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While continuing to clean out my backlog of reviews, I came to this rather unique green tea. I’m pretty certain most of the people who read my reviews will not be familiar with this tea. Honestly, I wasn’t either until I tried it. Indian green teas don’t seem to get much recognition here. This tea comes from Arunachal Pradesh in northern India. Compared to many green teas it has a heavier, smokier, more pungent flavor and a fuller body.

To prepare this tea, I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 165 F water for 2 minutes. I resteeped the leaves two subsequent times for 2 1/2 and 3 minutes respectively. The results of each infusion are chronicled below.

First Infusion: In the glass, the liquor was a pale gold. The color reminded me a little of white tea. I detected strongly pungent, grassy aromas on the nose. In the mouth, notes of freshly cut grass, hay, lemongrass, squash blossom, spinach, tulsi, and corn husk were underscored by traces of fruit, oak, smoke, and minerals.

Second Infusion: The infused liquor was slightly richer in color. It still looked more like a white tea than a traditional green tea to me. The aroma was cleaner and much more mineral-laden. I detected notes of cream, minerals, grass, hay, corn husk, squash blossom, and herbs balanced by more pronounced notes of oak, smoke, and fruit (cherimoya, mango, and guanabana).

Third Infusion: The infused liquor was paler. The aroma was very mild. I picked up fleeting scents of flowers and minerals. In the mouth, I detected mild notes of minerals, oak, smoke, corn husk, and fruit with slightly more pronounced floral, grassy, and hay-like notes.

I was really surprised by how much I liked this tea. I picked it up for very little and wasn’t expecting much, but it really floored me with how good it was. It was nothing like virtually any other green tea I have tried to this point. If you are looking for a different green tea, then you may want to give this one a try. Even if you don’t end up liking it nearly as much as I did, you won’t be out much.

Since I have gone absolutely crazy with Chinese black and green teas for the last week, I haven’t been sleeping well. In order to fend off the jitters, I decided to detox for a few days and picked out a nice range of tisanes to help get me through it. This organic spearmint from the The Tao of Tea was first in the lineup.

I steeped one teaspoon of this in 200 F water for 5 minutes. The infused liquor was a delicate, pale gold. A strong menthol aroma was easy to detect on the nose, but there was something else there too, almost like a mixture of straw and licorice. In the mouth, a strong spearmint taste was present (as one would expect), but there were some other faint flavors too. I thought I detected a little bit of straw, cream, and licorice.

Honestly, while I absolutely adore peppermint tea, I am not a huge fan of spearmint tea. To me, spearmint is too sweet and lacks sufficient character to succeed on its own. Also, the fact that I get a little bit of licorice flavor in the mouth bugs me. I really hate licorice and don’t feel like that flavor should be there. In the end though, I’m going to go easy on this one in terms of numerical rating because I’m not huge on spearmint and I’m not really sure I could pick a good spearmint tea if I tried. At least this one offers a little more in terms of flavor than just spearmint.

So, this is my second experience with an unflavored Vietnamese black tea. The first (Simpson & Vail’s Vietnam Black) didn’t quite do it for me, so I was eager to give another Vietnamese black tea a shot. I’m glad I did. This one is really nice.

This tea comes to us from the province of Ha Giang in northern Vietnam. This part of the country is heavily forested, and Ha Giang is particularly known for its tea forests. To be clear, these really are forests of wild tea trees! This tea is harvested from these trees. I brewed this tea a couple of ways. I tried a range of temperatures and steep times and got pretty consistent results across the board. For the purposes of this review, I will be reviewing my favorite preparation (1 tsp of dry leaf steeped for 5 minutes in 208 F water).

Prior to infusion, the long, twisted leaves produced an aroma of wood, spice, dried cherry, leather, tobacco, smoke, and cocoa. After infusion, the resulting liquor was a dark amber. Robust aromas of dried cherry, brown toast, caramel, molasses, tobacco, leather, wood, smoke, and spice were evident on the nose. In the mouth, I detected intriguing notes of dried cherry, wood, smoke, tobacco, leather, caramel, molasses, chocolate, herbs, cinnamon, nutmeg, malt, and brown toast, as well as a subtle earthiness. The finish was woody, sweet, smoky, and spicy with a slight dryness and astringency.

