma again and went for 3 infusions.

Oriental Spice

Tea: Oriental Spice
Vendor: Adagio Teas
Price: $6.00 / 4 oz
Vendor Description: To most Westerners, it is a little known fact that the word 'Chai' simply means 'tea' in Hindi. Therefore, all teas are technically chais. However, instead of the 'chai' that most Americans are used to (which usually contains really bad tea), we offer an Oriental Spice tea - premium Ceylon black tea with a unique blend of spices; cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea looks like a normal orthodox black tea leaf. There are small pieces of ginger and orange peel mixed in. There are also small chocolate colored brown pieces in there which I couldn't really identify. Based on the description of the tea I would assume the pieces to have been the cinnamon. The aroma of the tea is very chai like.

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

1st Infusion: This tea had an aroma sweeter than most masala chai that I have tried. It seems very close to a traditional masala chai though, and based on the ingredient list it is very similar to most chais. The tea itself has a dark red almost chocolate brown hue to it. It has a very chai like flavor on the back end of the flavor. It is very rich with a light sense of an astringency on the backend.

Rating: 4/10

Conclusion: This tea is very much like a traditional chai, but has a higher tea:other ratio than most chai. It is quite inexpensive though, but the rest of the Adagio selection of chai are all relatively equally priced. If you want a chai like tea, I would suggest getting one of the specified chais.

Interesting Tidbits

A few interesting tidbits of news around:

Adagio Teas is partnering with the Nature Conservancy to plat a tree for every order placed on April 22nd.

Lupicia has a few new offerings, including a limited set of the Hawaii blends and their annual sakura selections.

The first of the shincha has already started arriving in the US. Shincha season is starting up!

Temomi Shincha from Sugimoto is on it's way!

Organic Lu An Gua Pian

Tea: Organic Lu An Gua Pian
Vendor: Mighty Leaf
Price: $16.95 / 4 oz
Source: Anhui Province, China
Vendor Description: Organic Lu An Gua Pian green tea, also known as "Little Melon Seed" is an exquisite, high-grade green tea grown in China's Anhui province. Processed using only the beautiful emerald green leaves, without any buds, the Lu An Gu Pian tea dates back to the Tang Dynasty. This refreshing green tea yields a sweet and floral taste with a smooth filong lasting finish similar to that of a Ti Kuan Yin oolong tea.

Leaf: The leaf has light green edges and is lightly twisted. It's not rolled as finely as a sencha, but not open like a Phoenix oolong. The edges of the leaves are light green, but the center of the leaf is dark green.

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

1st Infusion: The tea has a light yellow green hue to it. The aroma is nicely sweet. The tea is very sweet, especially for a green tea. It is rich and flavorful without much bitterness or astringency. It is pleasant, but a bit average in flavor, there is not much that really stands out in the flavor.

2nd Infusion Parameters: 45s, 185F

2nd Infusion: This infusion was a lightly murky infusion with a yellow-green hue. It is abit more yellow than green. The aroma isn't very prominent anymore, there isn't much of an aroma to it at all. The flavor is a bit sharper. It is sweet at the onset, and then turns a stronger and that's where the sharpness is.

Rating: 7/10

Conclusion: This tea was quite enjoyable, but a bit on the mundane side. The first infusion was nicely sweet and subtle. The second infusion showed a bit more character, but nothing outstanding. Factoring in the price I would probably pick something a bit more interesting, but there was nothing wrong with this tea.

Organic Earl Green

Tea: Organic Earl Green
Vendor: Mighty Leaf
Price: $9.95 / 4 oz
Vendor Description: Our Organic Earl Green tea, an organic Darjeeling green tea blended with bergamot, is a unique twist on the classic Earl Grey black tea. One of our employee favorites, Organic Earl Green makes a great breakfast tea or can be enjoyed all day long. This loose tea is ideal for friends who are new to green tea. Also refreshing on ice.

Leaf: Considering this is a green tea, you could have fooled me. The leaf is dark, with shades of browns and black. I would have guessed it to be a mix between a Darjeeling and orthodox black. There is a little bit of silvery leaf mixed in as well. There is a very strong citrus aroma (which I believe is the bergamont aroma, but never having smelled true bergamont it's hard to say for sure) The aroma reminds me somewhat of lemon pledge.

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

1st Infusion: This tea has a medium citrus aroma to it. The tea has a green-brown hue. The flavor is very strong and intense, filled with a strong feeling of citrus. It's hard to find the portion of this tea which is really that green. There is a sharp bitterness to it and a medium sense of astringency on the back.

Rating: 5/10

Conclusion: I've never really understood the fascination with Bergamont flavored teas. Earl Grey is probably one of the most singularly famous teas. Right down to the Star Trek references for the stuff. This tea has a strong flavor to it, so if you enjoy bergamont you will probably enjoy this tea. It feels more like a black tea than a green, but it must be brewed as a green. It is lighter than an earl grey so that part is a bit more enjoyable.

San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden

So a few weeks ago I had the opportunity while in San Francisco to visit the Japanese Tea Garden. This was the first time that I had been there in a while and this was right during cherry blossom season. While this doesn't really have to deal directly with tea, it is very relative. The tea garden is quite an experience, and does in fact serve tea. The tea served is either Sencha, Genmaicha, Oolong (yes, that's as specific as it is), or Jasmine. I believe they refered to the Sencha as just Green. For 4 dollars you get a pot of tea and a small bowl of cookies and rice crackers. While the tea itself is nothing special, the location is everything in this case. Sipping on a cup of tea while watching sakura petals fall and with some of the plants in just radiant bloom is an experience unto itself. This was also an opprotunity for me to play around with my new camera lens. If you're ever in SF and have some time to relax, it's definitely worth going to the tea garden. It makes you remember that it's not all about the tea itself, but rather the experience.