Hawthorn Tea and What the Hell Did I Buy!?

A week or so ago, I ordered an "oolong sampler" from Red Leaf Tea since it had a lot of oolongs and other teas that I wanted to try and was $14.99 for 12 teas.  Well, I received the teas and fun fact, the vast majory of them do not have any English on them.  Thankfully, Red Leaf Tea has a nice guide on their website as to what everything is, but I still wish I would have gotten something with labels on it or at least a list.

Hawthorn Fruits are little crabapple looking fruits that are used in many cultures except the United States.  I've unknowingly had them before as this candy called Haw Flakes, which is a bit like a fruit leather and tastes like a cross between strawberries and prunes.  Apparently, traditional Chinese Medicine uses it as a digestive aid.

Outsides:  When you open up the packet, it looks like a bunch of cut-open berries (which is exactly what they are).  I added the entire packet to 8 ounces of boiling water but I have no idea is that's what I'm supposed to do.  The liquid has a slight pink tint to it and smells like prunes.

Insides:  Honestly, this just tastes like sour water with very little other flavors or scents going on with it.  I tried ripping up the fruit a bit more to see if it does anything, but one thing I will tell you is that the fruit pretty much just tastes like a sour prune.  After forgetting about it overnight, I will say that it does taste a bit more fruity but it's mostly just sour water.

Tilt:  I don't know how much this is if you find it although I have seen haw candies at our big Asian store and they're pretty cheap.  Obviously, I don't care for this but I'm sure the fresh fruit would be nice to use in a preserve or pie for a bit of a sour kick to balance out something sweet like strawberries or maybe some apples.  It does taste a bit better cold.

Overall:  I'm not a fan.

My Rating:  Pass.

Red Leaf Tea sells an obscene amount of flavored Matchas and other teas.

Stash Jasmine Blossom Green Tea

When people tell me that they love tea, I tend to put on my snob glasses and judge them because too many people I know who say they "love" tea just drink Lipton bagged black tea (there is nothing wrong with that, but I would inform you that there are better options out there).  Well, one of my friends is a tea snob equal to my snobbishness but without a blog, and when we got into a discussion on Jasmine teas, she recommended this one to me because she said it tasted similar to dragon pearls but at a fraction of the price.   I then got this tea when it was on sale and now I have three bags of this stuff so I hope she's right. 

Also sorry for the crappier photos, especially my stained cup.

Outsides:  I got the 3 pack of the 3.5 oz loose leaf and they come in these foil pouches and the ingredients are just green tea and jasmine blossoms.  Much like any jasmine green, it smells strongly of jasmine.  I brewed a teaspoon in 8 ounces of 170 degree F for 3 minutes.  It has a more golden color to it and smells like sweet jasmine.

Insides:  My friend was almost right about this tasting like jasmine pearls.  The tea isn't as sweet as the ones I've tried but compared to other green teas I've tried, there's a more prominent sweetness and less astringency than normal.  The jasmine is very fragrant but you never get the feeling that you're drinking a flower.  Honestly, this is just a well-balanced tea that gives you a good feeling of zen. 

Tilt:  I bought the 3-pack on Amazon which is normally priced at $19 but since there was a 20% off Stash coupon, it would have cost $15.20, so a little more than $5 for 3.5 oz of tea.  Even at the regular price, it isn't too bad as another tea which is comparable is Adagio's Jasmine Chun Hao which is $8 for 3 oz plus cost of shipping (I will say that the Jasmine Chun Hao is better though).  This is a good everyday jasmine green that's quality is between "I don't care, I just want something floral and cheap" (Sunflower Brand Jasmine Tea) and "Oh god, this is too expensive so I'll just drink it for special occassions" (pretty much any Jasmine Dragon Pearl from a shop, Jasmine Chun Hao).  I'd save Sunflower for iced tea but this one would probably be good too and is just a nice tea to have around. 

Overall:  I like it and it will be consumed.

My Rating:  Buy it!

Stash Tea is a popular American tea company.  Also, they're having a 20% off Friends and Family Event until 11/12/13 by using the code FAMILY13 at checkout. 

Choicest Tea Rose Black Tea

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of the three dollar tins of tea from the Asian market and I usually pick up one when I'm grocery shopping.  One of my favorites is Lotus Foods Co. in the Strip District of Pittsburgh because of its huge selection and inexpensive prices, which goes for tea as well.  Although I've heard mixed reviews about this brand (I mean, it's cheap so it's not guaranteed to be good), I've heard good things about the Rose Black and the Tieguanyin (which was out -_-).  I also picked up a Jasmine Tea which I've heard good reviews about.

