Tag: Murchie’s

Posted on

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.

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

Posted on

Murchie’s Fragrant Bud Yellow Tea

Fragrant Bud Yellow Tea by Murchie’s
Yellow Tea / Straight
$16.50 for 2oz

First Impressions

I bought a couple ounces of Fragrant Bud Yellow Tea at one of Murchie’s retail locations – the tea came in a plastic lined paper pouch that closes with a wired tab closure. This is my first experience with yellow tea, so we’ll see how it goes! The tea leaves are a mix of shades of brown, with some feathery downy bits on the leaves. There’s a very mild aroma to it, I find it a mix of fruity and sweet that reminds me a little bit of plums.

From what I can tell, Fragrant Bud Yellow Tea is a straight Chinese tea – I wasn’t able to find a product page on Murchie’s website.

Preparation

Murchie’s recommends steeping yellow teas in 79-82°C (175-180°F) water for 2 to 3 minutes. My initial steep was for 2 minutes at 79°C (175°F).

First Taste

Fragrant Bud Yellow Tea steeps to a deep orange colour despite the short steep, which I was impressed with. I found that the steeped tea had a pleasant sweetness to it, with some plum notes to it. I found that the texture of the tea was smooth with a full-bodied mouthfeel. The flavour of this yellow tea had a nice mixture of fruity plum notes, sweetness, and some grassy notes. It’s overall very pleasant and tasty.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Fragrant Bud Yellow Tea three times, adding an additional 30 seconds with each subsequent steep. I found there was a light umami flavour that came out when resteeping the same leaves – it adds a nice level of complexity to the flavour of the tea.

My Overall Impression

I loved Murchie’s Fragrant Bud Yellow Tea. I enjoyed my first yellow tea experience – I found that the flavour was nicely balanced with the complexity in the flavours, the plum and grassy notes that I found in this not-green-tea were nice on the tongue and I really enjoyed drinking it. It resteeped nicely, which is always a nice touch with any tea.

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

Posted on

Murchie’s Cozy Caramel Rooibos

Cozy Caramel Rooibos by Murchie’s
Rooibos / Flavoured
$6.95 for 2oz (56g)

Murchie’s has provided me with Cozy Caramel Rooibos for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

For those who’ve been following One More Steep for a while, you’ll know that I often don’t really rooibos blends – but lately I have been (really) trying to have a more open mind about it because a lot of people really like rooibos. So when Murchie’s sent me Cozy Caramel Rooibos, my initial thought was “Oh no!” because of my past experiences with rooibos blends. This rooibos blend came in a sealed, resealable plastic pouch.

The blend itself smells like caramel. All I smell is caramel and it makes me think of caramel apples, caramel chocolate, caramel kettle corn… What can I say? I like my sweets! The name for this blend is definitely on point and very accurate for the aroma. And I can’t even smell the rooibos base, which is a tiny miracle in itself. Cozy Caramel Rooibos consists of: rooibos, dried apple, calendula petals, natural and artificial flavouring.

Preparation

Murchie’s recommends steeping Cozy Caramel Rooibos in 190-212°F (88-100°C) water for 4 to 5 minutes. I did an initial steep in 200°F (93°C) water for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Cozy Caramel Rooibos steeps to a beautiful golden orange. There’s a lovely sweet, caramel aroma that wafts up from the tea. When I taste it, I’m confronted by a few different flavours. First is the sweetness that I believe comes from the apples, then there’s a nutty flavour, some caramel notes and, of course, the rooibos base that adds just a touch of medicinal quality to the flavour. However, most of the flavour that I get out of this blend is the caramel, sweetness, nutty flavours so I’m not overly bothered by the rooibos base itself.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Cozy Caramel Rooibos once, at 4½ minutes. I found that the rooibos base was very much present, while the rest of the flavours weren’t as prominent as I would have liked. If you enjoy the flavour of rooibos, I would recommend doing another steep. If you’re not a huge fan of rooibos, I would recommend just the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked Murchie’s Cozy Caramel Rooibos. I think that the team at Murchie’s did an amazing job of making me think of caramel when it comes to this blend – from the aroma of the dry leaf and steeped tea, to the flavour of the rooibos blend itself. It makes me think of carnivals and the food that goes along with it, which is a fantastic thing to think about! I’m still not sold on the flavour of rooibos itself, but I greatly enjoyed the initial steep of Cozy Caramel Rooibos and think it makes for a great dessert blend to have when you’re in the mood for something sweet.

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