Lupicia

Ending today’s caffeine with a mouthful of butter. It even smells buttery in the packet.

This is, I gather from the name, an Alishan. It’s made up of rolled balls of tea that are dark to medium green, with some stems in the mix.

After rinsing, I steeped in the gaiwan at 195F starting at 15 sec.

The tea is a light, butter yellow color, clear, and has a slightly floral scent. But the main smell is butter.

Taste: butter.

The subsequent steeps: butter.

Fortunately, I love butter.

Now I must go lie down as I woke up with a sore throat, and it isn’t really getting better.

Autumn Harvest! I picked this one up from Ost’s cupboard sale, so thank you Ost! The leaf of this is a CTC black composed of dark little pellets of tea, dried apples, and a strong, sweet apple aroma. It smells like green apple skins.

I gave the tea a brisk two minute steep, given the CTC nature of the leaf and the fact I don’t like my blacks on the heady side. Brewed, the tea smells much sweeter, more like the sweeter red apple variety. I was surprised how mellow the cuppa was, since whenever I see a CTC base I’m expecting a really strong, brisk cuppa, and this steeped up a very dark color! But the short steep must have been just right (at least for my tastes!) as I have a very smooth and mellow base, that is a bit malty, with some subtle honey and citrus notes, but mostly the tea has a very juicy apple flavor. It’s sweet, but against the black tea, it doesn’t feel overly sweet, and it doesn’t taste strangely artificial, either. I think I’d prefer a tangier green apple flavor than the soft and sweet red apple flavor here, but it’s definitely nice, regardless (you know me, I like my hibi teas, of course I prefer green apples over red, I just like a little more tang on my fruit… I prefer green grapes, too!) It’s definitely different than the strong apple herbals I’m used to, that are simply packed with apple flavor… this is a very subtle sweet apple touch on a black base that is so lacking of bitterness and smooth it is really hitting the spot on an autumn morning. It is also a great accompaniment to my peanut butter toast breakfast.

Home – 5:30 PM

The Great Cupboard Excavation
Untasted teas remaining: 17

This flavor was in Lupicia’s iced tea collection from this past summer. I love ramune sodas – they’re unabashedly sugary and so fun to drink with the marble closure. They come in several fruit flavors (my favorites being strawberry and melon) but the original flavor is sort of like a combination of bubblegum and lemon-lime soda. It sounds weird, but I actually quite like it, and I’m not normally a fan of bubblegum-flavored things.

The dry leaf smells extremely grassy. I noticed it was somewhat broken up, so I steeped it for 2 minutes instead of 3. This actually comes fairly close to original ramune flavor. It definitely has that bubblegum taste, but to me it falls short on the lemon aspect. The base tea is quite grassy, but also sweet. There’s also a bit of added sweetness (I think) from the sugar candies.

Really, to me this is mostly a bubblegum green tea. Maybe next time I’ll add a lemon slice to my teapot. ;)

Home – 1:00 PM

The Great Cupboard Excavation
Untasted teas remaining: 19

Yay, I’m under 20 teas remaining! :D

It’s interesting to me that Lupicia seems to be rather obsessed with wine-flavored teas. They must half a dozen different ones that I can think of off the top of my head, in addition to a few more muscat or grape-flavored ones. It’s very unusual.

Anyway, this one is a strawberry and sparkling wine flavored black tea. I adore the big sugar crystals that they’ve added, they remind me of quartz and are so pretty. I don’t generally approve of tea with added sweeteners, but honestly I don’t taste the sugar at all in the steeped tea. I think they’re too big and hard to really dissolve much.

This is definitely an Indian black tea base. It’s got some bitterness and astringency using my usual steep parameters. I feel there’s possibly some Darjeeling in here, and I did see some green among the spent leaves.

It’s definitely got some muscatel notes, which does make it seem wine-ish. It’s a bit sparkling on the tongue. The strawberry is definitely candy-like. There’s also quite a bit of floral presence, and it’s too much for me.

This will definitely be one to pass along, as it does end up quite floral and the muscatel notes only accent that even more. It becomes almost perfumey to me.

I have a bag of this from Ost, I think. The smell and taste are rather like bubblegum. That’s not a flavor I usually like, but it works here. Hot, I did not enjoy this, but it tastes pretty good cold. I still wouldn’t want more, but it was nice to try.

Home – 11:00 PM

The Great Cupboard Excavation
Untasted teas remaining: 26

I really do enjoy all of these barley teas from Lupicia. I will say, I generally prefer the mugicha-style ones as they’re a bit less roasted and that allows me to taste the fruit flavors more. But these orzo versions are interesting too, and more similar to coffee.

