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“Yay! My first second steeping of a tea! If I decide to resteep other teas, I’ll probably tack the findings on to the end of the first steep results. But since my last review of Gunpowder was so...” Read full tasting note
“Backlogging from last night.. Bad, I know. I wasn’t sure whether to log this under Honeybush Mango or Gunpowder, since I went half and half with the two teas. This is now my new favorite blend. I...” Read full tasting note
“I got a sample tin of this tea from Ricky in a trade (thanks man!). Now I’ll start off by saying that the first and only experience I’ve had with gunpowder green tea was rather…regretable. It had...” Read full tasting note
“Trying to get rid of this one so I have an empty tin… loved it when I bought it, now I don’t care for it. It’s not bad, I’ve just found other teas I like more.” Read full tasting note
Gunpowder is a classic green tea from Zhejiang province, China. As the name implies, Gunpowder tea is made up of leaves hand-rolled into tiny pellets. These resemble gunpowder, and give this tea its distinct name. Full-bodied cup with a hint of smokiness and a smooth mouthfeel. Blend Gunpowder tea with spearmint to create the famous ‘Moroccan Mint’ tea.
Gunpowder is the world’s oldest known chemical explosive. Made from sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter, it is one of the Four Great Inventions of China, alongside the compass, paper-making, and printing. Though it’s famous for its use in weaponry like guns and cannons—spawning countless movie scenes of exploding barrels or chases to snuff out sparking black lines, it was also used for more constructive purposes like mining and even medicine. Though Gunpowder tea doesn’t carry quite the same explosive punch as its namesake, it is famous for its smokiness and shape, both of which lend themselves to its unique name.
Green Tea | Moderate caffeine | Steep at 180° for 2-3 minutes.
Adagio Teas has become one of the most popular destinations for tea online. Its products are available online at www.adagio.com and in many gourmet and health food stores.
Has a nice smokey note a la lapsang souchon but way more in check. I like the nose. Palate is def astringent, kind of the “wall of tannins” that firmly stands in the way of subtlety. Needs some honey. Palate a letdown compared to nose but worth exploring this kind of tea. Steeped a second time and palate became more delicate but oomph of nose was lost. Instead of recommended 2-3 minute 1st steep I’ll try just 2 minutes next time.
This is the 18th of 19 samples I got a while ago. Hopefully I’m able to find the 19th, I forget what it was! Anyway… This is only the 2nd gunpowder green tea I’ve ever had. I was surprised by how much I liked Numi’s bagged gunpowder green so thought I might like this one. And, so far I am not disappointed. I’ll have to look up how gunpowder green tea is prepared because there’s some distinctive flavor i like but can’t put my finger on. While I was brewing it, it reminded me of pu-erh tea. Idk how to describe the smell, maybe kind of earthy? Anyways, I’m a fan! (Brewed for less time at lower temp than recommended since it’s green tea and I’m picky about it!)
Flavors: Tea, Wet Earth
This tea smells horrible while brewing, strongly of tobacco. And on its own, I just can’t stand it. I understand that a lot of people love gunpowder. It’s just not for me. However, I decided to try making Moroccan mint before I gave up on it, and sure enough it makes a pretty good Moroccan mint with enough mint and sugar. At least it won’t go to waste?
Flavors: Tobacco
I ordered this to remake Morrocan mint.
I made this just now with fresh mint.
It does not taste like Morrocan mint.
I’m not even sure it tastes like anything. :c
I get a vegetal note, but not much smokiness and I guess my mint doesn’t give as much mint as the mint tea I’d had before because I don’t get really any mint at all.
By itself, I don’t think the gunpowder really impresses me that much. Maybe I did something wrong. I’m disappointed.
Weirdly, the Morrocan mint I’ve liked best so far… is Teavannas. That makes one tea by them I like. >_<
Flavors: Mint, Smoke, Vegetal
Did you put a shit load of mint? I do my own as well, I put the gunpowder first in the pot and fill the the pot with mint. Also, I use higher temp water, fresh mint needs really hot water to give. Because the mint is on top on the tea, by the time the water hits the tea, its temp. has decreased so you won’t “burn” it. Don’t know if it’s the “traditional” way of doing it, but it works well for me :-)
Thanks TeaFairy! I’ll have to try that.
I put like 5 mint leaves in it. I wasn’t sure how much was a lot if you know what I mean. This was definitely not a lot.
My mint plant may be too young for this. It doesn’t have enough leaves for me to strip like 4x as many off at a time. >_<
I should probably just get some mint tea to try with it. I’m really not much of a green thumb anyway and I’m afraid I’ll kill that poor mint plant trying to get enough mint in my tea.
From what I understand some gunpowder greens are more vegetal, and some are more smokey. I of course want the exact opposite of you and want vegetal and not smokey, haha
Haha well if you find a smokey one, maybe we will swap >_<
I wanted to make Morrocan mint, not minty salad! haha!
I found Pingshui Gunpowder by EnjoyingTea.com kind of smokey, I don’t know if it smokey enough for you but it was a little too smokey for me.
Also try 2 tsp instead of one. That’s what enjoyingtea said to do and I think that’s what contributed to the smokey ness with mine.
Have you ever tried Teavanna’s Morrocan Mint? It’s perfect. I don’t know how smokey it is. I just know it was minty enough. :D
I haven’t tried it, mint without chocolate and smokey are on my no thank you list haha
Haha… but mint is so good. I love my Foxtrot <3
I have a sample of lapsang souchong in the cupboard to try. It smells like a campfire. I guess that’ll tell me whether I like smokey or not.
In full disclosure for this tasting note, these leaves are older and also stored in a sandwich bag – not fresh or ideally stored. But I expected much worse from this tea, so it can only be better otherwise. The flavor is a typical gunpowder. I love the little bundles of leaves. To me, a gunpowder should have a hint of smokey flavor, this one didn’t have too much of that, but this is a nice flavor anyway. Very vegetal and almost marine-like. The brew color is a light yellow. Another great tea from Adagio!
Steep #1 // 25 min after boiling // 2 1/2 min
To borrow from Top Chef, I’d call this tea “one note”. Tastes and smells like toasted spinach. I’ll try again with more leaves next time, but I was expecting this to be stronger. Not my favorite. I prefer something with more nuance.
Flavors: Cannabis, Grass
