Category: Review

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Yunomi’s Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha

Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha by Yunomi
Green Tea / Straight
$6.00USD for 20g

Yunomi has provided me with Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha was sent to me by Yunomi in a resealable green foil pouch. If you’ve never had a tea from Yunomi before, you’re in for a bit of information overload about the tea on the label. The printed text covers how to steep it, how to adjust steeping this tea to your liking, the ingredients in the tea, as well as when and where this green tea was grown and harvested (Sayama, Saitama and in Spring 2018).

Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha is a straight green tea. I found that the leaves seemed quite fine. The leaves are thin and flat in mostly bright to dark shades of green. The aroma of this tea is primarily that of the ocean (saltiness of the water) and vegetal notes that primarily remind me of dark green, leafy vegetables.

Preparation

Yunomi recommends steeping Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha in 70°C (158°F) water for 60 seconds. The lowest my Breville IQ Kettle heats water to is (79°C) 175°F, so I opted to steep to that and allow the water to sit and cool for an additional 5 minutes. My steep of Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha was for 60 seconds.

First Taste

I found there to be a lot of fine particles in my tea, it made it quite cloudy in appearance. If this is something that might bother you, I would recommend steeping Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha with the use of a filter bag. The tea itself is a pleasant light yellow green. I found that the aroma of the tea to be very similar to the dry leaf – there’s quite of bit of salty aroma and the dark leafy vegetal aromas are still very much present. The flavour of Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha was very similar to that of dried seaweed snacks – salty. This green tea hits all the umami notes well, I found it be on the savoury side of things.

A Second Cup?

Yunomi suggests that Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha can be resteeped three times, so I did the same. I found the saltiness and umami notes to fade quite still maintaining the leafy vegetal flavours. I added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Yunomi’s Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha. I found the flavour to be really pleasant, and wasn’t too salty/umami for me. The flavours of this tea stayed fairly consistent with each steep, with just a gradual loss of the saltiness as I resteeped it. I think that Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha would work really well with a savoury dish to help balance out the flavours and lend some of that saltiness to the flavour of your meal.

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Tea Side’s 2014 Dong Ding Oolong Tea, Medium Roasted

2014 Dong Ding Oolong Tea, Medium Roasted by Tea Side
Oolong Tea / Straight
$12.00USD for 50g

Tea Side has provided me with 2014 Dong Ding Oolong, Medium Roasted for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

The 2014 Dong Ding Oolong Tea, Medium Roasted came to me in a pink foil packet with minimal information about the tea. I did glean some information about the product page from Tea Side’s website. For instance, I learned that this tea was harvested in the spring of 2014 and was processed in traditional Taiwanese methods despite the tea being grown and processed in Thailand.

After opening the packaging, the first thing I really noticed was the fact that the leaves are look like they’re huge. As with most oolongs, the leaves are bunched and rolled together, but the dried tea looks like the leaves are very large. There’s various shades of browns that go from dark and fade all the way to a cream colour. The dry leaf of the 2014 Dong Ding Oolong has some nice floral notes, as well with a light, sweet fruity aroma. 2014 Dong Ding Oolong Tea, Medium Roasted is a straight tea.

Preparation

I wasn’t able to find any steeping instructions for the 2014 Dong Ding Oolong Tea. But knowing that it is an oolong, I referred to my steeping times and temperatures chart. I opted to do an initial steep in 90°C (195°F) water for 2 minutes.

First Taste

2014 Dong Ding Oolong Tea steeps to a lovely light orange colour after the initial 2 minute steep. The aroma of the steeped tea is primarily that of plums and apricots, the floral notes still remain. When I tasted the tea, I noted a mild astringency at the end of each sip. The combination of the floral and fruity notes reminds me of a lot of tropical fruits that come out of Asia – in particular lychee and mangosteen, with a hint of freshness that you get from dragon fruit. There’s a touch of deeper fruit flavours in this tea that I get from time to time that remind me a lot of apricot and plums. It has a nice sweetness to it, thanks to the floral and fruit notes.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped 2014 Dong Ding Oolong Tea, Medium Roasted a grand total of seven times. My usual method of resteeping tea is to add an additional 30 seconds for each steep, which is what I did here as well. I found that the floral and fruity notes got strong for the first two resteeps, and started to lessen in intensity after that. The mild astringency at the end of each sip turned to a slight sourness as I continued to resteep the oolong.

My Overall Impression

I loved Tea Side’s 2014 Dong Ding Oolong Tea, Medium Roasted. I really enjoyed the intricacies of this oolong in how the flavour changed from steep to steep, as well as the balance of fruit to floral in this roasted oolong tea. I would highly recommend resteeping this tea if you’re drinking it, it does so well with resteeping continuously. I found the flavours to be really well balanced, and that fruity sweetness would lend itself to being paired with sweets or desserts quite easily.

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Chai Castle’s Dream of the Orient

Dream of the Orient by Chai Castle
White Tea & Green Tea / Flavoured
$8.50 for 50g

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

First Impressions

Dream of the Orient was a sample pick from Chai Castle that I was really excited about. This white tea and green tea blend smells delightful – there’s a light fruity aroma and I can smell the mango and jasmine. I find the mango is the most prominent aroma with the jasmine in the background.

Dream of the Orient consists of: white tea (pai mu tan), green tea (darjeeling), green tea (fog tea, lung, jasmine jade pearls), candied pineapple, papaya, mango pieces, natural flavour, orange peels, strawberry, apricot, sour cherry pieces, and red currants. So many fruits!

Preparation

Chai Castle recommends steeping Dream of the Orient in 79°C (175°F) water for 2 to 3 minutes. I did an initial steep for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Dream of the Orient steeps to a very pale yellow after a three minute steep. The aroma is mostly fruity with a hint of floral notes in the background – that jasmine is quite strong to stand against all those fruit ingredients! The flavour of mango is quite strong, there’s some vegetal notes in the background, with the floral/jasmine notes lingering on the tongue. It makes for a nice flavour – the ingredients play nicely with the tea base.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Dream of the Orient twice, adding an extra 30 seconds per steep. The flavour remains quite well balanced with each steep. I found the fruit flavours (mango, apricot, pineapple) to be more pronounced with each steep and held up well with each steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked Chai Castle’s Dream of the Orient. I loved the mango flavour, and found that it worked really well with the jasmine and the green tea base. I would have liked for the other fruit flavours to come out a bit more – perhaps they just need to be more present to add in more sour cherry, red currants, and papaya. Dream of the Orient does resteep well, the green tea and white tea base makes for a delicious tea. I think with the fruity base, this tea would be good iced as well or cold steeped.

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