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Teakan’s Jin Jun Mei

Jin Jun Mei by Teakan
Black Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 66g

Jin Jun Mei is part of Teakan’s Volume 3 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Jin Jun Mei makes up 15g of the 66g kit.

First Impressions

It’s taken me a bit longer than expected to work my way through Teakan’s Volume 3 Exploration Kit – but here we are! This is the fourth tea, Jin Jun Mei. This is a black tea from Tong Mu Guan, Fujian, China. It comes in a kraft paper pouch that’s sealed and resealable, with the very similar black and white label on the side that has information on both the front and the back side. The packaging is minimalistic and sufficient, providing the information that you need when it comes to steeping this tea. This particular tea was harvested in spring 2020, which also intrigues me a bit because getting to try out fairly young teas is always a treat, especially when it comes to single origin teas.

The leaves themselves are beautiful – there’s lots of downy softness to these tea leaves, and bright golden yellow tips that outshine their darker counterparts in this little mound of tea leaves. The aroma is sweet and lightly smokey – it reminds me of the remnants of a campfire the next morning. Jin Jun Mei is enticing, feels to me like it would even bit a bit bold in flavour after being steeped.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Jin Jun Mei in 90°C (194°F) water for 2 to 3 minutes for the western steeping style; if opting to steep Jin Jun Mei in the gongfu method, Teakan recommends the same water temperature but only steeping for 3 to 5 seconds. Because my gaiwan is still living in storage, I opted to do the western style and did an initial steep at 3 minutes.

First Taste

Jin Jun Mei steeps to this beautiful, impossibly bright golden yellow. It almost reminds me of how bright saffron can be, that’s just how intense this yellow is. The aroma is slightly smoky, just like the dry leaf, with a hint of sweetness. The tea itself has a strong mouthfeel, with a thickness to the tea that makes it really coat the inside of your mouth. The flavour is malty, smoky, with just the hint of apricots lingering in the background, which really just adds a touch of sweetness to it. There’s an almost bitter aftertaste that only stays for a short while before it goes away on its own. There’s a touch of astringency, but it doesn’t make my mouth feel dry.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Jin Jun Mei a total of five times, adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. Jin Jun Mei gets a bit more malty and less astringent as the steeps go on, but I do find that the sweetness doesn’t change too much. There’s still that slight bitter aftertaste, but it’s not enough to put me off from finishing the cup (or pot). It’s a nice candidate for resteeping, as far as black teas go.

My Overall Impression

I liked Teakan’s Jin Jun Mei. I thought this tea did lovely when it came to steeping and resteeping, and it has a great flavour. I probably would have ranked it a bit higher if it weren’t for the astringency and bitter notes that I found – they weren’t enough to put me off from drinking it, but it also stands out to me that those flavour notes are there. I think starting at 3 minutes perhaps was a bit too harsh on the tea leaves, and I would definitely not recommend steeping beyond the recommended length of time, for fear of the tea getting more bitter. I do love the colour though, it’s such a shocking sunshine yellow colour and really just puts a smile on my face.

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

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Heavenfull’s Vanilla Ice Cream Stroopwafel Sandwiches

Vanilla Ice Cream Stroopwafel Sandwiches by Heavenfull
$13.99 for 1 box (12 x 140mL)

First Impressions

So I spotted these at Costco (it’s a Costco exclusive product, according to the Heavenfull website) and I basically called to my husband to grab me a box because hello, stroopwafels! I love stroopwafels (as evidenced by the #StroopwafelSunday hashtag) and was immediately intrigued and super excited over trying these out. I love stroopwafel and I love ice cream – so why not put both of them together?

Heavenfull is a Canadian company (based out of Toronto, Ontario), and their website states that they give back to SickKids Foundation (benefiting The Hospital for Sick Children) – which I think is a great cause to give back to their local children’s hospital.

The packaging itself isn’t that exciting – it’s a printed cardboard box with the information about the product, ingredients, nutritional information. The ice cream sandwiches themselves are individually wrapped in plastic. These are definitely not meant to be warmed on top of your cup!