Outsides:  Much like the other Choicests, the Rose Black is double sealed with metal and also has a bit of paper protecting the tea when you first open it.  There are a few rose petals scattered in the tea, but it's more uncommon than I would have hoped.  I brewed a teaspoon and a half in 8 oz of 95 degree water for 3 minutes.  The color is actually quite light for a black tea and it has a smells similar to a Keemun in that it has a note of prune to it.

Insides:  So, I'm pretty sure this is a Keemun because of the sweeter taste and the notes of dried plums and apricots.  The tea itself actually has no bitterness but the compromise is a lighter body, so don't be afraid to steep a little longer.  If you're expecting the tea to be very floral, you'll be sorely disappointed.  There is practically no taste of rose and at most, a slight fruity taste.  Still, it's a nice breakfast tea if you want something less robust and I actually think it would make a nice iced tea since it has a bit of natural sweetness.

Tilt:  The tin itself is pretty nice for a tea that cost three dollars and I'm always a fan of these scenic portraits on these tins.  I actually got this because I thought it might be a good tea for cold-brewing and honestly, it's not bad.  I'd like it to be a bit more robust, but I guess i could either blend it with something or hot brew it and then chill it.  For three bucks, I'll work with it.

Overall:  My biggest disappointment is that this tea isn't robust enough for me, but it's still not bad for what it is, plus I'm not upset at having to add more tea leaves because of the amount you get for the price.  It's not perfect, but don't be afraid of picking it up.

My Rating:  Try it!

I'm pretty sure I never had a website for Choicest Teas, but it can be found in pretty much any Asian market.

Temple of Heaven Special Gunpowder Green Tea

I think the company for this is Shanghai Tiantian, International Trading Co. LTD.

So, I moved.  I'm now able to wake up at 7 and enjoy a cup of tea and a proper breakfast before going to school and let me tell you, it's awesome.  What's more awesome is that I finally have a teapot as opposed to constantly making tea in the Keurig.  However, I don't want to use up all of my good tea if I just want to make something to chug while doing work so that's where this tea comes in.  I got it at the Asian market for $2.75 for 8 oz(?) and was just hoping that it was drinkable.

Outsides:  The tin is actually really nicely sealed:  There's an outer lid, an inner lid and paper surrounding the tea leaves.  The tea itself is shaped like little pellets and smells a little smokey, which is what gunpowder is supposed to smell like.  I get about 4-5 cups from this teapot but like my tea strong so I put about 6-8 teaspoons worth in either my basket or giant ball infuser and let steep for about 3 minutes.  The tea gets a bit darker as it cools down, but it goes from golden to a light orange-brown and smells like your typical Chinese green tea.

Insides:  For the price I paid, I think this is actually pretty good.  The smokey flavor is a bit of an aftertaste and is nothing like a Lapsang Souchong.  I've made about 3 pots of this already and it's not very astringent, even when oversteeped for like...5 minutes.  The tea itself is sweet with a bit of an earthy flavor, but is not too complex other than the smokey aftertaste.  And honestly, it serves my purpose.

Overall:  I like it.  I was scared at first of this but if you need some cheap tea to chug while doing work, this'll do.

My Rating:  Try it!

This was the only tea I found from this brand and I didn't find a website.

Zen Tea Jasmine Dragon Pearl

So, my last 4 days have cinsisted of 7 to 9 hours of baking cookies (we have at least 13 different kinds right now) and honestly, I need a break.  NO MORE MOM, I'M GOING ON A DIET!  Anyway, I need some jasmine tea to relax and this one looked interesting. 

Outsides:  The tea is just chinese Jasmine Green tea buds, but it's shaped like little spheres.  The instructions say that you can use 3 to 5 of these per cup, so I put in 4 big ones and one derpy looking bud in 8 oz of 80 degree Celsius water and just kept them there (I want to see if they bloom, which they kinda do).  The fluid is a very light orange (it almost looks pink to me) and have a nice fragrant scent of jasmine.

