Radiance Tea

good taste

Nice tea

I haven’t had any green tea in a while and this is surely a strong one to return to. The vegetal nature of it is Intense. Makes me think of the skin of zucchini in it’s strength and bitterness.

As it cools I’m able to get more out of the flavor. It has a sweetness around the back of the tongue and throat.

Very pleasant cup.

A nice light tea. Definitely not my go to tea but a good break from stronger black teas.

In my quest to gain some control over my tea stash, I had forgotten that I hadn’t yet tried this tea from my Perfect Pairs box from Steepster Select!

This is a surprising tea. Before even opening the pouch, the name suggests to me a white tea rather than a green. And after opening the pouch, I see beautiful leaves that look like a very high quality Bai Mu Dan, complete with silvery fuzz on the leaves. So, I expected this to be more white tea tasting but it definitely has a green tea quality to it. This is not as delicate as a typical Bai Mu Dan, but it is more delicate than say … a Pi Lo Chun.

It is sweet and has a lovely fruit-like quality to it: peachy tones. Like a Bai Mu Dan, it doesn’t have a strong grassy overtone, but it doesn’t have that hay-like character that I sometimes detect with a Bai Mu Dan.

A LOVELY green tea. Really glad I got to try this one.

sweet,floral,peachy..these are the words that followed as I smelled the wet leaf. Really nice! Creamy when sipping it, it reminds me of a Bai Mu Dan…:)

Floral notes to this soothing tea. I did a steep and dump to make it decaffeinated and it was perfect right before bed.

I made a date with my three year old and we went to the Radiance tea house. She sipped diluted egyptian chamomile while I slurped away on my White Peony.

Loved it! Am sure the experience added to the flavor. But the tea was fresh with a cucumber sweetness and felt very clean in the mouth.

Went down very smoothly. Will go and try their silver needle next :)

No notes yet.

Steep Information: Prepared as part of the Steepster meetup and tea tasting

Tasting Notes:
From China, Guangzhou, Phoenix mountain
Told to expect roasty, passion fruit flavor and sweetness
A fussy tea

Smell: Sweet
Liquor: Golden yellow-brown
Taste: Fruity, citrus
After-taste: astringent, bitter

Second Steep: slightly roasty, sweet

Sorry my notes are so short and cryptic but it was a whirlwind tasting of so much information and flavor!

Rating: I am intentionally not rating these teas as I didn’t really have a chance to sit there and sip on them and think whether I would by them again, like to play with them more, although none were awful (1 leaf) or fabulous (4 leaves)

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/05/radiance-tea-house-and-books-loose-leaf_07.html

Steep Information: Prepared as part of the Steepster meetup and tea tasting

This was a 2009 dragon well tea
The older the dragon well the more yellow the liquor
2010 would appear mostly clear as it would be so fresh and new

The tea appeared cloudy with particulate
It smelled nutty, it has a light body, The flavor was sweet

The tea should always have a bud and one to two leaves

To me the leaves appeared as if rolled into little toothpicks

The steeped leaves should always appear very green

Sorry my notes are so short and cryptic but it was a whirlwind tasting of so much information and flavor!

I am intentionally not rating these teas as I didn’t really have a chance to sit there and sip on them and think whether I would by them again, like to play with them more, although none were awful (1 leaf) or fabulous (4 leaves)

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/05/radiance-tea-house-and-books-loose-leaf_05.html

Traveling Tea Box Tea!!!

I am feeling a little adventurous today so I thought I would try this one. There are no steeping directions on the package, so I did a little poking around and decided on a low temperature and short-ish steep.

The tea liquor smells exactly like asparagus! It tastes like asparagus too. Hmm. It’s not really doing it for me to tell you the truth. I’m more of a floral/fruit rather than a vegetal kinda gal. Sip sip sip….grimace grimace grimace! OK. I have determined that I think it’s nasty. I am throwing it down the sink!!!!

If anyone reading this loves vegetal greens and would like to take the remaining tea leaves off my hands (almost an ounce) I will be happy to mail it to you. PM me with your address :)

EDIT: I have a taker!!!!! Thank you!

This tea was fantastically fragrant. Reminded me of teas that I’ve had when I traveled to Taiwan and Hong Kong. Light, but powerful taste. Would definitely recommend this!

No notes yet.

Steep Information:
Prepared at Radiance Tea House and Books while I had lunch.
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Smell: green tea, earthy, garden
Flavor: green tea, smooth, thick texture
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: vegetal, grassy, sweet
Liquor: dark cloudy opaque emerald green

It was neat to see the froth on it, and to drink from a large bowl instead of a cup. It was a thicker green tea to me, nothing amazing or special. It had no bitterness and was a sweeter green tea drink. Although I enjoy matcha ice cream and other things I don’t think I’ll go out of my way to have matcha tea again.

Post-Steep Additives: none

Resteep: you can’t resteep matcha as it is made from ground leaves.

Finished this off today, making room for more tea.
it id much better when it has sweetener, and it smells more apple than tastes, the taste is a fine black tea but nothing i really want to buy again (it didn’t wow me)

Amount: 2 scoops tea, 2 cups water then 3 scoops which was better
Time: a little over 2 minutes

Served: Hot
Smell: apple, cinnamon, apple pie deliciousness
Flavor: smooth, cinnamon, medium bodied
Aftertaste: none

Sadly it was made with microwaved water, we were visiting MilitiaJim’s parents and had little in the way of tea making supplies

better with some honey
sweeter and bolder flavor

It’s good to be back in New York, albeit for only a few days. Sitting here at Radiance Tea House and this Gyokuro is delish, yo. The wet leaves smell amazing, and the liqueur is a bright lime green.

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Very light and subtle. I’ve been drinking some heavier, earthier green teas today, so this works well to offer a clean tone after those earlier teas. The white tea has a decent flavor, pretty straightforward.

No notes yet.

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