Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Tea Vendor’

A couple of months back, when the time came for me to select my IAATL samples, I squealed with delight when I found a new growing region listed. Portugal. There was tea. Grown. In PORTUGAL! I was stoked and immediately requested it. Alas, I was a hair to slow for the loose leaf Orange Pekoe, but the teabag version was still available. Silver medal ain’t bad.

For those that don’t know, Gorreana Tea (yes, I know what the name sounds like – stop giggling) is the only tea plantation in mainland Europe. It was founded in 1883, and it was “green” before the environmental connotations even existed. And since the tea plants they grow are in the Azores region (i.e. high altitude), they are naturally pest and pesticide free. Yes, that means “organic” to you hippies out there.

It wasn’t easy judging the contents of the OP teabag. After all, they were mostly hidden from view. That and I didn’t feel like tearing it open to view the fannings. I knew they would be fannings just by the feel of the bag. So, I put nose to filter and whiffed…and was greeted by something sweet. Splendid start.

I guess I “could’ve” adhered to some formal brewing instruction for this…but I didn’t. It was a teabag; I treated it as such. 12oz. cup of near-boiling water and a three-minute steep. Seemed a reasonable approach.

The liquor brewed to something I can only describe as “soft cherrywood red”. It had a very gentle-seeming appearance – beguiling even. The aroma was slightly tannic, incredibly floral, and welcoming in its gentleness. The same was the case with the taste. It started off with a midly astringent intro but cascaded into something different. This was an orange pekoe through-and-through – lacking the Darjeeling spiciness but possessing the subtleties of a soft blanket in beverage form. This was the most perfect teabag that I’ve ever dunked. I wish I had more of ‘em for early afternoon tea fixes. Hopefully, an opportunity will come in my fantasyland future to try the loose leaf version…at the plantation itself. *Le sigh*

You can purchase the Orange Pekoe directly from the Gorreana Tea website.

Sometimes, I get a tea for review, and I go through the entire sample trying to figure out what the heck to say about it. Usually, I’m having problems coming up with something nice about the tea, or just something interesting to say.

I drank through the entire sample of this tea while coming up for the review, but for a pleasantly different reason. It was because I was a LOT more interested in drinking the tea than in writing any silly words about it. It was such a pleasant drinking experience I just didn’t want to stop.

It had plently of the slightly masculine, vegetal flavors, but it’s missing the astringency that can often come with dragon well teas. It’s a light, flavorful, and very sippable. The flat green leaves were not as as large and bright green as some other dragon well teas, but they were fragrant and brew up wonderfully.

Good overall tea, a nice example of this category. Have a cup!

You can purchase the Xi Hu Premium Dragon Well directly from the Grand Tea website.

I received this matcha as part of a sample pack from Arbor Teas – a company that prides itself in carrying only organic products. What I didn’t expect was an entire tin of the stuff. I guess they knew how quickly I go through matcha. (Heck, I drink a bowl a day as is.) Also a surprise was the fact that their matcha was sourced from another company I had prior dealings with – Aiya, from Nishio, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. I had sampled their Organic Ceremonial Matcha before, but that came in a bag. This time around, I had the opportunity to do it right – from a refrigerated tin.

When I snapped open the pop-top to the tin, I was greeted by bold green powder within. It wasn’t the brightest powder I’ve ever encountered, but it was still welcoming enough. The aroma reminded me of untamed grass and mochi cakes. Just what I was expecting from an Aiya-made product.

For the first time, I was finally able to prepare an Aiya matcha with an Aiya-sourced chawan (matcha bowl). I used 3 small chashaku (bamboo teaspoonfuls), sifted them with a strainer into the bowl, and added roughly 4-5oz. of 160F water. Then I proceeded to vigorously whisk them with my chasen (bamboo whisk) for approximately thirty seconds…or until bubbles appeared.

It frothed up rather nicely to a velvety foam that covered the green tea soup beneath. The aroma was slightly rough, mildly sweet, with an impression of artichoke hearts on the end. The taste reflected this as well with a grassy forefront, a subtly bitter transition, and a wonderfully wildernessy feel for the rest of the body. Needless to say, it was not the most delicate of matchas out there. It packed a mid-grade wallop with a high-grade intro.

