Grapefruit Green

I figured that I’d try this one hot to start and then go with a cold brewing later. This is from the lupicia bag that Kittenna and i split, and let me tell you, thank god we did! Sooooo much tea!

This one is bright green and grassy in appearance when it’s dry.

Love it when steepster eats half my tasting note. Will edit later with tea notes.
EDIT: I WISH this tasted like it smells. The aroma of the brewed tea is wonderful and delicious and omg i just want to crawl into the tea and go for a swim. However the taste? Not so much. I would rather drink Stacy’s Grapefruit dragon any day. This one has a bitter taste to it.

I will be brewing this as a cold drink to see how that improves the tasteor doesn’t. :)

Another LiberTEAs Goodie!!! YAY!

This Green Flavored actually seems to intensify the scent while and post infusing…rather than losing aroma like most teas seem to. YAY!

I think it’s more of a GRAPEFRUIT than RUBY RED or RED or Sweet or sugary-sweet type…there is a natural bitterness to the grapefruit taste so if that is what you like about grapefruit you should like this flavored green!

I like this one hot but think is would also bee good, cold.

I would drink this one again, that is for sure!

I got this in a swap a long while back. Why haven’t I tasted this yet? Many thanks to SimplyJen … At least, I am pretty sure that is who sent it!

The aroma of the dry leaves is fantastic. The citrus-y grapefruit smell makes your mouth water in anticipation, and I am almost sure my eye kept winking expecting a squirt. This is a very bright aroma.

The smell of the liquor is still fruity, but I really smell the green tea now. I was surprised that it said to steep this with boiling water, but I have had a few other greens that call for it so I found my courage and followed through.

The result? This is a really great cup of tea! I was a little apprehensive of it, afraid it might be bitter from either the base OR the fruit! LOL! But it isn’t bitter at all! Lupicia seems to do tea right. This is very tasty. This is first and foremost green tea, then nicely balanced with the grapefruit taste and aroma.

K S: for some reason this is bringing to m ind the excellent Earl Grey Green you sent to me. Makes sense, as both are a green base and both are citrus flavored.

Bottom line: this is delicious, and even better than expected! Thank you, Jen, for letting me try this!

I got this in a swap with Will Work For Tea, who sent me a very generous amount! I have been looking for that “just right” grapefruit tea: I really liked Upton’s St. Isaac’s blend, but I still felt like there was something better and this was recommend to me by several people so I had to try it!

Since I dislike hot grapefruit usually, I made this iced. At first sip it’s just a nice, mild and lightly sweet green tea. Refreshing, but where’s the grapefruit? Then BAM it hits you! It’s actually softer than I was expecting, and only a bit tart, but the grapefruit taste is so fresh and juicy. Not the strongest I’ve tried, but definitely the most natural. I mean, it really tastes like I just squeezed a little grapefruit juice into some green tea. Most definitely will be picking this one up!

Look at me go, drinking more fruity green teas. And really enjoying this one too! This is one of the teas I received in my happy bag from Lupicia, and it certainly makes me happy. This morning I opened this tea to put it in a recently-empty tin, and I was hit by the intense smell of juicy grapefruit. I knew I would be making it as my second cup of tea!

Steeped it came out very nicely. The grapefruit is relatively light and not overpowering, but it is definitely present. Grapefruit of course can be pretty bitter on its own, but I am thankful that there was no bitterness in this one. Just light, slightly sweet, citrusy goodness. The green tea was pretty standard, but it worked. I guess I do still enjoy fruity greens in the right circumstances!

Tea of the afternoon…..

And tea #4 from my 2012 $30 Lupicia Happy Bag.

I am very pleased with this one. While the grapefruit is kind of strong, and adds a slight edge to the green tea (just like a real grapefruit would!), I really like this barely sweetened to take the edge off. Very refreshing. Going on my Lupicia list!

Loose
Appearance: large leaf green, noticeable fruit
Aroma when Dry: citrus, hints of green
After water is first poured: ruby red(sish) grapefruit pops out
Tea liquor:
At end of first steep: clear
Staple? Seasonal perhaps
Time of day preferred: unsure, first tasting
Taste:
At first: sweetish grapefruit faint green notes
As it cools?Grapefuit notes mellow out, green notes surface
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, grapefruit notes with a bit of powdery-ness at close

Second steep (5 min 30 seconds)
Tea liquor: clear
Aroma: light grapefruit
Taste: balanced grapefruit and green
As it cools:a “zesty” as in fruit zest note starts to surface

third steep, slightly lighter then second, same notes

Might try chilled

Based on some major detective work, LiberTEAS and I discovered that this tea is also served as “Desert Grapefruit Green” at the Tohono Chul Park Tearoom in Tucson.

The fragrance of this tea is incredible. The green tea base is strong with a clean, grassy, nutty, and sweet foundation. On top is a strong grapefruit that is very natural. Living in Arizona, I’m surrounded by citrus and this is just like driving past an orchard in the Spring.

The tea brews to an opaque, turbid, fluorescent green. The flavor of the green tea is rich and sweet and the grapefruit adds a perfect balance of bittersweet tartness.

