Category: Review

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Oteas’s Organic Matcha with Mint

Organic Matcha with Mint by Oteas
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$8.99 for 12g (12 packets)

Oteas has provided me with Organic Matcha with Mint for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

I was quite excited to find Organic Matcha with Mint in the package that Oteas so kindly put together for me. I’ve gotten quite interested in matcha recently – as evidenced by the influx of matcha reviews. Organic Matcha with Mint comes portioned into 1g “serving sticks”, which is nice for those who want to drink matcha on-the-go.

The packaging for Organic Matcha with Mint is more blue-green compared the other packaging it the review I had done for Oteas’s Organic Pure Matcha. Organic Matcha with Mint consists of: organic Japanese green tea leaves, peppermint powder, licorice root powder. The colour of the powder is a dark spring green, although there’s little fibrous bits throughout that I believe to be from the licorice root. It smells quite strongly of the peppermint – although not too over-the-top that it reminds me of toothpaste.

Preparation

Oteas recommends whisking the contents of 1 serving stick of Organic Matcha with Mint in 80-90°C (176-194°F) water “until a smooth, creamy consistency”. I used 85°C (185°F) water and prepared it in my matcha bowl with whisk.

First Taste

Organic Matcha with Mint whisks to a dark green. Small flecks of the licorice root fibres float within the cup of matcha, which makes it a bit pretty to look at. There’s a strong minty aroma from the tea, which I can appreciate. On first taste, I notice the minty sweetness. The matcha base is slightly grassy, but I mostly taste the mint. I don’t really make out the licorice root too much, but I suspect it does attribute some sweetness as I often find it to be sweet.

A Second Cup?

As always, matcha cannot be resteeped as it is a suspension.

My Overall Impression

I liked Oteas’s Organic Matcha with Mint. I really enjoyed the minty flavour of the peppermint in the blend, and I do like the single serving style – it makes it easier to have some matcha at work since I can’t have my full tea set up there when I’m busy with the hustle and bustle of work. For travelers or people with equally restrictive work spaces, you may appreciate the single serving nature of the Oteas matcha “sticks”. I had wished that the flavour of the matcha would have been stronger and more prominent. I really enjoyed the flavour of the matcha in the Organic Pure Matcha and wish that more of that flavour came through. If you’re a fan of peppermint, I think you’ll enjoy this matcha blend – it’s not too strong that it reminds me of toothpaste, which I think we can all appreciate.

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Naked Teas Galore’s Organic Dragon Well

Organic Dragon Well (Lungching) by Naked Teas Galore
Green Tea / Straight
$9.45 for 50g

First Impressions

Naked Teas Galore has a cute storefront in Langley, BC. I wandered in one day and had a lovely time shopping. Each tea had a little sample jar for you to see and sniff the teas, as it all came prepackaged. Organic Dragon Well was one of the first teas that I wound up picking out because I love a good, classic Chinese green tea and this certainly fit the bill.

Organic Dragon Well came prepackaged in a sealed matte black pouch that is resealable. There’s coloured labels on the front and back that describe the tea and provide steeping instructions. Organic Dragon Well is described as being a certified organic green tea that is “imperial grade” from Zhejiang Province, China. The leaves themselves are long, flat, with a green colour to it. There’s light grassy notes, with a hint of roasted cashews.

Preparation

Naked Teas Galore recommends steeping Organic Dragon Well in 70-80°C (158-176°F) water for 1 to 3 minutes. My initial steep was in 79°C (175°F) water for 1 minute.

First Taste

Organic Dragon Well steeps to a light yellow. It has a sweet grassy fragrance to it. The tea itself is sweet, has a slight grassy flavour to it that serves to highlight the nutty flavours in the tea that are more towards the tail end of each sip. I found it to be quite pleasant with zero astringency or bitterness when steeped for 1 minute.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Organic Dragon Well four times (five steeps total), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the tea became more golden yellow in colour with each steep. The flavour profile stayed consistent, getting strong with each steep.

This may be a good tea candidate for the gongfu method of steeping since it would benefit from short steeps.

My Overall Impression

I loved Naked Teas Galore’s Organic Dragon Well. I appreciated the easy to understand labeling on the packaging, and the packaging itself. The tea was pleasant to drink and had a well-balanced flavour profile that stayed consistent throughout, which made for a nice drink. I would definitely recommend resteeping this one as the leaves do beautifully in being resteeped.

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DavidsTea’s Jasmine Oolong

Jasmine Oolong by DavidsTea
Oolong Tea / Flavoured
$14.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Jasmine Oolong came in a familiar silver sealed, resealable pouch from DavidsTea. The label consisted of all the information I needed about the tea. I always love to try new-to-me oolongs, which is why this one in particular was added to an order that I did earlier this year. The aroma that I got when I opened the bag was nothing short of floral. The fragrance from the jasmine is strong, and I can make out a bit of the oolong in the background.

The leaves themselves range from dark green to brown, with scant jasmine buds throughout. Jasmine Oolong consists of oolong tea from Taiwan, scented with jasmine flowers. However, there were jasmine buds that had been left in.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Jasmine Oolong in 90℃ (195℉) water for 4-5 minutes. My initial steep was for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Jasmine Oolong steeps to a light yellow, which has a strong jasmine aroma. I found the tea itself to be sweet, with the floral flavour and a light creaminess in the background. It’s quite pleasant to drink, the tea is smooth – no bitterness, no astringency. It has a nice mouthfeel to the tea and it makes for a nice drink overall.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Jasmine Oolong eight times (nine steeps total), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour stayed fairly consistent throughout, waning in flavour by the fifth and sixth resteep, but it was still palatable.  The dark leaves open up a considerable amount, so be sure to take a look at your tea leaves!

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Jasmine Oolong. I thought that the flavour was beautiful, the floral notes were not overly perfume-y for me and it made for a smooth cup of tea. While the cost may be a bit off-putting, it’s definitely more worth it since the leaves can be resteeped so many times and still have a considerable amount of flavour (you get what you pay for!). I also had some of this iced as well, and found that it did nicely as an iced tea because of the bright floral notes from the jasmine. I would consider the tea to be overpriced if you weren’t going to be resteep the leaves, but it does very well resteeped and would highly recommend doing it.

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