Loose Leaf Tea: Monks Blend White

Tea Company: Green Tea Lovers

Tea Company Description: Premium White Tea. Made from buds and young leaves. White tea retains high catechin concentrations in its fresh leaves. A mixture of grenadine and vanilla, a flavor combo we’ve grown enamored with and have come to call Monk’s blend in honor of the monastic traditions experimenting with herbs, spices and fruit. In this variation of tea we’ve added our all-natural flavoring to a superb white Pai Mu Tan from Fujian province in China. The resulting cup exhibits a full body drawn out with underlying notes of vanilla hinting at cream and round touches of pomegranate. Brew a pot today, and savor the delicate aromas.

Country of Origin: China

Region: Fu-ding, Fujian Province

Grade: Pai Mu Tan

Altitude: 2000′ – 4000′ feet above sea level

Manuf. Type: White Tea – Naturally withered

Infusion: Pale Yellow

Ingredients: Luxury white tea, natural flavors

Character: Smooth with Madagascar vanilla notes and a touch of grenadine pungency. Sweet pecan-like finish.  Contains high antioxidant level of 7.5-9.5% vs 5-6% for mass-market teas.

Hot Tea: This tea is best enjoyed by pouring 180F/90C water over the leaves (1 teaspoon) for 3 minutes (longer=stronger). Don’t remove the leaves. Can be infused repeatedly 2-3 times using higher temperatures & shorter infusions until flavor is exhausted.

Iced Tea: Pour 1 1/4 cups of hot water over 6 teaspoons of tea and steep for 5 minutes. Pour into pitcher while straining leaves, add ice and top up with cold water to make a quart of iced tea. Garnish and sweeten to taste.

Review

Dry Leaf Assessment: The appearance of dry tea leaves is typical Pai Mu Tan (White Peony), big silver-down covered leaves, and some are slightly browned.   The leaves are very delicate and fragile, some shattered. The nose of the dry leaves is fresh, soft and sweet with floral and fruit nuances.

Infused Leaf Assessment: The smell of infused leaves is very alluring, warm vanilla notes are underlined with hazelnut-cream softness. Delicate fruity nuance compliments softness and warmth of vanilla prominence. Infused leaves are completely unfurled, shiny, even, and green in color.

Liquor: This white tea blend produces pale yellow-golden liquor. The infusion is light-bodied as most of the white teas based blends. The taste is fresh, subtle and clean, and although the flavor is delicate, it is well-balanced, flavorful and very enjoyable. The most prominent flavor characteristic is creamy vanilla with faint fruity sharpness. All of the ingredients perform well in this tea composition.

Recommendation: This tea blend is good served hot or cold. Iced variation is refreshing, thirst quenching and sophisticated. However, I would recommend using a double the suggested amount of leaves for iced tea, in order not to lose the flavor. If drunk hot, some honey or any other sweetener may be suitable.

Score: 86 – Very good

Loose Leaf Tea: Shincha Shizuoka (Japan) (Steamed Loose Leaf Green Tea)

Tea Company: GreenTeaLovers.com

Tea Company Description: LIMITED EDITION ONCE A YEAR TEA. Shincha is a first crop, young bud sencha. This shincha is grown in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan’s premier tea growing region. Over half of the yearly production of Japanese tea comes from Shizuoka. The shincha leaves are hand picked and hand rolled into long and extremely fine needles. This tea has a soft taste like fresh spring green tea. The aroma is noticeably sweet and reminds one of wild orchid. Shincha’s key characteristic is its refreshing and invigorating scent of new leaves. Another feature of shincha is it’s less bitter/astringent taste. Shincha has a higher content of amino acids (L-Theanine) and vitamin C, giving it full-bodied flavor and sweetness. L-theanine is linked to increased alpha brain wave production and is considered a natural antidepressant and stress reliever. Japanese studies link consumption of L-theanine with strengthening the immune system. L-theanine is often added to energy drinks and is known to give a 6-hour sustainable energy boost. Produced under ISO 14001 Certified Environmental Management Standards.

Brewing Instruction: Hot Tea: This tea is best enjoyed by pouring 178F/80C boiling water over the matcha powder (2 teaspoons per cup) for 30-40 seconds (longer=stronger). Don’t remove the leaves. Can be infused repeatedly 2-3 times using higher temperatures & shorter infusions until flavor is exhausted.

Iced Tea: Pour 1 1/4 cups of hot water over 6 teaspoons of tea and steep for 5 minutes. Pour into pitcher while straining leaves, add ice and top up with cold water to make a quart of iced tea. Garnish and sweeten to taste.

Ingredients: Luxury green tea

Country of Origin: Japan

Region: Shizuoka

Altitude: 300 – 1000 ft. above sea level

Review

Dry Leaf Assessment: The color of the leaves is a deep emerald green with a nice shine. The shape of the leaves is consistent needle-like, but is somewhat shattered. The smell is pleasant, fresh, and soft with a creamy nuance.

