Review – Page 171 – One More Steep

January 17, 2018January 15, 2018

The Chinese Tea Shop’s Dongting Pi Lo Chun Green Tea

Dongting Pi Lo Chun Green Tea by The Chinese Tea Shop
Green Tea / Straight
$12.95 for 25g

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First Impressions

Dongting Pi Lo Chun Green Tea is also known as Dongting Bi Lo Chun. Bi lo chun means green snail spring, based on the shape of the tea leaves and when the tea leaves were harvested. I picked up this green tea at The Chinese Tea Shop’s vendor booth at the Vancouver Tea Festival. The tea came to me in a resealable plastic bag – clear on one side and white on the other (which isn’t terrible since I keep my tea out of light).

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This straight green tea came from a private farm, located on Dongting Mountain, Jiangsu Province, China. The tea leaves are thin, about 1-2 cm in length. The dark leaves have a slight curl to them, and are covered with feathery white down. The aroma from the dry leaf is primarily that of a light floral fragrance that comes from tea leaves.

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Preparation

While there were no steeping instructions on the packaging, The Chinese Tea Shop website has a tea brewing guide (17 page PDF). For green tea, it’s recommended 75-80°C (167-176°F). For the length of time, the guide assumes everyone is steeping gongfu style – and has times ranging from 6 seconds to 10 seconds. However, I’m not steeping that method. My first steep was for 1 minute with 175°F water (heated in my Breville IQ Kettle with the green tea setting).

First Taste

Dongting Pi Lo Chun Green Tea steeps incredibly pale yellow after the first minute. The initial steep has a very subtle aroma. It’s a light mix of floral, sweetness, and saltiness that I smell. The tea is smooth, and has an almost grassy flavour to it. There’s a mild saltiness that reminds me of seaweed, with just a hint of floral sweetness at the end of each sip. At the length of time I steeped it for, I noted zero astringency or bitterness.

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped Dongting Pi Lo Chun Green Tea a total of 5 times (6 steeps total). I kept the water temperature the same and increased the steeping duration for an additional 15 seconds per subsequent steep. I found that the tea got a little bit darker in colour and became a light yellow. The flavour was the most intense by the third steep, but remained the same in terms of complexity and the overall flavour profile.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved The Chinese Tea Shop’s Dongting Pi Lo Chun Green Tea. I wasn’t blown away by the initial steep of this tea, but I would liken it to the dress rehearsal while the subsequent steeps were opening night and there rest of the nightly performances. I found the flavours to be nicely balanced – salty and sweet, floral sweetness versus the umami of the salty seaweed. It resteeps very well, and I quite enjoyed having it again and again. Because of the balance of salty and sweet, I would suggest that this tea could be paired with either a savoury meal or sweets/desserts.

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January 15, 2018January 14, 2018

Golden Tea Leaf’s Ali Mountain Oolong

Ali Mountain Oolong by Golden Tea Leaf
Oolong Tea / Straight
$13.50 for 50g

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Golden Tea Leaf has provided me with Ali Mountain Oolong for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

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Ali Mountain Oolong came to me from Golden Tea Leaf in sample packaging. For those curious, ‘shan’ is Chinese word for mountain (hence – Alishan or Ali Shan is Ali Mountain). This oolong tea was the first place winner at the 2015 North American Tea Championship, so I’m quite excited about trying it! The sample packet is not resealable, I would say it contained enough oolong for perhaps three steeping sessions.

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Preparation

There were no steeping instructions noted on the sample packet, but Golden Tea Leaf does have an instructional page on their website. They recommend steeping in 95°C (203°F) water for 2 minutes (initial steep), followed by 2-5 minutes for each subsequent steep. My initial steep of Ali Mountain Oolong was at 90°C (195°F) for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Ali Mountain Oolong steeps to a very pale yellow for the initial steep. I found that the aroma of this oolong was quite floral. The flavour of the tea itself is sweet, floral, with a bit of a sweet nutty finish at the end of each sip. I found that the tea was smooth, with no bitterness to note. The oolong has a great mouthfeel to it, that’s almost creamy in texture. I eagerly finished off the first infusion of this tea to try it again (and again, and again).

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A Second Cup?

I added an extra 30 seconds per subsequent steep as I resteeped the same leaves. In total, I did seven resteeps of Ali Mountain Oolong (a total of eight steeps with the same leaves). I found that the tea got darker and darker, more of a golden yellow – which hit its peak in colour by steep four of the same leaves. The flavour got stronger as the colour became darker. After the fourth steep, I found that the flavour (and colour) began to get weaker, but it was still quite flavourful and enjoyable, even by the eighth steep.

I poured off some of the tea into a mason jar, which got tucked into my fridge after it cooled to room temperature. I’m happy to also say that this oolong does quite well as an iced tea.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Golden Tea Leaf’s Ali Mountain Oolong. This oolong was a delight to try and to steep repeatedly. The price is quite reasonable for the quality of tea that you get with this Ali Mountain Oolong – the flavour is delicious and the tea leaves can be resteeped over and over again until you completely exhaust the leaves out of flavour. You get a lot of value out of these leaves with the multiple steeps that you can have, which means it is ideal to have over the course of a day.

