Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Green Leaves’

The aromas of this white tea’s dry leaves are quite sweet and grassy. Fuzzy, short, white twists intermix with small green leaves for an enjoyable looking tea.  Canton Tea Co’s packaging suggests using 2 teaspoons of leaf per cup of water and infusing the tea for 2-3 minutes. Accordingly, 2 teaspoons of the tiny leaves went into my cup for a little over 2 minutes. The resulting aroma of this tea was somewhat different than the dry leaves suggested.

My cup of tea still maintained its grassy aromas, yet felt deeper and stronger with a light, roasted smell. I was further surprised when, upon tasting it for the first time, the flavour burst in my mouth, both sweet and fruity and without a lot of the formerly smelled grassiness. Impressed by the full flavour, I continue drinking.

This is one complex white tea…the flavour is not, in any way, straightforward. Slightly reminiscent of half a dozen different white teas, this is a must-try for white tea lovers. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would give it a 91/100.

You can purchase the Ye Sheng Wild White Tea directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.

Although I normally cut open teabags and steep them loose, I decided to steep this tea in its own bag and why not, Tea Forte has one of the most attractive teabags in the industry. I kept the teabag in for the full duration of my drinking the tea. Steeped leaves show broken green leaves, stem, ginger bits, and white flower petals. Infusion is a yellowish colour. Although the leaves are not small enough, I did notice a little bit of dust components, pekoe?, that made it through the teabag and sat on the surface of the tea. Aroma is heavenly, sweet from the pear.

Unlike with many teas with ginger as an ingredient that I have tasted recently, the ginger here is surprisingly soft. Sweetness came predominantly from the white tea and pear and the ginger played the supportive role. The resulting taste of the balance of these three flavours is one similar to bubble gum. Funny, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pear bubble gum flavour before, but the combination of these three ingredients was spot on like bubble gum. Don’t get me wrong, I like bubble gum but like with bubble gum I can’t chew more than one piece at a time. I don’t think I can drink more than one cup of this tea at a sitting. I can’t see myself drinking a lot of it.

You can purchase Tea forte white ginger pear directly from their website.

OMG. I am so glad I choose this tea for my samples this round.

The smell in the tea is peachy. The leaves are a beautiful blend of black and green and some flower parts…the flower parts…I am usually not a fan of flowers in my tea, BUT this is over the top wonderful.

The peach comes through both dry and brewed. The black and green tea leaves are in perfect harmony together. There is astringency, but you don’t notice until you finish the entire teapot of tea, then the astringency sets in. The tea tastes so good that I may just have to get used to the dryness of my mouth.

I was able to get 2 flushes from two tsp of leaves brewed up in my trustworthy yellow Chatsford Teapot.

Love this tea

You can purchase the Geisha Beauty directly from the Sanctuary T website.

The Sage Bergamot tea is one of Rishi’s new teas, an organic “botanical blend” containing lemon thyme, sage, mint, lemon verbena and oil of bergamot. I could see chopped green leaves through the sample package but no discernable bits. When I inhaled the essence from the package, I noted the immediate freshness of the mint, the citric scent of bergamot and the cleanness of the sage and lemon thyme.

I went to the Rishi Tea web site for preparation instructions. The Rishi brew promised mood boosting and mental clarification for anytime of the day. Its 9:30 a.m. Sunday and I wanted something to perk me up.

I used the recommended water temperature, quantities and steep time – 1 tablespoon of the herb blend in 8 oz using boiling water with a 5 minute steep. I selected the small Japanese cast iron tea pot as it holds the heat well and also holds exactly 8 oz water. After I poured the hot water into the pot, I smelled the vapors and was delighted with the sage coming off first, followed quickly by the thyme and mint.

I poured the tea into a glass serving pitcher and made a note to use a fine sieve or a tea bag as there are lots of fine bits that floated about. The colour of the liquor is golden yellow.

I inhaled the scent of bergamot through my nose as I drew the cup to my mouth. My first sip provided a minty wintergreen freshness and a roundness in the mouth from the sage. I found this beverage refreshing and would even do this blend as an iced tea for the summer, served with a fresh sprig of one of the herbs used in the tea. If you let the tea stand longer, the sage comes through with a bit more pungency like a perfume developing the warmer deeper notes with body heat.

The wet leaves showed they were quite spent and it would probably not do for a refill. If you wanted more tea, I think you could use more water for a longer albeit thinner liquor.

For food pairing, I had a cherry Danish which killed the taste of the tea. However, afterwards, a sip took me right back into the tea. The sage was much more pronounced as it was obviously continuing to steep in the mug. I finished with the strong flavour of sage and mint on my tongue.

Again Rishi provides a well-balanced blend for an all-day sippable tea. My recommendation though is to use less tea or more water if you find the sage too strong but keep the steep the 5 minutes to get the health benefits from the herbs. Drink up quickly to avoid any harsh tastes from the sage unless you truly enjoy the herb.

You can purchase the Bergamot Sage directly from the Rishi Tea website.

I prepared this tea in an almost reverential mood because the reputation of Mark T. Wendell teas is excellent.  And I was not disappointed.   Their River Mist Green tea is a great delicacy.  According to the Wendell web site, this tea is an “unusual Chinese green [which]  has abundant silver strands among the twisted green leaves and unopened buds. It’s supple, rich flavor is easy on the palate and a treat to drink.”  

This is no hyperbole at all.  This tea is a clear winner.  I’ve been tasting a lot of green teas lately noticing which ones manage to forge a distinctive identity on the memory of my nose and palate.  River Mist Green is a winner in terms of delicacy and refinement.  This is a tea to be sipped with attention and pleasure and not to be slurped down efficiently (and I do like teas that deliver huge flavor and caffeine while being hastily slurped). 

Mark T. Wendell’s River Mist Green is of the former company.  Choice, classy, and charming, it can serve as a centerpiece for entertainment or for quiet times alone.  I enjoyed every sip as if it were a delicate wine.  The tea does not have any overtly vegetal notes, which will be a recommendation for green tea lovers who don’t want to drink spinach juice.  This tea, instead, is what I would call bright, fresh, delicate, and refined.  It’s a very swanky tea but also an eminently affordable one.  

You can purchase the River Mist directly from the Mark T. Wendall Tea Company website.