123 Tasting Notes
If you want a minty, refreshing tea, don’t go any farther. This is it.
I was expecting a much greener, vegetal tea. When I opened my tin, however, I was pretty surprised because the leaves didn’t look anything like my other green teas. I took a sniff and realized that the leaf was at least 50% mint leaves. This was not at all a bad thing, as far as I was concerned, because it is a hot summer day and what is more refreshing than mint tea?
I brewed it up and threw some ice in, and voila! A lovely summer drink.
((I might have to try blending this with a strawberry tea. Doesn’t that sound lovely? Strawberry mint, iced. Yum.))
In case you’re wondering, this isn’t pure green tea matcha. It’s the tea mixed with a little sugar. As a result, the powder is noticeably grainier than other matchas I’ve had, with granules larger than even Lupicia’s other latte mixes.
When mixed with milk, it tastes rather like green tea ice cream. Sweet and creamy, but with the slight bitterness of green tea. It’s nice.
I’m not jazzed about this one plain or w/ water, but it would make a killer matcha lemon or limeade I imagine:)
oops *plain or w/ milk
Ha ha, I was like “Plain or w/ water? What’s the difference? I don’t get it!”
And of course THAT’s when the delete button decided to vanish.
Kitchen Sink really packs a one-two punch. When I first sip the tea, it tasted quite green and vegetal. It was quite nice, pleasant and mild. Then I swallowed, and seemingly out of nowhere a wave of fruitiness hit me. I couldn’t begin to tell you something specific from it. It was a citrusy berry-like sweet tangy extravaganza of flavor.
As I drank more of the tea, the initial green tea taste and the fruitiness blended in my mouth until it was just a symphony of fresh, fun flavors. It was just fantastic :D
Pouchong may have been the first oolong I ever tasted, because it’s the ‘default’ taste I think of whenever I hear ‘oolong.’ It’s lightly vegetal, and almost like a green tea except it doesn’t have the sharpness. A little floral, but not to the point that a specific flower could be named. I like it because it’s a very fresh and clean flavor.
Lupicia’s Strawberry & Vanilla has a strong perfume scent coming from the dry leaf. It makes me think of Bath and Body Works’ fruity sprays. Kinda artificial, but not at all unpleasant.
This tastes like those prepackaged strawberry milk drinks. It’s very sweet and creamy. There’s barely any flavor from the green tea; it’s completely buried under the strong strawberry note, which does not taste like the strawberries found in nature. It’s more syrupy, I guess. Does that make sense?
I like this, but I don’t love it. It definitely works better as a cold beverage, but I’d drink it either way.
Preparation
I cna definitely see the link between this and a strawberry milk, creamer, or melted ice cream although I think got more green tea flavor out of it. Maybe it was because I let it steep an extra 30 sec? I could have possibly used a different temperature as well. Hmmm… a matcha strawberry ice cream may be good!
That would be an awesome ice cream flavor. I’d eat it every day, just like I start nearly every morning with a strawberry matcha latte! :D
Bananas and peaches?
I don’t think I’ve ever encountered this particular flavor combination in a tea, although I’m sure Jamba Juice has a smoothie or two with both fruits in it. Thanks to the sample that Liberteas sent, I’ll be trying this tea out, iced.
It smells wonderful, nice and fruity.
Yum! The banana really pops in this tea. The peach isn’t as strong, but I know it’s there because of the sweetness that lingers on the tongue. It’s another great summer blend from 52teas.
Thank you LiberTEAs for sending this one to me!
It’s a perfect summer tea. Very tangy and lemony. I tried it warm, but it made me think of Airborne and other illness-preventing concoctions, but after tossing some ice cubes the drink became refreshing and delightful. I feel like I’m drinking sunshine…no, this tea makes me feel like I need to go sit out on the porch with a nice tall glass and read a book. If only I had a porch…I think this may be the first peanut-flavored tea I’ve tried, although I’ve had almond, hazelnut and chestnut teas before. The nuttiness is pleasant, but it is not strong. It balances with the rooibos flavor but doesn’t transform/transcend it into a truly peanut butter beverage.
I can’t detect the strawberries, so I think calling this “PBJ” isn’t quite right because there isn’t any jamminess. :(
I’m glad this is caffeine-free, because I need more evening teas, but I can’t help but wonder if the PBJ would taste better with a different tea base since the rooibos seems inclined to overpower it?
I like the subtlety of this raspberry tea. Too often, I get a raspberry-flavored tea that has been pumped with sugars or berry-flavoring so that the berry flavor just screams in your mouth.
SBS’s tea definitely has a pleasant raspberry aroma of medium strength, and while you can definitely taste the raspberry it balances with the black tea instead of trying to dominate it. I drank it hot, but I think that this would be great iced, too.
It’s not a complex or fancy flavor, but for a good basic summer tea I’d stock up on this one.
I finally figured out my best approach to Lupicia’s Matcha au Lait mix. First, I put a tablespoon’s worth of tea in my bowl. (I don’t have any teacups large enough yet shallow enough to whisk in, so I use one of those bowls Chinese restaurants serve rice in.) Then I fill the bowl about a third of the way with hot water, and whisk it until the tea’s blended in. At that point, it’s a very thick matcha. Then I fill the bowl the rest of the way with milk, and whisk again. Since the tea’s already dispersed in the hot water, this method avoids the clumpiness I had when I just used milk (even when I heated the milk first), plus adding the milk second helps cool the tea down so I can drink it immediately.
The strawberry flavor isn’t strong, but it’s definitely there. With the milk it’s very tasty.
When I was at Lupicia last week, all the matcha au laits were on sale. I wonder if this means it’s being discontinued already? Did anyone happen to notice if this was a limited edition for summer?
Suzi needs a chawan:) I’ve never had any of the au laits, but a TB seems like a lot. If you like orange, definitely try this w/ orange juice. Regular strawberry matcha is amazing this way so I can only imagine this would be just as spectacular:)
I actually think they’re more of a winter thing (at least in my head) so maybe sales are just down.
I guess I do :-p Maybe a TB is big, but it’s a big bowl too so…gotta fill it up somehow! :-p
A tablespoon doesn’t seem like too much of a latte mix. That’s about what I use for the Domo lattes. And… Suzi, I have a couple of those rice bowls, and they would work fine as a chawan… in fact, I was noticing a couple of weeks ago that the rice bowls that I have are just about the right shape and size for a large chawan.
Oh… and I wanted to add, that if you do finally decide to break down and get yourself a chawan, you can find some excellent chawans on Etsy. I have 3 chawans now and have purchased all three on Etsy. I adore them… plus, they were much more economical than purchasing them from a tea merchant.
Any etsy sellers you’d recommend? I love browsing that site :)
