Tag: Grand Tea

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Grand Tea’s Bai Yu Luo Jasmine Tea

Bai Yu Luo Jasmine Tea by Grand Tea
Green Tea / Flavoured
$40.00HKD for 25g

Grand Tea has provided me with Bai Yu Luo Jasmine Tea for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Bai Yu Luo Jasmine Tea came to me in a gold sample packet with enough tea to have three pots of tea. The tea leaves are beautiful with each leaf curled, with varying colours of dark olive green and a pale, cream colour. The lighter part of each leaf has visible downy feathers on it. The aroma from the dry leaf is primarily that of the jasmine – the dry tea is bright and floral.

Bai Yu Luo Jasmine Tea is a Chinese green tea that has been scented with jasmine flowers and is from the Yunnan Province. I’m really quite fascinated by how the tea leaves look, since the colours have such a high contrast which makes them beautiful to look at.

Preparation

I couldn’t find any steeping instructions for Bai Yu Luo Jasmine Tea. My initial steep of this green tea was in 79°C (175°F) water for 90 seconds.

First Taste

Bai Yu Luo Jasmine Tea steeps to a light yellow with a very floral aroma. It smells almost sweet with the strong jasmine fragrance. The taste of this tea carries a light sweetness, there’s the jasmine/floral notes with a slight creamy flavour to it – almost buttery. I found that the tea was smooth with zero bitterness or astringency at the temperature that I steeped it for.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Bai Yu Luo Jasmine Tea six times (seven steeps total with the same leaves), and I added an additional 30 seconds for each steep. I found that the flavour profile stayed fairly consistent throughout, although it did become less sweet despite the floral notes remaining strong. The flavour began to decline by the fourth resteep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Grand Tea’s Bai Yu Luo Jasmine Tea. I found that this tea was both beautiful in the dry leaf and in the flavour of the steeped tea. I really enjoyed the floral sweetness that I found in the initial steep, and the creaminess I found in this green tea was a pleasant surprise. I think that this tea did beautifully when resteeped and would really recommend resteeping it to get all of the flavour out of the leaves.

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Grand Tea’s Chrysanthemum Tea

Chrysanthemum Tea by Grand Tea
Herbal Infusion / Straight
$35.00HKD for 25g

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Grand Tea has provided me with Chrysanthemum Tea for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Chrysanthemum Tea is a floral infusion that I’m quite familiar with – it’s a common option available to be paired with dim sum (yum!). These floral buds came to me in a gold sample packet from Grand Tea, the chrysanthemum in this floral infusion are quite a bit younger than what I’m used to since they’re only partially opened. I found these chrysanthemum buds to be quite fragrant, it’s quite distinctly the floral aroma of chrysanthemum that also has a honeyed sweetness to it.

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This is a straight infusion, with no additional ingredients. There is quite a bit of health information surrounding Chrysanthemum Tea on the Grand Tea website, surrounding health benefits – help with dizziness, headaches, and digestion; as well as potential side effects – interference with medications and allergies. When in doubt, always have a chat with your primary health care provider or pharmacist before trying new-to-you herbs, there could be an interaction with your medications.

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Preparation

Grand Tea recommends steeping Chrysanthemum Tea in 80-90°C (176-194°F), there was no time included but I opted to steep for 5 minutes.

First Taste

The initial steep of Chrysanthemum Tea was a pale yellow that was surprisingly quite fragrant despite the lightness in colour. I found that it smells exactly like the dry floral buds, and might even be a stronger aroma. The buds opened up a little bit, and I found that the infusion is delicious. There’s just a hint of sweetness when I sip it that makes it quite enjoyable. There is a mention of mild bitterness on the Grand Tea website about this tea, but I didn’t find that to be noticeable at all.

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A Second Cup?

I generally don’t resteep herbal infusions because I find that the flavour can be quite lacking compared to the initial steep. For Chrysanthemum Tea, I resteeped the floral buds twice, adding an extra minute per subsequent steep. I found both resteeps to be quite delicious, although a touch weaker than the initial steep. Despite that, I found that this herbal infusion resteeps decently enough that I would recommend doing it at least twice to get more value out of your tea.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved Grand Tea’s Chrysanthemum Tea. This is definitely an aromatic floral infusion that is delicious, has just the right amount of honeyed sweetness naturally occurring as the floral buds get steeped. I found that there was no bitterness at all, which made this floral infusion more enjoyable. Bonus, because it doesn’t actually contain tea leaves, this infusion is naturally caffeine-free and can be enjoyed at any time of day.

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Grand Tea’s Keemun Black Tea

Keemun Black Tea by Grand Tea
Black Tea / Straight
$30.00HKD for 25g

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Grand Tea has provided me with Keemun Black Tea for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

The teas I grew up loving were all black teas, so whenever a tea company asks if I want to try black teas I’m always game. Grand Tea sent me some Keemun Black Tea and I was so curious that I just had to try it. According to Grand Tea, Keemun is a high quality black tea that is loved by the British Royal family. Keemun was exported to Europe as a “high class beverage”. Well, if it’s good enough for the Queen, it’s certainly good enough for me!

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Keemun Black Tea is a straight black tea. The tea leaves themselves are fairly uniform in colour. They’re short, dark, with light twists. There are hints of red in the tea leaves that may be a bit difficult to see in the photo. The dry leaf has a beautiful aroma – it’s a nice mix of flowery and fruity aroma that reminds me of lychee.

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Preparation

There were no preparations on the Grand Tea website at the time of writing. Because it’s a black tea, I opted to steep at 100°C (212°F) at 3 minutes.

First Taste

Keemun Black Tea steeps to a deep orange, and it has floral and fruity aromas that waft up. It has a beautiful aroma that’s quite inviting. If you’ve never had a cup of tea that just invites you in, this is the one. It felt like it took a while for the tea to cool down before I could drink in, but when I sipped at the Keemun, I was greeted with some bold flavours – there was a sweetness, the floral notes, and a touch of refreshing fruitiness. I found it to be well-balanced. This straight black tea has a great mouthfeel to it, it’s very smooth but just a touch of astringency at the tail end of each sip.

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A Second Cup?

I resteeped Keemun Black Tea three times, adding an additional 30 seconds per subsequent steep. I found that the flavours were not as strong as the initial steep, and got a little bit weaker with each steep. The sweetness got continually weaker. The additional steeps are still drinkable though, and I found them to be enjoyable.

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My Overall Impression

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I liked Grand Tea’s Keemun Black Tea. The tea is bright and strong, I think that the tea would be a fantastic replacement for a morning cup of coffee – the initial steep is that strong. I really enjoyed it though, and found that the mixture of fruity and floral flavours was delicious. I wish it resteeped a little bit better, and it’d be a nice tea for an afternoon tea option.

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