Again, I quite like this tea. It is not something I would want to have every day, but the rustic, woodsy flavor profile is really pleasant and intriguing. It definitely beats the last Vietnamese black tea I drank. I would have no problem recommending this to fans of quirky, unique black teas.

Here I am finally catching up on my reviews. Yay! This time I bring the Steepster world something just a little bit different. This is a unique Japanese green tea currently offered by the good folks at Simpson & Vail. In terms of aroma and taste, I think it falls somewhere between a gyokuro and a traditional Japanese sencha, as it reminds me of both. It does, however, display a few characteristics that I would not normally associate with either of the aforementioned types of tea.

To brew this tea, I settled on a multi-step Western infusion. For those of you who read my reviews, that should come as no surprise, though I should note that I have been brewing a lot more tea gongfu style lately. Anyway, I brewed this tea at 165 F with an initial steep time of 1 minute. Subsequent infusions were steeped for 1.5 and 2 minutes respectively.

First infusion: The infused liquor was a clear, pale green. I got pronounced aromas of edamame, grass, hay, and oddly enough, radish on the nose. In the mouth, I detected robust notes of edamame, radish, grass, hay, sea salt, kale, chestnut, and perhaps just a touch of walnut. There was also a subtle maltiness and corn husk sweetness that became especially evident on the finish.

Second Infusion: The infused liquor was again a light, pale green. Milder aromas of grass, hay, and vegetables were joined by slight mineral, malt, and nut aromas. In the mouth, slightly milder notes of grass, hay, kale, edamame, nuts, and radish were joined by fleeting impressions of earth, seaweed, spinach, and minerals. The finish displayed a pronounced minerality, as well as a pleasant and unexpected swell of grass, earth, hay, and leaf vegetable notes. I did not really pick up any of the corn husk flavor I found in the first infusion.

Third Infusion: Again, the color of the infused liquor was a pale, clear green. I did not detect a ton of aroma. There were fleeting scents of minerals, malt, grass, hay, seaweed, and corn husk, but I had to really struggle to identify them. In the mouth, I picked up a mixture of grass, kale, and seaweed, as well as more than a touch of minerals, but then something interesting happened. The sweetness returned! Around mid-palate I was hit with delicate flavors of chestnut, malt, and corn husk, that continued through a clipped finish with some grassiness and minerality.

Honestly, I could have probably stopped after the second infusion, but I was just so interested to see what else would happen with this tea that I pressed forward. I had hoped the aromas and flavors would not wash out quite as much after one infusion (like you would expect from a really good gyokuro), but that was not really the case. Still, there was enough going on in the second and third infusions to satisfy me, and because the overall flavor profile of this tea really is so unique and interesting, it is impossible for me to give it a poor review. To me, this tea tastes like a cross between a standard Japanese sencha and strong gyokuro with just a bit of the malty, nutty sweetness that I would typically expect from my beloved dragonwell. In the end, this may not be the best Japanese green tea that I have ever tasted, but I really dig it and would not be embarrassed to recommend it to fans of Japanese green teas.

Before I begin this review, just let me tell all of you that, on a purely personal note, this tea takes me way back. I attended a really strange private middle school in the middle of nowhere in Eastern Kentucky. This really strange middle school required three years of Japanese language and culture coursework as part of its language arts curriculum. Each year a teaching intern would be brought over from Japan to live and teach at this school in this rundown little mountain community. The intern we had during my 7th grade year was really into tea culture, and not only provided me with my first taste of matcha, but also my first ever serious tea experience. Ever since, I have associated any sort of Japanese green tea with this experience, as it was such a formative one for me with regard to my interest in tea.

