Posts

Posted on

Masters Teas’s Bai Hao Yin Zhen

Bai Hao Yin Zhen by Masters Teas
White Tea / Straight
$34.00USD for 1.5oz (43g)

Masters Teas has provided me with Bai Hao Yin Zhen for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

You know who loves a good white tea? Me.

Masters Teas kindly sent me some Bai Hao Yin Zhen (better known as Silver Needle) that was harvested this year. It just doesn’t get any fresher than this! Bai Hao Yin Zhen comes in a sealed, resealable pouch that has a label across the front (and more information on their website!). This one is from Fujian, China, and is grown at 450m above sea level and hand picked from 5 to 10 year old trees (how amazing is it to get that level of information?).

The leaves of this tea are so lovely – white fuzz with some pops of spring green. It has a very light aroma to it – a pleasant blend of floral and grassy notes. I can’t tell which one is stronger than the other, it has a nice balance to it that I feel like they both play nicely with each other and I’m really hopeful that it continues to the steeped tea.

Preparation

Masters Teas recommends steeping Bai Hao Yin Zhen in 170°F (77°C) water for 2 to 3 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep in 175°F (79°C) water for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Bai Hao Yin Zhen steeps to a very pale yellow. The aroma from the steeped white tea is a very light floral aroma. It’s very much a spring aroma to me. I found the taste of Bai Hao Yin Zhen has a nice sweet floral flavour, and subtle grassy notes in the background. It’s a very delicate tasting tea, and I wouldn’t add anything to it – the natural sweetness does so well on its own.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Bai Hao Yin Zhen an additional 3 times (4 steeps total with the same leaves). I found that the tea leaves handled being resteeped very well, as it had a more fruity note by the end of it – although the floral flavour was still very much present. It had some hints of what reminded me of melon, which has a nice crisp brightness to it.

My Overall Impression

I loved Masters Teas’s Bai Hao Yin Zhen. This white tea does not disappoint from the fuzziness of the dry leaf, to the aroma of the tea as it steeps, to the process of enjoying it. I found it did really well with resteeping, which I do think is a must to really enjoy all of the favour from these leaves. It’s such a treat to experience a new white tea and I think it’ll continue to be a treat as I finish up what’s in the bag.

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

Posted on

Sunny M’s Formosa No. 12

Formosa No. 12 by Sunny M
Oolong Tea/ Straight
$34.00 for 100g

Sunny M has provided me with Formosa No. 12 for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Formosa No. 12 comes in a sealed, resealable pouch with a one-way air valve to help maintain the freshness of the tea and to help prevent it from getting stale. The packaging is clean, functional, with some great information on the labeling. Sunny M describes Formosa No. 12 as an artisan roasted, hand-picked, micro lot tea from the Charm of Hearts tea estate from Taiwan.

The leaves themselves are quite lovely – tightly bunched up and rolled leaves from dark brown to a more chocolate brown colour in the shades of browns found in the dry leaf. There’s some strong floral and fruity notes in the tea that are really inviting.

Preparation

Sunny M recommends steeping Formosa No. 12 in 85℃-95℃ (185℉-203℉) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to use 93°C (200°F) water and steep for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Formosa No. 12 steeps to a lovely golden orange colour. The texture of the tea is smooth, and the flavour is floral with a slight nuttiness that lingers on the tongue. I found that the tea itself had a slight astringency that was present at the tail end of each sip, which wasn’t off-putting for myself (just something to be aware of!).

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Formosa No. 12 a total of eight times (nine steeps total with the same leaves). I found that the flavour of the steeped tea got creamy and buttery as I steeped it, which wasn’t present in the initial steep, and it balanced quite nicely with the floral notes.

My Overall Impression

I loved Sunny M’s Formosa No. 12. This oolong does such a great job of being steeped repeatedly – which is a good thing because it’s not the cheapest tea ever, but you get a lot of bang for your buck with the ability to resteep it many times over. And I’d definitely recommend doing so if you’re a fan of milky oolongs because it does develop a more buttery flavour as you steep it, which is one of the reasons why I enjoyed it.

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

Posted on

BRUU’s Subscription Box

Subscription Box by BRUU
3 x 14g teas (42g)
£10 + Shipping

BRUU has provided me with their Subscription Box for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

BRUU is a UK-based subscription box that offers a monthly shipment of three teas, a “discover” tea, and a surprise “gift” with each box. So this is what the box looks like – cardstock (could be recycled!), colourful tea-themed illustrations, and just looks like a fun package.

