Category: Review

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The Chinese Tea Shop’s 1990’s Loose Leaf Pu’erh Tea (Ripe/Shou)

1990’s Loose Leaf Pu’erh Tea (Ripe/Shou) by The Chinese Tea Shop
Pu’erh Tea / Straight
$38.00 for 50g

First Impressions

This 1990’s Loose Leaf Pu’erh Tea (Ripe/Shou) was a 2020 Vancouver Tea Festival purchase (and March feels so long ago now, especially when I consider that the tea festival happened the weekend prior to a pandemic being declared – a lot has happened since that weekend). This was really an on-a-whim purchase after having a chat with The Chinese Tea Shop’s owner, Daniel. Every year, I end up talking to him about tea and he’s a wealth of information (so is his shop’s website!). The 1990’s Loose Leaf Pu’erh Tea was a recommendation made by him, and I was easily persuaded to give it a try.

1990’s Loose Leaf Pu’erh Tea (Ripe/Shou) is a straight pu’erh tea, from the Yunnan, Xishuang Banna Region of China. The ripe/shou vs raw/shang categories of pu’erh will be discussed another day. The loose leaf tea comes in a plastic resealable pouch that has a clear front and white back and a simple label with not a lot of information – the product page on The Chinese Tea Shop’s website definitely has more. The leaves themselves are a dark reddish brown colour and there’s an aroma to the leaves that reminds me of figs and apricots.

Preparation

No steeping instructions on the packaging, but as per the website, The Chinese Tea Shop recommends 95-100°C (203-212°F) water for steeping pu’erh, and also the gongfu method of steeping. I’m still unpacking from my move, so I used a western style tea pot instead and steeped for 90 seconds using 100°C water.

First Taste

1990’s Loose Leaf Pu’erh Tea (Ripe/Shou) steeps to a deep, deep reddish brown colour. The aroma of the steeped tea mimics the flavour of the tea really well – I get a lot of earthy and malty notes, sweet fig and apricot flavours, and there’s a thickened mouthfeel to the tea itself. It’s very smooth though, with no bitterness detected.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped 1990’s Loose Leaf Pu’erh Tea (Ripe/Shou) six times (seven steeps total with the same leaves), and added an additional 15 seconds for each subsequent steep. The flavour remained consistent throughout, I found that the sweet fig and apricot flavours began to wane a bit by the third resteep, but was still detectable by the sixth resteep.

My Overall Impression

I loved The Chinese Tea Shop’s 1990’s Loose Leaf Pu’erh Tea (Ripe/Shou). The balance of flavours in this tea make for a tasty cup of tea, and I’m happy that the leaves resteep so well, especially since it’s not a particularly inexpensive tea. My best pro-tip to share when you’ve got an expensive tea is to always resteep it (unless you didn’t like it) and get all that flavour out of the leaves before green binning it. I found this pu’erh to be really easy to drink and I found the malty part balanced really well against the sweet fig and apricot flavours that I found in there.

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Dessert by Deb’s Lemongrass Milk Pudding

Lemongrass Milk Pudding by Dessert by Deb
Green Tea / Flavoured
$6.00 for 25g

First Impressions

I got Lemongrass Milk Pudding as part of my subscription box from Dessert by Deb (the March-April box). The tea itself came in a clear plastic resealable pouch, so I can see all the ingredients inside. Lemongrass Milk Pudding is part of the Garden Tea Party collection.

This green tea blend has a beautiful dry leaf ,especially with the aroma. Lemongrass Milk Pudding consists of certified organic: jasmine green tea, sencha, lemongrass, coconut, toasted coconut, and ginger. The aroma of the dry leaf is primarily the toasted coconut, lemongrass, and some floral creamy notes. Surprisingly, I don’t really smell the ginger at all – but because it’s at the end of the ingredients list, I don’t expect it to be a majority player in the blend.

Preparation

Because this is a sample pouch, there were no steeping instructions. But I was able to easily find information on the Dessert by Deb website. Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Lemongrass Milk Pudding in 200°F (93°C) water for 5-6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 5 minutes at the recommended water temperature.

First Taste

Lemongrass Milk Pudding steeps to a beautiful golden yellow. There’s some beautiful aromas from this steeped green tea – I get the aroma of lemongrass, vanilla, cream, and floral notes. It’s really quite pleasant. The tea itself is smooth, and none of the flavours are overpowering the other one. I get that sweetness, floral, vanilla, buttery cream, and lemongrass flavour all at once and it’s really quite pleasant. It’s a really delicate feeling tea because it’s just a pretty and decadent feeling tea.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Lemongrass Milk Pudding twice, adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found it did pretty decent with each steep, and the balance of flavours got a bit more towards the floral sweetness as I resteeped it, which I quite enjoyed.

My Overall Impression

I loved Dessert by Deb’s Lemongrass Milk Pudding. The balance of flavours was just so well done with this blend that has two green teas as its base. I found the mix of flavours to be pleasant and delicate feeling, and it just makes for a really feminine feel in how delicate and feminine it feels. I think that’s in part with the floral notes from the jasmine green tea and the garden party feel to it. I could definitely picture myself serving Lemongrass Milk Pudding at an afternoon tea party and seeing it be well received.

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Tielka’s Jade Mist

Jade Mist by Tielka
Green Tea / Straight
$13.00 for 56g

Tielka has provided me with Jade Mist for the purposes of writing an honest review.

Until June 28th 2020, when you order a pouch of Jade Mist from Tielka, you’ll receive a free storage tin with your order when you mention One More Steep in the comments of your order!

First Impressions

Jade Mist comes in a white cardstock box with a printed the label (that has a handy dandy perforation that goes right over the box flap. The tea leaf itself comes in a vacuum sealed pouch that is not resealable (but I solved that easily with a zip top baggie). The leaves are Wulu green tea from Hubei Province, China. These leaves are harvest in the spring time (April to May) and are “hand harvested and crafted by organic artisan tea farmers”. Huge bonus, Tielka highlights that their tea is certified free trade and organic.

The leaves of Jade Mist are dark to light green, short and wiry. The aroma is really fresh – there’s some grassy and cucumber notes that are just really enticing and remind me of the crispness after a nice rainfall. Very much a light aroma, but it’s inviting.

Preparation

Tielka recommends steeping Jade Mist in 70°C (158°F) water for 3 minutes. My variable temperature kettle (Breville’s the IQ Kettle) doesn’t quite go down that low… So I heated my water up to the lowest setting 79°C (175°F) and allowed the water to cool for 5 minutes before steeping my tea.

First Taste

Jade Mist steeps to this brilliant yellow colour. The aroma of the tea is bright, grassy and fresh smelling. The tea itself is smooth with a very mild astringency and slight umami notes. I found the tea to have some cucumber notes n the flavour as well, which is really nice. It just had a nice freshness to it that makes it really tasty.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Jade Mist twice, adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found the flavour to be fairly similar throughout and it held up really well to resteeping. Plus it was just really fun to see the changes in the leaves as they opened up and revealed such a lovely olive green colour.

My Overall Impression

I loved Tielka’s Jade Mist. There was just something so pleasant and fresh about this green tea – from the dry leaf to steeped tea to admiring the spent leaves at the end. I would highly recommend making sure you follow the temperature suggestion so you don’t burn the leaves and end up with a bitter cup of tea, because it’s just so pleasant! I really enjoyed the crispness in this tea and the umami notes.

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