314 Tasting Notes
For my first GM sample review, it was toss-up between this and Sinharaja. Sugar Caramel Oolong won because I felt like having something sweet! :)
Scent: Like milky palm trees! This smells so green and sappy! Like I imagine palm trees basking in the sun smell like (but I’ve never actually smelled them).
Appearance: The leaves start out tightly rolled, but quickly unfurl into these large, wide leaves! At first I thought, “Oh what a stingy sample!” —because of how small these leaves were wound, it didn’t add to much in my mug. But add the hot water and it’s like boing! the leaves unwind and end up filling half the mug!
Taste: Very fresh and “brisk”. I’m not detecting anything overtly caramel (meaning no burnt or glazed sugar taste). It’s more of a “green” sort of sweetness. Like how banana leaves smell like when they’re wrapped around sweet, sticky rice.
Final thoughts: As the liquid cools, I’m detecting more of a toasty sweetness…but it’s all still overlaid with green. This is very much a green tea. The flavoring is just a bit of enhancement.
This tea arrived today from Amazon—yay!
This brews a shade lighter then the Teas Etc. pu’erh I have now. The scent is very much like a tablet of Ibarra chocolate from Mexico—which is a dry, bittersweet, cinnamon-infused cocoa. I don’t taste much of the earthy puerh—I get mostly the cocoa—but the earthiness is in there somehow adding depth. I would describe this tea as a bittersweet, “powdery” tasting cinnamon cocoa (not chocolate—which (obviously) is smoother and creamier) with a lingering sugariness (due to the rooibos?). When the liquid cools, a hint of woodsy mushroom appears and the earthiness becomes more pronounced. And I could detect a hint of citrus.
In short, this is yummy and very easy to drink. Try this if you’re at all a fan of chocolate…especially dark chocolate.
I don’t get mushroom from this… thank God:)
lol! It’s my synonym for “earthy”…so it’s not majorly "mushroom*—more like a mild “non-threatening” button mushroom (which, to me, doesn’t really taste like a mushroom at all). :)
Because of your notes, I felt compelled to try this tea—and I’m glad I did! Thank you! :)
No thanks needed- your tasting notes are enough!=D
Just a quick tasting note:
I whipped up a mug of this, first thing this morning. It’s a beautiful matcha—a bright, rich green. The taste is extremely fresh, creamy and slightly sweet—like the best green tea to the tenth power. This is the ultimate wake-up beverage and is 1000x better than coffee, at least for me.
i’ve set an eye on this tea from the moment i started exploring the tea world. didn’t order it yet. does it have the powdery-floury feel while drinking it? because that’s something i usually don’t like. but definitely wanna try a cup of matcha some day.
Yeah, it does have a powdery feel and kinda grainy, if it’s not mixed well—I actually don’t use the special bowl or whisk, so it is. But I don’t mind it. Sometimes I even just shake it up in my travel mug and it still tastes good to me.
“very much a green tea” from an oolong? hm…
Yeah—it says it’s “green oolong”. That’s why it tastes soo green!
And kind of flowery too. A very “fresh” tea! It’s like green tea with a lump of sugar and a bit of jasmine!
OH YUM!
I have got to get this sampler pack.
Yes, you have to get it! I think it’s so worth it and the woven box is perfect for storing samples! Don’t forget the code “steepster” for free shipping