Wanderlust

EMPTY THAT BOX!

This is a green blend which Cteresa has shared with me. I had received a sample from Le Palais des Thes of a very similar blend containing green tea, apple, almonds, cinnamon and ginger. I thought the ginger in that one was overpowering all the other ingredients and rather ruining the experience for me. I don’t care for ginger. This blend which Cteresa shared with me has all of the same ingredients except ginger, so she offered to share so I could compare them. This also gave her the opportunity to share a number of other Yumchaa teas with me, because I had been contemplating an order from them. Sadly I haven’t really been completely overwhelmed with the ones I thought I would like so far, but I still have a few to try out, so I’m not discouraged.

Anyway, this particular one was the primary reason for her to send me that little care package, and now it’s turn has come. The company description of it compares it to apple crumble which, with these ingredients? I can totally see!

Let’s just get one thing straight here.

I. Love. Crumbles.

Based on this and the company descriptions? My expectations are positively soaring on this one.

The aroma is definitely not disappointing. It has a whole lot of apple in it along with a smidgeon of cinnamon around the edges. It smells very sweet as well, which I attribute to the almonds. Almonds, to me, taste quite sweet, especially when they’ve been chopped and cooked in some way. There may be some of the base tea shining through as well, but it seems all tangled up in the apple, so it’s difficult for me to tell whether it’s all flavouring or if some of it is naturally occurring.

The base tea is very strong in the flavour, however, surprising me with an unexpected note of leafy greens. Spinach perhaps, or rocket salad. At first it came with a stab of disappointment because it made me think that the flavouring would be weak and undetectable.

My fears were soon abated because barely had I thought the thought before the apple wormed it’s way in underneath with a slightly tangy note. Unmistakably fruity.

This then made me aware of the cinnamon which, if you think of the flavour experience as a circle with the most prominent notes in the center, keeps along the edges of the flavour. Discreet and out of the way, but definitely very present.

The almond element is very elusive though, but I think I caught a glimpse of it just as I swallowed and in the aftertaste.

Apple crumble? Yes, I can totally see that connection.

Better than the ginger-y LPdT blend? Immensely so.

This blend was like made for me, or something!

thank you Scheherazade for this sample. Jury is still out on this one but man did the aroma of this steeped tea blow me away. Talk about apple crumble in a cup. What i’m not sold on is the weakness of the tea, which may just be my steeping times or the leaf, so i’m not going to hold it against the tea just yet. I have more left to try this again with, so we shall see! Either way happy to try it :)

I feel like a green tea this morning, which is something that doesn’t happen all that often. There are a couple of Yumchaa greens untried in my stash, so now is probably as good a time as any to make a start on them.

First up in Wanderlust. I think it just might be the kind of apple pie flavoured green tea I’ve been searching for all my life. Or since I started drinking tea, anyway. The dry leaves are long and wiry, and vary in colour from a pretty dark green-black, all the way to a pale creamy green. Most of them are on the darker side, though. Among the leaves are pieces of apple, almond, and what looks to be cinnamon bark. It smells subtly of apple and cinnamon.

Brewed, it smells even more like apple pie. Apple pie that’s just come out of the oven. There’s an immediate kick of cinnamon, and then the warm, slightly sour scent of apples. To taste, it’s much the same. Cinnamon first, and then a naturally sweet, rounded apple finish. The green tea remains resolutely in the background, and it’s smooth and perfect. Not bitter, not astringent, just supporting the flavours of the apple and cinnamon while being pretty unassuming itself. I think the almond and vanilla that are supposed to be in here are a bit lost. I can’t really detect either of them all that much. I’m not complaining, though. Any tea that tastes as much like apple pie as this one does is all right with me.

So, the day before yesterday started off really well (tea-related), but went very badly downhill (not really tea-related, except for this tea). Then yesterday started horribly (not tea-related, except that I had to rush out of the house w/o my morning cuppas), stayed pretty bad (I think it shot my tea tastings for the day, too – will get to those if Steepster starts being happier), and then got resolved (included a nice, cheery night-time rooibos – ditto).

