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DavidsTea’s Mango Lemonade

Mango Lemonade by DavidsTea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

First Impressions

We are solidly into autumn with pumpkin spice and apple pies, but when a tea blogger still has some untried iced tea in the box of new-to-her teas, we’re going to discuss some iced teas. This is a black tea blend from DavidsTea called Mango Lemonade and I definitely purchased it online with the plan to make it iced. Of course, I purchased a lot of teas to make iced over the summer, and honestly we just didn’t host as many events or go to as many events as we originally hoped would be possible. Things have been up and down here in British Columbia in terms of opening up, restrictions, and just gauging the comfort level of our friends and family has been important to us in order to keep everyone safe and comfortable. That said, here’s a black tea blend that I got to try, and let’s see what both me and my husband thought of it!

Mango Lemonade comes in sealed, resealable silver pouch. It has a very familiar label from DavidsTea. I’ve commented before in the last about the tiny print and really, that still hasn’t changed. Mango Lemonade consists of: apple, candied mango, black tea, hibiscus blossom, candied pomelo peel, natural flavouring, orange, sweet blackberry leaf, and rose petals. The aroma of this blend reminds me a lot of mango candy and a blend of oranges and lemon (there is that pomelo in there – and if you’re not familiar with the fruit, it is part of the citrus family). It’s a pretty blend to look at, and I would highly recommend giving your bag a shake if it is sitting in your tea stash for a while. When I first opened it up, all I saw were the fruity pieces. I did have to give it a shake to redistribute the black tea leaves throughout.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Mango Lemonade in 95°C (200°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I followed the steeping instructions and did an initial steep of Mango Lemonade for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Mango Lemonade steeps to a surprisingly orange tea. I say surprisingly because of the presence of hibiscus blossoms in the blend, and that usually lends itself to steeping a bright pink (which I am a fan of). Steeping this reminds me of mango and lemons, it has a great bright burst of citrus flavours and I really enjoy it. It’s not as sweet as I would have liked a lemonade inspired tea to be, even with the presence of candied fruit. There’s a bit of an aftertaste to Mango Lemonade that reminds me a lot of lemongrass.

A Second Cup?

As a primarily fruit infusion, Mango Lemonade didn’t resteep well because a lot of those fruity flavours in the initial steep were just lacking in the second go around with the same leaves. I would recommend Mango Lemonade for just the one steep.

My Overall Impression

I  liked DavidsTea’s Mango Lemonade. While I really enjoyed the mango and citrus flavours in this black tea blend, I found that the black tea didn’t really shine through in this blend in a way that made me enjoy it. The lemongrass aftertaste didn’t really round out the flavour of the blend the best, because I was hoping for a stronger fruit presence. As for what my husband thought, he still prefers the ‘usual’ flavours of iced teas that I often make, so it’s not likely to be a regular feature in our fridge when I go to make iced teas.

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Naoki Matcha’s Nishio Bloom

Nishio Bloom by Naoki Matcha
Green Tea (Matcha) / Straight
$50.00USD for 60g

Nishio Bloom is part of Naoki Matcha’s Masters Collection Matcha Set, a collection of three different ceremonial grade matcha. Nishio Bloom makes up 20g of the 60g set. Naoki Matcha has provided me with Nishio Bloom for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Nishio Bloom comes in a sealed, resealable pouch from Naoki Matcha. As with my first review of this trio, Nishio Bloom is a 100% Japanese matcha, where the labeling features the name of the matcha hand written, with an expiry date (I think it’s a year after packaging), and instructions to head on over to their website for information on how to prepare the matcha and more recipes. This particular matcha, Nishio Bloom, is from the Aichi Prefecture, an area that produces what Naoki Matcha describes as “top-tier quality tencha leaves for matcha” – what a treat to be able to experience this!

