Tag: Green Tea

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Yunomi’s Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha

Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha by Yunomi
Green Tea / Straight
$6.00USD for 20g

Yunomi has provided me with Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha was sent to me by Yunomi in a resealable green foil pouch. If you’ve never had a tea from Yunomi before, you’re in for a bit of information overload about the tea on the label. The printed text covers how to steep it, how to adjust steeping this tea to your liking, the ingredients in the tea, as well as when and where this green tea was grown and harvested (Sayama, Saitama and in Spring 2018).

Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha is a straight green tea. I found that the leaves seemed quite fine. The leaves are thin and flat in mostly bright to dark shades of green. The aroma of this tea is primarily that of the ocean (saltiness of the water) and vegetal notes that primarily remind me of dark green, leafy vegetables.

Preparation

Yunomi recommends steeping Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha in 70°C (158°F) water for 60 seconds. The lowest my Breville IQ Kettle heats water to is (79°C) 175°F, so I opted to steep to that and allow the water to sit and cool for an additional 5 minutes. My steep of Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha was for 60 seconds.

First Taste

I found there to be a lot of fine particles in my tea, it made it quite cloudy in appearance. If this is something that might bother you, I would recommend steeping Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha with the use of a filter bag. The tea itself is a pleasant light yellow green. I found that the aroma of the tea to be very similar to the dry leaf – there’s quite of bit of salty aroma and the dark leafy vegetal aromas are still very much present. The flavour of Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha was very similar to that of dried seaweed snacks – salty. This green tea hits all the umami notes well, I found it be on the savoury side of things.

A Second Cup?

Yunomi suggests that Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha can be resteeped three times, so I did the same. I found the saltiness and umami notes to fade quite still maintaining the leafy vegetal flavours. I added an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Yunomi’s Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha. I found the flavour to be really pleasant, and wasn’t too salty/umami for me. The flavours of this tea stayed fairly consistent with each steep, with just a gradual loss of the saltiness as I resteeped it. I think that Sayamacha Fukamushi Aracha would work really well with a savoury dish to help balance out the flavours and lend some of that saltiness to the flavour of your meal.

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Chai Castle’s Dream of the Orient

Dream of the Orient by Chai Castle
White Tea & Green Tea / Flavoured
$8.50 for 50g

Chai Castle has provided me with Dream of the Orient for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Dream of the Orient was a sample pick from Chai Castle that I was really excited about. This white tea and green tea blend smells delightful – there’s a light fruity aroma and I can smell the mango and jasmine. I find the mango is the most prominent aroma with the jasmine in the background.

Dream of the Orient consists of: white tea (pai mu tan), green tea (darjeeling), green tea (fog tea, lung, jasmine jade pearls), candied pineapple, papaya, mango pieces, natural flavour, orange peels, strawberry, apricot, sour cherry pieces, and red currants. So many fruits!

Preparation

Chai Castle recommends steeping Dream of the Orient in 79°C (175°F) water for 2 to 3 minutes. I did an initial steep for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Dream of the Orient steeps to a very pale yellow after a three minute steep. The aroma is mostly fruity with a hint of floral notes in the background – that jasmine is quite strong to stand against all those fruit ingredients! The flavour of mango is quite strong, there’s some vegetal notes in the background, with the floral/jasmine notes lingering on the tongue. It makes for a nice flavour – the ingredients play nicely with the tea base.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Dream of the Orient twice, adding an extra 30 seconds per steep. The flavour remains quite well balanced with each steep. I found the fruit flavours (mango, apricot, pineapple) to be more pronounced with each steep and held up well with each steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked Chai Castle’s Dream of the Orient. I loved the mango flavour, and found that it worked really well with the jasmine and the green tea base. I would have liked for the other fruit flavours to come out a bit more – perhaps they just need to be more present to add in more sour cherry, red currants, and papaya. Dream of the Orient does resteep well, the green tea and white tea base makes for a delicious tea. I think with the fruity base, this tea would be good iced as well or cold steeped.

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High Noon Tea Co.’s Volcano Flower Burst

Volcano Flower Burst by High Noon Tea Co.
Green Tea / Flavoured
$6.50 for 1

High Noon Tea Co.’s Volcano Flower Burst came to me as part of The Sugared Teacup’s June themed subscription box.

First Impressions

I was really excited to receive a blooming (flowering) tea in my June subscription box from The Sugared Teacup. I enjoy flowering teas because they’re just a lot of fun – to watch it bloom, to admire the workmanship that goes into every single one of those beautiful flowering balls of tea, and the Volcano Flower Burst is no exception to that.

The aroma is quite floral, and you can see the hibiscus on the bottom and the amaranth on the top of the tightly bound ball of leaves. Volcano Flower Burst consists of green tea, hibiscus, lavender, and amaranth flower. I can definitely smell the lavender, but I don’t see any in the dry flowering tea.

Preparation

High Noon Tea Co. recommends steeping Volcano Flower Burst in 86°C (187°F) water until it fully blooms. I used 85°C (185°F) water and it took approximately 5 minutes to fully bloom.

First Taste

Volcano Flower Burst steeps to a light peachy-pink, which I do attribute a bit to the hibiscus. There was just enough to make it pink-tinged without detracting too much from the beauty of the steeping tea. I found the aroma to be very floral, but the flavour wasn’t as perfume-y as I was expecting (which is a good thing since I don’t enjoy drinking perfume). There’s a sweetness to the tea, and it’s a very light, crisp green tea flavour – no astringency, no bitterness, no saltiness that some green teas often have. I don’t see any lavender in the open bloom, but I do smell hints of lavender in the tea itself.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Volcano Flower Burst once and found that the tea was significantly less floral, less pink, and more of the green tea base was present. If you love the floral notes, you might not like the resteep (but if you love green tea, you’ll probably want to resteep it.

My Overall Impression

I loved High Noon Tea Co.’s Volcano Flower Burst. Like I said earlier, I really enjoy flowering teas and this was really no exception. I do wish that there was either more flowers present or actual lavender tied into the flowering ball itself – I could smell hints of lavender but I didn’t see any and that was a bit disappointing. I really enjoyed the green tea base though, which is what made resteeping it worth it (in my opinion). The colour is also lovely, just enough hibiscus to keep the pink colour there in the initial steep. If you haven’t tried a flowering tea yet, I’d definitely recommend giving it a go – they’re just so much fun.

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