The good start to day-before yesterday involved a lovely email from Stacy of Butiki Teas and then two morning cups of tea from the swap cteresa sent me, neither of which will get onto the database here. One was a “random” Ceylon from a local tea shop – local to her, that is – which I found delightful, and which inspired me to order a Ceylon to try from PureAromaTeas. And the other was a home blended chai she made up with a Portuguese black tea, which was so good it made me walk around the house asking “Why have I never thought of chai for breakfast before?!?”. All I can do aside from that is check out the rough proportions of spices cteresa used, as they were spot on.

[skipping over non-tea-related woes] In the afternoon, I made a pot of Wanderlust for Cara and me, as she’s a big Yumchaa tea fan too. (By ‘pot’ I mean the Magic Infuser/Cha Cult I own.) Now, I have to say, with all due sorrow, that I’ve found a Yumchaa tea I didn’t like. Dry, the smell of the apple and cinnamon was lovely, but after steeping it went bitter, which it also tasted. I have to say that my taste-buds were not tainted by the bitterness of the day, as Cara also found it bitter, before I’d even said anything about it. I know Teresa wouldn’t have rated this one highly if it had been a problem with either the cinnamon or the green tea base, so I’m stumped as to what went wrong. That said, I’ve had teas I liked a lot less, but it was both Yumchaa and a Teresa favourite, so expectations were very high.

At least it rules one tea out of my next order from Yumchaa, thereby making life a bit easier! :? (If we ever get to London again, I’ll definitely try it in store though, to see if I still don’t much like it.)

Note: I was checking description right now and it says a chinese green tea base. My original package was from a couple years ago and I remember it, or possibly misremember it, as being a sencha tea base. My new package which is just as awesome (or more) than I remember the old one being does not mention which tea base it is.

Interesting blend, I think particularly good for sencha lovers. The sencha is present, as well as a very noticeable apple. The cinnamon is just a hint, a smidgeon, and it feels right. The almonds, i will take on faith but could not detect. The apple taste is real life, sweet, dried apple taste (from you know, real dried apple pieces aplenty in the tea mix) though maybe I am peasant enough that I was expecting something else, a sharper (i.e artificial) apple flavor. The sencha is IMO absolutely lovely, large, beautifuly unfolding, so buttery. A very smooth, creamy green tea blend.

Weirdly enough, trying this what it makes me really want to buy is their unflavored sencha, since it is the sencha which seems really awesome here. I want to try it on its own now.

This is an interesting tea.

I’ve only tasted one other Yumchaa tea – and like this one – it was kindly provided by Cteresa, thank you!.

Both that one – Notting Hill – and this one are similar in the way I can’t exactly put my finger on. It is as if they share some of the same ingredients, which evidently isn’t the case (according to the descriptions). Actually the one is a black tea and the other (this one) a green tea. So the similarity is rather surprising! Perhaps it’s a sameness in the way the flavors blend, because they do blend very well…

If apple crumble is a kind of apple pie or tart (I’m not sure), this doesn’t really remind me of that. Or rather, this tea has too much character to compare to something as mundane as apple crumble. The comparison to hot apple cider however does ring several bells.

If – like me – you don’t really like apple cider, you should still consider this to try this tea. Although this tea definitely reminds me of hot apple cider, it does not taste exactly the same. It’s sweeter and more mellow. Also it’s not as “heavy” to the stomach.

In the winter there are always a number of Christmas markets here in the region. Usually they have these little stalls serving hot wine, hot apple cider and the like. People sit outside in the cold (with no more than some heat lamps) savoring those hot alcoholic beverages. This tea would be great for such an occasion.

On the one hand I can already see myself happily sipping this tea after a cold winter walk through the woods, on the other hand I’m fervently awaiting spring and this doesn’t make me a believer it’ll be coming anytime soon … so that makes rating it honestly at this particular moment somewhat difficult. I’ll hold on to my thoughts on that subject for the moment and have a few more cups… :-)

One of my current favorite green tea blends. I like the crispness of the sencha with the spice and sweetness of the apple and cinnamon. The almond adds a bit of creaminess as well.