Cloudwater Tea

This is the darkest white tea leaf I have ever seen. A mix of dark and milk chocolate browns. It says to steep for 15 minutes. Holy crap. It’s great at one minute with high floral notes, roses and gardenias. The wet leaf reminds me of the scent of a congou, woody and bread pudding notes. I don’t know if I’m going to make it to 15 minutes. But I will set Alexa and pace circles around the table trying not to pour a little sip.

15 minutes: No astringency. A sweetness like cane sugar, a very fluffy bread pudding. Slight woodsy notes. Very slight barnyard. A smooth mouthfeel and honey aftertaste.

This is not really like any of the other more bold & bassy Assams I’ve had, which makes sense since it was grown in Hawaii, a completely different terroir than what I’ve ever had. I’m sure there is a lot of volcanic rock in the soil, right?

The first couple of sips seemed a bit thin to me, but then the flavor began to build into a sweet honey like taste, rich & satisfying. I can see the comparison to Taiwanese Assams, but this is more honey & less fruit. There’s also a nice thick mouthfeel, almost like some of the chinese teas I love.

Thank you TastyBrew for sharing this in our BBBBox!!

Love. this. Thank you tastybrew for picking some of this up while wandering the island. I seriously want to go to hawaii some day but this is a bit of a consolation prize ;) I am enjoying this one a ton! I managed to get a couple steeps out of this as well and it continues to be a delicious cup of sweet delicious assam. It’s not like taiwanese assams beyond not being malty :) I really just love this. i dunno what else to say hahaha

When I first got to Kauai, I googled ‘Kauai tea’ to see if there were any interesting tea shops I should visit. There was nothing! But there was a website for Cloudwater Tea and the teas sounded really good. I called to see if they sold their teas in any local shops and she said, no, but we could come to the farm and pick some up. I got off the phone and told my family that my one activity I wanted to do on this trip was visit this farm. I had never been to a tea farm before.

We drove up there and headed into the mountains and saw the most gorgeous estates and farms on the way. When we arrived, we were greeted by about 30 chickens. Michelle and her husband introduced themselves and I introduced my group (the Bean, the little man, the teenager, my husband, and my parents – we were a big crew!) Michelle, the tea grower, immediately started walking me all over the property showing different plants and explaining all about the challenges of getting the tea plants to Hawaii as well as growing them. It was awesome. Their property is pretty much as amazing as it gets. No words to describe its beauty. Plus her husband is an architect so the house and off buildings are equally amazing.

We went and sat on the porch and enjoyed some tea she had made in preparation of our arrival. She talked about the various steps she takes once the tea is picked to make each variety (white, green, wulong, and black). We had some of her white tea (the best white tea I’ve had – almost tastes like a black) and this Assamica.

This is a smooth Assam with fruity notes and no bitterness at all. Similar to some of the Taiwanese varieties but a little less sweet. It’s got a full mouth flavor and is an easy to drink straight, but also tasty with just a touch of milk and honey (I made it that way just to try it). It resteeps a few time and has some of the largest leaves I’ve ever seen.

The tea and the whole experience was pretty awesome. I thought I was just popping in to buy some tea, I had no idea we’d get treated to such a nice afternoon (including a bamboo sword fight between Michelle and my little man)!

(And BBB ladies, I got enough to share a few cups with you!)

Roasted honey taste, like the color of bronze mixed with spring green. Deep and smooth, like late afternoon in the tropics.