Lupicia

Drinking this tea is like eating a perfectly ripe and juicy white peach from the farmers market… but without the sticky dribbles down your chin or the slightly squirmy texture of peach fuzz (just me?)!

I enjoyed this hot last night and then cold brewed the spent leaves because I am always trying to get the most out of my tea. I’m drinking the cold brew right now, and it’s so crisp and juicy and smooth. The peach has taken on a smidge of gummy candy peach ring flavor, but only slightly.

So tasty.

First thing I noticed with this was the tiny “konpeito,” or Japanese rock candy. It’s just pure sugar arranged in a cute bubbly shape. However, I’m not a big fan of sugar, so I just picked them out. They are easy to remove. The second thing was that the tea leaves were chopped much more finely than the other Lupicia Hawaii blends.

It does have a generic fruity flavour (supposed to be peach, orange, and mango) but no one note particularly stands out. It blends into a sort of “tropical citrus.” It’s perfectly..fine. I drink it when I want to remember my sunny Hawaiian days, and it does the job. But I probably wouldn’t repurchase.

Oh dear… I pulled an individual tea bag from the TTB thinking it was a green tea (it was in a green bag!), but it’s a black tea! That I steeped at green tea temperature! Haha, oops. And now I’m drinking caffeinated tea at 3:00 p.m…. another oops.

It’s a delicious oops, though! So light and fruity and tart, with a super juicy scent that reminds me of these grapefruit jelly candy slices I used to enjoy. I actually really love grapefruit, both juice and fruit, but can’t eat it because it interacts with one of the medications I take to prevent my cancer from returning. I’ll have a half grapefruit on Christmas morning as part of my family’s traditional Christmas breakfast (along with cinnamon rolls, ha!), but that’s it! So it’s nice to get the essence of grapefruit without worrying that it’s going to kill me, haha.

I actually do wish I had the version on a green base, because I think that would be quite a complementary pairing.

Finished my bag up as a cold brew. I added some hot water to cover the leaves and to melt the konpeito left in the bag before adding cool filtered water to sweeten the brew. It’s the perfect juicy melon oolong tea! The melon in this blend is exactly like my favorite honeydew boba, and somehow even the age of this tea hasn’t dulled that melon scent.

So this past week I finally had a chance to go shopping at the new T&T Grocery Store that opened a few months ago. For anyone not familiar, T&T is a very large specialty grocery store that imports a lot of food products directly from across Asia. This is the first location they’ve opened in Montreal, and it’s actually their biggest one too. It’s produce and snack heaven!

I definitely got my fill of different snacks (new to me and favourites), but one thing I didn’t expect is that I’d also have a chance to grab some Lupicia tea! For sakura season they had imported both of Lupicia’s sakura leaf teas – a black and a green. I passed on the green, but clearly I ended up getting this black tea based one. It’s a simple blend; just black tea and salted cherry blossom leaves. I made a cup first thing when I got home and it was really interesting!

I was nervous the salt would be too much, and it’s definitely apparent in the infusion but I was pleasantly surprised by how restrained the salinity was. By the end of the mug, it was verging on a bit much as that taste definitely built up on the palate over time but it never crossed my comfort level. Overall it was a smooth, medium bodied cup with a really soft floral aroma and a light but very consistent note of the cherry blossom leaves. Like, true cherry blossom – not the weird floral cherry flavouring that a lot of Western facing companies (tea and otherwise) use to replicate it. Subtle, delicate sweetness with just a bit of a bitter licorice-like undertone to go alongside the elegant floral taste.

Very cool, very unique!

I really, really like this tea. I am having the final cup of this batch (sipdown!) hot tonight as a little treat, but I also like it as a sweet iced tea in summer.

I have cooked and washed dishes most of the day as we are having a small family gathering at my son’s house and we are celebrating his birthday and having an early Easter lunch as well since we won’t be together for Easter.

I am tired and sore and decided to take a little pre-bed break and treat myself. Peppermint salve on sore and tired feet. Lilac candle lit in my spare room, hot tea, and Raspberry Rose and Almond Florentines from Fortnum and Mason. I have never had Florentines before that I recall but I sure do hope to have them again someday. These are delicious.

