Lemon Cardamom Chun Mee

When Frank posted about this tea I was so excited, I think I might have been the first person to order it and it arrived today. wheee! This blend was pretty much made for me due to the fact that I LOVE lemon and cardamom and chun mee is pretty awesome too.

The dry leaf smells very aromatic in the bag. There’s lots of lemony citrus fragrance in here as well as a bit of sweetness.

I steeped this up via regular infuser mug method and I love it! It’s very citrusy and ever so slightly tart. You can see chunks of dried lemon peel and cardamom in the mix. The cardamom is subtle but it is definitely present. Chun mee was a good choice for this blend because I think a lighter tea would have been totally overpowered by the other ingredients. There is definitely a bit of palate cleansing astringency and it is strong and assertive. I’ve never been able to strongly pick out the plum flavor people describe in chun mee but I like the flavor of it. I know chun mee is supposed to be slightly sour.

I have found this to be so delightful and refreshing! But you would have to like lots of lemon because this blend is fairly strong in this regard. Frank, I loved this one and no I am not sharing with the rest of you. :-P

Thank you LiberTEAS for this great sample!

This is my first tea from 52teas and I found it quite a treat! This is saying a lot, since I normally do not stray away from straight teas. I’m very pleased with my discoveries here, since this will open up more opportunities of experimentation and increase my tea options (as if I need more options or opportunities concerning my obsession of tea:)

The citrus fragrance is so powerful! You can smell it before you open the plastic sample baggie. I was prepared to embrace the full force of this pleasant smelling lemony Chun Mee, however the pour and cup was much more smoother than it’s fragrance indicated.

I found this tea to produce a very good cup even after multiple steeps (around 4 or 12 cups total) – think: liquid lemon creme cookie :) Also, it provides an excellent palate cleanser if you are having several different teas throughout the day.

After the first 4/5 cups of this hot, I decided to try it chilled as an mid afternoon drink for the family. It was a HUGE hit with the kiddos. I love it when it continues to be a family affair!

Cardamom and lemon is one of my favourite combinations to put in pancakes. A teaspoon of cardamom and a squeeze of lemon juice. Last time I actually had real lemons, so I used the zest and juice of half a lemon. It was gooooood.

So therefore, I have fairly high expectations of this blend. I’m not certain about the green base but on the other hand, I’m always sceptical of anything that isn’t on a black base really. And I also don’t really think that this would work out very well on a black base, if I’m honest. So I’m going to trust that Frank knows what he’s doing here.

I must admit that as usual I forgot to smell the dry leaves. I might as well stop saying it as it should be fairly obvious that I’m having a rather hard time making a habit of doing this first. After steeping, however, the tea seems to be primarily lemon-y with something spicy underneath somewhere. This feels like a good balance to me, having the lemon out in front. Husband sometimes cooks with cardamom pods which are great in the dish where he uses them, but like pepper corns rather strong if accidentally chewed. I can’t immediately pick up anything of the base, but even so I feel a lot more confident about the choice of type. This definitely wouldn’t have worked as well on a black base.

So the aroma being spot on, how about the flavour? Here I’m getting a load of cardamom with the lemon a little more to the background. It’s still a good balance, though. It doesn’t seem too strong and spicy at all and it rather reminds me of pancakes. That pancake black blend that 52teas does; I tried that from the Christmas box last year and wasn’t impressed. THIS one, this is a pancake tea for me, because see first paragraph.

Once it starts cooling and developing a bit, the lemon comes out in spades and it takes on the same characteristics as was found in the aroma. Good. While both the aroma and the inital sip felt very well balanced to me, I do prefer this lemon first one.

Finally something out of the Christmas box that really struck my Happy Button.

I’m really LOVING this. Everything comes together in a very lovely way. The Chun Mee has a bit more astringency than the Chinese Sencha that Frank usually uses for his green tea blends, and I think that it works to this particular blend’s benefit. The lemon is tangy-sweet, with just the right amount of tart. I’m not puckering, it reminds me very much of the kind of tartness I might experience after biting into a lemon bar. You know, those sweet, shortcake-crusted, lemon-custard filled confections that have been sprinkled with powdered sugar? It’s sweet yet tart like that.

The cardamom is nice here too, it has a natural sort of citrus-y tone to it, and offers just a gentle warmth to the cup. It doesn’t taste spicy, but the combination of the astringency and the crisp, lemon zesty taste and the spice of the cardamom seems to impart a sort of peppery tickle on the tongue in the aftertaste. Not strong, but very enjoyable.

This is awesome, I can’t wait to try it iced!

Ugh! Cardamom- how I loathe thee!

