Tag: White Tea

Posted on

ShakTea’s White Grape

White Grape by ShakTea
White Tea / Flavoured
$12.50 for 50g

20180102-shakteawhitegrape

First Impressions

White Grape was one of my acquisitions at the 2017 Vancouver Tea Festival back in November, and it was one of the teas available to sample at ShakTea’s booth – so I knew I liked it before buying it. White Grape came to me in this small silver tin, the tea was in a plastic package inside of it prior to me opening it (I wound up pouring the dry leaf directly into the tin. This tea has a remarkable aroma – it’s floral, fruity – undeniably grape, with the pleasant fragrance of a light tea. It’s a very inviting aroma that this dry tea has.

20180102-shakteawhitegrape1

On the packaging, it states that White Grape consists of white tea and grape bits. On the product page (at the time of writing), White Grape consists of: white grape flavour, rose hips, blackcurrant, mallow flavour, cornflower blossoms, and white tea. I’d say the latter is more accurate as I can very clearly see cornflower petals and blackcurrant in the white tea blend.

20180102-shakteawhitegrape2

Preparation

I didn’t find any preparation recommendations on either the packaging or the website for this tea, so I steeped it at 185°F (85°C) for an initial 2 minutes.

First Taste

White Grape steeps to a very pale yellow. The aroma from the steeped tea is primarily that of sweetness and grapes. When I tasted the tea, I noted that the white tea base has some grassy flavours to it – thankfully smooth and not bitter when steeped for the 2 minutes that I did. Zero astringency was noted with this tea, and I happily continued to drink it. The grape flavour is sweet, and reminds me a lot of purple grapes (and thankfully not raisins) with just a touch of tartness. I found that the aroma of this tea kept me wanting to have more and more of it.

20180102-shakteawhitegrape3

A Second Cup?

I resteeped White Grape twice. I found for the first resteep, the flavours were still present, although a bit weaker. For the second resteep, the flavours were mostly waned and I was left with the white tea base flavour. To be fair, the grassy notes from the white tea are quite delicious so if you’re a white tea fan, you’ll still be able to enjoy the tea without the grape notes.

20180102-shakteawhitegrape4

My Overall Impression

rating4

I loved ShakTea’s White Grape. I really enjoyed this white tea when I first sampled it, and I was quite happy that I still liked it when I steeped it at home. I just really enjoyed the mix of sweet and tart with the flavours that were blended in with the white tea, and the grassy notes were pleasant. As it is a white tea, I was quite cautious regarding burning or oversteeping the leaves, and was happy to find that it steeps nicely to a smooth, pleasant tea. I think the fruity flavour would lend itself well to being cold steeped or iced, as well as being paired with sweets.

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

Posted on

Fox Tea Club’s Aphrodite

Aphrodite by Fox Tea Club
Green Tea & White Tea / Flavoured
$9.95USD for 2oz

20171025-foxteaclubaphrodite

Fox Tea Club has provided me with Aphrodite for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

I’m a fan of green tea, and I’m a fan of white tea – but I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I opened up this packet of Aphrodite. Fox Tea Club’s green and white tea blend smells floral and full of lemon, which is a divine combination. The lemon zest smells fresh, which is energizing. I can’t really make out the smell of the white or green tea, because the lemon zest is just so strong.

20171025-foxteaclubaphrodite1

Aphrodite consists of calendula, green tea, jasmine, lemon, safflower, and white tea.

20171025-foxteaclubaphrodite2

Preparation

There were steeping instructions on the Fox Tea Club website for the Aphrodite tea. I steeped this at 80°C (175°F) for 1 minute. If you’re steeping a tea blend and you don’t have any steeping instructions, you should always opt to steep at the lowest optimal temperature and for the shortest steep time.

First Taste

Aphrodite steeps to a bright, beautiful yellow. It has a remarkably vibrant lemon aroma from the steeped tea, which is quite enjoyable. There’s a light floral fragrance to this tea, that’s overwhelmed by the lemon. The taste of Aphrodite has a subtle sweetness to it, that balances well between the floral and lemon. I think it tastes good, there’s no bitterness in the tea at the water temperature and length of steep time that I opted for.

20171025-foxteaclubaphrodite3

A Second Cup?

I resteep Aphrodite twice and I found that the first resteep was okay (and fairly close to the first steep), with the balanced flavours of floral with lemon. The second steep had very minimal lemon flavours in it, so I would say that Aphrodite is just good for one more steep.

20171025-foxteaclubaphrodite4

My Overall Impression

3cups-2

I liked Fox Tea Club’s Aphrodite. While this tea didn’t have me in an lovin’ mood, I really did enjoy the fresh brightness of the lemon zest with the sweet floral flavours. The white and green tea bases hold up the lemon and floral flavours well, and I enjoy the floral aromas and flavours. I’d definitely recommend giving this tea a try if you enjoy jasmine and lemon – just be sure not to add any milk or cream because it’ll curdle in a tea with lemon.

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

Posted on

Grand Tea’s Organic Jin Xuan White Tea

Organic Jin Xuan White Tea by Grand Tea
White Tea / Straight
$29.00HKD for 25g

20171016-grandteajinxuan

Grand Tea has provided me with Organic Jin Xuan White Tea for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

I love a good white tea, which is why I was happy when Grand Tea sent me some of their Organic Jin Xuan White Tea to try! For those that don’t know, white tea is the most minimally processed tea there is available. The extent of processing white tea is essentially picking it, letting it dry out, and applying a minimal amount of heat.

20171016-grandteajinxuan1

Organic Jin Xuan White Tea is a beautiful straight white tea. The leaves aren’t rolled or squished in any way at all, and you can really see the details in the leaves when laying them out. The leaves are a mix of green and brown, which is nice to see. The dry leaves have a very light floral aroma to them, which is quite inviting.

20171016-grandteajinxuan2

Preparation

Grand Tea didn’t have any steeping instructions on their product page. My initial steep of Organic Jin Xuan White Tea was in 85°C (185°F) water for 2 minutes.

First Taste

Organic Jin Xuan White Tea steeps to be quite clear, it’s barely pigmented at all after the initial steep. The fragrance from this tea is a mixture of floral and buttercream, Organic Jin Xuan White Tea definitely has some sweet notes to it. I found when I sipped it, I was pleasantly greeted with a smooth, creamy tea. Despite how clear the tea appears, it has a nice smoothness to it as I sip my cup. The floral notes are a bit milder than jasmine, I can’t quite place what the flower is. The buttercream taste to it adds to the creaminess of the tea and lends itself to the buttery flavour of this tea. Despite buttercream being a fairly ‘heavy’ flavour, I found that the white tea did have a bit of lightness to it overall.

20171016-grandteajinxuan3

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Organic Jin Xuan White Tea seven times, adding an extra 30 seconds per additional steep. I found that the tea remained smooth and creamy throughout all of the subsequent steeps, and the the floral-buttercream taste stayed fairly true throughout. The flavours were deepest on the first resteeep, and slowly began to fade out throughout all the steeps. Overall, I found that the idea did quite well and would recommend resteeping it to get the best value from the tea leaves.

20171016-grandteajinxuan4

My Overall Impression

rating4

I loved Grand Tea’s Organic Jin Xuan White Tea. I do love a white tea that can hold up to being resteeped, and thankfully this one does beautifully with being resteeped. The floral and creamy notes to this straight white tea are delicious and easily enjoyable. I’d definitely recommend resteeping this tea, and the sweetness of this tea might lend itself well to contrasting with a savoury breakfast or to amplify the sugar in a sweet dessert.

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