I am going to refrain from adding a number rating to this tea on this note. As I get into this description, you will understand why.
I was visiting family down in Arizona and, while waiting for a shop to open, decided to pop into a coffee shop that advertised fine tea on their sign. I found the tea selection and it was all Two Leaves and a Bud. I was pretty excited because the boxes provided some good information about each tea and it was clear the company knew what they were talking about (and doing). After some deliberation, I decided to give the Tamayokucha a try.
As they were getting the tea ready, I asked them what they knew about the company (since it was new to me). The shop owner looked at me with a blank expression and just informed me, with a question in her voice, that it was the tea company they liked the flavor of best of the options they tried. They didn’t know anything about the company or their tea. But that’s okay. I wouldn’t expect them to know about every brand they carry, but it was a little off-putting the way they reacted to the question.
After a minute, I was handing a burning hot take away cup. Seriously. Even with a sleeve on it, my hands were burning. I also wanted to take the tea bag out early with how hot the water was. I was pleased to see that the bag was a silk pyramid bag with plenty of space for the leaves to expand. I was not pleased to see that the entire bag, string, label and all, were flat at the bottom of the cup. I had to find a way to fish it out and ended up burning myself in the process with how hot the water was.
I had to sit for 5 full minutes without touching it for it to sort of be cool enough to sip. It was extremely disappointing. The tea didn’t taste…. like tea. It was almost buttery and left a weird after taste.
From reading this tale, it’s pretty freaking clear that there were issues with how the tea was prepared and served. Not to mention the fact that it was probably relatively old and may have been a little stale by the time I ordered it.
So this is something I’d like to try again in the future. Perhaps order samples of the different teas the company has to offer and go from there!