With that out of the way, let’s move on to the tea at hand. Kokeicha is a variant of matcha originating from Shizuoka. This is a relatively new style of tea, as from what I understand, it only traces its origins back to the middle of the twentieth century. In essence, kokeicha is a formed matcha. It is made from a combination of matcha, water, and rice paste and is formed to generally resemble a twig. Indeed, from a distance, it kind of looks like a really dark kukicha. Kokeicha is not normally one of the more popular Japanese teas in the West, and having never tried it before, I jumped at the opportunity to acquire some at a reasonable price.

For this review, I steeped 1 teaspoon of this tea at 175 F for 2 minutes. Second and third infusions were done at 2 1/2 and 3 minutes respectively-I generally prefer longer lengths of time when I resteep green teas as I prefer a stronger flavor and do not mind a bit of astringency. The results of each infusion will be detailed below.

First infusion: The liquor produced was a delicate, pale greenish yellow. I was careful when pouring the water over this tea and managed to avoid the gritty, dusty look one can get when the kokeicha twigs start to crumble. Subtle aromas of grass, collards, spinach, and seaweed were present on the nose. In the mouth, I picked up delicate notes of lemon, collards, spinach, grass, and seaweed. The finish was big on the spinach, grass, and seaweed flavors, though I also noticed a trace of minerality.

Second Infusion: The second infusion produced a liquor that was darker and greener. It was also somewhat cloudier. I noticed strong grass, seaweed, and leaf vegetable aromas with a touch of saltiness and minerals. In the mouth, I picked up strong grass, seaweed, collard, and spinach notes underscored by sea salt and minerals. The finish played up the sea salt, mineral, and leaf vegetable notes.

Third Infusion: The liquor produced was again more green than yellow and quite murky. On the nose, I detected pronounced mineral, sea salt, spinach, and seaweed aromas. In the mouth, there was a subtle grassiness, but more seaweed, sea salt, spinach, and mineral flavors. The finish was heavy on the mineral and seaweed notes with a touch of spinach, grass, and sea salt.

Overall, I really kind of like this tea. Granted, I have nothing with which to compare it as this is my first experience with kokeicha, but I do like the range of aromas and flavors this tea presents. My research suggests that everything I am picking up in this tea is appropriate, so I suppose this is a solid kokeicha. Still, I think I prefer traditional matcha to this, as in my opinion, it is easier to brew. Truthfully, this kind of falls into a gray area for me, as it delivers the aroma and flavor of matcha in a form that lends itself to multiple infusions, yet does not quite display the depth of aroma and flavor I typically look for in a good traditional matcha. I’m glad I picked this one up because I enjoyed it, but I doubt that it will become a regular in my tea cupboard.

In the realm of green teas, chunmee (also chun mee, chun mei, and zhen mei) needs no introduction. It is one of the most popular and widespread Chinese green teas. It is currently grown in several Chinese provinces, among them Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Anhui. It has been widely available in the United States from a number of sellers for years. So, with all of the above fun facts in mind, it is kind of hard for me to review this tea. I mean, what can I possibly say about a tea of this type that has not been said before?

Simpson & Vail’s Chunmee looks just about like every other tea of this type that I have run across. The dry leaves are dusty and green with a slightly lemony, grainy scent. After a 2 minute infusion at 180 F, the resulting liquor was a rich yellow. On the nose, I detected scents of lemon, hay, straw, char, and grass. In the mouth, I immediately detected notes of char, pak choi, Brussels sprouts, grass, hay, straw, and minerals. Subsequent infusions revealed slightly subtler lemon, char, and vegetal, grassy notes with a more pronounced minerality. At no point did I pick up the plum aftertaste described by the people at Simpson & Vail.

Truthfully, I don’t really know about this one. Chunmee is not something I go out of my way to drink all that often. It’s not bad or anything, it’s just kind of plain, and at this point in my life, I’m just a little too familiar with it. In the end, I guess I can file this specific tea under okay, but boring.

