My first tasting note :)
I had this tea hot at a restaurant over the summer and loved it so much that I simply had to find the store and buy some. I wanted to reserve the tasting note until I had a chance to really enjoy the tea at home though.
Last night I decided to try making an iced version, after seeing other steepsterites say that it tastes better cold. So I brewed 4 cups of water (32oz) up hot at 160 degrees (closest thing I had to recommended temperature), let it steep with two of the tea bags for 3 minutes, let it cool, then poured it in a pitcher with ice and stuck it in the fridge overnight.
As an Iced tea the green tea flavor is dominant in my opinion, but I love subtle green teas so that isn’t a problem for me. During the actual sip I noticed the green tea first, then a slight sakura/cherry note. The cherry flavor came out more in the aftertaste than the actual sip. Oddly enough in my second sip the cherry flavor came first, then the green tea, and then a subtle note of sakura at the end. I noticed that after drinking my mouth had a bit of a dry feeling, which wasn’t bad, just very interesting. No bitterness though!
After I had made my batch of Iced Tea I also decided to try resteeping the teabags to drink hot. I was a little worried because they smelled really bitter, but I thought I’d try it anyway. I used the same parameters (but less water) and it still wasn’t bitter! woohoo!!! I didn’t notice much of a difference in flavor from the first and second steep. All in all I’m glad I purchased it, I like the green base, and the hints of sakura and cherry are intriguing.
