Category: Review

Posted on

Teakan’s Wuyi Black

Wuyi Black by Teakan
Black Tea / Straight
$25.00 for 70g

Wuyi Black is part of the Teakan’s Spring 2020 Exploration box, which I purchased at the 2020 Vancouver Tea Festival back in March. This Exploration Box consists of 5 teas and Wuyi Black was 15g of the 70g.

First Impressions

Wuyi Black is part of Teakan’s Spring 2020 Exploration Box and it was one of the teas that I sampled at the Vancouver Tea Festival (which, despite only being 2 months ago, feels like it happened years ago). This black tea is from Tongmu, Fujian, China and harvested in spring 2017. This tea came in a sealed resealable kraft paper pouch with a minimalist white label, I do appreciate the simplicity of the design.

Wuyi Black was harvested at 2000ft elevation (so 2000ft above sea level). The leaves have a strong fruity note, and it actually reminds me of haw flake snacks (which if you grew up eating snacks of Asian origin or taking Traditional Chinese Medicine, you may be familiar with them…). There’s some beautiful dark, wiry leaves with some reddish pieces throughout.

°

Preparation

Teakan has two different recommendations for steeping Wuyi Black. If you’re going with the gongfu method, they recommend 95°C (203°F) for 5 seconds. If you’re going to steep western style, they recommend 95°C (203°F) for 30 seconds. I did an initial steep (western style) in 93°C (200°F) for 30 seconds.

First Taste

Wuyi Black steeps to a beautiful orange colour. It has a lovely aroma that I find to be a mix of earthy and fruity. This black tea has a surprisingly light sweetness, which I wasn’t displeased to find. There’s a mild astringency in there as well – I can taste fruity notes that still remind me of haw flakes, and an earthiness that reminds me of portobella mushrooms (surprised? I am!). It’s interestingly a blend of flavours that I don’t find odd, maybe my taste buds are a little weird.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Wuyi Black five times (six steeps total), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. It steeped quite well, I found the flavour to remain consistent throughout all the steeps. The flavour peaked and was the strongest at the first resteep and gradually lessened after that.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Wuyi Black. I found this black tea had an interesting flavour profile and I liked it enough to resteep it – there’s just something weirdly intriguing about the mix of flavours of haw flakes and mushrooms. It makes for a nice cup of tea, and while I didn’t add anything to it, I think that it would take well to cream and sugar if you must – but I think it’s so good on its own and it really doesn’t need anything to let it shine.

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

Posted on

Dessert by Deb’s Cherry Lemonade

Cherry Lemonade by Dessert by Deb
Green Tea / Flavoured
$16.00 for 75g

Cherry Lemonade is an exclusive blend for Dessert by Deb subscription subscribers and is available for purchase by subscribers only at this time.

First Impressions

Cherry Lemonade was a tea that showed up in my March/April subscription box from Dessert by Deb. I’ve reviewed a lot of her teas since the launch and I’ve been happily subscribing since the subscription box launched – it’s one box every two months (so 6 boxes in 12 months/1 year). Cherry Lemonade is a green tea blend and is part of the “The Tea Society Club”, which means that it is a subscriber exclusive. It’s a fun perk of being a member!

Cherry Lemonade comes in a sealed, resealable pouch with a colourful label. This is a really pretty blend. The aroma of the dry leaf is mostly lemongrass to me, I think that’s because lemongrass has such a strong fragrant compared to some of the other ingredients. Cherry Lemonade consists of organic: green tea, cherries, lemon peel, hibiscus, lemongrass, rosehips, palm sugar, and safflower.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Cherry Lemonade in 200°F (93°C) water for 5 to 6 minutes. My initial steep was for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Cherry Lemonade steeps to a really pretty pink colour, which I credit to the hibiscus. The aroma of the tea is mostly that of lemongrass, with a hint of lemon. The taste is mostly lemongrass, with some lemon and cherry notes in the background. It’s not as sweet as I thought it might be, given the presence of palm sugar. I don’t really taste the green tea base, probably because the lemongrass is a strong ingredient.

A Second Cup?

I attempted resteeping Cherry Lemonade, but found that the resteep was mostly lemongrass in flavour so I wasn’t too keen on it.

My Overall Impression

I didn’t like Dessert by Deb’s Cherry Lemonade. I was hopeful for a lot of cherry and lemon flavours in this green tea blend, especially given the name. I think that the lemongrass was really heavy, which really detracted from the other ingredients. It’s quite a pretty blend, and I like the lemongrass. I would have liked it to have more lemon and cherry and perhaps even more hibiscus, to give it that tartness to amplify the idea of lemonade. If you’re a fan of lemongrass, you’ll probably like this one.

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

Posted on

Sun-Rype’s Black Tea Mango Peach

Black Tea Mango Peach by Sun-Rype
Black Tea / Flavoured
$1.69 for 1 can (355ml)

First Impressions

It’s time for yet another skinny can of a prepared iced tea product. From Sun-Rype, which is a Canadian company (Kelowna, British Columbia – to be exact!), this is a sparkling iced tea. White and orange, this flavour is Black Tea Mango Peach. Details about ingredients on the can itself, I can appreciate the minimalism design.

A simple pop can tab to open the can, the carbonated Black Tea Mango Peach is a lovely golden orange. It’s obviously carbonated, and has a great aroma to it. I can smell peaches and mangoes. Black Tea Mango Peach consist of carbonated filter water, cane sugar, real brewed black tea concentrate, citric acid, natural flavour and natural colour.

First Taste

I like the aroma of Black Tea Mango Peach. It has a pleasant taste – it lacks the heavy mineral flavour that some of the other Sun-Rype products had – strongly of peaches and mangoes, with a nice sweetness to it. It does have a hefty amount of carbonation to it, which does tickle the nose a bit. The fruity aroma is pleasant, and it’s a nice drink.

My Overall Impression

I liked Sun-Rype’s Black Tea Mango Peach. I greatly enjoyed the flavour of this canned sparkling iced tea. The peach and mango aroma and flavour was quite pleasant, and I liked the fact that the mineral flavour wasn’t as harsh compared to the other flavours I tried. I think this one is great over iced, or also mixed with some lemonade. I do wish that the pricing was a bit more friendly, but does give some inspiration for making some summer time iced teas at home.

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