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Masters Teas’ Rohini First Flush

Rohini First Flush by Masters Teas
Black Tea / Straight
$19.00 for 2oz

Masters Teas has provided me with Rohini First Flush for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

When Masters Teas reached out to me and asked if I wanted to try their first flush Darjeeling, the answer was obviously yes. This black tea was harvested in March 2023, so only two months ago! This is a black tea, but has the appearance of a green tea. The tea leaves themselves come in a sealed, resealable pouch. There’s a label across the front with information about the tea that I find helpful. Masters Teas describes Rohini First Flush as having fruit blossom notes.

Rohini First Flush is from Darjeeling, India, and consists only of tea leaves – no other ingredients.

The leaves of Rohini First Flush remind me a lot of a white tea or a green tea – purely in appearance. There’s a mix of bright pops of green and darker green, almost olive in shades of green. There are some twisted leaves, and flat pieces. The aroma of this dry leaf is quite fruity! It also have some heavy floral notes, which I noticed as soon as I opened the pouch before I even lifted it up to my face. It’s a pretty dry leaf to look at, and made me look forward to trying it out.

Preparation

Masters Teas recommends steeping Rohini First Flush in 100oC (212oF) water for 2 to 3 minutes.

I opted to follow the steeping recommendations and did an initial steep for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Rohini First Flush steeps to a light golden yellow. The aroma of the tea is quite floral, with fruity notes throughout. Drinking this tea makes me think of grapes and pears, mixed in with more delicate floral notes in the background – I find myself thinking of jasmine and chrysanthemum when I drink this, even though jasmine and chrysanthemum even though neither are physically present. There’s a slight sweetness to Rohini First Flush that really adds to the fruity nature of this black tea.

A Second Cup?

Rohini First Flush was easy to go down with the initial steep. For subsequent steeps, of which I did three, I added an additional thirty seconds for each steep. The leaves really opened up after the second steep and I found more yellow and brown colours in the leaves, along with the pops of green. The steeps after the first became more fruity, and less floral, but still had that light sweetness throughout that I found endearing. I would recommend steeping Rohini First Flush multiple times for a longer experience with these leaves.

My Overall Impression

I loved Masters Teas’ Rohini First Flush. I’m really happy that I agreed to try out this first flush 2023 tea. The experience of getting to try a brand new spring tea is always a fun time because you get to try something fresh and exciting. The fact that it’s black tea that behaves a bit like a green tea (but isn’t as unforgiving) is purely a bonus. I enjoyed the flavours and aromas from Rohini First flush – especially with the multiple steeps.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Lotte’s Green Tea Choco Pie

Green Tea Choco Pie by Lotte
Green Tea (Matcha) / Dessert
$4.99 for 336g (12 pcs)

First Impressions

Full disclosure, I was given a Green Tea Choco Pie by a coworker at work and told her that I needed to know where to get more. At which point, she pointed out that my favourite Asian grocery store had them (very conveniently in the aisle next to the tea aisle). And at the price of $5 for a box of twelve, it makes for a nice little snack.

The Choco Pies come individually packaged in foil packages, clearly labelling what’s inside. Each Choco Pie is 28g. Each Green Tea Choco Pie consists of: sugar, wheat flour, corn starch syrup, shortening, vegetable oil, mixed milk powder, cocoa powder, D-sorbitol, glycerin, ethanol, lactose, glucose, gelatin, liquid whole egg, salt, sodium bicarbonate, artifical flavours, cocoa mass, green tea powder, lecithin, calcium phosphate monobasic, ammonium bicarbonate, glycerin esters of fatty acids, mixed formulation, vanillin, xanthan gum, tartrazine, brilliant blue FCF.

Essentially what you see when you open the package is a chocolate covered object… And that’s about it.

First Taste

Green Tea Choco Pie consists of a chocolate coating, a soft matcha cookie, followed by marshmallow, and then another soft matcha cookie, and the chocolate coating. It tastes sweet, with a flakey cookie layer and a chewy and sweet marshmallow layer. It was maybe four bites total to eat the whole thing, but the cookie layer wasn’t too sweet, the marshmallow layer had a good chew, and the chocolate layer was thin so it doesn’t overpower the rest of the flavours.

My Overall Impression

I loved Lotte’s Green Tea Choco Pie. It makes for a nice, inexpensive snack. Bonus points for being well balanced in terms of flavour between all the layers of flavour of chocolate, marshmallow, and matcha. These little snacks might make their way into my regular rotation of work locker snacks and I’m not mad about it.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Teakan’s Cold Dew Shou Mei

Cold Dew Shou Mei by Teakan
White Tea / Straight
$38 for 61g

Cold Dew Shou Mei is part of Teakan’s Volume 6 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Cold Dew Shou Mei makes up 6g of the 61g kit.

First Impressions

Cold Dew Shou Mei comes in a kraft paper pouch that’s sealed and resealable. Being part of a Teakan collection, I expect it to taste good. This particular shou mei is from Fuding, Fujian, China and was harvested in autumn of 2021, so late in the growing season.

The bag tears open easily, and reveals some gorgeous leaves. There’s a mix of of shades of green, but they’re primarily a similar shade to a fresh, live leaf – which is pretty amazing. The leaves of Cold Dew Shou Mei have some downy feathery bits to the leaves, and the aroma is very similar to stone fruit – think plums and apricots. It has a sweet undertone – and look at the gentle, and natural curls to the leaves that occurred in the drying process.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Cold Dew Shou Mei in both western style (80°C/176°F for 1 minute) or gongfu style (90°C/194°F for 5-10 seconds).

I opted to do an initial steep of Cold Dew Shou Mei in 80°C water for 1 minute.

First Taste

Cold Dew Shou Mei steeps to a clear, pale yellow. The aroma is sweet, lightly floral, with a fruity undertone. The flavour of Cold Dew Shou Mei is crisp, sweet, and has a strong fruity flavour to it that reminds me of stone fruits, much like in the aroma of the dry leaf. Cold Dew Shou Mei has a pleasant mouthfeel, that is slightly drying after the end of each sip, but it’s not off-putting for me.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Cold Dew Shou Mei five times (six steeps total), by adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The colour became a darker, more golden yellow. The flavour gets more fruity and a bit less sweet.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Cold Dew Shou Mei. This white tea looks remarkably like someone just plucked some dry leaves off of a plant – especially considering how green the leaves are. The flavour of Cold Dew Shou Mei are a treat to the senses, and I find that the tea resteeps quite well so I’d highly recommend that.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.