Kokomo Green

Everyone seems to have had labeling/following the instructions for this tea, causing a mug of bitterness instead of calming green tea.

I just went with what my kettle said and steep it for only 3 minutes at most, and it came out fine. The green tea just tasted like green tea. I regret not reading to try it iced now that I finished it because apparently that brought out the other flavors.

Books recommended for this tea are: The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, Dark Places by Gillian Flynn.

Why I chose those books is because the plots come from a bitter place in life, but at the same time, if you’re lucky, or through the hard detective work of finding out the best combo on how to brew/steep this tea, you can find yourself in a good standing.

This tea is better served cold IMO although tonight I’m feeling like something warm and floral/fruity – so Kokomo does the trick.

I had a heavy Easter dinner and this is hitting the spot right now – it always reminds me of tropical-scented perfume… it’s got a very strong scent.

I snagged this from a friend’s tea collection last time we hung out, without knowing anything about it. It smelled yummy.

I was a little worried about how it was going to turn out, given all the bad reviews here and the low rating. I’d also grabbed Aloha Puer at the same time and that was awful.

No worries though – this is actually quite delicious. Very tropical, fruity and not at all generic tasting like many fruity green teas. There are distinct notes of pineapple, papaya and mango, and a well balanced rose flavour that makes this pretty unique among the flavoured greens in my collection.

The green tea flavour is pretty subtle – it’s there, but the fruit and floral notes take centre stage here.

I’m pretty impressed with how well this has aged and how much I’m enjoying it.

Sipdown!

This tea did grow on me as I made my way through it. It definitely is much better cold brewed. Even then, it still tastes kind of bitter and plant-like. Nice papaya note too though. Still, there are better teas to get papaya from. Won’t be buying more of this.

It’s already feeling like summer here. Where did winter go? Did it really happen this year? Who knows…

This is an appropriately summery green tea blend with flower petals and dried fruit mixed in. The aroma is sweet pineapple and a whiff of other tropical fruit. The tea base didn’t really come through after steeping. It’s definitely fruit and sweet, but in a candy-like, slightly artificial way. It might be good as an iced beverage or tea soda, but as a hot (now warm) brew it’s a bit too sweet for me. It reminds me of one of DAVIDs other blends that is just pieces of fruit…I can’t quite remember the name right now. Thanks beelicious for the sample, there are (really) just a few left to try now :)

This tea has a decided sour note to it. I don’t know what the sourness it but it is prevalent.

I brewed this tea once in an 18 oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and 160 degree water for 3 min.

light fruity taste

I had bought this to make iced tea and it was a mistake. I should have been more careful reading the label because the three different types of flower petals should have been a tip-off. This tea is SO floral. I’m working my way through the little tin I got on sale, but it’s not great. It seems to work a bit better as hot tea; something about the chilling really seems to bring out the floral notes.

If nothing else, as I brewed this tea up yesterday, I realized I know all of the words to “Kokomo” by The Beach Boys (or the Muppets, depending on your childhood). Hot, I did not care for this at all. But then I coldbrewed it overnight and the coldbrew is lovely and fruity and delicious. It’s juicy and definitely quenching my thirst. Delicious.

It’s bitter no matter what I do to it so it’s a nope. And I’m already sick of the smell.

ETA: a 30 second steep resulted in a drinkable but heavily flowery brew. Eh.