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Teakan’s Jasmine White

Jasmine White by Teakan
White Tea / Straight
$25.00 for 70g

Jasmine White is part of the Teakan’s Spring 2020 Exploration Box, which I purchased at the 2020 Vancouver Tea Festival back in March. This Exploration Box consists of 5 teas and Jasmine White was 15g of the 70g.

First Impressions

Teakan is a Vancouver-based tea company that I was first introduced to at the 2020 Vancouver Tea Festival. Two lovely tea enthusiasts who came together to produce this: the Spring 2020 Exploration Box – which consists of five single origin teas that they love and packaged together to create an affordable collection of high quality teas. So of course that meant I had to purchase a box for myself (fun fact: they sold out of their boxes at the Vancouver Tea Festival!).

The collection itself comes in a cardboard carton, sealed with string. The teas are individually packaged in kraft paper pouches that are sealed and resealable. The labelling is minimalist – white with black printed text. The front side features the name, origin, type of tea, harvest time and weight. The back has steeping instructions, tasting notes, and a QR code to use that leads you to their website for more information.

Jasmine White comes from Lincang, Yunnan, China. It’s a scented white tea (silver needle, to be exact) and was harvested in spring of 2019. The tea leaves are fuzzy and are heavily scented with jasmine – it just has a nice floral note to it. Quite inviting and I love jasmine, so what’s not to love about a white tea with jasmine?

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping Jasmine White in 95°C (203°F) water. I opted to use 93°C (200F°) water. For western style steeping, it’s a 25 second steep. For gongfu style, it’s 5 seconds. I opted to do 25 seconds because by the type I filled the teapot and put the kettle back onto its base and checked up on the leaves, it was much longer than 5 seconds.

First Taste

Jasmine White steeps to a very pale yellow after a 25 second steep. The aroma is very sweetly floral with the jasmine. The tea itself is very light – it has some sweet floral notes, something fresh and inviting in the background. Zero bitterness or astringency, which I didn’t expect to have any issues with such a short steep. The flavour is pleasant, and there’s a mild vegetal note that lingers on the tongue.

A Second Cup?

With any single origin tea, you know I’m going to resteep it again and again – Jasmine White is no exception to that. I ended up resteeping this white tea seven times (eight steeps total). I added about 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The colour of the tea became a nice golden yellow after the initial steep. The flavour stayed consistent and the tea itself was quite flavourful even by the last steep that I did.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Jasmine White. I really enjoyed the flavour of the tea, since I do adore jasmine teas. The tea leaves stood up quite nicely to being resteeped, and it just showed off the quality of the leaves themselves in how well they did. I would definitely recommend resteeping this tea as much as humanly possible just to get all of that beautiful flavour out of it. I would pair this honestly with any meal or dessert – it can lend itself to being a contrast with a savoury meal (and adding some lightness to a heavy meal) or just pair well with the sweetness of dessert since this tea is sweet, but it won’t overpower cakes or pastries.

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Adagio Teas’s Berry Creme Compote

Berry Creme Compote by Adagio Teas
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$8.00USD for 3oz

Adagio Teas has provided me with Berry Creme Compote for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Berry Creme Compote comes in a colourful sealed, resealable foiled pouch. I do love the style of the packaging because it’s just nice to have all the information handy and it just comes printed directly onto the packaging, which is nice. The aroma of this fruity tisane is so strong, and it reminds me of the aroma of a field berry jam – just so heavy on the fruity goodness that it makes me want to a nice iced cup of this stuff (and to be out on a patio somewhere with shades on).

Berry Creme Compote consists of: rose hips, hibiscus, apple pieces, blue cornflowers, natural creme flavour, blueberries, strawberries, raspberry leaves, natural strawberry flavour, natural blueberry flavour, raspberries, and natural blackberry flavour. And just look at how pretty it is, especially with the blue cornflower petals!

Preparation

Adagio Teas recommends steeping Berry Creme Compote with 100C (212F) water for 5 to 10 minutes. I opted to do a 7 minute steep, mostly because I walked away from it and went back to it eventually.

First Taste

Berry Creme Compote steeps to a beautiful dark pink colour that is undoubtedly due to the presence of hibiscus in the mix. The aroma is very much of berries – which is so delicious smelling. The flavour is berries, there’s a slight tartness that may be due to the hibiscus, or due to the raspberries, that gives a bit of a pucker to my mouth. There’s such a strong berry flavour to it, it’s so tasty! It reminds me a bit of a fruit juice or punch, there’s such a nice level of sweetness to it, that I would drink it plain.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Berry Creme Compote and surprise! I found that it did decently well for one resteep. The colour wasn’t nearly as dark as the initial steep, but it still had a good flavour to it. So definitely go for a resteep with this one.

My Overall Impression

I loved Adagio Teas’s Berry Creme Compote. I think this tisane has such great flavours – both for the nose and for the mouth. There’s a great blend of fruity ingredients that makes for such a tasty cup. I would recommend having it iced or cold steeped, and consider going half-and-half with some lemonade or a splash of lemonade – or perhaps even a lemon wedge on the size. It’d be quite tasty indeed! And I think that the berries would balance really well against the lemon.

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Sunny M’s Formosa Milky

Formosa Milky by Sunny M
Oolong Tea / Straight
$10.00 for 20g

First Impressions

Formosa Milky was a 2020 Vancouver Tea Festival back in March, which currently feels like forever ago even though it was just last month! It was one of the teas available for sample and when I drank it, I knew I had to have some to steep at home. The tea comes in a coated paper pouch – sealed and resealable – which features a frosted window to see the leaves through. Quite simple and minimalistic packaging. The front features labels with the company’s name and which tea is inside, the back has a label with the steeping instructions.

The leaves themselves are from a micro lot, hand picked and they’re beautiful. Varying shades of brown, mostly dark, and tightly bunched up leaves. There’s some light grassy notes in the dry leaf that I’m appreciating. I quite like it and it’s really enticing.

Preparation

Sunny M has steeping instructions for a more western style (teapot) and a more eastern style (gaiwan). For the western style, it’s using 95°C (203°F) water for 4-6 minutes versus the eastern style of steeping of 20-45 seconds for up to 6 steeps with the same leaves.

I opted to use my teapot because that’s what I didn’t have packed up (One More Steep HQ is moving!), and did an initial steep in 93°C (200°F) water for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Formosa Milky steeps to a lovely warm, golden yellow colour. There’s a pleasant aroma – flora with soft vanilla notes to it. Having a sip, I find that the oolong has a pleasant smoothness to it. There’s zero bitterness or astringency. There’s an underlying buttery quality to it that is nice on the palate, I find it enjoyable and a pleasant drink to be had. I definitely think this oolong would be lovely paired with sweets or savouries.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Formosa Milky six times (seven steeps total with the same leaves), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The buttery flavour was more pronounced in the first and second resteeps, which then gave way to becoming more cream-like. Quite tasty and delightful throughout.

My Overall Impression

I loved Sunny M’s Formosa Milky. It’s just such a beautiful tea that really holds to resteeping quite well. I enjoyed the subtle changes in flavour as I resteeped it multiple times, and got a lot of tea out of a small amount of tea leaves. While the price may seem high to some, you really do get your money’s worth when you consider the amount of resteeps that you can get with the same leaves, and just how tasty it is! I’m a sucker for a good oolong, and this one was delicious.

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