Category: Review

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Masters Teas’s Shi Feng Long Jing

Shi Feng Long Jing by Masters Teas
Green Tea / Straight
$29.00USD for 1.5oz

Masters Teas has provided me with Shi Feng Long Jing for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Shi Feng Long Jing came to me in a sealed printed, resealable pouch. There’s information regarding the origin and tasting notes, which I always appreciate. I found the steeping instructions for this Chinese green tea on the Masters Teas website on the product page for this specific tea. The leaves are flat and green – ranging from light to medium greens in colour. It’s a very familiar tea, since I’m a fan of long jing (dragonwell). There are some light grassy and floral notes from the dry leaf – I don’t sell any chestnuts despite it being referenced in the description.

Shi Feng Long Jing was harvested April of 2019, by farmer Guo Ya Ling in Zhejiang, China. This tea was harvested at 500m elevation. I always appreciate finding out more information about my teas, I think it’s great to be able to trace the tea back to its origin.

Preparation

Masters Teas recommends steeping Shi Feng Long Jing in 170°F (77°C) for 2 to 3 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep in 175°F (79°C) water that I allowed to cool for 5 minutes prior to steeping, and steeped the tea leaves for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Shi Feng Long Jing steeps to a light yellow colour. I found the aroma to be a mix of grassy and floral, while the flavour had some sweetness to balance out the grassy notes, as well as some nutty notes that remind me of cashews. It makes for pleasant cup of tea and I wouldn’t add anything to it.

A Second Cup?

Masters Teas suggests that Shi Feng Long Jing can be steeped 7 times, so I opted to do 6 resteeps of the same leaves – I added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the tea became more golden yellow and developed more of a nutty flavour in the later steeps, and lost some of that floral sweetness.

My Overall Impression

I loved Masters Teas’s Shi Feng Long Jing. I found that the flavours of this green tea to be well-balanced. I was curious about where the chestnut notes might be at the beginning, but found them after having steeped the tea. I really enjoyed each resteep, especially as the flavour profile shifted from sweet to more savoury, it made for a great tea experience and I would recommend resteeping this tea.

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Ahista Tea’s Blue City

Blue City by Ahista Tea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$14.99 for 100g

Ahista Tea has provided me with Blue City for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

For those that haven’t been following One More Steep for a while, I’m a huge fan of Earl Grey. It is one of my first tea loves outside of the Orange Pekoe staple from my childhood. Things I love about Earl Grey: the bergamot, the brightness, and the richness in flavour. Ahista Tea sent me a sample of their Blue City – which at first glance at the name, doesn’t really tell you much at all! But if you take a look at the dry leaf, it definitely looks like a familiar favourite of mine in both looks and aroma.

Blue City came in sealed tea bags, the little bags were made of a gauze-like material, which I’m not sold on the fact that it could be biodegradable because they felt very much like plastic (to be on the safe side, I separated the tea bag material from the tea leaves for composting purposes). Visibly, Blue City has black tea leaves and blue cornflower petals. There’s an obvious citrus aroma to it and it basically smells like an Earl Grey blend to me.

Blue City consists of: black tea, blue cornflowers, vanilla bean flavour, and bergamot oil.

Preparation

Ahista Tea recommends steeping Blue City in 95-100°C (203-212°F) water for 3 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of Blue City in 100°C (212°F) water for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Blue City steeps to a golden red colour, with a lovely mix of floral and citrus notes – heavy on the citrus. There’s a hint of vanilla in the steeped tea that wasn’t really prevalent in the dry leaf. I found the aroma of the tea to be quite pleasant and inviting – basically what I look for in an Earl Grey. There’s a nice sweetness, with just a touch of astringency to the end of each sip. I greatly enjoyed the vanilla notes, it added a level of creaminess that helps to set it apart.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Blue City once (adding an additional 30 seconds for the subsequent steep), but found the bergamot and vanilla flavours to be quite muted compared to the initial steep. I would recommend Blue City for just one steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Ahista Tea’s Blue City. I’m a sucker for an Earl Grey, so it was nice to try their take on the classic black tea blend. I really enjoyed the bergamot and vanilla notes in the steeped tea, which made the tea quite pleasant. I wasn’t too big on the slight astringency when I steeped it according to Ahista Tea’s recommendations, but I’m also a fan of adding a bit of sugar and evaporated milk to my Earl Grey, so it balanced out and made for a nice cuppa.

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Udyan Tea’s Ayurveda Black Tea

Ayurveda Black Tea by Udyan Tea
Black Tea / Flavoured
₹675 for 100g

Udyan Tea has provided me with Ayurveda Black Tea for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Udyan Tea’s Ayurveda Black Tea came in a sealed, resealable, matte black pouch. The labelling on the packaging only tells me the name of the tea – no ingredients list or steeping instructions on the packaging. Fortunately, this information is available via the product page on their website, but it would be nice to have that information included somewhere on the packaging itself for those not interested in doing a few extra steps to find out those details.

The aroma of Ayurveda Black Tea is primarily the turmeric and ginger. I can definitely see a few other ingredients in the mix, but I can’t pick out the aroma of the black tea. Ayurveda Black Tea consists of black tea, turmeric, ginger, cloves, Indian Ginger and moringa

Preparation

Udyan Tea recommends steeping Ayurveda Black Tea in 90-95°C (194-203°F) water for 4 to 5 minutes. I opted to do a steep with 91°C (195°F) water for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Ayurveda Black Tea steeps to a slightly cloudy, orange-brown colour. I can definitely smell the ginger and turmeric in the steeped tea. I found the tea to have a nice level of spices in the flavour, with a strong turmeric flavour throughout the entire sip. I didn’t really taste the black tea base, which I think is a bit of a shame since I feel like it should be somewhat noticeable.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Ayurveda Black Tea once, adding an additional 30 seconds to my steeping time. I found that the flavour was quite similar to the initial steep, where the ginger was a bit more prominent than the turmeric. I wasn’t able to detect the black tea in the second steep.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Udyan Tea’s Ayurveda Black Tea was just okay. I thought this blend had a really nice flavour from the turmeric and ginger – the level of spice and warming qualities from the ingredients was pleasant. I do wish that the black tea was more prominent in flavour and aroma, because that’s one of the primary ingredients. I think it would be nice if the flavours were better balanced so I could still taste the black tea. Ayurveda Black Tea would be a pleasant candidate for black into a latte – just watch how you prepare this tea because turmeric can be quite staining to plastics.

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