Insides:  This actually works pretty well without an infuser because the leaves are very tender when brewed.  What really surprised me was how naturally sweet the tea is without sugar.  It has a light body and a delicate green tea flavor with a pleasant jasmine scent, but there's a sweetness to it which makes this extra special to me.  Plus, it's so fragrant that you can probably get away with using 3 buds.  Anyway, this is a fantastic tea to help introduce people to floral tea and for people who don't want to consume as much sugar.  I image that this is great cold.

Overall:  Apparently you can get this cheaper at the Asian markets, but this sample size gives you good bang for your buck and it's darn tasty!

My Rating:  Buy it!  

Zen Tea is a canadian tea retailer that specializes in mid to high quality tea.  

Zen Tea Toffee Dream White Tea

The second tea from my White Tea Gift Set, this is probably the most interesting in terms of flavor combination.  When looking at flavored white tea, you typically will see it paired with more delicate and sweet fruits such as peach or blueberry but never with toffee.

Outsides:  A bit of a different style of white tea (Pai Mu Tan) with blue cornflower (which is not listed in the ingredients) and little toffee squares.  The tea smells fabulously nutty, a little like fresh-baked almond cookies, and I like the contrast of the blue cornflowers to the brownish-yellow of pretty much everything else.  Again, I brewed about a teaspoon of this at 70 degrees Celsius but I prolonged the time to about 3 minutes (it didn’t taste nutty enough for me).  The liquid is more golden than the Silver Needle and has a delicate sweet and nutty smell to it.

Insides:  A lot of times when you get flavored tea, the flavor ends up tasting really fake and detracts from whatever qualities the base tea had.  This is the opposite.  The nutty flavor is very light and delicate while also tasting very real.  There’s also a complexity to it, with the nutty flavor adding a nice musk and earthiness while the white tea adds a bit of a floral undertone and the little squares adding a subtle sweetness.  One thing I advise which may seem like a total no-brainer to some people is to use filtered water.  I sometimes don’t care about that and this tea really brings out the flavor of the impurities in our water.  I also think that it tastes best on it’s own without sugar.

Overall:  Very nice and something that I’m definitely ordering again from Zen Tea.

My Rating:  Buy it!

Zen Tea is a relatively new online tea retailer that specializes in mid-to-high quality tea.  Right now, they have a 50% off tea sale until Dec 24th if you enter the promo code Holidays and I have to say, it's pretty worth it.

Zen Tea BaihaoYinzhen (White Hair Silver Needle)

My Zen Tea order came today and I have to say, the gift box was IMPRESSIVE.  I was expecting 1 oz of tea per tin but I was really wrong and it’s clearly about 3 so for those people that managed to get the half-priced gift set, you are getting one steal of a deal.  I picked the white tea gift set which included this one, Toffee Dream and Tear of Peony.  Silver Needle is a rare, expensive white tea with supposedly a delicate taste and I’m really excited to try such a delicacy.  Hell, I almost think this tea is too good for me :(.

Outsides:  I love the long tealeaves, although I think I need a different infuser or a gaiwan.  The tea is a light yellow green with long leaves that smells fresh and floral.  I don’t normally comment on the texture, but these leaves feel soft and young, but they are dry (I ate a few).   I brewed this at a pretty low temperature, about 70 degrees Celsius, and put about a tablespoon and a half in the infuser and let it sit for about 2 and a half minutes.  The tea is almost colorless and has that same fresh floral scent to it.  It reminds me of the beginnings of spring and life, with dew falling off the fresh leaves, which is a pretty existential thing to think of when describing the smell of tea.

Insides:  The flavor of this is so delicate and pure, like the spirit of spring.  It has an extremely smooth body with top notes of fresh florals and vegetation with a slight mossy base note.  This is not a chugging tea like so many of my cheap green teas, but an uplifting sipping tea when you want to feel the life of spring go through you.  It’s really quite beautiful and doesn’t need sugar but would probably be lovely chilled, but not freezing.

Overall:  A bit pricy but something everyone should experience at least once.  Take advantage of this during Zen Tea’s half-off sale if you can.

My Rating:  Buy it!

Zen Tea is a relatively new online tea vender that seems to specialize in higher quality tea moreso than vendors like Adagio.

TasTEA Time! Choicest Golden Dragon China Green Tea

See that title.  I have no idea if that's right.  I do know that Golden Dragon Choicest Tea is distributed by Blooming Imports in Brooklyn, NY.  Normally, these things have a description of the region or type of process they used to make the tea.  Nothing.  However, this seems to be pretty common in the Oriental Markets around here and I do kinda want to review it.