Infused Leaf Assessment: The infused tea leaves are bright green color, silky to touch. Wet leaves have a distinctive floral aroma with a definitive sweet caramel creamy note.

Liquor: This is a typical shincha or “new tea” with a vivid golden-lime color of the infusion and wonderful fresh fragrance. The infusion is somewhat cloudy like most produced by steamed young leaves. Since Sencha Shincha Shizuoka is the very first flush of the year, this product is beautifully refreshing with a rounded flavor and a most pleasant sweet aftertaste. This tea has an excellent balance of astringency and sweetness without grassiness. The infusion is rich and smooth with a pleasantly sweet floral aftertaste. Steeping longer with hotter water makes this tea astringent and bitter. On another hand, quick brew with cooler water makes this Sencha mellow and delicately sweet. This high quality seasonal tea takes a special place in Japanese tea drinking culture.

Recommendation: During processing, Japanese Sencha Shincha Shizuoka is steamed and not heat-treated. Therefore, to brew this tea for full flavor you’ll need to use lower temperature water and less time. If you would like to receive a well balanced harmonious infusion, use the recommended instruction by the seller. Boiled water cooled down to 176F/80C is ideal for brewing Sencha. To ensure a proper result use a minimum two heaping teaspoons per cup. The best technique I would recommend is to pour water in teacup before adding to teapot, it will pre-warm your teacup and will chill the water faster to the proper temperature. Another valuable tip from Loose Leaf Tea Review – do not disturb the leaves while steeping, otherwise it will bring out excessive bitterness. No steeping is required when brewing a second or third time because the leaves are unfurled. If a more astringent taste is desired, increase the amount of tea, water temperature and brewing time. For lovers of Japanese teas, this tea is well worthy to try!

Score: 90– Superior

Loose Leaf Tea: Oishi Sencha Green Tea

Tea Company: GreenTeaLovers.com

Tea Company Description: This became an instant favorite with us. It has a distinctive fresh, light, green taste without being overly grassy. We’ve found it very difficult to prepare a poor tasting cup of our newest and finest sencha. Its a rare sencha picked in limited quantities from two type of Kanaya Midori bushes and is said to have superior flavor, taste, color and aroma. An early-April, first crop sencha harvested from leaves in the Kagoshima and Shizuoka regions. The growing climate produces a deep rich aroma and taste and a bright green tea color. The first crop of the four annual harvests is considered best when tea leaves are younger and softer. Produced under ISO 14001 Certified Environmental Management Standards.

Brewing Instruction: This tea is best enjoyed by pouring 176F/80C water over the leaves (2 teaspoons per cup) for 40 seconds (longer=stronger). Don’t remove the leaves. Can be infused repeatedly 2-3 times using higher temperatures & shorter infusions until flavor is exhausted.

Ingredients: Premium green tea

Country of Origin: Japan

Region: Shizuoka & Kagoshima Prefecture

Altitude: 500 – 1500 ft. above sea level

Review

Dry Leaf Assessment: The color of the leaves is a deep green with a nice shine. As most steamed teas, Oishi Sencha leaves are very fragile. Therefore, the shape of the leaves is not consistent needle-like, but is somewhat shattered. This could happened during the transportation of the tea. The smell is pleasant, fresh green (if one can define smell by describing the color) with well pronounced roasted seaweed note.

Infused Leaf Assessment: The infused tea leaves are bright green color, silky to touch, even slightly mushy due to dry leaves being crushed. Wet leaves have a distinctive vegetal aroma with pronounced sorrel note. ( If someone is not familiar with this plant, then it could be best compare to spinach).

Liquor: This is a typical shincha season tea with a vivid emerald-golden color infusion and wonderful fresh fragrance. The infusion is cloudy with a moderate amount of leaf particles. Since Sencha Ichiban Oishi was collected in April – the first flush of the year, this product has an excellent balance of astringency, bitterness and sweetness. The infusion is strong, sharp, rich and smooth at the same time with a pleasantly sweet pickering aftertaste. Steeping longer with hotter water makes this tea astringent and bitter. On another hand, quick brew with cooler water makes this Sencha mellow and delicately sweet which is appreciated by tea drinkers with different preferences.

Recommendation: If you would like to receive a well balanced harmonious infusion, use the recommended instruction by the seller. Boiled water cooled down to 176F/80C is ideal for brewing Sencha. To ensure a proper result use a minimum two heaping teaspoons per cup. The best technique I would recommend is to pour water in teacup before adding to teapot, it will pre-warm your teacup and will chill the water faster to proper temperature. Another valuable tip from Loose Leaf Tea Review – do not disturb the leaves while steeping, otherwise it will bring out excessive bitterness. No steeping is required when brewing second or third time because the leaves are unfurled. For lovers of Japanese teas, this tea is well worthy to try!

Score: 87– Very Good

Website: GreenTeaLovers.com