The green rooibos base is a nice carrier for the fruity mango. I love having an evening tea that isn’t just chamomile or mint! I am glad to have a sipdown on the books, but this one is definitely getting reordered.

I must start off by saying I re-discovered this in my tea drawer. I have no recollection of when I actually purchased it (last month? This year? 2016?) so it’s not the freshest version imaginable. It’s unopened but at least a couple years old, by my best reckoning.

The puer is very smooth and easy to drink. It’s like the puer version of bicycle training wheels. Not fishy or dirt-like or tricky to brew. It’s very mild and hardly rates as puer, which may be good news for a lot of people. I rather like a good earthy puer, so I was a bit disappointed.

The strawberry is quite candy-like vs authentic, and I’m not getting much chocolate. A whiff, but not a defining note. The overall effect is not bad, but if you’re expecting a hearty dessert-type tea with a puer base, I’d say this might come up short. It’s more of a mild, pleasant blend you wouldn’t mind drinking at a random cafe while traveling to a new place. It won’t make you want to get more, but it’s a perfectly pleasant sip in the moment.

Note: I don’t know if it’s fair to rate the tea, given it’s likely past its sell-by date. So my impression here might not be fully accurate. However, I didn’t like it enough to consider buying a fresh bag.

Sipdown 25

The teabag I have was labeled ‘8810’ with no name, and I had thrown it into my wok tea stash. Trying to sipdown my work stash, I blindly steeped this up. Wow, this is salty. I wasn’t expecting it, so the salinity hit me and it wasn’t super pleasant.

At first whiff, this has a strong floral fruity smell that I can’t quite identify, it’s a mix of lychee, strawberry candy and a floral component.

The lychee is prominent. It’s very pleasant and smooth, but I suspect it’s not just 100% natural fruit since it adds a noticeable amount of sweetness. Real lychee is is astringent but in this tea, it’s more like the canned version in syrup. Not bad, by any means, but not for the hardcore lychee purist. A note of red strawberry candy follows up to make a final blast of faux fruitiness. There’s a very slight floral hint underneath it all but it’s overwhelmed by the sweet fruity blasts.

Despite the somewhat unnatural impression, it’s a nice blend and fun to drink. But it’s a ruffly Barbie pink polyester minidress, not not an organic unbleached cotton maxidress. This tea is the opposite of what you’d get in a hip faux-Scandi organic artisanal tea shop. And it’s not at all embarrassed about it. So two thumbs up for that alone!

Sipdown! (21 | 101)

This one is pretty meh IMO. Especially coming from Lupicia, who usually has fairly strong fruity teas.

The flavoring is very mild, especially paired with a black tea base that’s fairly strong. It’s not bitter, but it has a substantial earthy flavor to it that the more delicate apricot doesn’t stand up to well.

So it ends up tasting like an earthy black tea with a little hint of apricot to it. I do really like apricots, I’m reminded now that I have an apricot black tea from Dammann as well, I should really steep some up…

Superanna gave me several Lupicia teas for my birthday and a sample bag of this came with the order. I did read many of the tasting notes before trying it, so I went into it somewhat knowing what to expect.

What I did not expect was liking it as much as I did, as in, liking it enough to add it to my next Lupicia order.

I agree that it is nothing all that special, and yet…it tastes so very like what I perceive to be the most classic cup of tea that I can see myself craving the simplicity and easy drinkability of this.

There is Assam, but not strong enough to upset my sensitive tummy that often objects to Assam. There is Darjeeling, that can be too astringent for my tastes, but this is only brisk and bright. I drank it plain but I think it would also be lovely with milk and or sugar. It would be so good with afternoon snack, like a little slice of decadent (or delicate) cake.

Sipdown!

And not just any sipdown, but the one that drops my cupboard below 100 for the first time in ever so many years! I do not expect to hit my goal of 75 and I know I will get tea for Christmas that will push the number up a little, but this is progress! My oldest teas that are not intended for aging are mostly gone. And I purposely did not order any advent teas because I am serious about getting my cupboard at a point I am happy with!