I’m going to forgo rating today’s packet from the 12days of tea because my aversion to cardamom would make my rating unfairly lower than it should be. Besides, it says cardamom right in the name, so there’s no risk that I’d accidentally order this tea.

Despite my disdain for cardamom, I decided to still give this tea a try. I’m too curious to pass on any opportunity to try any of 52teas unique blends.

Considering how much I can taste the cardamom in this tea, I’m amazed at how I can drink it without making my bratty yuck face. It has that spicy warming feeling that I usually experience with ginger tea. I like this tea enough to say: if I had to choose a tea with cardamom to drink, this would be the one. But since I can’t see myself ever having to make that choice, I’ll pass on buying this one.

12 Days of Tea #9! And the third tea that I haven’t previously tried! This box is definitely working out better than I thought.

To be honest, I barely drank any of this. My cold is definitely impairing my tasting ability, but I drank a sip and it really tasted mostly like Sun & Cloud Mist. My mom was curious and had a sip as well, and ended up enjoying it enough to finish the whole mug, plus a re-infusion (which she mentioned was a little astringent). My bad on that one. I couldn’t taste the cardamom at all here, and neither could she. I’ll have to try a second cup of it when I’m feeling better. In the meantime, I need to introduce my mom to Sun & Cloud Mist!

I’ve been having an evening of baking…I wanted to enjoy this and then I ended up getting started on my mint cheesecake/brownie pie for Christmas. I still got to drink it although I just wasn’t paying too much attention to it.

When I opened the bag, my guess was lemonade. I hadn’t tried this one before so that was exciting, I hadn’t thought much of it when it first came out.

It was really good, very lemony, with just a hint of sweet spice. Still very much like lemonade but with a twist.

I may have it again tomorrow and then decide if I want a pouch, I enjoyed it a lot.

This tea just isn’t for me. I’m not a big cardamom fan so I guess that’s no surprise?

Also I am WAY TO WORRIED about new things. I had this in my “mild tea” timolino and then I was worried it would contaminate it. So silly. These things are meant to be washed out so you can start again fresh. :P So now I am brewing up my Korean Sejak to cleanse my mouth.

Also this counts as a sipdown because there’s not enough to send to anyone and I am done with it. It’s ok 52Teas: you won’t win them all!

52teas 12 Days of Christmas Sampler 2012 – Day 9

This is another one I missed this year. It certainly is very lemon! The dry leaf aroma alone is super lemony. The brewed tea aroma is…different. I’m guessing that’s the Chun Mee and cardamom coming through.

The taste is rather lacking in my opinion. I get a strange green tea flavor that I assume is the Chun Mee. I’ve never had this type of green tea before so it’s a hard flavor to recognize. There’s also lemon but it’s not a super lemon like in the aroma. It’s much more subtle and blends nicely with the cardamom spice. But it’s not really spicy either. And neither sweet nor bitter. It’s just sort of…bland.

I’ve read reviews where people compare this to Sun and Cloud Mist. Honestly, they’re worlds apart! There’s really nothing similar about them at all in my opinion. Except of course that they both contain lemon. But really, Chun Mee and Yun Wu are two extremely different green teas. I much prefer the latter.

Maybe I needed more leaf, or maybe I needed to let it steep longer. I tried a second steep at 185 degrees for 3 minutes. The resultant cup is unfortunately not much different from the first. I added a bit of Truvia and now it’s a sweet lemony green tea. But it still sits heavy on the tongue and makes my mouth feel stuffed with cotton.

I’m not having an allergic reaction. :P Rather this tea leaves a thick, heavy feeling in the aftertaste. It’s not a clean feeling like I’ve experienced in other green teas, namely Organic Dragon Tip from Butiki Teas. In fact, I think I may go make a cup of that next to cleanse my palate. This is just too heavy and bland for my tastes.

Day nine

Lemon and spice, oh, how I would love to have this around when I’m feeling under the weather. It has all the cleansing feel of lemon water, the fiery warmth of a touch of cardamom, and the tranquil elements of an astringent green. There is a soft cushioned sweetness to this cup. I always forget that cardamom is an excellent sweetener spice. I find all the flavours very balanced here. Somewhat mouth drying but not sour enough to cause noticeable puckering.

What a soothing cup to drink the day after “the apocalypse”, or more realistically, what was supposed to be the darkest day of the year. I just wish I still had my curry from the other day to accompany this drink… Well, even if this wasn’t the tea of the day I would still want my palak paneer. I could eat a wide range of Indian food ALL the time.

This tea (and curry) is definitely not for everyone but for those who do enjoy it it’s the best thing.