Vanilla Ice Cream Stroopwafel Sandwiches consists of: the waffle (flour, palm oil, sugars, egg, soy flour, salt, cinnamon, oat fibre, and baking soda), vanilla ice cream (milk, cream, sugar, modified milk ingredients, mono-and-diglycerides, guar gum, cellulose gum, locust bean gum, carrageenan, silicon dioxide, natural favours), and dulce de leche crème spread (sugar, sweetened condensed milk, water, skim milk powder, canola oil, sodium alginate, salt, microcrystalline cellulose, carboxymethyl celluose, mono-glycerides, sodium hexametaphosphate).

First Taste

I feel like the sandwich itself is definitely decently sized (on par with the other non-stroopwafel ice cream sandwiches that my husband picked out for himself!). It smells like a stroopwafel (of which I have eaten many by now…), and tastes really good! The cookie itself is soft, and the caramel layer wasn’t as hard to chew as I thought it might be. The ice cream has a really nice vanilla flavour to it that goes well with the soft chew of the stroopwafel cookie sandwich.

My Overall Impression

I loved Heavenfull’s Vanilla Ice Cream Stroopwafel Sandwich. It combines my favourite tea time cookie with a thick layer of vanilla ice cream and I am here for it! It has great flavour and the caramel layer is easy to eat – which is always a plus! This just might turn into a summer time staple in my home and I’m pretty okay with that becoming true.

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

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Masters Teas’ Rohini Gold Wire

Rohini Gold Wire by Masters Teas
Oolong Tea / Straight
$19.00USD for 2oz

Masters Teas has provided me with Rohini Gold Wire for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

One of my favourite types of tea is oolong – and I’m not shy about sharing that. It’s not one that I drank a lot growing up (mostly black and green), but it was one that was had on occasion. So when someone asks if I want the opportunity to try out a single origin oolong tea, I’m not about to say no. Rohini Gold Wire is a single origin oolong from Darjeeling, India. Single origin is an interest term that’s been used a lot lately in the tea industry (and probably other industries as well). Basically what it means that the tea is only from one area, or farm. When you get a grocery store tea, it’ll be (for example) a black tea, but you don’t necessarily know where it came from. Sometimes it’s from multiple farm sources and they get blended together. But a single origin tea is basically as labelled – single origin.

Rohini Gold Wire comes in a sealed, resealable pouch with some information on it from Masters Teas. As it came in sample packaging, I did have to go to the product page on their website to find out more information about it. This is the February 2021 harvest, and is said to be similar to oolongs from China – which makes me really curious and excited to give it a try. The aroma of it is sweet, fruity, and nutty. The leaves are really quite pretty with a nice range in colours that I get to enjoy. There’s that nice pop of spring green in there that is nice to see among the darker shades of green-brown in there.

Preparation

Masters Teas recommends steeping Rohini Gold Wire in 100°C (212°F) water for 3 minutes. I followed the steeping instructions for my initial steep of Rohini Gold Wire.

First Taste

Rohini Gold Wire steeps to a very inviting and friendly shade of yellow. The aroma of this tea is fruity – it reminds me of grapes and peaches – and it has a nice sweetness to it. There’s a slightly thickened texture to the tea, but it’s really quite smooth and I find no bitterness or astringency to it. It’s a nice tea to sip and has a really full-bodied flavour that that can be found throughout each sip and it just is easy to drink. I found the sweetness to remind me of honey and that there was a slight toasted note at the tail end of each sip, but I can’t really place what it reminds me of.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Rohini Gold wire a total of five times (six steeps total), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The tea itself became a more darker, golden colour. The flavour turned more fruity and less sweet, but nonetheless easy to drink and tasty.

My Overall Impression

I loved Masters Teas’ Rohini Gold Wire. There was just something really pleasant about this tea to drink. It had a great flavour from start to finish, and I found that the flavour stayed fairly consistent, despite getting less sweet. The leaves themselves performed beautifully and did a great job with resteeping, so I would highly recommend going that route so you can get your money’s worth with this tea. This would be a lovely tea to share with friends or family over some nice bites of something sweet to tea because I think it could compliment both sweets and savouries quite well (but I would reach for the sweets).

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