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Teakan’s Rou Gui

Rou Gui by Teakan
Oolong Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 65g

Rou Gui is part of Teakan’s Volume 5 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Rou Gui makes up 10g of the 65g kit.

First Impressions

Rou Gui came as part of Volume 5 of Teakan’s Exploration Kits. This oolong comes in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch. There’s a white and black label on it, which tells me that it’s an oolong tea from Wuyishan, Fujian, China. This particular oolong is from spring 2021. This particular little pouch carries 10g out of the 65g tea sampler kit – which is enough for a few cups of tea.

The leaves are a dark, dark green, with very minimal streaks of lighter green throughout. The leaves are long, wiry, and it really does take up a large volume of space for the weight of tea that’s in there. The aroma is lightly floral. There is something slightly earthy about it that reminds me of shittake mushrooms.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Rou Gui in 96°C (205°F) water and doing an initial steep of 2 to 3 minutes for western style steeping and a mere 10 to 15 seconds for gongfu style steeping. I opted to do an initial steep of 2 minutes in my western style tea pot.

First Taste

Rou Gui steeps to a golden yellow. It has the light aroma of florals. Flavour wise, I found that Rou Gui has a bit of sweetness and floral flavour to it. There’s almost a cinnamon note to the aroma that takes the backseat to the floral fragrance, but it fades away when I drink it. There’s a smoothness to this tea that is inviting – I found zero bitterness or astringency to it, which is nice. I found it easy to drink.

A Second Cup?

Rou Gui was resteeped five times (six steeps total) with the same leaves. I did add an additional 30 seconds with each subsequent resteep. The leaves opened up a significant amount, and were pleasant shades of green throughout. I found the flavour to remain fairly consistent. The floral flavour was stronger for the first resteep, and then slowly began to fade after that.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Rou Gui. The last couple of teas from Teakan’s Volume 4 have hit the spot with me because I’m such a fan of oolong. Rou Gui didn’t disappoint when it came to aroma, steeping, flavour, or resteeping. Sipping this oolong was a pleasant activity to do over an afternoon and I greatly enjoyed getting to taste it and experience the nuances of the flavour from this Wuyishan oolong.

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ChaTraMue’s Thai Tea Mix

Thai Tea Mix by ChaTraMue
Black Tea / Flavoured
$6.99 for 450g

First Impressions

Thai Tea Mix stood out to me when I was in the tea aisle of one of my favourite Asian grocery stores because of the bright red tin. Plus it wasn’t expensive, so this tin made its way into my shopping cart. My experiences with Thai tea is quite limited, I think I’ve had it a handful of times in restaurants – I remember a very orange colour drink, especially as I had it as a milk tea.

The tin itself calls it “red tea powder (vanilla flavour)”. The lid pops off easily with a spoon (but is taped down). Thai Tea Mix consists of: black tea powder (Assam), sugar, artificial flavour, sunset yellow FCF. It’s dark, powdery, and has some bits of tea that are a bit larger. There isn’t a lot of aroma to the Thai Tea Mix, it mostly smells like a black tea but I can’t smell the artificial flavouring that has been added.

Preparation

ChaTraMue recommends preparing Thai Tea Mix as iced – mixing it with boiling water (100°C/212°F), steeping for 2 minutes, strain out the leaves, stir in sugar as needed, then serve with ice. There’s also the recommendation to add a slice of lemon for Lemon Iced Tea.

ChaTraMue also recommends preparing Thai Tea Mix as a Thai tea with milk, which involves mixing the Thai Tea Mix in boiling water (100°C/212°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes, strain out the leaves, add sugar condensed milk or fresh milk, and to serve hot or iced.

I opted to steep Thai Tea Mix for 3 minutes as I was planning to prepare it as an iced Thai milk tea.

First Taste

Thai Tea Mix steeps to a fairly bright orange colour, I would think in part thanks to the added food colouring (sunset yellow), and the natural colouring of the Assam black tea powder. The aroma is mostly that of the black tea to me, with something light in the background. The flavour of Thai Tea Mix is a touch sweet, with a little bit of vanilla, and then the astringency that I commonly find in Assam tea. There is a touch of bitterness in it, and that may be from the tannins being released after using boiling water to steep Thai Tea Mix with for 3 minutes.

Adding milk to the drink creates a more muted orange colour, and it tastes quite a bit like the Thai milk tea that I’ve had before in restaurants. It’s not as sweet as I would have liked, but I didn’t add additional sweetener to it as I knew that sugar was part of the tea milk already.

A Second Cup?

I did attempt to resteep the leaves, but because it’s so finely ground/dust bits of the tea leaves, it does very poorly in being resteeped and I would not recommend it.

My Overall Impression

I liked ChaTraMue’s Thai Tea Mix. For the value, I think you get a lot of tea (mix) for the price, and it makes for a very easy way to make Thai (milk) tea at home. That said, I think it’s unfortunate that a higher quality tea leaf isn’t used, because the black tea powder present in the Thai Tea Mix doesn’t lend itself well to being resteeped so the leaves are very much a one-time-use product. The colour and flavour resembles Thai milk tea that I’ve had in restaurants, so it’s a good option if you’re wanting to have it at home! That said, it does contain added flavourings and colouring, in case that is a concern for you.

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Dessert by Deb’s Strawberry Cake Roll

Strawberry Cake Roll by Dessert by Deb
Green Tea / Flavoured
$6.50 for 25g

First Impressions

Strawberry Cake Roll is a green tea blend that came in a pale pink metallic pouch that’s sealed and resealable. This blend is part of Dessert by Deb’s Japanese & Asian Patisserie collection. I can’t remember if it came as part of my bimonthly box or not, but I think I purchased it since it’s a 75g pouch versus the usual 25g bag. The colourful polka dot label graces the front of the packaging.

Strawberry Cake Roll consists of organic: green tea, strawberry and papaya pieces, natural strawberry flavour, coconut, Canadian maple, and freeze-dried raspberries. The aroma of Strawberry Cake Roll is very much that of strawberry, with hints of coconut and a touch of sweetness. It really is a beautiful blend though, I really think the varying colours in the blend is a treat – from the yellow, white, red/pink, and green. It’s a visual treat for the eyes.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Strawberry Cake Roll in 200°F (93°C) water for 4 to 5 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Strawberry Cake Roll steeps to a light yellow. The aroma of Strawberry Cake Roll after steeping is similar to the dry leaf – strawberry/berries, and coconut. The flavour of Strawberry Cake Roll is primarily fruity sweetness, with the emphasis on berries, and the brightness of the coconut throughout. The sweetness isn’t too much, in spite of there being Canadian maple in the blend. I’m actually quite happy that it’s not too sweet, because it does give the option of adding your own sweetener to the teapot.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Strawberry Cake Roll once, adding an additional 30 seconds for the first resteep. I found that the flavour wasn’t as strong as I would have liked, especially compared to the initial steep that was so flavourful in comparision.

My Overall Impression

I loved Dessert by Deb’s Strawberry Cake Roll. This green tea blend was a treat for the eyes, and the rest of the senses as I got to enjoy it from dry leaf to steeped tea. The light sweetness and fruity flavour from the tea is lovely hot, but I imagine the berries lend itself well to making it into an iced tea, so I’m really looking forward to warmer weather so I can pour this over a cup of ice to enjoy.

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