Category: Review

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The Chinese Tea Shop’s Finest White Tips Dragon Pearl Jasmine Green Tea

Finest White Tips Dragon Pearl Jasmine Green Tea by The Chinese Tea Shop
Green Tea / Straight
$22.95 for 50g

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First Impressions

And the winner for the longest name possibly ever to grace a review here on One More Steep goes to… the Finest White Tips Dragon Pearl Jasmine Green Tea! This was a tea that I picked up at the 2016 Vancouver Tea Festival from The Chinese Tea Shop’s booth. Part of the reason why I picked it up is because I love watching rolled tea open up when steeping, and also because it smelled amazing.

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There’s a strong jasmine smell with these pearls, which is understandable given the name. I love that I can see the variation in colour in the leaves with the tips being white, ans well as seeing the tiny hairs of the tea very easily. This tea is described on The Chinese Tea Shop website as being made with the “finest silver pekoe tips rolled into small balls”.

Preparation

The Chinese Tea Shop recommends making most, if not all, of their tea gong-fu style. I still lack the proper tea ware for that, so I made it in my normal glass tea pot. I steeped the tea in 79°C (175°F) water (the ‘green tea’ option on my Breville IQ Kettle) for 1 minute for the first steep.

First Taste

Finest White Tips Dragon Pearl Jasmine Green Tea steeps to a very pale yellow after the first steep, it’s barely noticeable in my white tea cup. There’s a great jasmine flavour that is immersed into the tea. With the short steep in the low temperature water, I’ve found zero bitterness. There’s a slight sweetness that I quite enjoy and found to be pleasant. The tea itself is very smooth and that makes for an easy to drink tea.

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped Finest White Tips Dragon Pearl Jasmine Green Tea a few times, increasing each subsequent steep time by 30 seconds. The colour of the tea gets to be a pronounced golden yellow as each steep occurred. I managed to get a total of seven steeps with this tea before it started to get a little bit lacking in flavour.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved The Chinese Tea Shop’s Finest White Tips Dragon Pearl Jasmine Green Tea. Yes, it is on the pricier side when it comes to jasmine green teas – this I will fully admit. However, the ability to steep again and again just goes to show that it’s a high quality tea. Less expensive jasmine green teas lack the ability to be resteeped over and over again. I loved watching these dragon pearls open up, and found the tea to be smooth and delicious. It’s not a tea that I would have every day (I don’t think I could afford for it to be a daily cup of tea!) but it’s definitely one that I could see having on special occasions or when having company over as a little bit goes a long way.

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Oollo Tea’s Qingjin High Mountain Oolong

Qingjin High Mountain Oolong by Oollo Tea
Oolong Tea / Straight
$10.00 for 25g

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Oollo Tea has provided me with Qingjin High Mountain Oolong for the purposes of providing an honest review. I received this product at no charge to me and received no other compensation.

First Impressions

It’s time for another oolong steeping session! I’ve taken to having oolong when waking up after I sleep off the ill effects of working night shifts. There’s a certain sense of mindfulness that I go through when steeping tea, and the process of steeping and resteeping oolong works for me while I adjust back to a normal sleeping pattern. Today’s review is of Oollo Tea’s Qingjin High Mountain Oolong. It’s pretty gorgeous with a beautiful deep olive green colour in the leaves that are so tightly pressed together. The dry leaves have a fragrance that reminds me of flowers and there’s a subtle vanilla aroma to it that is enticing – much like the smell of vanilla in a kitchen when baking.

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On their website, Oollo Tea describes this as a Qingxin Oolong that is grown in Qingjin, Nantou, Taiwan at 1600m elevation. According to Wikipedia, Nantou is a region known for producing high quality oolongs. The smell and look of this dry leaf is exciting. I’ve become quite fond of oolongs over the last year so I’m looking forward to trying this one.

Preparation

On the packaging, Oollo Tea suggests steeping Qingjin High Mountain Oolong in 90°C (194°F) water for 1.5-5 minutes. On their website, the steeping instructions are for 2-5 minutes in 90-95°C (194-203°F) water. I opted to steep it in 90°C (194°F) water for 2 minutes for the initial steep. The sample packet contains 5g of tea, I used half of it for my tea pot (DavidsTea’s Tea For One).

