I know the tea says to steep with boiling water, but I just can’t steep a green in boiling water. I can’t. I did 190. That’s as high as I could go.
Anyway, this tea is yet another tea past its “best by” date. Oops. So that might play some part in why the scent and flavoring seemed kind of light. It smells light oranges, yes, but you really have to give it a good sniff to smell it. And as the tea cools, I can smell my hand lotion more than the tea. (My lotion is, ironically, unscented).
Taste is only a little different. There is a not-quite-bitterness to it that makes me think “SEE! This is why I don’t steep greens in too-hot water!” but then I revisit and think “Oh, wait… that’s not bitter from steep, that tastes like orange peels.” So the flavor is stronger than the smell… but not as easily identified.
Drinking this, I remember why this one got past its “best by” date. The sencha got there because I just wasn’t in a sencha mood for a bit. This one got there because I just don’t like it that much.
In its defense, though – hubby really likes this tea, giving it 4 out of 5 stars. He says it has “a good flavor to it with an odd combination of smooth and rough”, adding that he could easily drink a lot of it and thinks it would be awesome iced.
So there you go.