Man, I’m starting to get behind on my tasting notes. I finished the last of this tea prior to going to work this morning, but had jotted down a tasting note like two weeks ago. My new goal is getting caught up on my tasting notes this weekend. It probably won’t happen, but wouldn’t it be nice?

Anyway, I brewed this tea using the two step Western infusion I have been favoring for most non-Japanese green teas lately. The brewing temperature was set at the merchant recommended 180 F. The steep times were 2 and 3 minutes per infusion.

First Infusion: The infused liquor showed a delicate, slightly greenish yellow in the cup. I picked up very mild aromas of grass, hay, corn husk, and fruit. In the mouth, I picked up notes of grass, hay, straw, corn husk, lettuce, fresh bamboo shoots, lychee, lemon, and yellow plum. I also noticed a subtle astringency and minerality on the finish.

Second Infusion: The infused liquor was slightly paler in color with less of a greenish hue. The nose was again very mild. I picked up on fleeting sensations of fruit and flowers, as well as a slight vegetal aroma. In the mouth, I noticed that the notes of lemon, lychee, and yellow plum were joined by nondescript floral notes. The notes of bamboo, straw, and minerals were more pronounced, while the notes of corn husk, grass, hay, and lettuce receded into the background. The finish was mineral-laden, vaguely floral, and somewhat fruity, at least at the start, though I again picked up a slight astringency.

Overall, I would not say that this is a bad green tea, but I definitely would not say that it is great either. It is just kind of pleasantly bland in the sense that it is easy to drink yet no one characteristic clearly stands apart from the others. Again, for what it is, it’s not bad. I would recommend it to people looking for a mild green tea that doesn’t require much analysis.

It has taken me awhile to really get my thoughts together on this one. The first time I had this tea, I thought it was solid, but kind of simple. Every other time I have had it, however, it has just about blown me away. Today, I tried brewing this tea a couple of different ways and it continued to impress me. So, after all of that, there was nothing left for me to do but review it, so here goes.

I brewed this tea using a three step Western infusion. The temperature was set at 175 F. Note that while this temperature may seem too low for brewing an oolong, the merchant recommends it. Furthermore, with this being such a green oolong, keeping the temperature low ensures that the tea doesn’t develop any weird, bitter, and/or cooked flavors. The tea was then steeped in increments of 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

First Infusion: The infused liquor showed a pale greenish gold. Aromas of soybean, lettuce, spinach, honey, cream, and orange blossom were present on the nose. Strong flavors of soybean, lettuce, honey, cream, steamed buns, and orange blossom were underscored by notes of spinach, kale, minerals, and sticky rice. The finish had gorgeous orange blossom, honey, and cream notes with hints of minerality and leaf vegetables.

Second Infusion: The color of the liquor seemed to be pretty much unchanged. Floral, honey, and cream aromas really took center stage on the nose. The palate followed the nose, with robust, expressive notes of honey, orange blossom, and cream. I noticed that the mineral, steamed bun, and sticky rice notes were a little stronger here too. The vegetal notes took a backseat, but were still present enough to round things out a bit. The mineral notes were really apparent on the finish. I also noticed slight hay-like and buttery notes on the finish as well.

Third Infusion: The liquor was lighter in color here and appeared to be more gold. Very delicate aromas of cream, minerals, steamed buns, and sticky rice were noticeable on the nose. In the mouth, I picked up mild notes of kale, spinach, lettuce, and soybean balanced by steamed bun, sticky rice, and mineral notes. There was still a touch of honey and orange blossom, as well as what may have been hints hay and butter in the background. The finish was short, and really emphasized the interplay of cream and minerals.

Truthfully, I was tempted to attempt a fourth infusion of around 9-10 minutes, but decided to stick with my usual three. By the third infusion, the flavors were very mild and were starting to wash out more than a bit, so I stopped there. All in all, I really, really like this oolong. It is unique, very approachable, and to me, displays the best qualities of both a Tieguanyin and a Laoshan green tea. I would recommend this tea very highly to oolong neophytes and aficionados alike.