I used a bit less tea (2 teaspoons instead of my usual 3) and steeped for 3 minutes to prevent this from being overly strong and coffee-like.

The strawberry here is definitely quite light compared to the roasted barley. I can taste it though, and it’s nice with the sweet cocoa notes. The coffee-like quality of the barley definitely helps to enhance the chocolate. There is a lasting sweet aftertaste, which is something I always find with barley teas, though I’m not sure why that is.

Digging this, it reminds me a bit of a chocolate cake with some strawberries on top and a bit of coffee. I bet this would make a really amazing latte – I’ll have to remember to try that sometime.

I opened this tonight. Made it over ice. Earlier in the day, I bought a pretty gray and white container with a wooden lid just for it. It’s 2/3 full now and should last me a very long time. I ended up buying seven ounces since I might never get another chance. And yet, I want to place another order to get some of the melon oolong to hoard, too.

EDIT: I ended up making 3 glasses over the weekend and it barely made a dent.

I woke up so thirsty and so unready for a harsh cup of coffee. So I made this sweet and over ice. It’s downright heavenly. I’ll be buying more of this when the weather turns warm again.

I got this from Cameron B.! Thank you! This one looks really exciting. 153 reviews and most of them are glowing. Seeing a lot of 100’s!

I definitely needed something caffeine free this evening after an ill-advised cup of black coffee. Now, I don’t really like rooibos unless the added flavors drown it out. Something about the aftertaste. Though green rooibos, like in this tea, usually isn’t as bad. I’m trusting you guys on this one.

The tiny green and brown needles smell very melony, with a funky kind of musk that’s hard to describe. Though as the tea steeps, it fades away, leaving behind sweet fruitiness. I taste honeydew and cantaloupe in the most realistic way. There is nothing remotely candylike or artificial about it. Just natural, wonderful melon. The rooibos is gentle and in the background, keeping this from tasting like pure fruit juice.

I find myself thinking this might be like Harney & Son’s Earl Grey Supreme in the way that I’ll never find another tea that nails the flavor so perfectly. Lupicia has set a standard for melon tea in my head now.

I’m so glad I have enough to make this again, but over ice… though someone mentioned coldbrewing it and that idea is sounding very, very good.

Sipdown!

I never did find the yuzu in this tea. Honestly I’m not sure I would’ve enjoyed the combination anyway, I’m not a huge fan of lemon and chocolate together and yuzu is even sharper than lemon.

But this is a perfectly pleasant brisk black tea with cocoa. The base is a CTC, and has a nice strong, malty flavor with notes of raisin and dark caramel. There’s some wood as well. The cocoa is definitely the unsweetened variety, and the light astringency of the tea helps drive home the powdery quality as well.

It’s a tasty non-yuzu chocolate black tea. I’m not sure I was too highly impressed with any of Lupicia’s “chocolat” range, though perhaps the raspberry version was the best one? I remember liking the Earl Grey as well…

Home – 6:30 PM

The Great Cupboard Excavation
Untasted teas remaining: 32

Stayed late at work again. (grumble grumble grumble…)

This looked to be mostly a CTC base, so I shortened the steep to 2.5 minutes.

Hm… I really don’t taste any citrus at all here. I’m not sure if maybe it’s blending into the base tea so well that I can’t distinguish it. Mostly this just tastes like a strong, brisk, and very chocolatey black tea. The cocoa is very present, which is lovely. The base tea has some nice raisin and tobacco notes as well. There’s a touch of bitterness. Maybe a tiny bit of citrus sourness at the end?

I mean, it’s tasty, but I was expecting more yuzu. Ah well, no worries, I ordered Lupicia’s yuzu green tea today… ;)

Sipdown! (17 | 294)

Yay, one of my oldest teas down! This one was from June of 2017.

I’ve honestly been really bad about not drinking my oldest teas lately, I need to make sure I drink at least one cup a day from my five-oldest-teas box…

There was a lot of dust in this due to it being the bottom of the tin and all, so I shortened the steep a bit. It’s really such a lovely easy-drinking oolong, with a good balance of slight roastiness, honey sweetness, greener leaf notes, and some tart fruitiness. Despite the name, it’s not very floral. I’m sure it would be delicious cold-brewed as well, though I never got around to trying it.

Would I reorder it? Unsure. I do enjoy it, but I’m not really in the habit of drinking straight oolongs, and I think I would prefer either a bit more roast or a bit more sweetness instead of a balance of everything.

