Ito En

Oi Ocha + whole grain Goldfish crackers = a lunch that is at least marginally healthier than Coke & Doritos

my case is almost gone! only 3 or 4 bottles left after this one! I’m wondering whether I should order another. Actually I’d rather try a mixed case of Rooibee Red Tea if I can afford it… but I will buy this again eventually!

great hydration for a hot day outdoors when water gets boring

perfect w. spicy shrimp roll!

backlogging from earlier this week –
wow! this is the most complex bottled tea I’ve ever had! Definitely not your typical american-style green tea. It is a bit sweet, a bit grassy, and bit roasty. It reminds me of both matcha and gemaicha, but obvioulsy much lighter than either. I will def be buying this again, and will try the more intense “dark” variety next time.

Grabbed this at the store last weekend and decided to have it today as part of my post-lunch tea ritual. Tastes very jasmine-y. It’s pretty strong, even when directly from the refrigerator. As it warms up, I start getting hints of green tea in there but oddly enough, it’s making me think of cookie dough. Jasmine flavored cookie dough. It’s something about the sweetness of it that gives me that feel, I think. Getting warmer now and the green tea is coming through in a less cookie dough way and a more astringent whoosh at the end. Not bitter or tart but kind of fresh feeling. And I’ve either gotten used to the strong jasmine or the green is countering it a bit. It’s not the most sophisticated jasmine I’ve had but it’s certainly not the worst. Much more of a natural jasmine floral than a perfumed jasmine floral. I think this ends up being a pretty nice RTD tea.

Okay, so I know this is a bottled cold tea, but it was so good I felt I needed to spread the word. It’s light, a little sweet, and very apple-y. Almost like biting into a fresh apple and taking a sip of tea at the same time. Absolutly loved it!

Strong taste – imagine the “Red Bull” of teas.
I’m having it over ice, great for after a brisk walk.

I picked this up yesterday at Shaws. Its in a different bottle than the Teas tea. It just says Ito En Golden Oolong tea. This is a delicious unsweetened Oolong ice tea. It tastes Oolong. The tea has a very robust clean taste and I will buy it again. I just wish it wasn’t 1.99 a bottle.

This is my absolute favorite tea in Japan. It’s the first thing I grab whenever I go to a convenience store. I usually have to add sugar or honey to my tea if it’s unsweetened, but the flavor of this tea is so amazing that I don’t even feel the need to sweeten it!

This bottle went delightfully with my left over Easter ham sandwich. My absolute favorite bottled/pre-made tea. Mmmm!

I picked a few of these up at Whole Foods the other day. I was a smidge leary, but I had a hunch I would like it. Man, am I impressed! This tastes so nice and clean…so oolong-y and nom! It’s great with food or by itself. I wish they weren’t $1.99 a pop, because I could casually drink a lot of this. I drank the majority of the bottle ice cold with lunch. Yum! Now, I’m finishing up the bottle and it’s kind of luke-warm. STILL really good! I love that this was totally unsweetened and natural.

I guess $1.99 isn’t too bad if I only pick up 3 or 4 every now and then. It’s totally worth it!

Grabbed this while I was out and about today. Sharply grassy with a tart astringency that was not unpleasant. The last sip had some bitterness, but for as bright and sharp tasting as this was, it was remarkably unbitter. Not something that I’d want in my pantry (I prefer sweeter senchas) but really good for grabbing while at the grocery store.

This tea has been sitting around in my collection for awhile now in it’s airtight bag from Ito En. I decided to open some of it up this morning and try it out. The leaves are beautiful, consistent, and very floral. They brew up a nice light yellow liquor that is mildly sweet and interestingly, less floral than I had expected. The other silver needle I have on hand, Octavia, is definitely more floral/earthy than this. No complaints here…

Traveled to Whole Foods yesterday and wanted to go through their tea selection. Bought some dried and bagged teas, but also got this bottle. Very delicious. The tea is a refreshing oolong tea, unsweetened so you get the natural taste of the tea.

I dig this. Normally when I have a hot oolong, I don’t go for amber colored ones. But this one is super toasty and delicious chilled. It’s that one canned beverage vice that I have that can’t be replaced with anything else. They know how to steep – and I am stoked that it is unsweetened. If you ever find me in whole foods (I hate shopping), I probably have at least 4 cans of this and 22 oz. hoppy beer.

This stuff is so refreshing on a hot day. Definitely my favorite Tea’s Tea product and I’m so happy they sell at the campus convenience store!

Vegetal Central. . . loving this Sencha and for some reason Sencha always makes me crave apples. . is it just me?

Under steeped this tea, as I do with most Sencha’s (personal preference) but maybe I should have left it a bit longer. . . the New Year is coming up folks!! Gotta get ready to party…any suggestion for some pre-gaming tea for tomorrow (some tea nerd better suggest one).

Until then………thank you Ito-En for a good start to my day.