The matcha itself is a bright, vibrant spring green. It’s quite inviting. For anyone opening a new pouch of matcha (ever), I would highly recommend tapping it against a hard surface, like a table, before ripping it open because it’ll help knock some of the matcha that’s at the seal of the bag down to the bottom. This helps to prevent waste (or a puff of matcha cloud when you open the packaging). That said, Nishio Bloom has a bright fragant – I would describe it primarily as vegetal (reminds me a lot of spinach), with a light floral note in the background.

Preparation

Naoki Matcha does describe on their website several methods of preparing matcha. I opted to prepare Nishio Bloom in a method that’s very familiar to me – the traditional method using a bowl and a bamboo whisk. I also have a detailed guide here on how to prepare matcha – I sifted the powder, and then poured a small amount of heated water into the bowl to whisk, before topping up and whisking some more.

First Taste

Nishio Bloom whisks up quite easily – especially with a sifted powder. It forms a froth quickly across the top, in a bright spring green while the suspension itself is more of a grassy colour. The aroma remains vegetal and lightly floral. I found that Nishio Bloom has a punch of umami on each sip, which gets balanced out by the vegetal notes that linger on the tongue and it has a sweet floral finish that reminds me of chrysanthemums. Nishio Bloom has a really smooth texture to it, and the mouthfeel that you get from the umami flavour really has me wanting more and more of it.

A Second Cup?

As Nishio Bloom is a suspension, there are no second steeps with the same matcha powder.

My Overall Impression

I loved Naoki Matcha’s Nishio Bloom. I preparing this single origin matcha was a treat – it whisks up nicely in my matcha bowl and it results in a very smooth matcha, with a nice texture and a nice amount of umami that makes you wanting more. The floral sweetness in this matcha makes it enjoyable and easy to drink, and I found it to be a delight to drink straight up (although I’m sure it would do beautifully in a latte if you’re not one of the umami-ness of it all).

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

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Teakan’s Ana’s Green

Ana’s Green by Teakan
Green Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 60g

Ana’s Green is part of Teakan’s Volume 4 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Ana’s Green makes up 15g of the 60g kit.

First Impressions

Rounding out the last tea in the Volume 4 Exploration Kit is Ana’s Green – a first flush green tea from Maipokhari, Ilam, Nepal. The tea comes in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch with a minimalistic white and black label. I’ve probably only had a handful of opportunities to taste single origin teas from Nepal, so it’s always a treat to get to do so.

The leaves are beautiful. Tightly coiled, twisted, and a blend of shades of green as you can see. There’s fuzziness to the lighter leaves, and it’s just a brilliant mixture of greens from pale creamy green to a deep hunter green. The aroma of the leaves is vegetal – it reminds me primarily of dark green vegetables like spinach, gailan, and broccoli.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Ana’s Green in 75°C (167°F) water for a steep of 1 minute (western style) or 15 seconds (gongfu style). I opted to follow the steeping instructions and did an initial steep of 1 minute before pouring a cup of tea.

First Taste

Ana’s Green steeps to a bright yellow after the one minute steep. Just look at the brilliant colour! It reminds me of a liquid sunshine, and it has a beautiful vegetal aroma. The sweetness comes through in each sip, with a stark vegetal flavour that reminds me of dark green vegetables – just a hint of bitterness at the tail end of each sip but I do find it quite enjoyable. It adds something to the mouthfeel and I find that the tea has a thickened mouthfeel to it.

A Second Cup?

Resteeping Ana’s Green was a delight. I did five resteeps with the same leaves (six steeps total), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The leaves open up an remarkable amount, and the uniformity of the green colour of the unfurled leaves is beautiful. The flavour remains vegetal with sweetness, and the bitterness goes away by the second resteep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Ana’s Green. This Nepalese green tea does a beautiful job of being resteeped, and has a wonderful colour and delightful flavour throughout each resteep. I found it to be pleasant to drink, and smooth. It does have a nice bitterness to it, that I actually enjoyed it as it balanced well with the sweetness that was naturally found in the tea.

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