Outsides:  I really like the metal tin this came in.  It's just an 8 oz metal tin with two sets of lids, but I think the design is really nice.  What's interesting is that the green tea leaves are rolled into little buds.  The tea is slightly lighter in color than some of the other ones I reviewed but smells like a slightly earthy green tea.

Insides:  I'm not going to say that this is the best green tea ever but I will say that this is slightly better than a lot of the brand-name teas.  It's a little bland to me but probably had the same amount of flavor as the Lipton, is slightly sweet with a hint of earthiness and warmth.  It also has no weird aftertaste, putting it above about half of the drug-store brands I've tried.

Overall:  This is working tea.  This is for when you just need a pot of something to drink while doing a paper and don't really care if it's the best thing ever.  I'd say at least try it out for the price and if you just want something to drink that isn't water.  It's not super exciting, but it gets the job done.

My Rating:  Try it!  I'd love to give you a site but there really isn't one.

TasTEA Time! Touch Organic Earl Grey Green Tea

It's no secret that I love this brand.  For the price you pay (I saw a 100c cube at Marshells for 5 bucks), you get a pretty good quality tea.  I, however, am not the biggest fan of Earl Grey.  It's not that I hate it, in fact I like a cup once in a while.  But the two key points there are cup and once in a while.

This tea is slightly unique in that it's a green tea base as opposed to a black tea.  

Outsides:  Each sachet is individually wrapped and I'm pretty sure they use recycled or biodegradable paper for the filter.  The tea looks like your generic Chinese green tea.  You can smell a hint of bergamot.

Insides:  This is an interesting one.  The bergamot flavor isn't the strongest, but it really is in perfect balance with the green tea.  The tea itself is of good quality, not bitter but still strong.  I think the unique thing about this is that it isn't strong, it probably wouldn't go well with milk and I'm not sure how traditional Earl Grey drinkers would think of it.  But I like it a lot actually as a refreshing summer take on something traditional.

Overall:  If I just reviewed things off my opinion (which I usually do anyway), I'd give this a buy.  It's a well-balanced tea and kind of an interesting take on traditional Earl Grey.  But some people have expectations that might be crushed by this so I can't, but I still think you should try it anyway.

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's the site.

Some random tea sampler I got from the oriental market

I love the oriental market!  Much like Big Lots, I go in with a set budget and list of things I need to buy, see something I "need" and still only be slightly above budget.  In this particular trip, I wanted to get veggies to make my boyfriend some Japanese curry (they often have slightly sub-par veggies for 30 cents a pound.  I mean, we're cooking them anyway).  But I always look at other sections while I'm in there and it isn't a trip to the oriental market unless I look at some tea!

A thing about the tea in oriental markets is that it's usually cheap and of fairly decent quality.  I've bought 8 oz of rolled green tea buds in a metal tin for about 3 bucks and it having a higher quality taste than the cheap tea bags you buy at your grocery store for three times the price.  I really was looking for some matcha, but I have been eyeing these tins for a while since they're just so cute, so I got them as a birthday present at $6.99 (slightly pricier than most for the amount, but whatever).  And then I discovered that there were six different kinds!  Oh, the excitement!

This set contains 20g each of:  Green tea with Jasmine, Pu-Erh, Lung Chin (which I found out is Dragonwell thanks to /r/tea), Lychee black tea, Oolong, and Tikuantin.

Pu-Erh:  Oh god, the fishy-ness.  Ok, I know this is a sign of a low-grade Pu-erh and really I should expect this.  But yeah, this tea tastes like fish.  Not salty like fish, but fish.  I'm a little curious if I can get some kelp and miso paste, mix this all up together and make a pretty good miso soup.  For that reason alone, I'm ok keeping this in the tin, but really it's a PASS.


Lung Chin:  I think this was the most disappointing for me.  It really just tastes like dirt and bitterness, which maybe the bitterness is due to me brewing it wrong but that still doesn't excuse the dirt.  I would say something like "Oh, just use it if you need cheap green tea for something" but you know what?  I can get eight ounces of cheap green tea from the oriental market for 3 bucks that tastes like cheap green tea and not dirt.  As hard as it may be to believe, especially after I said I drank a tea that tastes like fish, this is one of the worst teas I have ever drank.  I just threw it all away and put some blueberry red in the tin.  My rating is something along the lines of KILL IT WITH FIRE or BURN IT or whatever I had as the rating.

