Pistachio Gelato

Dinosara was so nice in sending this one along with a bunch of other nice teas! (It was so thoughtful that you remembered I was looking for this one.. I’m not sure how you did! thanks so much!) I had been checking their site (californiateahouse.com) to order some for months, but they have only been selling it in four ounce packages. I certainly don’t need that much of one tea if I have so many other teas. I was initially interested because someone told be this one was similar to my beloved but extinct SpecialTeas Vienna Winter Green (I had to look though my messages to see who told be about it and it was Mercuryhime — thank you!) So I’m so happy to be able to try this one and see if it is the same!

…And it does seem the same! I asked someone at CTH if it was the same blend and they said “not quite” but this seems pretty close to me. It has all the same ingredients… and man is it a rare list. The steep color is a buttery yellow, just like the flavor. This one really can’t be steeped over two minutes or it will get bitter. Definitely my favorite green tea with such a great mix of toasty, nutty flavors. It is so nice to find a replacement for the SpecialTeas blend! I wonder if their other blends are the same or similar? Hopefully this one will still be there when I need more… and I might even get the four ounces.

The SpecialTeas blend has such a nice Steepster history for me:
1) Nichole sent me some of the Vienna randomly when I first joined Steepster, and it became a surprise favorite for me.
2)Mercuryhime sent me some more of the Vienna when I ran out and also suggested the California Tea House blend, so I knew to look for that one.
3) Dinosara sent me some of the California Tea House blend after remembering I was l was looking for it!

I will never stop being amazed at the kindness and generosity of Steepsters! It is very appreciated!

VERY pistachio-Y. Almost a little LIME-Y, too. Toasty, Nutty, Vegetal, quite…GREEN, really. I’m not tasting the chocolate notes they mention but maybe it’s the chocolate notes that contribute to the creaminess on the back end. Pretty good, just be sure NOT to over infuse – it can get a little bitter!

I bought a groupon for this company ages ago and the expiration date is finally coming closer, so I went ahead and got the tea. I don’t know why I hold on to groupons and the like for so long… I’ve essentially already paid for the tea, and often, like this one, I only spent an extra dollar after the groupon was applied. I really prefer ordering sample sizes of teas I haven’t tried yet (and I know I’m not alone), but unfortunately CTH only offered 4oz packages on the teas I was interested in, so I narrowed it down to two (which basically equalled the amount of the groupon). I often forget how much tea 4oz is, but it’s quite a lot of tea! Especially of light-in-weight greens, which both of the teas I ordered seem to be.

This is one I knew I was going to order when I first bought the groupon. I haven’t seen this flavor around, but it sounded amazing. Nut gelatos are my favorite kind. The dry leaf does smell a bit like a creamy pistachio gelato, but also like a lot of other things: this tea has a lot going on in it, between the nuts (trois noix, actually, with pistachios, almonds and macadamia nuts), chocolate pieces, chamomile blossoms, and “cracknel bits”, which the internet tells me are some kind of biscuit.

I steeped it according to the instructions provided by CTH, and it brewed up a dark, cloudy yellow. I’m left wondering… where’s the aroma? It really doesn’t smell very strongly, which is surprising; I have to stick my nose right up next to it to get anything. The aroma I do get is actually very much like pistachio gelato; somehow, all those myriad of flavors come together. There’s a scent that I’m pretty sure is the chocolate, but it’s somehow fooling my brain into thinking I’m smelling a sweet pistachio nuttiness instead.

The taste is pretty good, but I’m left wanting much more. The flavor is so light! Not just the “flavorings” but the tea overall. From what I can tell…the green tea is present at the beginning of the sip, but it’s light astringency is smoothed over (though it retains a bit of a drying texture) by a creamy, nutty flavor, and the aftertaste makes me feel like I was just eating a cone of pistachio gelato. The flavor is growing a bit as it’s cooling, or maybe with successive sips it’s building in my mouth. I suppose it is chocolatey, but again the combination of all of those flavors tricks my brain into thinking pistachio gelato. I must try this with a longer steep time to see if I can boost the flavor, because what’s there is awesome! I keep on bumping the rating as I’m writing this… it started out as somewhat disappointing, but the flavor that’s there is so delicious, that I like it more and more. Well, I have a lot of it to figure out the perfect steeping parameters.

Yum!
Thank you Dinosara , I had a feeling I would be all over this tea. I would love to try it with a splash of milk , but I’m out! Also… definitely prepared this as if it was a black tea by accident. o_o

I blame the coming migraine and the just-waking-up from-a-nap-ness , as I’m a little confusing and in pain, but I just wanted to come on and yum! before I left.

What a great tea, not bitter at all, even though my water was a little hot. Nice and smooth, creamy and mm pistachio, and I’m taking a tiny bit of lime as well. What a treat!

Yummy, yummy. Of all the teas I have ordered from California Tea House I have enjoyed this and Monkey Paw the best. I have one more to try still so that may change. Nevertheless, this is a delicious blend. Nutty and smooth and slightly sweet.

Yum a very mild green tea- There is no noticeable vegetal flavor in this tea. The flavors are very subtle: almonds, chocolate…smooth from the added chamomile. Can actually see the bits of nuts. Note that this tea does not have a strong chocolate flavor……

Perfect pick me up in the morning, with a mild hint of pistachio.