‘Island Green’ Tea

I was a bit worried at first as this tea smelled STRONGLY of seaweed while in the bag, but it is quite nice brewed! Nothing too special, but I am enjoying my cup. Vegetal, smooth- maybe just a hint of the seaweed in the background… maybe that’s why they call it island green ;)

Bought this while on vacation in South Carolina. It’s a basic, no-frills green tea. Nothing complex, but nothing that your palate needs to adjust to either. Slightly vegetal. Unlikely to offend, but just as unlikely to induce rabid affection. The loose tea was finely chopped? The tin lasted forever. For me, more a reminder of a great vacation than a great tea, but if you want to try a tea grown in the States, it’s not bad.

Fairly standard – yet a flatter tasting – green – in a bag. Not bad yet not overly memorable either.

The last bag from the Charleston Tea Plantation. This is such a nice cup of tea. It tastes clean and fresh. It is a very plain tea, so I bet it would be good in almost any tea preparation. I would totally get some of this tea as a safe tea to carry around in areas where you can’t control the water temperature very well. Like a college where you have to pick between a communal tea kettle or the boiled water that is in the cafeteria.

I drink this loose leaf tea at home in the South. Makes a great iced green tea and a nice alternative when suffering from a sweet tea overdose. PLUS it comes from the only tea plantation in the United States. I didn’t know until recently that you can purchase it online. Now I don’t have with(Southern)drawal.

Island Green tea from Charleston Tea Plantation is an innocent, low-processed green tea. If you like strong, bracing tea, this will taste like grass cuttings. So steep one tea bag per tea cup for at least 5 minutes. It is fresh, clean, light, like a Stephen Foster song about the old South that drifts through the air. It comes in little cloth pouches that resemble ladies’ hosiery. We have things to learn from the Chinese and Indians before the tea will become popular. Apparently the variable climate of South Carolina makes growing the tea a challenge. The plantation is a nice tourist attraction, but I prefer their black tea to this innocent green.

My friend got this for me from Charleston because she is a sweetheart!

It’s a nice, tasty, solid green tea, and I think what I like most about it is how easy it is to make. Most green teas are all finicky and easy to mess up, but I guess American teamakers decided “You know what the world needs? Green tea that you can steep in boiling water for two or three minutes, and it’ll be fine!” And I did, and it’s glorious. It actually kind of tastes a little like Japanese green tea, but with a tiny bit of that floral taste-smell you get from Chinese tea. If I were to point someone in the direction of a good solid green tea, it would probably be this one. It might not be outstandingly memorable, but it’s really tasty and I’d totally buy it again if I find myself in Charleston.