Tag: Green Tea

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Murchie’s Jasmine Downy Pearls

Jasmine Downy Pearls by Murchie’s
Green Tea / Straight
$16.95 for 2oz

First Impressions

I bought a couple ounces of Jasmine Downy Pearls when I popped into a Murchie’s retail location – thanks to a handy gift card that I got for my birthday a while back. Jasmine Downy Pearls came in a paper, plastic-line bag that closes with a tabbed wire closure. It’s not air-tight or waterproof, so I’d recommend transferring the tea to a different container of some sort – if you keep your tea in a cupboard, a glass jar with a tight fitting lid is a great option if you don’t have any empty metal tea tins available.

Jasmine Downy Pearls are about pea-sized pearls, with lots of range in colours from cream to light brown-green. The aroma is strongly of jasmine and very floral. According to Murchie’s, Jasmine Downy Pearls consist of jasmine scented Chinese green tea that was picked in the spring time.

Preparation

Murchie’s recommends steeping Jasmine Downy Pearls in 175-180°F (79-82°C) water for 2 to 3 minutes. My initial steep of Jasmine Downy Pearls was with 175°F (79°C) water for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Jasmine Downy Pearls steeps to a light golden yellow, and the pearls unfurl so much – steeped in my gaiwan. There’s a pleasant jasmine aroma from the tea, which is so very floral and delightful. Jasmine Downy Pearls is smooth, sweet and floral – zero astringency and bitterness with a 2 minute steep.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Jasmine Downy Pearls five times, adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The tea gets increasingly floral for the first resteep and deeper in colour. The colour of the tea gets slowly lighter with each steep, and the flavour remains consistent with each steep (although a little bit weaker).

My Overall Impression

I loved Murchie’s Jasmine Downy Pearls. I really enjoyed my experience with this green tea, because it was just very pleasant from the dry leaf to each resteep. I liked the flavour of the floral sweetness with each steep and found it resteeped quite well. The jasmine aroma and flavour is very pleasant and strong – I would recommend resteeping this one until you get tired of it.

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Masters Teas’s Yu Qian Anji Bai Cha

Yu Qian Anji Bai Cha by Masters Teas
Green Tea / Straight
$30.00 USD for 1.5oz

Masters Teas has provided me with Yu Qian Anji Bai Cha for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Yu Qian Anji Bai Cha came in a printed sealed, resealable pouch. The thing I love about Masters Teas is how much information that they provide about each tea. This particular tea is a green tea (not a white tea – despite its name!) that comes from Zhejiang, China from the farmer Yu Feng. The name actually comes from the fact that the leaves are pale green (almost white), but it is definitely a green tea. This tea is also grown and harvested at 900m elevation above sea level in April 2019 – how’s that for knowing where your tea comes from?

The leaves are long and bright green. I can see a lot of details in the leaves – clear buds and leaves and I can see the veins on the leaves. There’s a light floral aroma to the leaves.

Preparation

Masters Teas recommends steeping Yu Qian Anji Bai Cha in 170°F (77°C) water for 2-3 minutes. I heated my water at 175°F (79°C) with my variable temperature kettle (Breville IQ Kettle) and allowed it to cool for a bit before steeping for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Yu Qian Anji Bai Cha steeps to a pale yellow and has a light fragrant aroma. The first taste of the tea is sweet, floral and grassy. The sweet and floral notes do remind me of lychee, which is one of the flavour notes that Masters Teas mentioned in the description of this green tea. I found it to be nicely flavoured throughout, and there was no bitterness or astringency noted throughout the steep.

A Second Cup?

Masters Teas suggested that Yu Qian Anji Bai Cha can be steeped up to seven times. I did seven resteeps (so eight steeps total) of this delicate green tea by adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I found that the tea got sweeter and more floral with each steep, peaking in flavour by the third resteep of the leaves.

My Overall Impression

I loved Masters Teas’s Yu Qian Anji Bai Cha. I found that the leave were beautiful both dry and steeped. The flavour of the tea was sweet and tasty, and definitely a pleaser for a tea lover like myself. I think it’d be a great option to cold steep, because of the sweet floral notes – especially if you’re considered of oversteeping the tea. I love the lychee notes and think it’s great for tea to introduce someone to green tea.

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Udyan Tea’s Himalayan Sencha Green Tea

Himalayan Sencha Green Tea by Udyan Tea
Green Tea / Straight
₹475.00 for 100g

Udyan Tea has provided me with Himalayan Sencha Green Tea for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Himalayan Sencha Green Tea came to me in a sealed matte, resealable pouch. The label didn’t have a lot of information on it, I relied on the product page on Udyan Tea’s website to find out more about this green tea. Sencha is traditionally a Japanese green tea that has a flattened, broken leaves.

The leaves of Himalayan Sencha Green Tea are a mix of dark brown-green and yellow-green leaves, with broken leaf pieces throughout. The aroma is a mix of minty and grassy to me. According to Udyan Tea, this is an autumn flush tea that was harvested in 2018.

Preparation

Udyan Tea recommends steeping Himalayan Sencha Green Tea in 75-80°C (167-176°F) water for 1 min. I steeped Himalayan Sencha Green Tea in 79°C (175°F) water for 1 minute.

First Taste

Himalayan Sencha Green Tea steeps to a light golden yellow. The aroma from the tea is a mix of grass and umami/savoury notes. The flavour of the tea is grassy, with a touch of saltiness, and there is an astringency in the tea. It causes a bit of mouth puckering due to the astringency.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Himalayan Sencha Green Tea three times, adding an additional 30 seconds per subsequent steep. I found that the astringency got stronger with each steep, and the umami flavour was overpowered.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Udyan Tea’s Himalayan Sencha Green Tea was just okay. I found the initial steep was tasty, but I found that the subsequent steeps too astringent for me. I know not everyone is put off by astringent tea, so if you’re into that I would suggest trying out this green tea. Also, an even lower steeping time would be possible if you don’t like the astringency for the initial steep – perhaps 30-45 seconds instead of 60 seconds/1 minute.

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