Sipping on this one from my focus box this evening. I must have thought this was a scented tea when I ordered it, as I never order straight teas from Lupicia. Amusingly, reading through the notes it seems that others thought the same thing. But no, it’s a straight oolong that is supposed to have “a natural elegant aroma similar to osmanthus flowers”.

I don’t know about all that, but this is a very comforting and straightforward lightly baked oolong. I really like this type of roast, as there’s such a pleasant toasty sweetness to it, but the natural green flavor of the oolong is still present as well. I won’t say this is very complex, but there is a nice hint of honey and floral nectar amongst the roasted grain and fresh grassy notes. There’s a lovely sweet lingering aftertaste as well.

Cozy and yummy!

Work – 3:00 PM

The Great Cupboard Excavation
Untasted teas remaining: 33

I have no idea why I bought this tea. Maybe I thought it was osmanthus scented or flavored? Straight oolongs aren’t generally my jam, and I never order straight teas from Lupicia. This one looks to be partially baked or oxidized – the rolled leaves have a tinge of brown to them.

This is tasty. It’s definitely lightly roasted and has a lovely sweetness about it. I can still taste the green-ness of the oolong, but it also have a nice comforting toasty flavor. There’s just a little bit of fruitiness – it makes me think of apricot or plum. Perhaps just a whisper of light floral in the aftertaste?

This is very comforting with its mild toasty flavor and thick, satisfying mouthfeel. It’s perfect for cuddling up on the couch in the autumn or winter.

I’ll definitely have no issue sipping this one down, whether I intended to buy it or not. ❤

Sipdown! (21 | 143)

Love this one. I think this may be the only green tea from Lupicia that I really like and reorder that uses a more standard/generic sencha base. My other favorites – Sakurambo, Yuzu, Momo Vert – all use higher grade sencha.

Somehow here that familiar dry-grassy sencha just works with the crisp apple, and you end up with something refreshing yet almost cozy, bringing to mind thoughts of warm hay and apples in the fall. The apple doesn’t taste like a green apple candy, but more like the real thing. Definitely a tart variety, not quite Granny Smith tart, but the tartness is there. I’ve never had a Tsugaru apple, but apparently they’re supposed to be super sweet.

Anyway, a favorite that I still love and will certainly reorder in the future. :)

Sipdown! (21 | 151)

Love this one! Happily, I have another unopened package.

The apple here is tart and crisp, but doesn’t go into Jolly Rancher territory for me. It’s so refreshing and pairs perfectly with the light, sweet, softly grassy green base. I feel like a horse eating fresh alfalfa hay and apples, but in the best way possible.

So yummy, and definitely one of my favorite greens from Lupicia.

Home – 5:30 PM

Lupicia, Lupicia, Lupicia… Maybe if I click my heels together, they won’t close the website. :(

This one is an apple green tea. The leaves are somewhat large and feathery, as opposed to the darker slender sort that Lupicia also sometimes uses. It has a light, smooth, and slightly sweet flavor with notes of dry grass and hay.

The apple flavor here is sharp and refreshing, like a granny smith apple. There’s a little bit of candy-like edge to it, but overall it tastes fairly authentic in my opinion. The crispness of the apple pairs really well with the grassy nature of the base tea. There’s just a tiny hint of dryness that mimics the skin of the apple nicely.

I’m not sure on this one… I may just get one more packet before the online store closes.

In other news, I finished unpacking and putting away my tea and teaware stash in my new house: https://www.instagram.com/p/BsMMemdlZcu/

Work – 12:00 PM

The Great Cupboard Excavation
Untasted teas remaining: 35

Ugh, work is sucking today. At least there’s tea…

This one looks like a bancha base, so I steeped it for a full 3 minutes. This seems to have been a good choice, as it’s very smooth without even a hint of bitterness or astringency.

The base tea is very grassy, which goes perfectly with the somewhat sharp green apple flavor. The combination tastes very “green” and is quite refreshing. The overall flavor is mild and comforting.

Oh, Lupicia, why do I love everything you make… I feel like a fangirl. :P

An unexpected gift from Mastress Alita :)

This is strange. I’ve had roasted barley tea before and don’t recall it being so similar to a weak coffee. The dry bag scent seems to carry more of the apricot than the liquor, where it blends ever so subtly with the roasted barley, lending it just a bit of brightness in flavor. I’ll be frank and say the smell and taste of this reminded me of my Yia-yia’s Folger’s coffee breath slurrrrp. It did bring back some memories of my early years. I enjoyed it enough but wouldn’t accommodate more. I could see some people really going for it, though.

