Special Gunpowder Green Tea

I just finished a small bowl of tofu stir fry with rice and wanted to finish the experience with a green tea. Gunpowder has been on my mind recently and I have two boxes of this brand (for some reason) so I might as well give it a try now.

The loose tea consists of dark green small balls with not many but a few stalky bits mixed in (so not great quality but this was only cheap). It didn’t smell of much either other than having a peppery floralness.

Once steeped this tea is dark yellow in colour and has retained it’s un-steeped scent.

In flavour it’s darkly floral with a slight toasted with a little sweetness.
There are also cabbage like vegetal tones which compliment my stir fry rather well.

As far as strength goes gunpowder greens are generally one of the stronger tasting greens and this is no exception. This tea always makes me think it’s an Oolong in disguise.

It’s nice enough for everyday drinking but the quality isn’t great so really you get what you pay for.

Ok friends of the 80’s, like, I had this bummer of a day…totally.
But I had a few minutes between meetings and drove by yet another
Asian Market I have yet to try and Bam! For 99 cents I get 4 ounces of solid
gunpowder green. A dash in my press, steeped a cup or so and man,
the day just got a lot better. As others have noted, this is a bit smokey, a little cloudy, and not the most beautiful color of green you will find, but the taste is rich and full. This is an in your face green that could handle any type of food or seasoning. I am thinking enchiladas…oops sorry, back to the tea. At this price, I will never have to drink bagged green again!

Inexpensive, great little loose leaf tea. I’m surprised how much tea you can buy for only one dollar.
Note to self: There is an expiration date at the bottom of the tea box.

12/6/12 – This tea is still really good. Not my daily drinker. It reminds me of licking a copper penny for some reason. I’m fine with this.

Loose
Appearance: dark green gunpowder curls
Aroma when Dry: nondescript
After water is first poured: dusty, sweet (eastern)
At end of first steep: vegital, sweet (eastern)
Tea liquor:
At end of first steep: dusty green
Staple? No, will usually drink type if around
Preferred time of day: any
Taste:
At first: vegital, slightly grassy smooth hints of creaminess
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, with faint creamy buttery notes

Very suitable as an everyday green tea. Not one you have to stash away for a special occasion. Go ahead and indulge. My humans do. http://is.gd/dR4gz

This tea is available where I do my regular food shopping so I occasionally pick it up. As has been remarked upon by other tasters it is an usually strong tea flavorwise so I usually cut the quantity of leaves down by 1/3 or even 1/2. It has a spinachy taste, more the dark green vegetal taste than the bright springy green. It makes a swampy green liquor, reminds one of something Yoda might drink on a cold Dagoba night. It leaves a lot of sediment in the cup, but it’s hulky-green color often hides this sediment until the last sips remain. The flavor changes little when it cools or is cold, so it is a good and thrifty all purpose tea. It is easily made, tolerates wide range of temp. The leaves are broad enough to prepare without filters or mesh or any of those tools. It takes lemon very well, and if you make simple syrups it takes a ginger syrup very well.

This is nice so long as you don’t use too much – 1/2 a teaspoon per cup is plenty – the quantity of leaf seems to be more of an issue than the steeping time; I let this go for up to about 20 minutes as I couldn’t finish it all in one go and it was still pleasant, not astringent. Nice smoky smell but not overpowering like a Lapsang Souchong. I added some fresh mint to the teapot too for a Moroccan-y experience.

very inexpensive green tea. not the best out there but definitely a very good candidate for a daily drinker!

What can I say? A solid gunpowder offering. Stands to resteep over and over, you can milk this for 3 pots if you’re frugal. Not unforgiving, it can tolerate being oversteeped or taking too much heat, but naturally becomes a lot grassier. Otherwise it is somewhat bold, and not terribly complex, but as advertised goes well with meals. I’d be interested to try it as an iced tea.

Not so special, but it does make a nice basc daily green tea. Its lower in cost than other gunpowder green teas with a bit of a smokey flavor, I have used it a few times as an iced tea, not bad. Not my favorite but its good for a basic green. 

I never drink green tea on its own. I always add mint and sugar and make Moroccan tea. It’s delicious and can be served moments after you combine everything.

Great little everyday tea, and a regular to my day. I only add a pinch to a cup of boiling water and watch the leaves unfurl in the bottom. Good flavour but not to strong.

This is my mainstay tea. I make a thermos of it every day. Sometimes come home at lunch and do a second steep on the leaves with good results (slightly cooler water on second steep – around 170).
Robust, nice astringency. Smokiness without being overpowering.

This is another tea-in-the-work-kitchen experiment. At least it lives up to expectation. A good solid gunpowder! Slightly smoky. I think I brewed it a little on the hot side, I generally like my greens done with water that’s not quite so hot, but being fussy about water temperature at work is fussier than I usually feel like dealing with. It survived the hot-hot water so hoorah!

I’m amazed at the longevity of this tea—-I’ve had my box for longer than I can recall, and it brews up just fine. Usually gets dragged out for antioxidant purposes when I suspect somebody’s exposed me to a cold or flu bug. In the summer, I brew with home-grown spearmint and ice it down.

Haven’t had this in awhile, so this is off of memory.

Very strong for a green tea, slightly earthy. Doesn’t seem to be very sensitive to water temperature; I’ve had it with water off the boil and didn’t notice the sourness you would find when you overheat most greens. It’s a great everyday tea: cheap, ubiquitous, and forgiving.

My @work tea at the monent….

Found this by total fluke at the grocery store near I work. Yummy!

A tea with a lot of sediment, needs a good strain. Nice smokey aftertaste