Lu'an Melon Seed

Not sure if this listing is exactly the same as the tea I have, which is ZG68: Organic Green Lu’An Melon Seed. But I did not see any other Lu’Ans on Upton’s site.

I’ve been wanting to try this particular type of tea for a while now. Steeped via regular infuser mug method.

I did not keep a close eye on the time so I was a bit worried about this one. After smelling the wet leaf I do find it very vegetal, sweet and almost spinach like. My cup is a light greenish-gold. So far I am liking this. Yes, it is vegetal, almost slightly grassy with some similarities to Japanese green tea. There is a pleasant nuttiness about this tea and it does have more sweetness in the finish than a lot of other Chinese green teas which make feel like I’m drinking boiled bok choy. It also seems very clean, organic a +.

If dragonwell and sencha gave birth, would this be their love child? I’m not sure but this was a lovely morning tea! I’d consider buying this again as a basic, everyday green tea.

I brewed this in my 5 oz cup at 175* for about 30 seconds the first time then about 2 minutes the second time because the first one was pretty weak. Even at that the first steep was reminiscent of a Japanese green tea. It was like a watered down sencha without the really nice savory notes that sencha has. But it was nice a nice sweet vegetal green tea.

The seconds steep was really odd. I couldn’t figure out what I was tasting but it felt familiar. I went through the other two tasting notes on this tea to see if someone else had a good descriptor of what it was I was tasting. I found it. Amy Oh had written at the end of her tasting note “If Dragonwell and Sencha gave birth, would this be their love child?” And I could not have said it better myself.

1 1/2 tbsp for 18 oz water.

Very light on flavor and just a tiny bit astringent. I think, though I can appreciate this tea, that my personal preference is leaning toward teas in the middle of the oolong spectrum.

Daylight savings is pretty much the only day of the year I don’t sleep in on Sunday. Everyone else in the house seems to be feeling the lazy pace of the day, too—meatballs are already cooking for tonight’s spaghetti dinner, and I’ve had lots and lots of time to procrastinate on doing my homework. Combine that with the fact it’s wet and chilly outside and it’s the perfect day for tea!

The leaves of this green smelled great, a little bit like licorice. As soon as I poured the water in, that scent bloomed into a pleasant squash-carrot brothy punch with just a teeny floral hint—it actually reminded me of an oolong I had recently. I’m not sure if that means my oolong was more like a green, or this green was more like an oolong. Who knows? Not I!

I’m always surprised by how pretty and varied the colors of tea can be. This was a light yellow-green and steamy, very appetizing. It was a velvety, very slightly sweet, and smooth drinking cup. Thanks to Claire for the sample! <3

I recently made an order from Upton to fill up my Earl Grey tin and I chose a couple of tea samples that had been Upton best-sellers. Here is the report on one of them:

Both the picture and the name of this tea appealed to me. They both just muster pleasant images in my mind. The dry leaf has a more Oolongy appearence, and is so dark it is almost—blue, which is intriguing. As for the name… I mean, I love melons.

This is a Chinese green tea, but the flavor reminds me of a more characteristically Japanese “peaty” flavor. I have been detecting that flavor in Chinese greens an awful lot lately, so I wonder when I will altogether drop the reference and just start giving Chinese teas the credit…

Note: I feel kind of buzzed after 2 successive unique cups, so the caffeine content gets a +.