Home – 8:30 PM

The Great Cupboard Excavation
Untasted teas remaining: 40

Chugga chugga choo choo…

Wow, this one smells extremely sharp in the tin. o.o

Luckily, it’s not so sharp after steeping. It is fairly strongly-flavored though, in both the base tea and the added flavors. The base tea is intensely vegetal, with strong spinach notes and an interesting piney flavor. The citrus flavor reminds me of yuzu, or perhaps a combination of lemon and lime. That could just be the pine notes pulling it in that direction, though. I do taste the lemongrass as well – it adds a nice herbal note that complements the other flavors well. There’s a slight hint of bitterness, which I always find pleasant in Japanese green teas. The combination of flavors just verges on medicinal, but thankfully it doesn’t quite go there.

This one is definitely quite different from the black tea version, which I remember being more of a sweet lemon drop sort of flavor. This is more of a zingy lemon-lime tea! I like them both, and I’m glad that they’re different. ❤

Home – 4:30 PM

The Great Cupboard Excavation
Untasted teas remaining: 42

So I started looking at the Bonne Maman advent calendar on Amazon a couple of weeks or so ago, and I kept hemming and hawwing about whether I wanted to order it or not. Of course, once I decided I would like to have it, it was sold out everywhere online… Noooooooo… So obviously that only made me want it more, ha ha. Luckily, when I was searching for any online shop that had it in stock, I found the website for a chain store, and one of the local branches had it! So I drove there today and grabbed one (actually it was the only one). Huzzah!

So now I’m having some toast with butter and Bonne Maman jam from my fridge to test out my new toaster and celebrate my triumphant victory. Om nom. ❤

Anyway, this was supposed to be about tea, wasn’t it? Oops. This tea was a limited edition from Lunar New Year to celebrate the Year of the Dog. It’s a mix of roasted oolong, hojicha, and puerh. The tin has a super cute Shiba Inu on it!

I’m not sure how to describe the taste other than just “roasty”, lol! Which just sounds ridiculous to say. It’s smooth and slightly sweet. Maybe slightly grassy. It’s very comforting to sip while loafing about on the couch with my toast.

P.S. – Bonne Maman’s Four Fruits preserves are super tasty! Can’t wait to scarf my way through the advent calendar… ;)

Sipdown! (30 | 66)

Love this one from Lupicia, the white peach flavor is so lovely and the base tastes like a real sencha, not the generic dry grassy kind a lot of other flavored greens use (including some of theirs). It just tastes so lush and juicy, and there’s a wonderful thick creaminess to it, so it ends up being a bit like peaches & cream.

A favorite, and definitely one I’ll restock in the future. :)

Sipdown! (54 | 401)

Yum. This one is such a tasty peach tea. The white peach is sweet and soft with a juicy nectarous flavor and a bit of crispness to it. Very authentic, it tastes just like a real peach and nothing like candy. And then it’s paired with a good quality sencha base with nicely balanced vegetal, grassy, and umami notes. Lovely silky mouthfeel as well.

So very tasty, this is a flavored tea that I think could appeal to straight tea lovers. And probably my favorite peach tea! :D

Home – 7:30 PM

Last one to try from Lupicia. I know that I’m going to order another packet of this, but I wasn’t sure if I should order more than that, so here we are. This is actually a rather new tea from Lupicia.

The sencha base here is excellent, and of a higher quality than Lupicia normally uses for their flavored green teas. Because of this, it requires a somewhat more deft hand with steeping. This time I’ve gone for a 1.5-minute steep, and it seems fairly balanced. It has a lovely sweet vegetal flavor with just a hint of pleasant bitterness. I have no doubt that it would be a tasty sencha to drink on its own as well.

The fruit flavor here tastes like a peach-mango smoothie to me. There is sweet peach combined with juicy tropical mango and a nice creamy note, perhaps from the sencha itself. I can taste a bit of passion fruit as well. I believe this is supposed to be a white peach green tea, but to me it’s more like a peach went on a tropical vacation and made some new friends. There’s a light floral note in the aftertaste, something like honeysuckle perhaps?

This does somewhat remind me of Lupicia’s Ripe Mango Oolong, but with an entirely different base.

I think I’ll order two packets of this one. Now that I’m going to be stockpiling my favorite Lupicia blends, I’m suddenly very thankful that they use vacuum-sealed packets that should retain their freshness very well until they’re opened. Silver linings I guess…