One of my favorites! This tea is very similar to Teavana’s discontinued Iron Buddha Oolong. Rishi’s Jade Oolong is a greener oolong which lacks the roasted nuances of Iron Goddess of Mercy or Tae Guan Yin, but instead shines with a clean, refreshingly mossy floral depth. I most enjoy it steeped longer than the directions suggest which increases the astringency. Large deep green leaves edged with golden red and brown unfurl beautifully to fill the cup or strainer. Mixes wonderfully with light fruit tisanes and white teas and can be steeped multiple times.
Tulsi Dosha Chai, rooibos tea from Teavana
27 Mar 2011 Leave a comment
in Foodie, Herbal, Rooibos, Tea
This tea is a bit of a puzzlement. It takes on very different character just by changing a few variables. Use water that isn’t as hot (195 degrees) and this chai has a fruitier, lighter flavor. Use hotter water (208) with added sweetener and the taste & aroma morph into the chai liquid equivalent of Red Hot candy. There are large pieces of Indonesian Cinnamon stick (the thicker kind of cinnamon as opposed to the thinner Ceylon), so I’m not surprised by that flavor. And even if you leave out the cinnamon stick there’s a nice amount of cinnamon and spice permeating the brew with the cloves, ginger, cardamom, tulsi herb and beautiful pink peppercorns–I love their almost floral, peppery taste. But I’m stumped by the fruit flavor that I taste because there isn’t anything fruity in the ingredients. “Flavoring” is, however, listed. Coconut rasps, coconut and coconut fat are all listed as ingredients, yet there is scant little coconut flavor whatsoever. In fact the coconut rasps taste more like fruit with citrusy tropical notes. Go figure! So while I really enjoy the taste (and even the potential health benefits of tulsi), I wish I knew more about what exactly I was tasting. Strange but yummy.
Dokudami Umami Herbal Tea from Teavana
21 Feb 2011 1 Comment
in Foodie, Herbal, Oolong, Tea
I’d best describe the flavor of Dokudami Umami Tea from Teavana as roasted earthiness with a hint of intriguing sweetness that tastes better than it smells (which is even more earthy). Brown rice similar to that found in Genmaicha along with soybeans and the subtle slow sweet flavor of natural licorice root (not to be confused with licorice candy) combine to create a brew reminiscent of a yummy dish from my favorite Asian Take-out. Comfort food with sweet sauce! Added sweetener brings out additional toffee or caramel notes. I think this tisane has the potential to add depth to other teas and I’m looking forward to trying several combinations. The health benefits are compelling as dokudami is purported to have many. So far it seemed to help my morning sinuses and the hearty roasted notes were nice to wake up to. This is not a tea for everybody, but can be really enjoyable and deeply satisfying.
http://steepster.com/teas/teavana/16231-dokudami-umami-herbal-tea?post=67508
Updating on 02/18/12 to add that this tea has been discontinued by Teavana. I found an “herb tea” at a nearby Asian grocery store. Dokudami Kenso Chogo-Cha brews to a similar savory beverage with a hint of sweetness. I like it with added sweetener.
Shanghai Orchid, white tea by Teavana: a mini review
17 Feb 2011 Leave a comment
This lovely flavored white tea from Teavana is a delicious combination of floral and fruit with neither overwhelming the other. Since actual orchids come in many fragrances—from oppressively floral to spicy or even no fragrance at all—it always irks me a bit when flavors or smells are described as “orchid.” I’ll forgive this one. I’m going to say that orchid in this case is floral without being specifically jasmine, rose or other easily recognized specific flower. It’s a lovely balance with a hint of tart sweetness from the fruit. There was a pleasant amount of astringency. Refreshing! Flavor was excellent through three infusions. I could definitely drink this on a regular basis.
And Now for Something Completely Different
07 Feb 2011 Leave a comment
in Foodie, Mom Stuff, Tea, Uncategorized
For my Birthday I’ll share a bit of my inner dialogue.
Darth: Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your Birthday.
Deb: He told me enough! He told me I’m 19!
Darth: No. Today is your Birthday and you are not 19.
Deb: No… that’s not true! That’s impossible!
Darth: Search your feelings, you know it to be true!
Deb: NOOOOOOO! NOOOOOOOO!!!
So. I am officially no longer the answer to life the universe and everything. What I mean is. Well. Perhaps, I could say my age is now the answer +1. That works, right?
And in celebration of the day, I did a little research into my Chinese Astrological Astrology sign stuff. I am a monkey. (Well, I knew that.) I apparently have a lot of fire element which should be balanced by adding more water element. I’m going to take this to mean my life would benefit from more long baths and tea. I will keep you posted on how this goes.
http://www.chinesefortunecalendar.com/NewYearDays.htm
And my awesome honey and daughter spoiled me. SPOILED me! Dave and I had a wonderful dinner at one of our recent favorite restaurants while Binks was in her Karate lesson and she later joined us to help finish a Tiramisu dessert. Dave had a fillet and I had a rack of lamb. (Yes, the “Lisa, don’t eat me,” bleating went through my head, but I got over it.)
