Ito En

A review of Golden Oolong (unsweetened) Tea by Ito En

After another long walk, I am very thirsty and decided to have some Oolong iced tea. I took a tall glass and fill it with ice and after shaking the tea from the bottle slightly I pour it into my cup with ice. I notice that the tea’s color is a golden glow; similarly to the packaging.

As I taste this tea, it makes me think of cantaloupe and I am not sure why. I continue to sip this tea and read the bottles’ label: The tea leaves used for this Golden Oolong are flowery, fragrant Huan Jin guei “Golden Cinnamon”, and hearty and ripe Tie guan yin “Iron Goddess”. Oolong tea is semi oxidized, making it unique from green and black teas. Enjoy its robust and clean taste.

I am happy that I purchased this tea at the Japonaise Café when I last visited them. I am sorry that I did not purchase the Jasmine Tea that they had as well. Anyhow, I have sampled two teas by Ito En and they have both been very good teas.

Silky.
Smooth.
Vibrant.
Fresh.
Vegetal.
Invigorating.
Energizing.

Man, I sure do love me some Japanese green tea.

A review of Oi Ocha Japan’s #1 Green Tea by Ito En

I am having a cup of this tea after having taken a long walk. I was very thirsty and instead of fixing a hot cup of tea, I opted for a nice cup of this iced tea by Ito En.

Tea’s color is a golden yellow, like a medium light beer color. And upon first sip of this tea I am met with a roasted flavoring, like that of twig tea. So making for a smoky aroma if there were to be any if cooked.

I like the taste of this tea chilled, it is a lively and refreshing taste with mild drying effect. In all, it was a very good cup of chilled/iced tea.

This one is growing on me quite a bit. I need to learn a little more patience in deciding whether or not I “like” a tea, because they almost always end up growing on me once I familiarize myself with the flavors. Smooth green tea flavor with the comforting scent of rice. This tea also has a very pleasant and unexplainable bittersweet nature to it, it starts out with a bitter and slightly astringent bite that turns into a sweet and tangy sensation. With further contemplation I’m realizing that this tea is more complex than I realized.

On another note, I’ve just made my first Mandala tea order and I’m very excited. I got a ripe pu-erh mini-tuocha variety pack, 125 gram Xiaguan FT Flame 2007 raw pu-erh and an ounce of their 2008 silver needle cake. :)

This is my very first Darjeeling, hooray! It’s good to know that it’s organic, fair trade AND produced on a biodynamic estate as well. The dry leaf smells like autumn leaves with a little bit of a fruity scent, overall the smell is reminiscent of a darker oolong. As for the flavor, there’s definitely a little bit of a roasty flavor but the flavor is predominantly fruity, specifically grape. On top of this, there is a little bit of a pleasant astringency. This is a second flush tea, so I’m sure there are better Darjeelings out there but my first impression of Darjeelings is a positive one, because this stuff is GOOOD. This would without a doubt make a fantastic cold-brewed iced tea.

I was about to eat dinner, when my family gave this tea to me. I’ve never heard of the brand before, and have only had Oolong teas served hot. At first, I was unsure, but showed my gratitude. And that gratitude was well merited!

The color of this Oolong reminded me of the Assam Golden Tips from Harney & Sons. I expected to taste something a bit strong. In stead, I got a very nice, honey note, along with a good floral flavor.

To think that I would actually be this appreciative of an iced Oolong is quite strange to me. In stead of taking on fringe qualities, as do green teas when iced, this tea tasted quite well this way. I’ll have to look for this tea when I go shopping, to quench my thirst during the hot summer days.

I was over all pleased with this tea, although I was not sure what the quality of the leaves looked like, which slightly bothered me. However, this was a nice surprise gift.

I went on a bit of an Ito En shopping spree at Wegman’s today and got quite a few of their more spendy teas (this one, Uji Kabuse, Silver Needle, and a Darjeeling). This one sounded interesting to me because it’s pan-fired which is unusual for a Japanese green.

The dry leaf is slightly curled as opposed to the flat needle shape of most Japanese greens, but the deep green color is as one would expect from a Japanese green. The scent of the dry leaf is intense BUTTER (oh yeah!). As for the flavor, it’s very good. Silky and a bit brothy as I expected it would be, with a pleasant bittersweet nature and a definite hint of citrus like the description says. Great stuff.

