Inoki Bathhouse

Adventageddon Day 4

Gongfu!

Not a tea for me, but definitely one that was interesting to try and challenge myself with since I don’t often go out of my way to brew up Japanese green teas (outside of matcha/hojicha) since I know I struggle with them. And, to be fair, there were elements of this I enjoyed. Namely, I thought the really unctious and buttery mouthfeel was quite pleasant even if I didn’t jive with the tasting notes. The nuttiness at the front end of the sip was okay, but it just finished so aggressively oceanic with really kelp/nori like notes that I couldn’t get passed.

I pushed myself to do four infusions and give this one a real honest shake, but I couldn’t do more than that. Honestly, it’s nothing negative about the tea itself. Sometimes certain flavours just aren’t for you, and that is not a reflection on the quality of the tea in any way. When I saw this in the morning I knew that’d likely be the case, but you never know 100% until you give it a go.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDLC-EZyVkq/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzBkZnMGahw&ab_channel=KittyCoen-Topic

Adventageddon Day 3

Flowering teas aren’t really my thing so this was another pull from the Inoki advent that I was feeling so-so about. Mainly, I just feel like the quality of the tea used to make them is usually not super great, and because they steep for so long while blooming they usually get pretty bitter and unpleasant.

I made a giant Western-style pot of this, though, in the one big glass teapot I own to give it a proper shot and it was another tea that did actually surprise me. I was nervous with my first sips because it took a LONG time for the bloom to fully open up, but the tea was actually pretty smooth and not as astringent/bitter as I’d been braced for. Plus, I have to admit that this particular bloom was really quite gorgeous. Very elaborate with multiple “tiers” of flowers culminating in a full rose bud. And the notes of rose were really fresh and authentic! Still nothing AMAZING tasting, but definitely one of the better blooming teas I’ve had in recent memory.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDIdoKPSOFh/?img_index=1

It took a while, but I actually got a really clear photo of the bloom!

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiYPodjvvNE&ab_channel=ChineseAmericanBear%E5%8D%8E%E8%A3%94%E7%BE%8E%E5%9B%BD%E7%86%8A

Adventageddon Day 2

Gongfu!

Though yesterday’s Inoki selection did surprise me in the end, I was still much more excited to see this tea come out of the box today. I was up very early this morning, so I actually managed to fit in two gongfu sessions (this and Tea Thoughts) before leaving for the office, so the day was off to a pretty solid start!

First couple infusions of this were highly buttery and soft, to the point where I’m not entirely unconvinced that this wasn’t potentially flavoured? If it was flavoured I do think it was a pretty restrained amount of flavouring, but definitely more buttery than you would typically see “naturally occur” with a milk oolong/jin xuan. Though I think there’s a lot of flavoured milk oolong passed off as “just tea” to unsuspecting tea shop owners AND customers alike, in general I’m not anti-flavoured milk oolongs. There is something to be said about the consistency that flavouring can bring, especially with tea styles like this that are very weather dependent – something which can be pretty hard to predict and recreate. But if I’d thought there was a possibility there was flavouring in this tea I probably would have picked a different brewing vessel…

Another reason I think it may have been flavoured (or "scented) is that by the third steep all of that buttery flavour was basically gone, and not in a gradual declining of flavours sort of way but more in a ‘you steeped it all out’ sort of vibe. However, I actually LOVED the flavours that remained afterwards. It was very smooth, lush and floral with quite distinctive notes of violets and lilacs that were round feeling on the palate and lingered lightly after the swallow leaving that sort of flower nectar sweetness on the bed of the tongue.

So, in the end, I really enjoyed this tea even if I have some light questions about the authenticity of it or not. To be perfectly clear, I’m NOT accusing Inoki of anything. I don’t know if they know it’s flavoured or not, and there are so many potential circumstances that could be at play here. They never outright said it wasn’t flavoured or scented in the info that comes with the advent, and I’ve also seen soooo many cases where the tea shops either didn’t know their milk oolong was flavoured out of ignorance or were just flat out lied to by the people who wholesaled it to them that they trusted. It’s shockingly quite common.

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDF43CoyYo2/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_qS83R9t5c&ab_channel=MICHELLE

Adventageddon Day 1

This was the most surprising tea out of today’s selections!

Inoki Bathhouse is my “new to me” tea company, but honestly to call them a tea company is maybe kind of incorrect? What they really specialize is different bathing products inspired by different spa experiences and traditions around the world. Namely bath soaks – the majority of which contain tea as one of the ingredients. This advent is really their first time selling tea for consumption. I actually found them because when I was doing my advent selections for the year I started AGGRESIVELY getting targeted ads for their advent. It was a little on the steeper side (pun intended) price wise, but because it checked off two boxes (straight/gongfu appropriate teas and a company I’ve not tried before) on my yearly advent “wish list” I thought I’d give them a shot.

I definitely rolled my eyes a bit when I saw this tisane as day one, though. Not because I think it’s a bad inclusion or anything like that. It actually makes a TON of sense given their usual product type. I just don’t personally tend to ever really enjoy the taste of pure chrysanthemum outside of my notorious love of snow chrysanthemum, which is entirely different. But I never skip an advent tea, so I popped one of the admittedly STUNNING flowers into a teacup and gave it a shot with as open a mind as I could. Honestly? Yeah, I ate crow on this one.

Not only was this absolutely gorgeous, which you can see in my photo (the light is bouncing PERFECTLY off the flowers), but it was actually really nice tasting too. Definitely the nicest cup of straight chrysanthemum that I’ve ever made. Still not, like, an immediate favourite but I thought it was flavourful without being aggressive and I liked the gentle peppery top notes against the headier and slightly buttery florals. I even resteeped it, which is a high compliment if I do say so myself. So, I see you Inoki Bathhouse and I’m verrrryyy intrigued to see what else this advent has to offer!

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDDUEFtyMDA/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKwRr_daYJ8&ab_channel=GoldieBoutilier