There were some cards on the inside – a highlight of Munnar, an Upper Surianalle Tea Estate and a small sample pouch of a tea from Munnar (in the Discover… bag). The free gift in this box that I received was a Double Choc protein bar from Tribe, along with some information about the company that included a coupon code. I do like chocolate, so this was a welcome surprise.

The teas themselves came in 14g pouches that are resealable, with tasting cards for each tea, and small golden clothespins – super cute presentation if you ask me! BRUU describes each box as being “tailored to your preferences”, which I think is pretty neat!

In the box I received was Royal Star (oolong & sencha blend), Caribbean Kiss (black tea & green tea blend), and Orange Ice Cream (fruit-based tisane).

Royal Star has a really bright and fruity aroma to it. It smells like candy. Royal Star consists of sencha, oolong, sunflower petals, cornflower petals, and currants.

Caribbean Kiss has some really strong citrus notes to it. It consists of green tea, black tea, lemongrass, carrot peel, pink peppercorns, pomelo slices, and flavouring.

Orange Ice Cream’s aroma matches the name the best. Orange Ice Cream has a great orange aroma that reminds me a lot of an orange creamsicle. Orange Ice Cream consists of apple pieces, sour apple pieces, freeze-dried whole cape gooseberries, spearmit, flavour, marigold blossoms, safflower petals. I’m just weirdly surprised at the lack of orange in the ingredient list!

From left to right: Royal Star, Caribbean Kiss, Orange Ice Cream.

Preparation

BRUU recommends steeping Royal Star in 80°C (176°F) for 2 minutes, Caribbean Kiss in 100°C (212°F) for 2 minutes and Orange Ice Cream in 100°C (212°F) for 10-12 minutes. I followed the steeping instructions almost perfectly – I used 79°C (175°F) water for Royal Star, and I had steeped Orange Ice Cream for 10 minutes.

First Taste

Royal Star smells a lot like the dry leaf – fruity and sweet! Surprisingly, it didn’t taste that way to me. Royal Star steeps to a dark orange-brown colour. It wasn’t as sweet as I was expecting (or hoping!) it would be since the dry leaf and steeped tea has a great fruity candy aroma to it and I had some great expectations. It does have a fruity flavour to it, with a touch of sweetness. There’s a mild astringency present mostly at the tail end of each sip, which isn’t too off-putting.

Caribbean Kiss steeps to a golden orange colour. There’s a strong citrus aroma, with peppercorn in the background. There’s a definitely sharp peppercorn flavour to this tea, with some creamy orange notes to it. It’s got a bit of a bite to it, thanks to the peppercorn. Having this one iced would probably be ideal to help tame those spice notes.

Orange Ice Cream steeps to a bright yellow – like sunshine. It smells just like the dry leaf, resembling an orange creamsicle. The flavour tastes like what I expected it to – orange, cream, vanilla notes.  It’s got a nice level of sweetness to it, and I think it would be excellent over ice.

From left to right: Royal Star, Caribbean Kiss, Orange Ice Cream.

A Second Cup?

I attempted resteeps of Royal Star and Caribbean Kiss, but found that the flavour wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. I think this has a lot to do with the ingredients that were just tapped out on flavour after the initial steeps.

From left to right: Royal Star, Caribbean Kiss, Orange Ice Cream.

My Overall Impression

I liked BRUU’s Subscription Box. I really like subscription boxes in general because I think it’s a great way to get exposure to teas that I might not otherwise try. The packaging is fun with the tea-themed illustrations, and I think the tasting cards and gold clothespins are just charming. The tea themselves aren’t really blends that I would have personally chosen for myself. I think at first glance, I was most excited for Royal Star as it was a sencha and oolong blend, and I ended up liking Orange Ice Cream the best because it basically tasted like dessert (and what’s not to love about that?). The protein bar will end up in my bag for a night shift snack for sure, and it’s always really fun to try new-to-me teas.

I’d definitely be curious about getting another box from BRUU because it’d just be fun to get to explore more of the teas that they have in their catalogue. The nice thing about the BRUU Subscription Box is that it isn’t overly expensive. It’s priced at £10 for a box (and if you prepay for more months, the price per month does go down), which could make for a nice little gift to yourself on a monthly basis.

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