Tsugaru Green (Apple Green Tea)

Another apple tea that is absolutely delicious!

It seems like Lupicia is kind of a hit or miss for me (although the misses are never truly bad and the hits are usually SUPER hits) but this one I am definitely enjoying. I am not sure if this is better than Nina’s Marie Antoinette or not… I wish I had more of MA in order to compare but the little sample I had I drank ages ago.

So, yeah, I guess Tsugaru is not just any apple but a special Japanese apple, probably slightly tarter than an ol’ granny smith (or maybe not, the google search came up with the information that it is “a cross between a Gold Delicious and Orange Pippin”). But I really don’t know. All I can say is that the tea is damn refreshing, tasty and smells super appley. I mean, really, it is an apple-crazy tea. It might not be an instant re-stock when I am out of it, but I will definitely want to have it on hand from time to time.

I’m getting a nice balance of green tea to apple with this one. It is not quite as sweet or apple-y as Big Apple from DAVIDs, but it is still good. I bet a drop of maple to sweeten instead of the raw cane sugar I use would bridge that gap. I might look at cold steeping the rest. I’d like to see if that pulls out more juicy apple.

Thanks to Dexter for sending me this one. I do love apple teas.

As the converse of “cold brew things I wouldn’t normally cold brew”, I steeped this one hot for the first time today. The aroma was very much like warm apple cider, so I was concerned that the tea was going to be overly sweet. But this wasn’t the case, and it came out as a light, smooth green tea with a touch of apple flavor. As a simple, straightforward fruity tea it’s pretty good with a meal.

Mother is making me drink the rest of this tea so I have this and one more sachet to go!
Seriously. Whenever I’m home, my job is to drink all of my mother’s old teas so she can go out and buy more.

This tea legit smells like nice sweet green apples! Like almost as sweet as those caramel apple lollipops I’d always get a ton of during Halloween. It’s a lovely green tea, with a lovely apple flavour :)
I feel like because this tea is fairly old, its flavour isn’t that good. Aww what a shame; this is one of my favourites! It had a nice bright apple-y flavour when I had it last year, but it’s a bit musky now. No more sweet candy apple taste, but a stale apple pie?

I’ll probably throw the last sachet of this into a cold-brew to drink in the morning :)

I do like free samples, good thing one comes with Lupicia’s newsletter. This one had a crisp green apple taste but not too strong. My dad really seemed to like it, even asking for the info on it and reading the newsletter.

sample bag from last visit to Lupicia. Evening cuppa a few nights ago

I forgot how good this is. Unlike other fruit flavored green teas, this tea doesn’t insult your intelligence by claiming to taste of some specific fruit, then presenting some generic fruit aroma. If brewed properly (about 195-200deg, maybe two minutes max. I’ve noticed with this one the lower temp is really what matters), this is like having a fresh green apple burst open in your teacup. When brewed improperly, it’s like an alfalfa field. Also unlike other fruit-flavored green teas, it is just as good when hot as it is iced. Cold is when you can really taste that its good quality tea base, it gets the round, thicker mouthfeel of the best teas. One of lupicia’s best teas across the board.

Usually I don’t like flavored green teas, but I have been very happy with what Lupicia has available. This Tsugaru Green tea has just the right aroma and flavor of apples from the Tsugaru region of Aomori, Japan. The green tea base is not bitter nor bland, neither does it overwhelm the fruit. The flavor is slightly tart but not overwhelmingly so. I like it a lot.

Reminds me of those green apple gummy candies.

I received 3 Lupicia teas as a gift set and have been pleasantly surprised by them! The Tsugaru Green tea was included and I very much enjoy the flavor. The apple taste is subtle and light, mellow, just slightly fruity and I admit it smells stronger then it tastes. I have only tried it hot so far but I can imagine that this will make a lovely iced tea too! An excellent summer tea!

I would have preferred a non-bancha base for this tea.