The steeping instructions took me by surprise as they said to use boiling water instead of the 175 degrees I usually use for green teas. I followed Lupicia’s instructions and it turned out fine. I put this over ice and it was perfect!

Ah! Nice weather! Finally! Today was so gorgeous, after I got home from work I took a book outside to read in the sun. LOVELY! So I’m in a pretty happy, fresh, springy mood and I needed a tea to match. While I was digging around to find a tea to match my mood, I caught a whiff of my super-obnoxious smelling Trident Layers gum (the strawberry citrus one) that lives on the shelf above my tea. It smelled nummy and suddenly I was in the mood for a springy, obnoxious tea. I thought it was a good time to try this one.

So there is this Lotte grapefruit flavored gum that is tart and tangy and bright and easily as obnoxious as Trident Layers. This tea? Smells like that. Which I think is awesome because that is my favorite Japanese gum. Ever.

But the taste is a bit of a letdown. Oh, it’s not the tea’s fault. It tastes like a sort of an okay green tea base that has had a piece of my beloved gum dipped into it briefly. It’s actually not bad but it’s not what I was hoping for because the flavoring isn’t very strong. I know, I know. Normally I give Lupicia two very enthusiastic thumbs up for their light and natural flavorings so I really shouldn’t anticipate anything different. But that smell! I just couldn’t help it.

Perhaps if I hadn’t had a yearlong addiction to Sweetie gum, I would have had different (or no) expectations of this tea and would have been able to enjoy it on its own merits. After all, it is sweet, light, a little tangy and very pretty.

I just wanted obnoxious.
^6.6g/12oz

Thanks to LiberTeas for a sample of this one, that apparently has been sitting in my box for quite a while!

I think this tea may be suffering a bit from old age; I can both smell and taste some delicious real grapefruit flavour, with a brothy green base, but the flavour isn’t terribly strong. It may also be that my expectation was for something more along the lines of Butiki’s Grapefruit Dragon, which literally tasted like unsweetened grapefruit juice.

Either way, this isn’t bad; I’d try using more than 1.5 tsp leaf next time to see if I can amp up the flavour a bit. There wasn’t any astringency, so I think I’d be ok with an extra half teaspoon.

I’m pretty sure some of this is soon en route to me as part of Lupicia’s Happy Bag sale… (so I’m hoping I can figure out how to improve its flavour a bit!)

If you like grapefruits, you will like this tea. If you don’t like grapefruits, you still might like this tea. I’m not personally a huge fan of grapefruits. I can’t stand them actually – I kind of like the way they smell but I won’t eat them. This tea has a nice citrus-y flavor that seems like a hybrid between grapefruit and generic citrus-y goodness. Bonus points for grapefruit peel pieces.

more grapefruit tea! Mmmmm! I got this tea in my Happy bag.

DRY: Grapefruit, almost like those gummy grapefruit slices. I love those!
STEEPED: Bright yellow colour, faint tart citrus scent. The yellow colour is here kinda scary, never seen tea this yellow and bright.

TASTE: Good balance of the green flavor, with a good natural grapefruit flavoring. This grapefruit flavor is right out ruby red grapefruit, slightly sweet. The aftertaste is a zingy tart and kinda bitter grapefruit flavor.

Comparison: Butiki’s Grapefruit Dragon
GD (heh, GD, G Dragon.. oh no! More kpop references! LOL LOL LOL http://youtu.be/t3ULhmadHkg) is white grapefruit. I found GD to be more natural grapefruity and a better zing to it.
Lupicia’s grapefruit green is a red grapefruit flavor, more sweet and a gentler zing. GG’s green base isn’t as good, I think.
Own both? probably not unless you love grapefruit. Overall, I’d get the Butiki one, but if you love ruby red grapefruit, I’d go for Lupicia.

I need to try this grapefruit tea iced! I bet with some honey it be very good! Honey and grapefruit work great together. Back to studying.

1 tablespoon used for 248 ml

I’m detecting a Gyokuro-like scent in the aroma.

I would have appreciated a bolder Gyokuro flavour in the taste. It seems to be subdued and the taste is slightly sencha-like. Good grapefruit flavour. I get a real post-grapefruit eating tingly feeling on my tongue.

Second infusion using 188 ml. Grapefruit flavour is pushed to the background but the grapefruit citrus mouthfeel is still present. Slight quick sour note from the grapefruit. Soft sweetness present. Green tea flavour is more apparent with roasted tones.

Thanks to Sil and Kittenna for sharing this with me!

I had a sample of this tea and I have ENJOYED it for the last few days. The sweet-tart flavor with the mellow green base is really wonderful. I am not really a grapefruit fan but for some reason this tea really hits the citrus spot.

My order from Lupicia arrived today. I’m thrilled!

