Tag: Green Tea

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DavidsTea’s Korean Sejak

Korean Sejak by DavidsTea
Green Tea / Straight
$12.98 for 50g

DavidsTea sent me Korean Sejak as part of a complementary Garden to Cup subscription package, a review was not requested.

First Impressions

Korean Sejak is a Korean green tea that is also known as dumul-cha. Sejak means thin sparrow, while dumul-cha translates to second flush tea. This tea came as part of Garden to Cup subscription package from DavidsTea – their option that features primarily traditional/straight teas.

Korean Sejak is an organic green tea that is both steamed and roasted in the tea production process. The tea leaves are thin, wiry, and pops of bright green to dark green. The aroma is nutty, grassy and just lightly floral.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Korean Sejak in 85°C (185°F) water for 2 to 3 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of Korean Sejak for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Korean Sejak steeps to a bright yellow. The aroma is nutty and lightly floral. The green tea is smooth, has both roasted and nutty flavours to it, and a little something to it that makes me think of roasted asparagus, as well as just a light umami in the background. It has a nice salty-seaweedy quality to it, which makes me think of walking along the beach and getting to smell the ocean. The tea is easy to drink with a pleasant mouthfeel.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Korean Sejak a total of seven times (eight steeps total), and added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The flavour remains full of umami, nutty, and asparagus-y. The vegetal notes are pleasant and add a great savoury quality to the tea.

My Overall Impression

I loved DavidsTea’s Korean Sejak. My first chance to drink a green tea from Korea, and it did not disappoint! There were a lot of qualities to Sejak that remind me a lot of a sencha – those umami flavours make it a treat to enjoy. The savoury qualities of Korean Sejak make it easy to drink, and it pleasantly resteeps over and over again.

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Greenmax’s Matcha Milk

Matcha Milk by Greenmax
Green Tea (Matcha) / Flavoured
$7.99 for 320g (16 sachets)

First Impressions

It’s a Monday, and this is a matcha. Seemed like a fitting option! Matcha Milk was an addition to my shopping cart during a weekly grocery trip – the bright green was certainly an eye catcher.

The bag has 16 sachets (20g each), each containing the Matcha Milk powder. The aroma is surprisingly fragrant compared to what I was expecting – there’s sweetness, creaminess, and a grassy note that has light vegetal notes. Matcha Milk consists of: sugar, creamer, matcha powder, and milk powder.

Preparation

Greenmax recommends preparing Matcha Milk with 150ml of boiling (100°C/212°F) water, and to add ice cubes for an iced drinks. I opted to use a lower water temperature (79°C/175°F), and prepared it as a hot drink.

First Taste

Matcha Milk prepares to a milky pear green. The aroma is grassy, vegetal with hints of cream. The flavour is sweet, grassy, slight astringency, and a creaminess from the milk powder that lends to the credibility as being a matcha ‘milk’ – thinking of this as a matcha latte option.

A Second Cup?

As it is a drink mix, there are no second steeps with Matcha Milk.

My Overall Impression

I loved Greenmax’s Matcha Milk. There’s something pleasant about Matcha Milk in that it does taste like matcha and isn’t overly sweet – it makes it an attractive option as a matcha latte on-the-go. The price also makes it a great option (50¢ per serving!), although I do wish that there was less packaging involved – a tin of just the powder would be great for making it better for the environment.

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

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Lipton’s Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea

Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea by Lipton
Green Tea & Black Tea / Flavoured
$9.99 for 285g (15 sachets)

First Impressions

Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea was an impulse purchase of mine at my favourite Asian grocery store. Since it’s opened a location in my area, I’ve had a fun time just going down the tea aisle and picking up something new-to-me to try every time I go grocery shopping.

Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea intrigued me because I often see a jasmine milk tea as an option on boba tea menus, but I haven’t had the opportunity to get it yet because I often prefer any milky teas that I drink to be of the black tea variety, so why not try it?

Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea comes in 19g sachets (15 in the package). The powder of Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea consists of: sugar, creamer, whole milk powder, green tea powder, maltodextrin, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, and black tea powder. There’s not much of an aroma to the dry powder.

Being a fan of the little details, I like that it forms a picture when you put two of the sachets side by side.

Preparation

Lipton recommends preparing it hold or iced – using 85°C (185°F) water and 180mL water for a hot preparation, and 50mL water for an iced preparation (just load up the glass with ice).

I opted to try it as a hot preparation.

First Taste

Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea mixes up quite easily with hot water, dissolving easily with a quick stir. The aroma is very strongly sweet floral – very over the top, with a very strong jasmine aroma. The flavour isn’t as perfumey as I had expected, based on the aroma of the tea. The flavour is lightly floral, creamy, and very sweet. I find it a bit much (on the sweetener level).

A Second Cup?

As the powder is part of a drink mix, there are no second preparations with the same mix.

My Overall Impression

I didn’t like Lipton’s Jasmine Flavour Green Milk Tea. While I can appreciate a nice jasmine tea from time to time (it’s one of my favourites!), I found this tea drink powder mix to be very sweet and very floral in aroma that it was hard to get around that to enjoy the drink itself. I might be persuaded to enjoy it more if it wasn’t as sweet. I will try it again with a more diluted preparation, or more heavily iced – and hopefully enjoy the rest of the sachets.

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