Spring Cherry Green Tea

This came as a gift from Terri HarpLady – thanks!

I’ve had these sachets for awhile, but I haven’t been the biggest fan of RoT in the past. Today I was feeling lazy and cold, though. And I’m in the middle of cataloguing my teas (only done blacks and greens and I’m already at 106… yeesh), so old samples have gotten stirred up. GOOD.

I tossed two satchets into my 20oz pot. It actually smells delicious – really beautifully cherry sweet, without that sharp sort of hibiscus-cough medicine flavor it could have. The taste is a bit bland, but I attribute that to it sitting in my drawer for a couple of months.

It’s good. I liked it a lot more than I expected to. Thanks!

sipdown! I had this earlier this afternoon and it was pretty decent for a bagged tea. I actually think this would make a good cocktail type of tea. even a non alcoholic one. Maybe cherry-lemon or something of that nature. Either way, thanks to terri for letting me try this one out!

This has a nice cherry after taste. Not a strong flavored tea but I don’t think you want your green tea to be too strong in flavor (my personal opinion).

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 tsp
Additives: none
Water: 1 zarafina cup
Tool: Zarafina green-loose-mild
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: vegetation from a garden with fresh cherries, not the fake ones
Steeped Tea Smell: lightly grassy lightly cherry
Flavor: weak weak vegetal and cherry
Body: Light
Aftertaste: none
Liquor: nearly clear watery green

I was so sad, I had been so excited.

You see a long time ago I fell in love with the “Memoirs of a Geisha” spring cherry green from ROT. Then of course they stopped having it. I was not the tea addict I was now, and so I just sullenly sought out other cherry greens (teavana etc).

Then I decided to ask ROT, and they promptly let me know Spring Cherry was the same tea!

SoccerMom had found some after my fruitless searches (I didn’t want enough tea to make a full order with free shipping).

When it arrived I was ecstatic. The next morning I woke up and made some (this is a backlog, sorry I have been busy). I am not a morning person and I woke up extra early just for this.

A song ran through my mind:
My blood runs cold, my memory has just been sold
My angel is a centerfold
Angel is a centerfold

Oh misery oh sadness, was it ever delicious, was I deluding myself?

Well it wasn’t bitter so perhaps I should resteep stronger.

Post-Steep Additives: none

Resteep: Zarafina 1 c green-loose-medium

SUCCESS

Next time I need to start with medium on this tea.

Light vegetal taste and a low presence of cherry, real cherries not fake cherries. I would like them stronger, but every green cherry tea I have tried that was stronger the cherries were sickly sweet fake.

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/04/republic-of-tea-loose-leaf-green-tea.html

I made a decision this morning to stick to green teas today, to give my palate a break from black teas. I’m also trying to clear my cupboards a little bit, & all of my greens & oolongs have been neglected lately.
So I thought it would be fun to have a little contest, so to speak. I lined up 4 similar green teas, so I could compare them.

1. Japanese Wild Cherry from Teavana: When the package boast it’s original orange & purple (from when Teavana first opened), & the flower petals are beige, you know your tea is old. As I recall, this blend tasted like cough syrup. I obviously didn’t even like it enough to put it in one of my tins (& I have tons of them!). I think it was discontinued a long time ago…
2. Empress of China from Teavana: see #1. It’s humiliating really…I don’t remember what was in this tea…
3. Japanese Cherry from The Art of Tea – I recall that it was better than the 2 teas above, and I did give it the honor of it’s own recycled tin, with a pretty custom label, but alas, it has been quite some time since I ordered from them, and the pretty pink rose petals have all faded. It still has some sweet aroma to it, so I made a cup, & though not exciting, a few drops of Stevia coaxed the cherry flavor forward a bit…
4. Spring Cherry from The Republic of Tea: This tea was my original entry into the world of Green Teas, but not to worry, this tin is not from my original purchase! What I’ve always loved about this tea is the Sencha! Grassy, fresh, & green! I love Sencha alone, and the Cherries add a tartness. Add a few drops of sweetness (which I usually don’t, but I did add a little Stevia during the 2nd half of the cup, just for this review), & now I’m sitting under a cherry tree in spring, like that scene on “Memoirs of a Geisha”, where the blossoms are falling all around. I actually have an old cherry tree in my backyard, & each spring I make myself a picnic that includes a pot of this tea & sit out there under the blossoms. I feel another Haiku coming on…

Smooth, buttery, floral. But no discernible cherry taste, despite the description. This is probably because the rose petals overpower it. Blegh. They aren’t terrible, but I’d prefer ti without them. Why did I order this? (It was a very long time ago, to be fair.) I should’ve given this tea away to someone it would suit better, but instead I horded it and finally opened it and drank it and am underwhelmed.

Light cherry taste in one of the sweeter greens that I’ve had—sencha, cherry and rose petals all add to the sweetness. The petals in with the tea leaves are a nice touch, even if they aren’t actually cherry blossoms.

I really want to like this one.
And I do, kinda. Its cherry, but its kinda just what it says on the label.
No wow factor. But then I have always loved their GingerPeach from the first
sip, so maybe this little sister sakura will always be battling uphill to win me over.

Single cup, 2 sugar. Sweet and mild.

eh… I’d drink it again

Just finished my last one of these a few weeks ago. Definitely a great light tea. The cherry is not a “candied” cherry. Very nice!

Very light with just the right amount of sweetness, I wish I had this tea in my pantry more often! A very pleasing brew to have when the weather is fair and you feel like sitting outside.

This is one of the most lovely teas to drink in the morning. It’s so light.