Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Steeps’

The smell that came wafting out of the canister when I opened it up reminded me of nothing so much as fresh-cut, sweet hay on a warm, sunny day. It’s a smell I’m used to associating with summer because many of the ranchers around here grow and cut hay crops during that time to feed their livestock over the winter.

The flavour of the tea is also reminisent of sweet hay, but without tasting too grassy or bitter. It’s not too vegetal either – a problem which I noticed with some other silver needle teas that I’ve tried. It is slightly drying to the mouth, but only a bit – nothing too unpleasent. It makes for a light, fragrant, and flavourful drink, and perhaps it’s just the hay association, but it seems like a tea that’s very much suited for sipping in the summertime.

The resteep is considerably paler in colour and lighter in flavour. It has an almost delicately flowery quality to it now. Still very drinkable and it could probably go for more steeps, but it’s late and I don’t want to be more caffeinated than I already am!

You can purchase the Organic Silver Needle White Tea directly from the Leaf Spa Tea website.

This Taiwanese tea is actually an Oolong, not a green, though I can understand the purveyor classifying it as green.   Oolongs are fermented between 20%-80% of their total sugars.   The ones on the low end of the scale are very flowery in nose, very delicate in taste, and very light in leaf color. These oolongs are sometimes referred to as green oolongs, and tend to need to be steeped at lower temps (below 180F)  The ones on the high end – think Da Hong Pao (Red Robe) – tend to be more robust in taste, aroma, and darker in leaf, tend to be steeped in the 180-200F range.  

The tea is a dark jade green leaf, twisted and furled, with a inviting perfume smell,  The leafs are  quite long, common with well processed Pouchong.

1st Steep: 1 TBLS tea (3g) in 6oz water @ 175F for 3 min in my oolong xing pot.  Yellow and bright in the cup, with a nice floral perfume nose.  Excellent sweet “oolong perfume” taste, and a dryness that is much like a green tea.  A touch of that savoriness in the aftertaste that lingers.

Wet leaf is well shaped, long and broad, with a good musky smell.

2nd Steep:  4 Min @ 180 F.  The aroma is much more balanced, with suggestions of Peonies, very pleasant.   The taste has mellowed to a very distinct flower presence, with hints of butteriness, that I associate with Taiwanese Oolongs.  The aroma and taste linger well after.  This steep is the best.

I got two more good steeps from this leaf,   This is a satisfying, refreshing, bright tea, of excellent quality.

You can purchase the Pouchong directly from the Canton Tea Co. website. Save 15% right now when you use the code LEAF at checkout!

Described as: “A profoundly flowery blend of select green teas, rare blossoms and aromatic lemon myrtle leaves”.

I was anxious to try this tea because I am a huge fan of lemon myrtle and it did not disappoint. It was difficult to wait the full three minutes for it to steep because the smell of the citrus and rose oils was so alluring. It brewed to a nice golden color, almost like liquid honey and tasted just as smooth. Lemon myrtle is sometimes overwhelming in a tea but this blend has just the right amount to perfectly compliment the taste of orange and the green tea. Couldn’t really pick out the lemon grass in the first steep but it came through in the second. A nice tangy aftertaste, refreshing and pleasant, with enough sweetness on it’s own. It went through three steeps perfectly and has earned a place at the front of my tea cabinet. Can’t wait to try this one iced…

You can purchase Rishi Tea Orange Blossom directly from their website.