Tag: Green Tea

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DavidsTea’s Mao Jian Jade

Mao Jian Jade by DavidsTea
Green Tea / Straight
$9.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

I am a sucker for straight teas, so I couldn’t resist when DavidsTea released this as one of their new straight teas. Mao Jian Jade is a pan-fried green tea, and Mao Jian is a well-known Chinese tea. The overall fragrance of this tea reminds me of seaweed, there’s almost this light saltiness to the scent of this tea, mixed in some salad greens. I love the look of it, the leaves themselves almost look like they’ve been twisted and left to dry. Mao Jian Jade is a pan-fried green tea from the Fujian province.

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Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Mao Jian Jade in hot water for 2-3 minutes. Their website describes “hot water” as being 75-80°C (167-176°F). I used my Breville IQ Kettle‘s green tea setting which is 175°F, and steeped this tea for just under 2 minutes.

First Taste

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Mao Jian Jade steeps to a very pale yellow. There’s a light salty, vegetal scent to the tea when I inhale it. On first taste, I’m surprised by the light sweetness in the tea which pairs very well with the salty vegetal flavours that remind me a lot still of salad greens. There’s just this freshness to the tea that’s delicious. It’s a very delicate tea, for sure and I find that there’s zero bitterness. Green teas are often fickle when it comes to being steeped. If the water is too hot or if the tea is steeped for too long, it can become unpalatable. If you’re having trouble with this one, I would recommend using cooler water with shorter steeping times. The result of a well steeped green tea is second to none.

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A Second Cup?

Mao Jian Jade does very well for subsequent steeps. I got seven resteeps in before it became too watery. The second steep was the strongest, I found, with it being much deeper in colour. This tea does well without added sweetener, and I would not add a creamer or milk to it at all.

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My Overall Impression

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I loved DavidsTea’s Mao Jian Jade. I’m a huge fan of any tea that resteeps well and holds its own, which Mao Jian Jade definitely rises to the occasion. I found that the tea was very tasty, it’s light and has a beautiful flavour to it. The complexity of the sweet with the salty really adds to the experience of drinking this. As a straight tea, especially one that tastes good, it’s moderately priced and isn’t going to break the bank. I would strongly recommend resteeping this one throughout the day to get the most out of it.

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For Tea’s Sake’s Skinny Sip

Skinny Sip by For Tea’s Sake
Oolong & Green Tea / Straight
$9.99 for 30g

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First Impressions

I picked up this tin of tea while I was on a ferry returning home after a wine tour with some girlfriends on Vancouver Island. There was a bunch of the For Tea’s Sake’s teas on clearance and I picked this one out because it was the only one that was not a rooibos or an herbal infusion. I do like oolongs and I do like green teas, so I figured I would give it a try. I didn’t pick it up because it was a “skinny” tea. There’s a lot of teas and companies out there that make bold claims that drinking tea will make you skinnier, or feel more full. I don’t care about all of that, I just like to try new-to-me teas. The label on the tin states “Gain better health by drinking lots of water but kick it up a notch with the benefits of green and oolong tea. Enjoy a cup before exercise and in the afternoon to stave off cravings and rev up your body’s metabolism.”

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For Tea’s Sake happens to be a Canadian company, based out of Ontario, and I’m all for supporting Canadian tea companies. Skinny Sip comes in a small tin, it feels quite air-tight. The tea itself is loose and comes in a silver foil bag inside of the tin. This silver foil bag is not resealable, which I am okay with since the tin feels sufficient for keeping air out. The dry leaves seem quite compacted when I took a spoonful out. There’s this earthy quality to the dry leaves, along with a buttery smell.

Preparation

For Tea’s Sake recommends steeping Skinny Sip in 90°C (194°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. I opted to steep mine closer to 3 minutes because there is the green tea in this and I didn’t want to over steep it and wind up with a bitter cup of tea.

First Taste

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Skinny Sip steeps to a nice golden yellow. It smells buttery and has a light earthiness to it that reminds me of the way that dirt smells following rain. Skinny Sip meets my expectations in that it does taste creamy with a beautiful buttery quality to it. That earthiness in the flavour is hard to pick out as it gets overpowered by the butter taste though, which is alright by me because I do like creamy teas. For Tea’s Sake mentions on the tin that “milk and sugar are not recommended”, which is a fair recommendation given that it is an oolong and they’re trying to market a tea that promotes a healthier lifestyle. Not sure how much I believe that the tea will help in gaining a more fit body or help with weight loss though.