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

January 12, 2018January 10, 2018

Tazo’s Dessert Delights Collection

20180112-tazodessertdelights Vanilla Bean Macaron by Tazo Tea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$2.98USD for 1.11oz (15 sachets)

Butterscotch Blondie by Tazo Tea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$2.98USD for 1.11oz (15 sachets)

Glazed Lemon Loaf by Tazo Tea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$2.98USD for 1.11oz (15 sachets)

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First Impressions

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Tazo reached out to me to send me a little something. Fast forward to mid-December when I received a lovely package in the mail from them – complete with a zippered pouch filled with individually wrapped tea bags of their new Dessert Delights collection (Vanilla Bean Macaron, Butterscotch Blondie, and Glazed Lemon Loaf) along with a few extra teas that are part of their core collection (Zen, Passion, and Green Ginger) and an enameled pin set – aren’t they just sweet?

For the purposes of this post, I’ll be focusing on the Dessert Delights collection teas only and will be discussing them each in the same order throughout each section.

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Vanilla Bean Macaron has a very strong vanilla aroma, but surprisingly does not contain vanilla in the ingredients. The ingredients listed are: black tea, natural flavours, chicory root, cocoa peel, licorice root, roasted yerba mate, cinnamon, and cardamom. I can make out the cinnamon and cardamom, and while the vanilla is delightfully strong, it doesn’t remind me too much of a macaron. (As an aside, on the back of the packaging of each bag, the information for the ingredients and steeping instructions are in white, and they’re a bit difficult to read unless you have excellent lighting.)

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Butterscotch Blondie surprised me a lot by smelling just like a butterscotch candy. Surprisingly, the ingredients listed for this black tea blend is nearly identical to that of Vanilla Bean Macaron. This tea consists of: black tea, natural flavours, chicory root, cocoa peel, licorice root, cinnamon, and cardamom. Just missing the roasted yerba mate and it would have been just the same.

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Glazed Lemon Loaf is the one that surprised me the most. This herbal infusion actually smells like a glazed lemon loaf. It has the citrus and vanilla aromas from the dry leaf, along with what reminds me of the aroma of a sugary glaze. This herbal infusion consists of: apple, natural flavours, green rooibos, orange peel, chamomile, rose petals, licorice root, and ginger.

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Preparation

All three of the blends in the Dessert Delights collection suggests steeping in 212°F (100°C) water for 5 minutes. I steeped the two black tea blends (Vanilla Bean Macaron and Butterscotch Blondie) for 3 minutes each and steeped the herbal infusion (Glazed Lemon Loaf) for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Vanilla Bean Macaron steeps to a deep orange with an unfortunate oil slick across the top. I’m not entirely sure which ingredient this came from (perhaps the ‘natural flavours’?), but I found that the aroma was very much vanilla. It reminds me of the aroma of vanilla cupcakes more than a macaron (although perhaps I just need to become more acquainted with macarons?). The flavour of vanilla isn’t subtle in the steeped tea. I found that the spices (cinnamon, cardamom) to be quite warming while the vanilla was just present. I was able to pick out the yerba mate at the tail end of each sip because it left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth.

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Butterscotch Blondie also steeps to a deep orange, but I didn’t notice an oil slick across the top of my cup. I found that the aroma of the steeped tea still screamed ‘butterscotch’ to me, although I didn’t find that to be the case with the flavour. I didn’t really find that it reminded me of a blondie when I steeped it straight, but I found that a tiny addition of sugar and milk actually helped it along to add some creaminess to it.

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Glazed Lemon Loaf steeps to a happy and bright yellow. The aroma that wafts up from this herbal infusion is one of lemony citrus and sweetness. I found the flavour to be enjoyable, the lemon was rather calming (or perhaps that was the chamomile) and the sweetness was just enough. I could taste some heat from the ginger, and I found it to be nice and soothing. I think this tea was fine on its own, but was improved with a touch of honey.

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A Second Cup?

I did attempt to resteep all three of the Dessert Delights, but found that the second steepings of each were watery and diluted compared to the initial steeps. This can often be the case for teas found in tea bags, especially when the quality of the teas (and size of tea leaves) aren’t top notch.

My Overall Impression

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I liked Tazo’s Dessert Delights Collection. I probably wouldn’t keep much of Vanilla Bean Macaron or Butterscotch Blondie around, but I would definitely buy a box or two of Glazed Lemon Loaf because I think it did the best with matching the name to the aroma to the flavour. Plus, the flavour combination makes for an excellent just-before-bed drink (or a I-have-a-sore-throat cuppa).

At the time of writing, I’m not entirely convinced that this collection is available in Canada. I’ve never seen it in stores, and none of the retail sites for Canadian groceries stores seem to have in in stock. However, if you’re in the USA, you’re in luck! The price isn’t bad either, considering you get 15 sachets for less than $3. Not a bad deal if you’re just looking to try it out.

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