I am a little picky about Earl Grey tea. I don”t want it to be too sour or sharp, so that rules out most Ceylon bases. I really like bergamot on Keemun but other bases or a low grown Ceylon can be good, too.

This is a strong Earl Grey type tea. There is nothing subtle about it. But it has several twists that make it really nice. First, it has a smoky base instead of a lemony Ceylon one such as is often used. Second, it has longan fruit for the tart and citrusy scenting.

This one was finished off well in advance of its “best by” date.

I had two new-to-me Earl Grey blends this morning. This one is a gift from Superanna and the other is a gift from Ashman.

Reading reviews and even the Lupicia website, I was unsure as to whether this contained longan AND bergamot or longan INSTEAD OF bergamot. Since the ingredient list both online and on the bag say it contains black tea, longan pieces, and essential oil, I was still none the wiser. What oils? Just longan or bergamot or both?

Taste told me that either there was a whole lot of bergamot in this or longan tastes an awful lot like bergamot. I noticed there was a warning that the essential oils in this tea may stain plastics so be aware for the sake of your teaware. I looked up their plain Earl Grey and there was the same warning, so I have my answer.

This was a powerful tea, very flavorful, and I think it could be polarizing. If you don’t like bergamot, you are not going to like this tea – something I do not say about some blends with bergamot. The base is strong enough to stand with the scents, otherwise this woukd be a very poor cup of tea indeed.

I, however, like it! It is very unusual and there is a strong perfume taste, and a good twenty minutes after I drank this I noticed that I still tasted the perfume. (The longan mainly. Perhaps some bergamot as well.)

Neat tea!

Sipdown!

One of the wish list teas that Superanna bought for me a while back. In spite of having two things that Ashman doesn’t like much – raspberry flavor and chocolate in tea – he likes this one. He says the chocolate doesn’t smell like mildew as some chocolate flavoring does to him, and it tastes fruity with mahogany and tobacco leaf notes to him.

Would definitely purchase again.

May Sipdown Prompt: National Eat What You Want Day – Drink what you really want!

I started the day with this tea and took the holiday seriously. Waffles instead of oatmeal, then a Stouffer’s frozen “emergency” meal instead of making a smoothie or a sandwich, iced pomegranate oolong from Harney for my lunch drink out on the patio, and got takeout instead of cooking supper.

In addition, I made ice cream this morning flavored with rose black tea and jasmine green tea and had it on my afternoon break and gave the rest to a neighbor and Ashman to have for dessert tonight. It has been a day of culinary decadence and throwing caution to the wind! Ha ha!

Superanna picked this from my wishlist and gave it to me as an early birthday gift, along with a couple of other Lupicia teas. Thank you, Superanna!

I really shouldn’t have had the caffeine, but I made just one cup’s worth tonight because I could not wait to try it. I split that one cup with Ashman but I didn’t tell him what we were having, just that it was one of my early birthday teas.

Ashman usually dislikes chocolate in tea unless it is cacao nibs, and he dislikes raspberry in general. He liked this tea!

He said it tasted like mahogany wood and tobacco leaf to him, no doubt the base teas coming through. I mentioned that a lot of people probably take it with milk and sugar and he said he thought it would be especially good that way, so one day soon I will make a big pot and let him experiment with it.

As for me, I liked it just as it is, and I see why it is so popular. The aroma is identical to the Godiva raspberry filled chocolate bars I used to buy at Barnes and Noble.

I came home from my recent trip toJapan with multiple Lupicia blends to sample. The first I brewed was Carol, a strawberry, vanilla and coconut black tea blend. It smells sweet and has a delicate flavour, not too overpowering or artificial. Much prefer this to other strawberry teas I’ve encountered in the past!

Sipdown! (34 | 70)

Love this one. I find the flavor slightly difficult to explain. It is sort of cherry-ish, but in a tart dried cherry sort of way rather than a sweet, ripe one. And I guess it must be the rosemary that adds a lovely savory, herbaceous note. The sencha base is nice quality, with darker and more slender leaves than some of their other flavored greens.

I’m not sure whether I like the green or black version better, luckily I have one more packet of both. I’ll have to do a side-by-side tasting to determine which one I want to continue ordering…

I don’t get much aroma from the leaves, though there are chunks of dried fruit and hibiscus flowers in it.