I’ve had this a few times in my travel mug but I don’t think I’ve ever done a note for it. The smell is very lemony. It’s very natural lemony smelling though. Tart and sour. The flavor is nice. Natural lemon with a bit of sweetness. I like it. It’s soothing and would make a really nice iced tea.
I always forget about my teas from 52 teas. I push them to the back so I won’t drink them as fast. I’m starting to build up quite the collection.

This tea smells just like lemonade with a warm spiciness added. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this tea, I don’t really know if I like cardamom or not. I know that I do like lemongrass and lemon verbena. The tea smells like a vegetal green tea with a little lemon noticeable. Without sweetener you taste a grassy flavor, followed by a tart, citrusy note. With a little sweetener added everything blends together very nicely into a perfect mix of green tea, light lemon flavors and a slight spiciness. I like that the lemon is too overwhelming, it’s more balanced. I’m happy to say that I like this tea more than I thought I would!

-Dry blend has small green tea leaves, pieces of lemongrass and cardamom pods.
-Dry leaves smell like a slightly spicy lemonade. Tea liquor aroma is of vegetal green tea with a hint of lemon.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium yellow color.
-Light grassy flavor with a subdued citrusy finish. Very subtle spicy aftertaste.
-Best with sweetener.
-Good tea. Gentle citrusy flavors with a hint of spice.

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me a mug full of… lemon cardamom chun mee tea.

I took a huge sigh when I saw the flavour as I absolutely hate cardamom. :(

Whilst raw the tea smells of lemon but not specifically cardamom (thankfully). Once brewed it forms a golden honey colour with the same sharp lemon smell.

Well here goes nothing sip… wow not as bad as I was expecting. Again it’s lemony with lemongrass being quite strong and it does sort of taste like cardamom but I love lemongrass so I can see past that. It’s very fresh and clean tasting without being over powering or too sharp. It’s also naturally sweet and pleasing, the chun mee is light with a slight green perfumey aftertaste.

It’s nicer than I thought it would be and while it does taste like cardamom it has more than just that element to it. Quite simply if you dislike one thing you can appreciate another. :)

I came back to this tea because the first time I made it the water was too hot and I was sure I ruined it. Luckily I believed this to be the case and made a smidge with the small bit that was still in the corner of the sample bag. I ended up getting half a cup and was glad I did. The astringency that was overpowering in my first cup is hardly present. The lemon tone of the tea is in proportion overall. I assume the sweetness of the chun mee is intermingling with the citrus to trick my mouth into thinking that it’s more lemon than it actually is. There’s a nice balance here and even though I don’t gravitate toward greens I thought well enough of this drink.

Had some of this one for the first time after the big dinner. It was nice and soothing on a full belly and went down nicely with no additions. The scent is of bright, intense lemon with a hint of spice from the cardamom. I was kind of surprised this made it into the 12 teas box; it looked a little ho-hum next to some of the other blends Frank is famous for.

I was wrong, though! This is pretty nice, and definitely holds its own. All of the flavours come together nicely and it made a nice after dinner tea. Not a favourite but still quite good.

I’m a big fan of both cardamom and lemon, so I was very excited to try this blend out. The dry leaves smell mostly of lemon with a hint of cardamom. The smell is wonderful! I caught myself sniffing the bag more than was probably appropriate.

I got three good steeps out of this tea (adding 30s each time). The chun mee base is smooth and blends with the lemon and cardamom beautifully. The citrus components of the flavor were the strongest. I really wish I could taste more cardamom. It’s very subtle, but still nice. I might try throwing in some extra cardamom the next time I make this tea.

brewing two cups of tea at the same time.
3 day work week vs a wednesday that feels like a monday.
everything feels old and stiff and stuck.
looking forward to my gym time.
daydreaming about working at a library or a museum.

This is really good for my cold (which my mom gave me) It’s also very tasty :D

Twelves Teas of X-mas #9. I find that I like this particular lemon green blend better than the Sun and Cloud Mist – I’m not quite sure what it is, but part of it I think is that the base is milder and the lemon isn’t as strong or sharp. The cardamom is subtle but adds a little bit of spice that makes this blend unusual – there are a lot of lemon-flavoured teas out there but the cardamom makes it stand out.

Mmmmm. This is another one that got away from me. I had actually forgotten about it so I’m happy to see it in my Christmas box.

It’s like sun and could mist tea’s older more sophisticated sister. While the fluffy kitty tea is lemony sweet and adorable like the picture on the pouch this is a more refined and savory tea. Perfect balance of lemon and cardamom. I was actually not familiar with Chun Mee but I might have to check some unflavored out because it serves as an excellent base here.

Held up to two good steepings, first at two minutes and the second at three. I think it might be good to use the leaves from the second steeping for cold brewing and might try than next time. It worked well for fluffy kitty tea.