Before I begin with my tasting notes, I want to talk a bit about grapefruit green tea. Last year, I went to Tohono Chul Park (in Tucson, AZ), and of course I had to dine in their tea room. I had their high tea, and I selected their grapefruit green tea to accompany my meal. It was absolutely delightful. Since that time, I’ve been looking for a grapefruit green tea that is as delightful. So far, I haven’t yet found one (I did contact the supplier of that tea. They did get back to me to tell me when they would sell locally. However, I live in Washington state, not AZ, so I couldn’t attend their local sale. I asked them if I might procure from them via mail, but they have not replied to that request)

So… that is why I ordered from Lupicia – in the hopes that their Grapefruit Green tea might be as good as I remember the tea being in Tucson…

Alas… it is not. That is not to say it is not a good tea, it is decent. A fresh, grassy taste to the leaves which is the strongest profile of the cup. The grapefruit is a very pleasing flavor, not overwhelmingly sour but pleasantly tart, with a nice citrus-y aftertaste. I like. But still, my search must go on!

The Final Sipdown: Day 13.1
[For the sake of clarity, I’m logging this one the day after. Blame the full stomach and the comfortable couch. Damn you, couch!]

Ugh, the only thing that rued anything yesterday was my stomach. I drank this tea, started to log it, and promptly fell asleep on my couch. So. Much. FOOD. I’m sure y’all can relate.

[That being said, I hope everyone had fabulous Thanksgivings.]

Grapefruit Green. If I liked grapefruit more, I suspect that I’d also like this tea more. Unsurprisingly.

The smell had a sharp grapefruit note to it that was tempered by the vegetal component of the green tea. Strangely, I got an overwhelming sense of cooked green beans at a few points while I was waiting for it to cool.

Not to be deterred, I drank. It was…kind of strange. The grapefruit didn’t appear to me for a while, and even when it did it tasted a bit of chemicals. The green tea was there, but eventually the grapefruit had it in a chokehold and I couldn’t taste it anymore, and there was a bizarre strain of bitterness that ran through the entire thing that I think was in part due to the fact that grapefruit has a bitter-sour quality about it and in part due to the strange chemical taste I was getting from the tea.

Also, at points I received a fleeting scent [and taste, but mostly scent] of fruit gum. Which is funny because Auggy, who was also the sender of this tea, mentioned gum in her log [I think]. Specifically it reminds me of Stride Gum’s Forever Fruit, which in turn reminds me of the one Japanese gum I have ever tried. It’s a unique flavor. This tea, however, is not playing out for me in a uniquely good way. It’s not something I’ll be buying. For the grapefruit lovers out there, however, it may indeed be worth a go.

Teas Downed: 21

This is a tea that has to be served iced! I like the bittersweet grapefruit flavour which is authentic and refreshing. The green tea base is very delicate and light even though I have used boiling water and extended the recommended steep time a bit. I would like it to be a bit stronger! But still I think green tea is an excellent choice of base because its grassy flavour compliments the grapefruit flavour perfectly, making this a very natural and summer-y cup. I think I can see a grapefruit orchard outside now… ;)

I got this as a sample from my recent Tumblr winnings! This one is excellent.
I really have enjoyed my two teas from Lupicia and would recommend them wholeheartedly for their flavored teas. This one smells just like this SoBe I used to drink all the time. I actually hate grapefruit, but love grapefruit flavored things. Odd right?
This is super tangy, fruity, tart and just sweet enough to really pull this off. I think that Lupicia’s flavorings are pretty spot on. I really love their tea bags, so that’s really saying something. Amazing tea!

Well, another Lupicia Happy Bag tea bites the dust. I left the bag out where Mom could see it, and since Mom likes all things grapefruit she insisted I open yet another packet. I’m not at all sorry.

Very bright green in color (it scared my mom a little; “is it supposed to be neon green like that?”)

The grapefruit smell is really juicy and bright and smells like the old Tropicana white grapefruit juice gramma used to keep in her fridge (presumably for mixing with gin). So it’s got a little bitter note to it and I wonder whether this will carry over to the brew itself.

NOPE. It’s light and sweet, not bitter, but a sweet grapefruit flavor is very present. I poured into a cup that may have had a slight sugar residue in it, so that may be interfering, but I don’t think so—just a nice clean balanced cup that tastes exactly like, well, grapefruit and green. Love it.

EDIT: I now know this tea is awesome, because I involuntarily whispered “yummy” into my cup just now. I don’t even like the word “yummy,” as a general rule.

Officially my last Lupicia tea sample! :( But I’m excited to continue my tea tasting adventures with other online retailers.

This is supposed to make a good iced tea too, but I’m going to have it hot. All I have had to eat today was a grande caramel macchiato from Starbucks. With all the tea I’ve been drinking, it’s the first espresso I’ve had in about a month. It’s making my tummy upset. Maybe a tea with citric acid isn’t the way to remedy that, but oh well.

The dry leaves have a strong grapefruit aroma, but I can still detect the green tea beneath it. Ah, green tea!

This tea has a lovely citrus-laden flavor. I’ve never particularly liked grapefruit, but this is a lovely summertime tea.

It has a slight tart fruitiness. Not real complex, but a perfect blend of complementary flavors.

This is a winner. I don’t often re-steep my samples, but I did with this one!