First Taste

Qingjin High Mountain Oolong steeps to a pale yellow for the initial steep. I love watching tightly rolled leaves unfurl in hot water, it’s very relaxing to watch. There’s a delightful floral smell to the steeped tea, with subtle vanilla notes that are very inviting. With my first taste, the quality in the tea that I notice first is the creamy taste and texture. There’s a smoothness to this tea that makes it very easy to drink as it goes down well. There’s no bitterness or astringency, and I find that the floral and vanilla notes blend well with the buttery creaminess that I’m finding in this tea.

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A Second Cup?

The packaging from Oollo Tea suggests that it can be steeped up to four times, so I do take this as a challenge. I steeped Qingjin High Mountain Oolong an additional five times, increasing the steep time by 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The colour of the tea got sequentially darker for steeps 2 and 3. The colour and flavour starts to decrease in steep 4 and I found that steep 5 was still tasty, but beginning to lose that impact with the well-blended mix of floral and vanilla that I so loved with the initial steeps. I would say that Qingjin High Mountain Oolong is good for at least five steeps total – maybe even more if you had the time to drink cup after cup.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Oollo Tea’s Qingjin High Mountain Oolong. I loved watching the leaves open up and seeing how big they could get. A small amount of this tea goes a long way in terms of flavour and I found that I didn’t need a lot of it in my pot to get a good amount of flavour. The floral and vanilla flavour combination is divine and I think it’s quite enjoyable. It’s definitely a tea that I would steep again after a day off after a long night at work as it’s just delicious and relaxing. The quality in the leaves is evident in its ability to resteep, which is something that I always look forward to with oolongs and Qingjin High Mountain Oolong does not disappoint.

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Urta Islandica’s Iceland Tea

Iceland Tea by Urta Islandica
Herbal Infusion / Straight
1.152 kr for 20g (10 tea bags)

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First Impressions

I am incredibly lucky that I have friends who help to support my tea habit! One of my friends went to Iceland (lucky duck!) and came back with some tea for me to try that she purchased on her travels. This is Iceland Tea from Urta Islandica (and yes, there is a webshop!). The packaging tells me that it’s made from traditional herbs and this herbal infusion consists of four ingredients: birch, angelica seed, Iceland moss, and arctic thyme.

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Some facts that are printed on the packaging include: birch leaf is a diuretic and used for detoxifying, Arctic thyme and angelica seed are sweet and thought to be good for colds and coughs, and Iceland moss is a “world famous health herb” that is good for mouth and throat irritations, as well as for the stomach. The tea bags themselves aren’t anything to write home about, as they’re simple squares. I did cut it open to see what was inside. The tea bags have a strong thyme smell to it, that’s sharper than the thyme that I’m used to. There’s a subtle sweet smell to it. I’m not entire sure what angelica seed or Iceland moss is supposed to smell like, so I can’t be sure I can smell it.

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Preparation

The label suggests steeping for 8 to 15 minutes, no mention of a water temperature. I steeped mine in 100°C (212°F) water for 10 minutes.

First Taste

Iceland Tea steeps to a nice golden yellow, there’s a strong smell of thyme that almost has me wondering where the rosemary is since it’s such a classic flavour combination in cooking. There’s a mild sweetness that I can smell as well, and I do wonder if that’s from the angelica seed and Arctic thyme.

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On first sip, I notice that there’s a very subtle taste to this after having steeped for 10 minutes. Iceland Tea has a nice gentle warming sensation as I drink it that reminds me a lot of ginger but without the heaviness spiciness. There’s a smooth texture to the tea, with a mouth coating feel. Because this herbal infusion has a natural sweetness to it that’s light, I don’t think it really needs additional sweetener.

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped it once, as the packaging suggested that the tea bag could be reused for a “milder” version of Iceland Tea. I find it has a very similar taste to the first cup, but because the first cup wasn’t heavily flavoured, I feel that the second steep wasn’t that flavourful. I would say that it’s good for one steep only.

My Overall Impression

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I liked Urta Islandica’s Iceland Tea. It has an interesting flavour that I haven’t had before in previous herbal infusions, and I can see why the herbs are suggested to be had when feeling a bit under the weather. It’s a tasty, and the thyme is a delightful in a cup. I think if I was having this while having a cold, I would steep two tea bags. I feel like I might appreciate this herbal infusion a bit more if I was having it while nursing a stuffy nose or an upset stomach because I would love the warming sensation from this tea, and I think it would be great if I had a sore throat.

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