24 Tasting Notes
Any time I pop by Wegman’s, even for “just a few snacks”, I can’t help but drop through the loose leaf tea aisle…especially when visiting with my parents! The Wegman’s nearest to their house is stocked with 3-4 times the tea of mine (my guess is due to the large Asian population there?).
Anyway, on my most recent trip, I stocked up on some delicious Blueberry Green, added a little Earl Grey to my collection (as I pretty often crave it in the mornings and evenings now)…and of course, couldn’t resist the new seasonal teas they had out. I thought it was kind of odd that they’d just now offer a tropical flavor when summer is at its tail end, but had no complaints and decided to give Tropical Black a try! A little over 50 cents got me enough tea for 2-3 small steepings in my yixing, and I left pleased.
The dry leaves smell tantalizing; not so much ‘tropical’, but very fruity with a soft citrus scent, underlined with the earthy smell of the black tea. 3 minutes at just-below-boiling water seemed to make the perfect brew, and whereas the fruit was the dominating scent of the dry and wet leaves, the taste took a backseat once brewed. The black tea is slightly acidic (but not unpleasantly), and the fruit is the second flavor detected that leaves behind a trace of tanginess. This would probably be a great tea to serve iced in the summer, or made as sun tea! It’s one of those that I don’t mind taking forever to drink, as its profile seems to change throughout the cooling process.
Overall, I’d consider this as a repeat buy, but probably not in large quantities unless I was making iced tea. It’s a nice, light-hearted treat when taking a break from the (sometimes) seriousness of high quality tea.
Preparation
I was quite surprised by this tea! I wasn’t expecting much for a Wegman’s brand loose leaf that involved matcha, but this is one I always keep stocked on my shelf along with some more top shelf teas.
Any time I remove the lid, I HAVE to take a big whiff. The smell is quite deep and creamy, and not at all ‘dry’, with lots of vegetal fragrance to go along. While it’s not a ‘true’ match experience, I absolutely love having the powder mixed in. The result is a wonderful ‘any time of day’ tea that has the lovely grassy taste that just barely comes in second to the creamy, substantial matcha.
I had some genmaimatcha from Wegman’s also laying around, and tried experimenting with blending the two – with fantastic results! So, admittedly, my jar of Sencha/Matcha has been combined with its rice-inclusive sibling. Overall, just great for the price!
Chocolate, chamomile, mint, and Laoshan black? Sounded to me like it couldn’t get any better. I threw in a sample (because “why not?”) during my latest Verdant order, and it henceforth went in my little container of Verdant samples to try, awaiting an empty jar to hold the remainder.
Being such a unique blend, it was the first sample to go in a jar. I had to force myself to conquer my nerves about it and give myself a reason to try it! And there it sat in that jar, for months along with my Yunnan Jasmine White. Finally, I had another order coming in, and I was going to need the spare jar; the time had come.
I brewed it with care (as I tend to do moreso with the Verdant teas), and anxiously awaited a taste from my yixing. I kept lifting the lid to let the warm scent hit me, and whereas the dry leaves smelled of little more than mint, I could now detect the chamomile coming through nicely.
I poured my first taste into my handmade clay cup, and couldn’t resist taking a sip immediately. And then, disappointment hit me. As I later described to a friend: “It’s like…70% mint, 20% chamomile, 5% unimpressive black tea, 5% hot water.” Take note that there’s no mention of chocolate in that sentence. I’ve given the remaining sample to her, and in hindsight, I probably should have tried a second or third steeping of the same leaves to see if other flavors won back my favor.
I’m really not much of a jasmine tea lover, so that probably influences my review. This is certainly the best white jasmine I’ve been able to experience, and can see why other people would adore it. However, the jasmine just leaves behind an acidic aftertaste that really turns me away from it. This tea sat in one of my jars for months without being touched after the first steeping. I wish I could like it!
Once upon a time, I thought cheap, generic tea bags were good stuff. Then, I began dabbling in the art of loose leaf, by way of my local Wegman’s. The few selections there became my new tea heaven, and couldn’t imagine much better! After making my way into high-quality loose leaf, there are only a select few teas that I still drive all the way there to enjoy. The Masala Chai is one of them.
After I was introduced to better tea, I came back to the Masala expecting disappointment…but had none. I have bought more expensive, well-known chai that seems very underwhelming compared to this. I consider it a perfectly balanced chai, the black tea base being slightly masked by the VERY potent spices. This tea has a real kick to it, and is just divine when mixed with a little sweetened condensed milk, or made as a latte. I truly miss having this tea every day I’m without it.
Being someone who absolutely loves apple pie, chai, and rooibos, I was really excited to find this on a recent trip to a new Wegman’s.
The tea tasted mostly of rooibos with some cinnamon dashed in, and that’s about all there really was to say about it. Very underwhelming.
