Tag: Masters Teas

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Masters Teas’ Rohini First Flush

Rohini First Flush by Masters Teas
Black Tea / Straight
$19.00 for 2oz

Masters Teas has provided me with Rohini First Flush for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

When Masters Teas reached out to me and asked if I wanted to try their first flush Darjeeling, the answer was obviously yes. This black tea was harvested in March 2023, so only two months ago! This is a black tea, but has the appearance of a green tea. The tea leaves themselves come in a sealed, resealable pouch. There’s a label across the front with information about the tea that I find helpful. Masters Teas describes Rohini First Flush as having fruit blossom notes.

Rohini First Flush is from Darjeeling, India, and consists only of tea leaves – no other ingredients.

The leaves of Rohini First Flush remind me a lot of a white tea or a green tea – purely in appearance. There’s a mix of bright pops of green and darker green, almost olive in shades of green. There are some twisted leaves, and flat pieces. The aroma of this dry leaf is quite fruity! It also have some heavy floral notes, which I noticed as soon as I opened the pouch before I even lifted it up to my face. It’s a pretty dry leaf to look at, and made me look forward to trying it out.

Preparation

Masters Teas recommends steeping Rohini First Flush in 100oC (212oF) water for 2 to 3 minutes.

I opted to follow the steeping recommendations and did an initial steep for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Rohini First Flush steeps to a light golden yellow. The aroma of the tea is quite floral, with fruity notes throughout. Drinking this tea makes me think of grapes and pears, mixed in with more delicate floral notes in the background – I find myself thinking of jasmine and chrysanthemum when I drink this, even though jasmine and chrysanthemum even though neither are physically present. There’s a slight sweetness to Rohini First Flush that really adds to the fruity nature of this black tea.

A Second Cup?

Rohini First Flush was easy to go down with the initial steep. For subsequent steeps, of which I did three, I added an additional thirty seconds for each steep. The leaves really opened up after the second steep and I found more yellow and brown colours in the leaves, along with the pops of green. The steeps after the first became more fruity, and less floral, but still had that light sweetness throughout that I found endearing. I would recommend steeping Rohini First Flush multiple times for a longer experience with these leaves.

My Overall Impression

I loved Masters Teas’ Rohini First Flush. I’m really happy that I agreed to try out this first flush 2023 tea. The experience of getting to try a brand new spring tea is always a fun time because you get to try something fresh and exciting. The fact that it’s black tea that behaves a bit like a green tea (but isn’t as unforgiving) is purely a bonus. I enjoyed the flavours and aromas from Rohini First flush – especially with the multiple steeps.

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Masters Teas’ Bai Hao Yin Zhen

Bai Hao Yin Zhen by Masters Teas
White Tea / Straight
$29.00USD for 1.5oz

Masters Teas has provided me with Bai Hao Yin Zhen for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Bai Hao Yin Zhen came in a sealed, resealable pouch. I’m tickled at the opportunity to try the April 2021 harvest of this tea, after having had the April 2020 harvest. The leaves come from Fujian, China, and were harvested in this year. As with most of the teas from Masters Teas, the teas are single origin and description of the farmers and location – which is a nice little touch that you don’t get with a tea that isn’t single origin.

Bai Hao Yin Zhen is also known as Silver Needle, and one of the trademark characteristics for a good Silver Needle is to be covered with those fuzzy feathery parts on the leaves. These leaves are green or fuzzy white. The leaves are soft and have a very faint, sweet and floral aroma and are just really pretty to look at. I do wish that the aroma was stronger, to give me a better idea of what’s to come, but I’m still eager to taste it.

Preparation

Masters Teas recommends steeping Bai Hao Yin Zhen in 170°F (77°C) water for 2 to 3 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of Bai Hao Yin Zhen for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Bai Hao Yin Zhen steeps to a pale yellow. It has a sweet floral aroma. It’s a faint colour, but the flavour is interesting. I find it to be a blend of light floral sweetness, with a hint of hay or grass. It makes for a complex blend, as I find it difficult to determine where one flavour ends and the other begins – it’s so well blended with a nice hint of sweetness to round it all out.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Bai Hao Yin Zhen seven times (eight steeps total with the same leaves), adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The flavour deepened – more grassy and straw and less floral as I steeped. It lacked sweetness by the end of my steeping session of the leaves.

My Overall Impression

I loved Masters Teas’ Bai Hao Yin Zhen. This was definitely pleasant to drink and experience from the dry leaf to steeped tea. I admired the beauty in the dry leaf, and then getting to taste the tea as I went through the steeps was a real treat. I would definitely recommend resteeping these leaves, and enjoy having it hot or perhaps cold steeped or iced – it certainly has a pleasant flavour to it with the grassy notes throughout.

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Masters Teas’ Shi Feng Long Jing

Shi Feng Long Jing by Masters Teas
Green Tea / Straight
$29.00USD for 1.5oz

Masters Teas has provided me with  Shi Feng Long Jing for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

Getting my hands on a newly harvested tea is a real treat. It came from Masters Teas in a sealed, resealable pouch. The packaging describes it as an early spring harvest from very young leaves – I have reviewed from the Shi Feng Long Jing from 2020 so getting to try the 2021 harvest is a nice treat.

The leaves themselves are incredibly uniform – long flat green leaves with a bright spring green. The aroma is brightly floral, sweet, and lightly vegetal that reminds me of spring grass. I love how evenly shaped the leaves are, it has just a beauty to it. This Shi Feng Long Jing is from Zhejiang, China and was harvested in April 2021.

Preparation

Masters Teas recommends steeping Shi Feng Long Jing in 170°F (77°C) water for 2 to 3 minutes. I opted to follow the steeping instructions and do an initial steep of 2 minutes.

First Taste

Shi Feng Long Jing steeps to a lovely yellow colour, the aroma has a nice brightness to it – I find notes of floral, grassy notes, and vegetal aromas when I lifted up the cup to inhale the aroma of this dragon well. The flavour is lightly sweet, with hints of grass, vegetal notes of dark leafy green vegetables. I found that Shi Feng Long Jing has a smoothness to it, a light thickened mouthfeel, and a nutty finish at the tail end of each sip.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Shi Feng Long Jing six times (seven steeps total), by adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The colouring of Shi Feng Long Jing became a deeper yellow, with a stronger aroma and flavour that became less sweet and more nutty. It felt like it was maturing with each steep, and I found it to be quite tasty and enjoyable. The mouthfeel of Shi Feng Long Jing became just a touch astringent and I found myself wanting more.

My Overall Impression

I loved Masters Teas’ Shi Feng Long Jing. This was a lovely green tea to experience from dry leaf, through the steeping process, to the drinking and resteeping process. I found the flavour was tasty and the leaves steeped well. I enjoyed the sweetness that naturally occurs in the initial steep, and the changes in the flavour with each subsequent steep made for a pleasant experience with the little nuances in the flavour. This is definitely one to resteep as much as possible, and possible cold steep the leaves to coax more flavours out of the leaves.

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