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A Second Cup?

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Skinny Sip resteeps beautifully, which I was expecting given that it is an oolong tea. It resteeps to a much deeper golden yellow colour. The tea itself gains a stronger creamy butter quality to it, the earthiness is only present in fragrance on a second steep. I was able to resteep Skinny Sip a total of three times before it started to become weaker in taste and scent.

My Overall Impression

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I liked For Tea’s Sake’s Skinny Sip. I will always greatly enjoy a tea that can be resteeped well, which Skinny Sip definitely fits the bill. The primary reason why I take Skinny Sip three cups out of four, instead of the full four cups, is because of the fact that it is boasting health benefits. While I think tea is always a better alternative to sugar-laden drinks, I’m not one to recommend a product for health benefits without knowing a bit more behind the science of it. One reason why this tea may be good prior to exercise or to help keep you full is because you are taking in more water when you drink this – water is fantastic and necessary when you exercise. Despite the health benefits mentioned on the product, I do think it’s a delicious tea. I don’t think it’s going to make me shed the pounds, but I do think it’s tasty and would recommend it if you’re looking for a Canadian based-tea company which puts out a good oolong and green tea blend.

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DavidsTea’s Japanese Sencha

Japanese Sencha by DavidsTea
Green Tea / Straight
$9.98 for 50g

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First Impressions

Green tea and I have an interesting relationship, I find it to be a little bit fickle in terms of proper steeping because it can easily burn and oversteep and then you wind up with this bitter, sad cup of tea. It’s a love-hate relationship and often times I wish green tea was less picky about things like water temperature and steeping times, but I digress. Onto the review of Japanese Sencha!

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Japanese Sencha smells like a mix of grass, salt/ocean, and spinach. If you’re a fan of spinach, this might be a tea for you! The saltiness in the smell reminds me a lot of going to the beach and smelling that fresh salty air. It reminds me of seaweed and salt water. Japanese Sencha is made up of: “fine organic steamed Japanese green tea from Mount Fuji, Japan”. Mount Fuji, according to Wikipedia, is the highest peak in Japan, and is also a volcano that last erupted in 1707. I imagine that last eruption would have made the soil quite fertile on the mountain, which would make it ideal to grow on (albeit perhaps a little dangerous, although not having an eruption for 300+ years probably makes a person less worried).

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping in 80°C (176°F) water for 2-3 minutes. Because it’s a green tea and I’m wary of oversteeping, I steeped for just two minutes – life is too short for a bad cup of tea.

First Taste

Japanese Sencha steeps to a very pale yellow-green with a very light scent to it. The taste of this tea is very smooth, the taste of the steeped tea matches the dry leaf very well. It tastes a bit salty, a bit grassy, and reminds me of spinach. The saltiness reminds me a lot of the ocean and seaweed snacks. No bitterness when steeped for two minutes, it makes for a very pleasant cup of tea.

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A Second Cup?

Japanese Sencha holds up pretty well for resteeping. I resteeped it twice (2½ and 3 minutes for each resteep). The tea itself taste the same, although it does begin to fade in terms of flavour in the second resteep. I would say that Japanese Sencha is good for a total of three steepings.

My Overall Impression

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I liked DavidsTea’s Japanese Sencha. It resteeps fairly well, and tastes great – if you like a bit of saltiness in your tea. It’s great plain, I wouldn’t add sweetener or anything like that to it (unless you really wanted to, of course, then go for it). My biggest advice for this tea would be to keep your steeping times low to avoid burning it (really though, that’s my advice for all green teas – don’t burn it!). It’s an enjoyable green tea though, and I quite like it. I’m not overly fond of the spinach-y flavour in the tea though, despite it tasting fairly good, so it’s not something that I think I would be reaching for on a regular basis. Still, it steeps well (and resteeps well), and reminds me of the beach, so it still ranks up there as a good cup of tea!

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