Tokio

I attempted a pitcher of this iced, much like I did with Paradise Green (also from Lupicia) the other day. This was also very good – but not as good as Paradise Green, which I also have rated slightly higher.

So, as opposed to A.C. Perch’s White Temple, which went from good to divine after a cold steep, Lupicia’s greens seem to remain fairly stable, quality wise. Which is reasonable, considering how much they depend on their exquisite bases.

So no, this pitcher won’t last long.

This one is a free tea bag that arrived in the mail today with my monthly Lupicia newsletter. Since my hockey game just started, I’ll be up for a few hours so I think I’m okay to have another tea. I really should find a team on the East coast or something so I’m not always staying up for West coast games.

Okay, Lupicia says to do this with boiling water… but I can’t. It’s a green! I’m physically incapable. Plus, the zojirushi is at 175. I will listen to their 2min steep time recommendation, however. Out of curiosity (and because of a conversation between Ricky and Cofftea yesterday I think?), I decided to weight the tea bag. Lupicia says they should weight 3g…. and they are wrong! It is 3.4g. I’m sure the .4 comes from the bag bit though. Good job Lupicia! I know Lupicia is pretty leaf intensive and usually recommends a 4oz cup, but I’m doing 6oz because I want to. And I can. So there.

The smell of this tea bag is somewhat shocking. It’s strong and very berry-y. It’s like a mix of raspberry and strawberry in candy form. Actually, I have a Trident strawberry + citrus gum that this reminds me of the more I sniff it. And I’m sniffing it a lot because it’s strong and surprising but yummy. There is a little hint of green tea underneath it but the smell is 95% berry. Brewed up, the tea still smells very berry-y but it isn’t as intense as the dry and the green tea smell bumps up to maybe 25 or 30% of the smell.

Sipping is… Hmm. I’m not really sure. It tastes a lot like it smells. And it reminds me of my strawberry + citrus gum though not as powerful. I had to take the cup in to have the husband try it (I had already made him smell the package). He said it reminded him of the bag of mixed frozen fruit we have. I mentioned strawberry and he sipped then said that he totally got that and said at first he thought melon, upon which I sipped and totally got cantaloupe. I don’t taste any of the raspberry that I smelled initially. Sipping it now, it’s very much a strawberry cantaloupe mix with a hint of non-sweet green tea to give it support.

This is a very summery tea for me. Very fresh and happy to the point that I can almost feel the summer breeze blowing my hair around. I really should have had it in my strawberry tea cups for it to be just right. I’m not sure how often I would crave this tea because it is very fruity – almost like it should be a mild herbal. Mild – not Jolly Rancher tasting. But it’s a very good fruity tea. I like it. And happy that there is a Lupicia strawberry tasting tea that doesn’t make me think of Nestle Quik!

GOAL! Go Sexton! Woo!

I love the aroma of the dry leaf. It is very sweet… and reminds me of a candy shop. Perhaps not necessarily the smell you want to experience when you open a package of tea, BUT my sweet tooth and I don’t mind! I can see why this tea was chosen to be part of the Flavored Holiday sampler collection from Lupicia.

The flavor is quite yummy. Sweet and fruity but not overly so. I can still taste the fresh, leafy taste of the green tea. I suspect this would be even more delightful as an iced tea…

Sweet – yes
Berry – yes
bubblegum – yes
green tea – yes
candy shop – yes

And that’s just the aroma!

The taste is very strong and you can tell it is a flavored green for sure! The flavor of the flavoring is a sweet-berry-floral taste. I can also taste a little peach flavor. I can’t really tell you what type of berry I’m tasting but it IS berry! This is very nice!

Very flavored tho.

Thanks to LiberTEAs for this one too!

This went to school with me in a travel mug and was way oversteeped and cold by the time I tried it, but it was still good. A little bitter, but fruity and just plain old nice. I wouldn’t turn this down.

This is delicious! I love the citrus, fruity scent and taste to this. The leaves are nice and large in this teabag. This is a great tea for lunch! This is also great for this warm weather. So naturally sweet and refreshing!

It has a very fruity, sugary aroma. It smells amazing!

But I don’t think my tongue was made to drink tea today. It tastes pretty bland, which seems impossible with the way it smells.

I definitely watered it down too much. I think this tea is probably amazing. I need to give it another chance. Although I have noticed a trend with Lupicia that the aroma of their flavored teas is often much stronger than the flavor.

Wow this is fantastic. I smelled some of the recent featured Green Teas at Lupicia and this one was very striking. The fruity flavour goes very nicely with a smooth and chilled out green tea base – it is not strong and overpowering like some green teas can be. This is one of the nicer green teas I’ve had in a while… very awesome. Well done as always, Lupicia! They are always so good with their fruit-flavoured teas. Awesome stuff!

My first impression upon opening the package was, “bubble gum?” Berry, yes, but very sweet and somewhat artificial. But when steeped for a minute, the artificial sweet scent is mellowed out and drinkable, and you taste a bit of the green tea as well. This indeed feels summery, and I wonder how it would taste iced. I wouldn’t mind this, but it’s not on my shopping list either.

I just received a sampler in the mail a few weeks ago and tried it over the weekend. Hot, I found it to be fresh and crisp, a good green tea but not necessarily anything special. Iced though, it is really great! I might have to buy some soon…