This should never be prepared koicha-style for fear of producing a vegetal brew. A thin tea (usucha) prep brings out the jewel-’n-jade crispness it promises. A more-than-pleasant matcha, whatever your ceremony might be.

You can purchase the Organic Matcha Green Tea Ceremonial Grade directly from the Arbor Teas website.

There are two types of tea lovers. Type T’s are thorough and scientific. They have scales, multiple varieties of steeping paraphenalia, accurate thermometers, and know how to use use them all. Their measurements, as well as their tasting notes, are rational, objective, consistent, and precise. Green tea was made for Type T’s. There is an infinite spectrum of flavor out there for those who are willing to coddle and fuss with their tea.

Then there’s the rest of us–type L’s. We’re loose and a little lazy and perpetually too distracted to measure leaves carefully, to time teas precisely, or to rate them objectively. Type L reviews often include rambly, stream-of-consciousness comparisons to memories, pieces of music, or articles of clothing rather than clearly defined flavors. Our measurement technique: “Eh, that’s about right.” Our timing habits: “Oops! When did I put that on?” Green tea isn’t usually Type L friendly–there’s just too much that can go wrong in the preparation.

Finally…a green tea that even a Type L can’t ruin! Tea Forte’ has made it easy with their lovely pyramid bags (takes measurement inconsistencies out of the equation). Leaves are medium sized and a nice dark green. The care I took during steeping amounted to running water through the Hot Shot and giving it about a minute to cool and (not my usual groove) setting a kitchen timer for 3 minutes and actually making it to the kitchen when it beeped instead of finding myself elbow-deep in another chore.

The reward for my efforts was a nice, pale gold cup that was pleasantly light. The Tea Forte’ website uses “vegetal notes” and “lightly nutty” as this Sencha’s key descriptors, but I’m getting some sunny citrus vibes, like lemon and lime zest. The second steep, prepared with no more care than the first, was nearly as bright and fruity as the first.

Someday, when I have time, I will measure and compare and chart my tea findings and discover all the sensory subtleties of rare and excellent green tea. But until then, I am grateful that Tea Forte’ has made a green tea for a harried and distractible type L…light and luscious!

You can purchase the Sencha directly from the Tea Forte website.

I felt that this tea was going to be a very unique experience. After all, pouchong is not a very common type of tea. The people who grow it refer to it as a green tea, yet in reality, pouchong is actually a type of oolong. The oxidisation process is such that the tea is supposed to be very light in flavour.

For preparing pouchong, water of a temperature akin to that which is used for green tea should be used. According to Canton Tea Co’s website, the tea is very forgiving, and they recommend using anywhere from one teaspoon to one table spoon of tea per cup of water. As I was making this tea in a 150ml gaiwan, I chose to just go with their recommendation and use 1 teaspoon of leaves. In keeping with their description of it being a very forgiving tea, they recommend 2-4 minutes for steep time. I went with three, just to be safe.

The dry leaves and the wet leaves smell much the same. A hint of fruitiness and a lot of fresh, light, oolong scent. Even after three minutes, the brew looks incredibly pale, but has a wonderfully light, floral aroma. The initial flavour, when the tea first touches the tongue, is light, too. While it may seem ridiculous, it is almost feathery in how soft the flavour is. One is then surprised when the finishing taste is bolder than expected. In fact, it seems that the finish is bolder than the foretaste.

I can see why this tea wins awards. It really is good. Canton Tea Co’s website says nothing regarding resteeping, but I decide to try anyway, increasing the steep time to four minutes. I cannot say that the resteeping has improved or changed the flavour. If anything, it is a bit weaker than before. However, this tea still maintains its soft mouthfeel and light flavours. An indefinite steep is probably called for in order to get all the vestiges of flavour from these leaves.

I enjoyed drinking this tea, and it is certainly one of Canton Tea Co’s very nice offerings. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would give it a 77/100.

You can purchase the Pouchong directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.