Jasmine Tea:  Thankfully, this one isn't so bad.  It's not great either, but probably good to drink before a date so your sweat smells like flowers.  I tend to like my jasmine tea with more of a hint of jasmine and a nice pleasant green tea, but I can drink this and really, that's what matters with this tin.  Pass if you don't like jasmine, Try it if you do.


Tikuanyin:   This tea is OK as well.  OK in the way that it's really quite inoffensive and tastes like nothing despite me thinking I added enough.  It's the second time I've made this and both times, it tasted like bland and cheap green tea, kinda with this kelp-y flavor.  Honestly, I can see myself just boiling a pot and drinking it out of thirst.  Pass or Try it.


Lychee Black:  I often complain about teas not having enough fruit flavor but don't usually complain about them not having enough tea flavor.  There is a fruit flavor here, a little more than a subtle hint but far from strong.  But there isn't really a tea flavor.  If anything, this tea tastes a bit like soapy water with a lychee scent, but that's only a bit and I can drink it.  Pass or Try it.


Oolong:  I applaud this tea for having a flavor.  Compared to the Touch Organic Oolong Tea (which I haven't posted yet), it's not as robust a flavor, but compared to the rest of these, it's probably the best.  It's a little...smokey and has a woody taste to it, stronger than a green but not as strong as a black.  Plus oolong is supposed to be the most effective tea in terms of weight loss so yeah, it's not bad.  Try it!


Overall:  I bought this tea for the tins and if anyone would ask me about them, I'd tell them to buy it for the tins with the tea as a pretty crappy bonus.  The oolong and jasmine are easily the best as they are the only two that have a decent flavor.  I could probably mix the lychee and tiku....whatever with complementing teas just go get rid of them and the Pu-erh and Lung Chin (dragonwell), you might just want to throw away.

My Rating:  Try it, by which I mean buy it once for the tins and if you're tolerant of tea and want to try something new.  Don't buy it if you think you have enough tines.  Considering that the box didn't even have a company, no web site this week.

TasTEA Time! Zhejiang Chunmee Green Tea

What:  Some cheap green tea I got from the Oriental Market

Where:  China

Why Should I Care:  I really love buying tea from Oriental Markets.  The quality is usually higher than what you get in a normal grocery store and the price is almost always cheaper.  I got 300g of this tea for 3-4 dollars (it was a while ago when I got it).   It's loose leaf so you need an infuser but this'll last you for a long time.

Packaging:  It's basically a big metal tin with two lids and paper surrounding the inside.  I can't really complain about that because it should be able to keep well if you store it in a cool, dry place.  Plus the designs are relatively pleasant and the tin can be used to store more tea leaves or random knick-knacks.

Non-taste senses:  The tea itself is a lovely golden color and almost clear.  If you brew it right, there should be a slight floral scent mixed in with that plant-y smell of green tea.

Taste:  So, this is going to be the first post where I go into a little detail about how you should brew certain teas.  A lot of people just boil a pot of water, throw in a few teabags and steep it for 4-5 minutes without any regard to what kind of tea it is.  Lesson 1:  You do NOT throw in the tea when the water is boiling!   It really all depends on the kind of tea but most teas have peak flavor under 100 degrees C.  Black tea is around the 90 degree range while green is closer to 80 degrees.  If the temperature is too high, the flavor oils within the tea get burned.  Why am I talking about this here?  My mom uses a coffee pot to make tea (as in she makes tea like she makes coffee, puts the tea in the coffee slot and presses go).  The first time I had this tea, it had a darker, murkier color and tasted like bitter grass.  I then brewed up a pot using a much lower temperature (I could stick my finger in the water heater without getting scalded but it was still hotter than bathwater) and it tasted really delicious.  There was a slight hint of floral and a good bit of musty grass flavor, but it wasn't bitter while still having a strong flavor.  I prefer it with sugar (and when I say sugar, I mean Ideal) but if you're not picky about your green tea, it should be fine without it.  If you really love green tea then you'll probably like it cold too.

Overall:  There's better green tea out there (which i will be reviewing).  There's also much MUCH worse green tea out there (another thing i'll be reviewing).  Just remember to be gentle with this brand and it'll reward you with a stronger, better flavor than if you boil the life out of it.  I generally just like to drink green tea by itself or with a light meal.

My Rating:  Try it (if you like green tea or have patience).  Unfortunately, there really isn't a website you can go to in order to buy it.