92

Another Glendale tea!

The dry leaf smells incredible. Lilac, peony, orange blossoms – it’s like walking through a garden in full bloom. There’s also a note of cool cucumber in there. The leaf is light brown, in small curls.

Steeped, the leaf unfurls into medium yellow green pieces. The floral fragrance sticks around, but is joined by a strong umami, which is an interesting combination.

The liquor is clear and the colour of honey, and smells very similar to kukicha – sweet, a bit buttery, notes of cooked vegetables and umami.

This tea has amazing flavour. Lightly spiced (pepper and something else), umami, sweet, muscatel, hints of floral, malt and green vegetables. Vegetal tangy on the finish. It reminds me of a combination of Japanese green and a Darjeeling.

There are so many different layers to this tea, but it doesn’t taste muddled – they all somehow compliment each other and work together. Very complex and unique.

Flavors: Butter, Cucumber, Floral, Malt, Muscatel, Orange Blossom, Peppercorn, Spices, Sweet, Umami, Vegetal

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 15 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

I grew up drinking jasmine green tea with meals, but really fell in love with tea on a trip to Britain in elementary school. My first great love was Earl Grey, and I still adore it and all its variants.

I discovered the beauty of loose leaf tea much later, when, on impulse, I picked up a few teas that were on clearance at a home store. My introduction to loose leaf teas were Masala Chai and Provence Rooibos by the Metropolitan Tea Co and an unknown brand of kukicha and gyokuro (little did I know what a precious treasure I’d stumbled onto with that.)

At the time I was lucky to live in a place with multiple tea shops and several places to have afternoon tea, which is a delight I still miss.

Tea is part of my daily ritual and a nice, affordable way to appease the collector in me.

I enjoy distinctive whites, greens and oolongs, flavoured blacks, and herbals that are heavy on the citrus, lavender or mint.

Rating rubric, to give myself some consistency:
0-15 Yuck, not even drinkable.
16-30 Disappointing, not really inclined to give it a second try.
31-45 Disappointing, but maybe there’s potential? Worth one more try, prepped differently.
46-60 Mediocre, not terrible but not memorable.
61-75 Not bad. I’ll definitely finish what I have and might buy again.
76-90 Very enjoyable. Tasty, complex, it’ll keep me coming back.
91-100 BEST! I love everything about it and I will drink it forever.

Beyond tea, I’m a sex educator, polyamory activist, and radical queer. I love backwoods camping, abstract painting, baking & cooking, nail polish, cats, ceramic sculpture, and home nesting.

Location

Winnipeg, MB, Canada

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer