Lupicia’s Tochiotome vs. Kusmi’s Strawberry Green
Strawberry Greens! I could have sworn I had a third strawberry green tea in my cupboard, but maybe I had passed it on. Oh well! Both teas were steeped at 175 for 2 minutes.
Lupicia’s Tochiotome
The first sip was very light, almost not there. A few sips in and I get the strawberry, mostly in arouma and aftertaste. There is a little bit of green nipping at the sides of my tongue. It has a softnes at the start of the sip. It is smooth and round and almost creamy without the cream. The start and finish of the sip couldn’t be more different! I can pick out the gummi candy scent again on this one.
Adding cream… It seems to flatten the tea until the aftersip. I made note of a canned catfood taste last time I had this tea and I now wish I hadn’t reread my review and had that idea fresh in my head because I’m picking up on that a little mid sip. It is this light weird hint of it before the strawberry picks up at the end of the sip. Once I’m past the middle of this sip, it is great.
Kusmi’s Strawberry Green
Dry, the scent is overpowering! Almost candy like in it’s intensity. I can pick up the strawberry at the beginning of the sip. There is a little green on the sides of my tongue for this tea as well. I got a strange tingle at the back of my throat, which made me cough briefly… strange. The end of the sip and aftertaste are pretty smooth too. The entire sip is pretty consistent aside from a bit of green in the middle.
Adding cream…. the strawberry is muted. Might be nice with a little sugar to pick it back up. It really isn’t impressing me at the moment. The sip again is even in flavor with no changes. It seems a little more dull in flavor than it’s rival.
Conclusion
Both teas smell fantastic dry, but seem to loose a bit of that magic once steeped. Lupicia’s tea seems to have more depth with the taste changing as you go, but Kusmi’s doesn’t have the weird mid sip taste that the other does. I think I would like a cold steeped round two of these teas to determine my favorite.
I kind of liked the Lupicia one!
I don’t hate it, I just don’t know what to fully think about it. :)
I’ve never tried the Kusmi one. I bet Gurman’s could do a great strawberry green!