Cultivate Taste Tea

Traveling Tea Box Tea #2
A lovely green here. It most reminds me of a Laoshan green, in both twisty leaf appearance and flavor. Buttery, bright. Corn. Neon green in the cup! Laoshan green is my favorite green, so I’m not complaining. I’m amazed it is even like Laoshan green, as this is grown in volcanic soil in Jeju Island in South Korea. I’m surprised it doesn’t have more of a unique flavor… Jeju Island is a “familiar” place to me, as Han Kang’s book ‘We Do Not Part’ partially is about Jeju Island and I read that a few months ago.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a mug // 31 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 30 minutes after boiling // 2-3 min

Another purchase from the Chicago Tea Festival 2025. I don’t know why I haven’t reviewed this yet. But I do know that we tried this at a MN Tea Society meeting and it didn’t go well.
Trying this on its own. Let’s see how it goes.

Dry leaf: It looks and smells like a lower-quality tea. The leaf size is all over the place. And not that uniformity is a sign of higher quality or better tasting tea, however, when you use leaves of differing sizes the steeping is a bit convoluted. Smaller leaves infuse faster than big ones. The coloring reminds me of a Chinese green with yellow tones. Some flat some curled some… I dont know.
Dry Leaf smell. Unpleasant. Had I smelled this before buying, I would not have bought this. I know the aroma can be hard because aroma sample jars don’t always produce the best idea of what a tea is really like but I have stored this well, and the smell hasn’t changed from when I first opened it.

Flavor: Leafy. Compost. A bit vegetal. Corn. Overcooked spinach. Slight bitterness.

I wouldn’t suggest steeping as long as suggested. It just ramps up the bitterness in a way I don’t find appealing.

Bought this last year to brew at our MN Tea Society meetings. But to be honest, I’m not digging it. I’ve had Korean green teas before and they were amazing but this one just seems meh… It’s not terrible. I’d drink it again, but it’s not the first thing I’d reach for on my shelf either.

Flavor: Vegetal. Kinda bitter.
Mouthfeel a bit of astringency.
Wet aroma: Vegetal. Corn. Slight butter. A bit of sweetness.

Do you have a Sunday tea? A tea you only drink one day a week. It becomes very easy to take our tea for granted when it is always within reach but when you submit to only having a certain tea on a certain day it makes you become more aware of some things. This can be done any day and with any tea. I chose this one as my new Sunday tea.

Dry Leaf: LOOK AT ALL THOSE TRICHOMES. All fuzzy and golden brown mixed in with their dark brown leaf counterparts. So cute.
Dry Aroma: Sweet and woody aroma.

Flavor: Woody. Sweet. Slight cream. Mahogany. Palo Santo.

Finished this off from the Strange VariaTea TTB. I oversteeped this the first time, but honestly didn’t mind. It was still creamy and cinnamony joy. The base works really well with the sweet flavor and cinnamon notes, and is very forgiving of oversteeping. Once I did a proper steep, it brought out a really nice caramelized sugar note.  The cinnamon and clove are clear but gentle. This is just the right level of sweet, though I’m not sure if it’s pear per se – it could be pear, or maybe apple, but either way it’s delicious!

Strange VariaTEA TTB – Tea #28

This was a little baby sample, just enough for one serving.

It’s a mix of green tea, apple, hibiscus, and ginger, with no added flavorings. Because of that, it’s quite mild in flavor. Plus I probably could have used a bit less water… It’s still very pleasant though. The balance between the sweet apple, tartly floral hibiscus, and smooth green tea is very nice, and there’s a hint of ginger that complements the apple well.

Tasty!

Result: Finished Off