Pokka

Picked up a can of this at Mitsuwa last week. This was an exceptionally good canned green tea. It has a crisp, clean flavor with a creamy matcha like mouthfeel and almost no bitterness to speak of. Good balance of umami and sweetness. Those who aren’t into the grassiness of green tea might like this one as it lacks the mossy green taste of sencha.

I liked this a lot better than Ito-En and some of the other bottled teas out there. Maybe it’s just in my head, but green tea in a can tastes so much better than in a bottle.

Perusing the Asian Market I came across this one for 99 cents. It’s not bad. Really sweet and quite flowery. Not bad for on the go.

I always love finding this tea in stores when I’m looking for a quick lunch. Its virtues include having no sugar, not tasting like lipton black tea, and being consistently refreshing. It doesn’t necessarily taste like a normal oolong, not being anywhere on the roasted / geranium flavor continuum, but it does taste pleasantly and mysteriously woody.

Additionally, this tea proudly proclaims its address of origin: 39 Quality Way, Singapore. Each time I re-find this tea I smile over ‘39 quality way’ – if only everything could be manufactured on Quality Way!

So apparently this is also Singaporean canned tea, but they sell it in bottles here in Japan so I’m just going to stick it in this entry.

Oolong tea is, I think, kind of the “default” tea in Japan. It’s what people get when they’re in restaurants – quite often it’s free, AND in bottle form it is 30 yen (a little over 30 cents) cheaper than other teas.

This particular one is interesting for its presentation. It’s description on the bottle is written in “chinese style” which means, basically, all kanji. In the description on the back of the bottle they make a big deal out of the fact that they use tea leaves from China for it.

The taste is basically what I associate with oolong tea in japan. It’s quite strong, as most of these teas are since they’re mostly chilled and it’s got that…I dunno, sort of wood-ish? taste to it that I basically classify in my head as “oolong.” Weirdly this is the first oolong I’ve had this trip. But definitely not the last. Pretty standard, all told.

Surprisingly decent for tea that’s canned. It makes a refreshing change from the horrid sweetened and flavoured pseudogreen teas that I buy in a hurry because I have no cups nor hot water where I’m going.

I think it’s because oolong is inherently robust in taste- doesn’t matter what temperature you drink it at, the flavour is always going to be distinctive. Also, it conveniently eliminates having to watch the pot like a hawk in case of oversteeping (which pushes it into tasting like peat swamp).

the day will be long
pick me up, can of oolong!
(haiku shouldn’t rhyme)

Eating sushi at the office, al desko. I am both thrilled and horrified by the notion of oolong, cold and in a can. Then again, the simple enjoyment of this is what reminds me not to become a tea snob. It ain’t sweetened, and it ain’t soda. Huzzah!

I like that it’s not sweetened like most bottled/canned teas found commonly here in Singapore. It’s great when the weather is hot since it quenches your thirst without leaving a sticky-sweet aftertaste.