Author: Michelle

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Chai Castle’s Gunpowder

Gunpowder by Chai Castle
Green Tea / Straight
$10.00 for 100g

Chai Castle has provided me with Gunpowder for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Chai Castle’s Gunpowder came to me in a resealable black pouch, with a nice label on the front. I love an informative label. If you’ve never had a gunpowder before, it is traditionally a Chinese green tea. Chai Castle’s Gunpowder is no exception. Chai Castle describes their Gunpowder as “brisk, tart and slightly smoky”.

Gunpowder is a Chinese green tea. The leaves are dark olive green, all bunched and rolled together. There is a mild smokey aroma. If you know lapsang souchong tea, it’s nothing like that in terms of the campfire smoke. Just a gentle, mild smokey aroma – enough for you to know it’s there, not enough for you to think there’s a wildfire happening somewhere.

Preparation

Chai Castle recommends steeping Gunpowder in 79°C (175°F) water for 2 to 3 minutes. My initial steep was for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Gunpowder steeps to a lovely golden orange. On first taste, I do notice that there’s a slight astringency in the tea – but it’s not off-putting. There’s a nice smokey flavour, without making me feel like it’s over the top. It’s a very clear tasting tea though, nice blend of smoke, vegetal notes, and just that little touch of astringency at the end of each sip. If you’re not a fan of the astringency, I’d recommend steeping Gunpowder for little bit less than 2 minutes (probably start at 60 seconds and titrate up to your liking).

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Gunpowder three times, adding an extra 30 seconds for each steep. I found that the flavour profile remained fairly consistent throughout, but the third resteep was a bit weak in flavour. Overall, I think that Gunpowder can handle being resteeped at least twice and the third can be reserved for people who don’t mind the flavour being a bit weaker.

My Overall Impression

I loved Chai Castle’s Gunpowder. I really enjoyed steeping this green tea, watching the leaves open up was a nice treat that reminded me of my oolong experiences. I was a little bit apprehensive when I read that it had a smokey flavour, but it wasn’t overbearing – it was just enough, and it goes well with the name of the tea as well. For this tea, I would definitely recommend at least two resteeps to get all that nice flavour out of the leaves.

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Yunomi’s Fukamushicha From Narama

Fukamushicha From Narama by Yunomi
Green Tea / Straight
$6.00USD for 20g

Yunomi has provided me with Fukamushicha From Narama for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Fukamushicha From Narama came to me in a pale green, resealable foil bag. I love how Yunomi’s product labels tell you everything you ever needed to know about their teas, and then some. From this label, I learned that this Japanese green tea was harvested in spring of 2018, from the Narama Village, located in Shizuoka, Japan. You can literally pin point the location of when and where this tea was harvested, which is just so neat.

Fukamushicha From Narama is made up of fine, dark green leaves. There’s a very pleasant salty aroma from the leaves – it has a quality about it that reminds me a lot of seaweed, being by the water, just hanging out on the beach and breathing it all in. Fukamushicha From Narama consists of green tea.

Preparation

Yunomi recommends steeping Fukamushicha From Narama for 1 minute in 70°C (158°F). As usual, I use my trusty Breville IQ Kettle to heat up my water. However, the lowest my kettle goes is 175°F (79°C) so I heated my water to the lowest temperature setting and allowed it to cool with the lid open for about 5 minutes.

First Taste

Fukamushicha From Narama steeps to a lovely light green colour. There’s a very light flavour to this tea, with some clear umami notes. There’s a mild amount of saltiness, which isn’t off-putting. It has an almost savoury quality to it, which is quite endearing. Fukamushicha From Narama is quite a smooth green tea with zero bitterness or astringency.

A Second Cup?

Yunomi suggests that this tea can be resteeped up to 3 times, so obviously I had to give that a go. I resteeped it four times, with an additional 30 seconds for each resteep. The flavour were the strongest in the initial steep and the first resteep, and I found that it started to get weaker after that. The fourth resteep was still tasty, but it just wasn’t nearly as intense as the previous steeps.

My Overall Impression

I loved Yunomi’s Fukamushicha From Narama. I felt like it was a very nice savoury green tea, it was light with some good umami notes. I think it would pair well with savoury foods, or even play nicely with something sweet to help balance each other out. Fukamushicha From Narama resteeped well, which definitely made for a nice tea steeping session.

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Lemon Lily’s Pink Lemonade

Pink Lemonade by Lemon Lily
Black Tea / Flavoured
$9.00 for 50g

Lemon Lily’s Pink Lemonade came to me as part of The Sugared Teacup’s June themed subscription box.

First Impressions

Pink Lemonade came in a resealable white foil pouch, with a now-familiar label on the front. Lemon Lily’s teas generally come in increments of 50g or more, but The Sugared Teacup gets them specially packaged for the subscription boxes. The first thing I noted when I opened the packaging is that it smells like lemonade. I can see the hibiscus, which is what I’m assuming gives the tea a pink colour.

Pink Lemonade consists of black tea, hibiscus, lemon peel, lemongrass, and raspberry leaf – all organic ingredients and Lemon Lily’s products are certified by Ecocert Canada.

Preparation

Lemon Lily recommends steeping Pink Lemonade in 100°C (212°F) water for 4 to 6 minutes. My initial steep was for 6 minutes.

First Taste

Pink Lemonade steeps to a beautiful dark pink colour, and it smells exactly what you’d expect a tea called “Pink Lemonade” to smell like. There’s a really nice, bright lemon aroma that comes from the tea. On first taste, I really noticed the lemon, and there was a good amount of tartness in the tea that really reminds me of lemonade. I’m not sure if the tart quality is coming from the lemon ingredients or from the hibiscus (likely the hibiscus, I think). If you’re not a huge fan of tart teas, I would recommend adding a bit of sugar or sweetener to help balance out the flavours.

I also iced a cup of Pink Lemonade and I’m pleased to share that it is very good iced as well.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Pink Lemonade. I found that the flavour was alright, and the colour was considerably weaker in comparison to the initial steep. I think Pink Lemonade is good for one more steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Lemon Lily’s Pink Lemonade. I think the flavour was fantastic, and it tasted just as I expected it to based on the name and the fragrance from the dried leaf. I really liked the colour and flavour in my initial steep of Pink Lemonade. I think this black tea is best iced/cold, and with a touch of sweetener if you’re not into having a bit of a pucker action going on due to the tartness of the tea.

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