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Dessert by Deb’s Jasmine Rainbow Punch

Jasmine Rainbow Punch by Dessert by Deb
Green Tea / Flavoured
$6.00 for 25g

First Impressions

Jasmine Rainbow Punch is a green tea blend that I received as part of my Dessert by Deb subscription box – fun fact, this is not a subscriber exclusive. It came in a matte gold bag with a very familiar colourful label on the front. At first glance at the name, I thought that it might be a fruit tisane but it’s not, Jasmine Rainbow Punch is green tea blend! Music to my ears because green tea does lend itself well to go with fruity notes.

Jasmine Rainbow Punch’s pouch is sealed and resealable, which is one of my preferred packaging features. The dry leaf is quite pretty! It has a bright citrus and floral aroma to it. Jasmine Rainbow Punch is certainly a rainbow of colourful ingredients and consists of organic: green tea, jasmine, apple, hibiscus, rosehips, orange peel, oranges, calendula petals.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Jasmine Rainbow Punch in 200°F (93°C) water for 4 to 5 minutes. I opted to follow the recommended steeping temperature and steeped for 5 minutes. The packaging also says to drinks as an iced tea, so I followed that as well.

First Taste

Jasmine Rainbow Punch steeps to a bright, deep pink colour. I credit that to the hibiscus, because I know how colourful that flower can be. The aroma is floral and citrus from the orange. I did take a sip of the hot tea, and found it to be kind of meh. Then I poured it over iced and it really did wonders for the tea. There’s a pleasant citrus flavour, the floral notes from the jasmine are brightened up when iced, and I found it to have a nice mix of fruity sweetness and tart from the hibiscus.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Jasmine Rainbow Punch, but found that the flavour to be lacking compared to the initial steep. I really enjoyed the brightness in the initial steep, but the second steep wasn’t just living up to my expectations – but I wasn’t too surprised as fruit in blends don’t tend to hold up well to being resteeped.

My Overall Impression

I loved Dessert by Deb’s Jasmine Rainbow Punch. I really enjoyed the initial steep of these leaves – it just has a nice brightness, lovely citrus notes that are so inviting. The directions to enjoy as an iced tea were true, as I greatly enjoyed it as an iced tea and found it a bit meh while hot, but it wasn’t meant to be drank hot. I would even go as far as recommend having it with a slice of lemon or mixing with lemonade to add even more brightness to it.

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

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City Girl Talks: I was a guest on a podcast!

City Girl Talks, a podcast by Yasmine of West Coast City Girl, celebrated one year of podcasts with local girl talk – as well as episode #45 with me talking about tea, nursing shift work, pandemic moving & weddings…

I ramble on a bit about matcha from one of my favourite companies (Whisk Premium Matcha), the Vancouver Tea Festival, and get put on the spot about my top 3 favourite teas. I also plug one of my favourite reads of the year, Dr. Bonnie Henry’s book: Soap and Water & Common Sense.

My opinions are my own and do not reflect those of my employers.

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Tsujiri’s Premium Houjicha

Premium Houjicha by Tsujiri
Green Tea / Straight
$9.50 for 20g

First Impressions

Tsujiri is a restaurant that features matcha related desserts, and while I was there waiting for my dessert (more on that soon!), I spotted loose leaf tea for sale… Which of course meant that I had to buy some! I ended up picking out a trio to purchase, and this is the first of the three. Premium Houjicha comes in a a really pretty packaging. A cardstock loop acts as a sleeve over these linen paper with gold and silver splatter marks all over. It definitely feels like a luxury item despite being wrapped in paper.

Inside the linen paper is a silver packet that’s sealed and not resealable (think like the packaging for a bag of chips), along with a piece of paper that has the whole list of tea types that they sell with a brewing guide. Simplicity at its finest? I do wish that the silver packet did indicate the type of tea because there is nothing on it that indicates to me that there is Premium Houjicha inside of it. That said, opening the packet was an experience. Premium Houjicha has a strong roasted note to it, woodsy, earthy, and nutty. The dry leaf is a mix of green and brown, but mostly shades of brown. Not a lot of information on the packaging regarding the exact origin, but the only ingredient is green tea from Japan.

I am disappointed that the packaging isn’t resealable – since exposure to air (as well as moisture, light, and heat) are ways that tea can go bad. And considering the price per gram, I don’t think it’s too much to expect some kind of resealable packaging.

Preparation

Tsujiri recommends steeping Premium Houjicha in 80-90°C (176-194°F) with a step time of 1 minute. I opted to do an initial steep at 85°C (185°F) for 1 minute (60 seconds).

First Taste

Premium Houjicha steeps to a lovely golden orange, as seen below. There was a bit of dusty tea bits that did managed to sneak through my stainless steel strainer, so if that’s something that does bother you, I would recommend using a filter bag instead for a more clear tea without sediments. The aroma of the tea is a mix of earthy and woody. There’s definitely the roasted notes that make me thing of roasted nuts, a hint of mushroom-y earthiness, and I just find it quite enticing. It has a nice finish to it – smooth, hint of sweetness, and just a lot of flavour in a sip.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Premium Houjicha three times (four steeps total), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour remained fairly consistent throughout. The nuttiness is a bit strong in the first and second resteep, which is nice. It lends itself to a nice earthy flavour and a good finish – with just a hint of sweetness.

My Overall Impression

I loved Tsujiri’s Premium Houjicha. As far as hojicha goes, it’s definitely on the pricier side. This one is nice because it is of a good quality so you can get a good number of steeps from the same leaves. That said, I think if you’re not the biggest hojicha fan, it’s probably not going to be for you. It’s at a higher price point, but if you are a hojicha fan, I really think Premium Houjicha is worth the try. I really like the experience of tasting it, but I do wish that the packaging was resealable to keep the tea from going stale. Especially at the price point, it would have been worth it to provide resealable packaging. That said, it has a great flavour and I really think it is a good hojicha.

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