740 Tasting Notes
I’m a matcha enthusiast. I love being able to try out different matcha from different regions and companies to see the unique differences that each one holds. I was a little surprised that there was no aroma in the dry powder but the liquid holds nice vegetal and umami notes. Those notes also help develop the deep umami notes in the flavor along with some unique vegetal notes. Cut green beans and other fresh vegetal notes. Deep and soft notes on the tongue mostly but the initial touch is sharp. Somewhat metallic. Almost ruins the rest of the experience for me but the smoothness of the powder transfers over to a nicely balanced cup with very little silt and some astringency. This will make an awesome Molotov Matcha.
This will be my first time trying a Roi Gui. I’ve heard a lot about it from other tea people but just never tried it until I bought the Master Zhang oolong tasting pack from Verdant. Verdant is hard enough to pass buy without buying as it is but mention Master Zhang and the chance for buying increases tremendously. The dry leaf is so fresh smelling. Slightly floral, some tropical notes mixed with mineral notes. The mouthfeel on the first cup was incredible. The silkiest mouthfeel I have ever experienced. It’s so smooth. Like licking the smoothest rock. Licking a piece of silk sheets? I’ll stop. The wet aroma is slightly like buttered popcorn and baked bread of some sort… Like pudding bread. With nominal orchids and other unique florals.
Good aroma. Slight dark chocolate. The mouthfeel is incredibly smooth. Literally feels silky. Even the after taste, which is slightly astringent leaves you feeling silky. The umami is fairly high but there is a crisp and clean feeling that reminds me of rain washed fresh vegetables. The powder is very soft and sifts easily. The color isn’t the greenest I’ve seen but still close to jade. Great taste to the dry powder. I generally drink mine as thin tea but I can see this also being good for thick tea with sweets on the side.
Learning Icelandic is difficult. Especially when your school age self learned Spanish and now your trying to learn Japanese. Ope. (I’m also Minnesotan. So that’s even more fun). I’ve never tasted moss before. I love to look at it though. It’s so cute. Not quite sure of what I am looking for in flavor but it’s good. Definitely tasting deep earthy notes with tannic woodsy notes. But there is another note that I can’t quite put my finger on. Somewhat herbal. Kinda marine. The astringency is low but you can definitely feel it a bit.
Who needs dessert? I’ve got mine right here. The smell reminds me of a creamy, luxurious creme brulee. I should probably drink it but I just want to sit here and smell this. My first sip was silky and had good flavor but my next few have been a little weak. For this tea, I think more leaf is necessary. A bit more steep time (I did around 2 -3 minutes though it calls for 3 – 5) With both of these the cuppa is better. The intensity of the caramel and vanilla is still quite a bit less than I expected but honestly, I don’t mind it. I really appreciate the fact that it doesn’t taste artificial as many dessert teas do. This would pair really well with some salted caramel chocolates. Also going to try this as a latte at some point.
Ah, the dreaded mint. I like mint. I grow mint. But I do not like mint in my tea, for it is all I taste. The aroma is mint for both the dry and wet. Though after a few minutes you can also smell the chamomile. The flavor is overwhelmed by mint with a hint of chamomile here and there. Chamomile is also in the after taste which is then taken over by a tingling of minty freshness.
Today is rainy. Dreary. Soggy. Perfect for more cups of tea. Especially a chai. But not just any chai. A nice spicy chai. The aroma just from opening the bag is wonderful. All of the proper chai spice smell with a pleasant nose tingle. The leaf is CTC, so it is tiny but this makes it so that the other flavors don’t overwhelm it. Steeps up quickly I only needed about 3-4 minutes to achieve a good flavor. Too much more than that and it becomes too bitter. Though if you are planning to turn this into a true India treat, Chaiwala, then steeping it a few more minutes isn’t a bad idea. The after taste is pleasantly sweet while still retaining a bit of zip.
I’m taking a leap out of my purist comfort zone to taste some cuppas by a new tea company. The smell immediately pulsates up your nose when you open the bag. The blueberry aroma is like a club playing EDM. Makes me wonder if we’ll ever see clubbing again… This wonderful smell prepares you for something amazing in the flavor. Which unfortunately isn’t there. It is tepid blueberry in flavor. To be honest, the flavor is very bland. Even the black leaf uninspiring. My suggestion would be to add real blueberries to the blend (freeze-dried if possible). Out of curiosity, I’ve also steeped it cold to see if that would reveal better flavors. At five minutes it is still bland but something seems to be trying to peek out. After 10 minutes there is a bit of cream and a bit more fruity. Which makes me wonder if this would be a good overnight iced tea.
Lush, deep green. These leaves are a fantastic color. If you are going to call it superior it better be a green like this. The liquid is a clear, light amber. The mouthfeel is very smooth. Barely any astringency. Wet leaf smells of umami. Not sure of how to explain that smell besides umami. It is warming and reminds me of soft Japanese udon. The flavor is slightly grassy with vegetal notes. Garden veggies.
If you really want to test your matcha mettle you should try to drink a single cultivar for a few days and then switch it up to a different one. I have been drinking okumidori the last few days which is more nori forward or at least I thought it was until I tried this samidori. The marine flavor is not just forward, it is in your face. Bits of nori mixed with umami sea notes. It starts very smooth and ends up a bit silty but the bits aren’t unpleasant. The overall mouthfeel is very smooth. The matcha coloring is just a very slight shade off of the highest grade I have in my fridge but it still is nice jade green. The powder is smooth to the touch.
