Category: Review

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TeaSource’s Green Mango

Green Mango by Name of TeaSource
Green Tea / Flavoured
$9.00USD for 4oz

I received Green Mango as part of my swag bag from the 2020 Virtual International Tea Festival.

First Impressions

Green Mango came as part of my swag bag, and it is a 12g sample so I didn’t have a lot to work with. The packaging is nice for a sample – a sealed, resealable shiny black pouch with a glossy label on the front. TeaSource doesn’t waste a lot of space and incorporates all the necessary information on the label. The back of the pouch is clear plastic so you can easily see the tea leaves inside.

Green Mango consists of: green tea, natural flavour, and calendula petals. The aroma is very fruity and reminds me of mango a lot. I don’t really smell the green tea base or the calendula petals, but the mango really shines through for being an invisible (flavouring) ingredient.

Preparation

TeaSource recommends steeping Green Mango in 175°F (79°C) water for 3 minutes, and I followed the steeping instructions for the initial steep.

First Taste

Green Mango steeps to a yellow colour, and smells a lot like mango. The flavour, however, is lacking in mango. There’s some nice grassy notes from the green tea base itself, and hints of floral sweetness, but I don’t actually taste a lot of mango. It’s kind of muted compared to the aroma of the steeped tea, which is a bit disappointing considering how fruity the tea smells. The green tea base has a nice flavour though, which is appreciated.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Green Mango and found that it wasn’t much improved – I’m still missing the mango flavour. I would recommend Green Mango for just the one steep.

My Overall Impression

I didn’t like TeaSource’s Green Mango. I really liked the concept behind this green tea blend, and the aroma of the mango flavouring was really inviting and made me want to try it. Unfortunately, the aroma of the mango flavouring didn’t translate into mango in the flavour profile of the tea, and I found myself wondering what was going on. I did enjoy the green tea base, but found it a bit confusing for the taste buds to smell the mango, but not taste it. The green tea and calendula petals has a lovely flavour though, but the missing mango found me not enjoying the tea as much as I could have.

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Davidstea’s Jasmine Ginger Twist

Jasmine Ginger Twist by DavidsTea
Green Tea / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

First Impressions

Jasmine Ginger Twist comes in some very familiar packaging – a sealed, resealable silver pouch with a colourful label on the front. And yes, I’m still disappointed in the teeny tiny print, because that’s just who I am. But I do enjoy the fact that is resealable, and it helps keep the tea from going stale so there is that.

Jasmine Ginger Twist has a very strong ginger aroma, with the jasmine in the background. But that’s not all there is to this tea blend! Jasmine Ginger Twist consists of: ginger, jasmine tea, candied ginger, apple, sweet blackberry leaf, matcha green tea, and cornflower petals. Why is there two types of ginger? Why is there matcha in here? Where is it? So many questions, so little time. But it smells great, if you’re into ginger heavy and ginger forward teas.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Jasmine Ginger Twist in 85°C (185°F) water for 3 to 4 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of 3 minutes at the recommended temperature of water.

First Taste

Jasmine Ginger Twist steeps to a slightly cloudy yellow tea. It has a strong ginger aroma to it, and I can’t really smell the jasmine at all, which is a shame. I found that I can definitely taste the ginger, it has a very light sweetness, and hints of jasmine in the background – mostly on the tail end of each sip is where I find it. It’s not as sweet as I was expecting, especially since there’s candied ginger and apple involved. I don’t really get a lot of the green tea base beyond the jasmine, which is disappointing.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Jasmine Ginger Twist and found the flavour to be lacking – especially in the ginger department. I would recommend Jasmine Ginger Twist for just the one steep.

My Overall Impression

I didn’t like DavidsTea’s Jasmine Ginger Twist. I wanted to like this one, I really did. I think part of it is that I couldn’t taste the jasmine green tea as much as I wanted to, because the ginger was just such an overpowering ingredient (it’s on the ingredients list twice!). I’m not usually one for ginger-forward teas or tisanes unless I’m sick, so that might have something to do with it as well. I think people who are a fan of ginger teas or tisanes would quite like this one, since it does have a great amount of ginger flavour in it, it’s just not one for me.

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The Tea House’s Phoenix Dan Cong

Phoenix Dan Cong by The Tea House
Oolong Tea / Straight

I received Phoenix Dan Cong as part of my swag bag from the 2020 Virtual International Tea Festival. At the time of writing, Phoenix Dan Cong was not available on The Tea House’s website, so I was unable to determine the price of the tea.

First Impressions

Phoenix Dan Cong came to me in sealed, non-sealable, silver packaging – nothing a tight fitting metal tea canister or even just a zip-top plastic bag won’t fix in a pinch. This was part of my swag bag from the 2020 Virtual International Tea Festival. I don’t have a lot of information on this tea, as it’s product page was not available when I was writing this review, but I’ll do my best!

The leaves are wiry and very dark brown. There are some deep, stone fruit aromas from the dry leaf, which are really intriguing. Traditionally, Phoenix Dan Cong is an oolong tea and is grown and harvested from Phoenix Mountain in China. This tea looks like a straight tea and I don’t believe that there are any other added ingredients (just the way I prefer my oolong teas…).

Preparation

The Tea House recommends steeping Phoenix Dan Cong in 190°F (88°C) water for 1 minute. I opted to use 185°F (85°C) water and did an initial steep for 1 minute.

First Taste

Phoenix Dan Cong steeps to a pretty light golden yellow colour. It has a remarkably smooth texture, with notes of plums or apricots (both lovely stone fruits), and just a floral finish at the tail end of each sip. The tea does a nice job of just coating the inside of my mouth with flavour, which is quite well balanced. Zero astringency and zero bitterness and just overall quite smooth and easy to drink.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Phoenix Dan Cong a total of seven times (eight times total with the same leaves). The colour of the steeped tea definitely gets darker, a more golden yellow and the flavour deepen as well while staying fairly consistent in terms of the flavour profile. I found that the fruity notes got stronger while the floral notes did back off a little bit. Still an easy tea to drink though, and quite enjoyable.

My Overall Impression

I loved The Tea House’s Phoenix Dan Cong. I thought that the tea was a lovely experience from start to finish. I really appreciated the level of complexity in the flavour profile and how it subtly changed as I drank it. It really made for a delicious cup of tea and I thought it had some great flavour for a tea that doesn’t contain additional ingredients. The floral finish was really one of my favourite parts of the tasting experience with this oolong.

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