Overall, this blend is a little confusing. Lupicia says it’s guava flavoured but has mango and papaya fruits in it (no dried guava?). I get no mango notes, just a hint of papaya and guava, which are not always super flavourful fruits even on their own. Between that and the hibiscus, there’s a somewhat sharp, astringent blast to the tea, which leads to an overall dry impression. The aftertaste is nice and refreshing, not cloying like some fruit blends can be. The fruit notes are not distinct nor particularly tropical, and there’s a slight underlying ashiness that creeps out as the brew cools down (hibiscus/marigold is a prime culprit for this).

Lupicia suggests brewing it cold, I may try that instead. While it’s by no means bad hot, it’s not one of Lupicia’s best offerings. I’m just not getting any tropical vibes here, more of a “neglected fruity teabag that’s been sitting in the bottom of a tea basket for three years.” It tastes like something you’d drink in a random hotel when you ask for tea at breakfast, but they never serve any, so they have to scrounge around in the back for something. Serviceable but not something you’d seek out again.

Woof. i remember really liking this tea when I got it eons ago in a Lupicia Fukubukuro bag. It has all the elements I tend to enjoy – matcha, genmaicha, savory elements, beans…. But this is one in my collection that has not stood the test of time. the matcha wasn’t the highest quality when i got this blend, but it was drinkable and arguably very delicious. These days, the color and fun of the matcha has all but faded away. What i’m left with is a marshy green cup of undrinkable swill. It’s a bummer, but there is no saving this tea. I put this down as a “Least Favorite Tea” in Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge, which is true only because this tea is old and gross now hehe. Maybe I’ll order it again and drink it in a timely manner LOL

Smells lightly of chocolate, though I don’t see any of the promised cacao nibs/powder. Lupicia says this is inspired by dark chocolate, but to me this is definitely on the lighter side. I get more of a light caramel/vague chocolate note versus a rich, deep dark flavour.

It’s fun and playful, more of a child’s tea party tea than a sophisticated adult drink. Certainly not offensive- it’s easy to drink, but when something is advertised as a dessert tea, I want it to be indulgent and memorable. Not words I’d use to describe this. To me, this is “nice,” or “fine.” I’ll finish the bag but I wouldn’t repurchase since there are better dessert teas out there.

I drink all my tea straight but I suspect some some cream and sugar would provide some much needed richness and round it out.

First impression…this has a a strong fruity scent and large pieces of dried fruit scattered throughout. A very tropical vibe from the start.

I am also somewhat sentimental about this particular tea as I drank it many mornings while waking up and looking at the sunrise over O’ahu.

It brews up to a rich color, the black tea base is a little malty but mellow overall- just watch the steeping time since I suspect this one will turn undrinkable quickly. I find some Lupicia blacks are prone to being unforgiving if steeped even 30 seconds too long.

Flavour is strong in the brewed cup too- I get a lot of mango and general “tropical fruit” notes. It’s not artificial tasting. The balance is lovely- the tropical fruit notes are dominant over the tea, but that’s what I look for in a tea that’s supposed to evoke a sense of place like this one. If you like a subtle hint of flavour, this one is probably not for you. If you want a fruity black blend that immediately says “HAWAII,” you can’t go wrong with this one.

A festive limited edition, this is a black tea offered at Christmas that’s supposed to have a champagne/grape flavour. The aroma is quite powerful, both in the dry leaf and brewed cup.

I get straight-up grape- but it’s a nice quality and not overly sweet. It does not give me notes of mulled wine or anything else claimed in the maker’s description. I understand the feeling they were trying to evoke, but nothing about this seems particularly Christmas-inspired. If anything, it’s more autumnal. I’d’ve called this Concord Harvest or something, but that’s just me.

Their description: “Black tea with aromas of grapes and fruity sparkling wine. Toast with this festive tea and tasty. Christmas tea with intense fruitiness, inspired by mulled winter wines, Jingle Bells is a well-balanced black tea with a dense and bewitching scent, evoking well-ripe grapes, raisins, cranberries and some well-known sparkling wines.”

Translation: Grape-heavy black. But a little classy.