I’m liking this one a little better tonight, I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for it last night. Smooth Chinese green tea flavor with that sweet rice flavor accompanying it, not bad. I’ll bump the rating up a little bit.

I’m in need of some new teas, is anybody feeling generous and willing to send me some samples? ;)

Drinking this as a bit of a celebration cup, I just got my scores back for the SAT’s and I scored in the 86th percentile. I’m so happy and relieved and the deep and refreshing vegetal flavor and caffeine kick of this tea are making for a very happy me.

I was surprised to see that Ito En also carries some Chinese, Indian and other teas besides just Japanese green tea. I thought this sounded interesting so I took the plunge and bought some. Smelling the dry tuocha, it reminded me of the smell of Verdant’s Cornfields Shu Tuocha which I absolutely LOVE. So I brewed up the tea, let it cool a little bit and started sipping. I’ve gotta say that I was a bit bored by this tea. I’m sure there are other people who would enjoy it because it did seem to be good quality, I’m just not sure I’m a big fan of sheng pu-erh. It tasted like a typical mellow Chinese green tea with a little bit of a salty taste to it along with the flavor of rice cakes and a little sweetness. Now that may sound good on paper, but to me it was just “meh”. Like I said, this is a quality tea and I’m sure that other people would enjoy it, it just seems a little boring to me. It’s the oatmeal of the tea world.

I bought this and four other Japanese greens from Ito En recently and this is the one I keep reaching for because it’s just so much better than the rest, it’s not even fair. Light and fresh with a subtle creaminess, bright citrus notes and a little bit of sweetness. This is a vibrant, juicy tea that induces feelings of calmness and joy. That’s just what I need right now too, because I’m currently in the midst of withdrawal from a severe nicotine dependence that I finally decided it was time to end. I’m trying to implement a lot of positive changes in my life right now, and my beloved camellia sinensis will help me every step of the way.

Man, I just love Japanese green tea. It can transport me to many different places in my mind. Through the sense of sight, its rich, deep green colored leaves evoke images of sprawling green forests untouched by the modern world and brimming with exotic wildlife and rich cultural history. Through the sense of smell, it brings me to Japanese oceanic shorelines. And through the sense of taste, I get flashbacks to buttered vegetables and Japanese sushi bars. Rich, deep and divine…you’ve just gotta love a good Japanese green.

This one has been a long time coming, I’ve missed Japanese green teas dearly. From what I’ve read, this is sort of in between a sencha and a gyokuro because it’s shade-grown for a shorter period of time than gyokuro. It’s light and of course vegetal, with notes of citrus, cream and a little bit of sweetness. Delicious.

Backlog from yesterday…I happened to see these in the store here in NC (I love Harris Teeter!) so I thought I’d pick up a bottle. I think it’s fantastic! The perfect lunch/afternoon iced tea on a hot Summer day. I found it to be cool, crisp, and only have a slight veggie flavor to it. I’ll be picking up more of this when we head home!

The other day I bought a few different loose teas from unidentified brands in bulk at Wegman’s, and this is one of the teas that I know to be Ito En. The citrus smell is there in the dry leaf but is very light, it’s more of a subtle hay like smell with hints of citrus. Upon tasting, this tea is different than what I am used to in a sencha in that it doesn’t really have that vegetal flavor, it’s just a pure buttery flavor with light citrus undertones and it makes for a very tasty cup.

No notes yet.

Down to one bottle.

I’m basicially alternating between buying a case of this, and a case of Honest Tea’s Honey Green on Amazon every month or so. The oi ocha goes less quickly (hubs discovered he likes the Honest Green too, but not this). I like this when I want something that is crisp, refreshing, unsweetened, and “healthy” tasting. (It has 100% DV of Vitamin C!)

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I love the very oolong-y flavor of this iced tea! While in DC at school I would pick up a bottle about twice a week, but now that I am back in chicago I haven’t found a local vender that has it in stock. I can always get the leaves and make my own, but if anyone has any tips where I could pick up a few bottles near Oak Park, IL or the north shore of chicago I would definatly make the trip!

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I’ve heard Ito En being called the “Lipton of Japanese tea”, meaning that the quality is very low. But I saw some of this at a store, liked the aroma coming from the leaves, and decided to sample it. It was much better than I expected. It was more lightly flavored than senchas I am accustomed to, but was still very satisfying. Less buttery than other senchas I’ve had, but a little bit more sweet and vegetal. It was very good.