When we got home the dynamic duo finished their mischievous ways before calling me into the other room where Binks had made me a huge “Happy Birthday Surprise” banner which she decorated with hand drawn images of some of my favorite things—tea, Harry Potter, Angry Birds, Carcassonne, stars, more Harry Potter and cats. My daughter made the most awesome Birthday card on the planet! It had a pop-up surprise sign inside along with a fold-out scroll with signatures from everybody in her class. She made me an origami jumping frog, some throwing stars, a mini frog, and a flop-eared origami bunny which she designed herself. Dave gave me a gold chain, another chain, a great birthday card, book gift card and the Hogwarts Castle in Lego form which is so COOL! I can’t wait to crack it out. There’s a little Snape and owls and flames and a sorting hat. An invisibility cloak! A Dumbledore. Two Dementors. A Hermione and a Harry! Gotta go!
Tiramisu Treviso Rooibos Tea by Teavana, a mini review
07 Feb 2011 Leave a comment
I don’t know how to get my Steepster reviews to auto post to my blog so I’m doing it semi-analog style by means of copy and paste.
Teavana’s Tiramisu Treviso Rooibos Tea is a full-flavored tea (unless you don’t add enough tea per oz of water or if you don’t steep for long enough at proper temp).
I found the flavor, when hot, to be a bright combination of orange (like orange liquor), almonds (like almond extract or almond liquor) and a bit of cocoa. As it cooled, it tasted something more akin to actual Tiramisu (and therefore coffee). Definitely a dessert experience—especially with a bit of sugar or milk. I can’t help but think that a bit of vanilla and less orange would have pushed it further into the Tiramisu flavor realm. I haven’t had a lot of orange flavored Tiramisu, but perhaps they’re going for a bit of the bitters one might experience with espresso. Yummy as a treat, but not one that I’d want to drink daily.
Gao Shan Good
21 Jan 2011 Leave a comment
Living close to an H Mart has its advantages. They have a huge selection of cheaply priced produce, an amazing selection of fish (some of which I’ve even been brave enough to try), and a hefty number of noodle soups and sauces to choose from. They also have a really nice selection of tea. The only problem–much of the packaging is written in another language. H Mart is a busy international food grocery store which focuses on Asian food. But I love tea, and it’s a lot of fun trying new teas even if most of the packaging is indecipherable!
I’d been exploring green tea ’cause H Mart has been a veritable treasure trove of Japanese green teas, but the special little “english” sticker on a particular shiny gold packet said, “High Mountain Oolong Tea,” and that sounded rather intriguing. At about $10 for a 100g (3 oz) packet of tea, the price is pretty good for a nice Oolong. The shiny gold packet may have been optimal to protect the tea from light damage (and who doesn’t like shiny gold?), but it didn’t let me see what the tea looked like so I didn’t know if it would be a greener Oolong or more of a black Oolong like Wu Yi, the recently discontinued Eastern Beauty, or Teavana’s new Phoenix Mountain Dan Cong Oolong? I thought I’d find out.
This is a greener oolong with its own unique character. Gao Shan has its own little niche in the oolong flavor spectrum. It seemed really mild at first–similar character to the green oolongs like Jade Oolong or Iron Buddha Oolong, but more subtle. At first I wondered if it was just a lower quality or if it had been on the shelf for a long time, but I think neither may be the case. This tea has grown on me. Some teas brew up strong and let all their flavor out quickly. Some grow bitter if left to steep for too long. A few allow for a slower steep in which flavors grow and blossom over time without becoming bitter. Gao Shan Oolong falls into this latter category. Using about teaspoon of tea per cup of hot water, you could leave it in your cup sipping over the beautifully unfurled leaves. Then simply add more hot water for another cup. The flavor is slightly floral with a hint of green–not grassy green, but forest green with hints of nuts, moss and woods. The color in the cup it is a gentle light mossy green. Good for many multiple infusions. It’s lovely.
Blog of Indecision
20 Aug 2010 Leave a comment
in Tea, Uncategorized
I was going to post another blog entry on tea–this time on Green ’cause I wanted to mix it up a bit. Ya know, be a little wild like that. Then I switched to another Oolong. (Steady is a good thing. Right?) And now I haven’t finished either blog entry ’cause I keep thinking I should have another cup of tea before I finish so I can be more thorough in my review. But I keep switching varieties! Then I had some Thai Tea ’cause it’s summer and Thai Tea is really yummy on a hot day. Finally, I decided I should blog on my indecision since, well, really this is not the first time I’ve been indecisive. So here it is. Why is it so hard to just make up my mind?
Chinese Restaurant Tea Extraordinaire – a Tea Review
22 Jul 2010 Leave a comment
in Oolong, Tea Tags: Chinese Restaurant Tea, Chinese Tea, Eastern Beauty Tea, oolong tea, Tea Review, Wuyi Oolong
While searching for a replacement to the Teavana Iron Buddha Oolong tea I could no longer get, there were other discoveries along my journey. So many teas to drink! Which is just fine since I love tea and there are some that I’m rather pleased to have tried.
Next up is an Oolong which, to my happy little taste buds, is very much like the kind of Oolong found in many Chinese restaurants. (Naturally, it depends on what the restaurant serves as some have other options like Jasmine.)
When I purchased Iron Buddha tea in the first place, I was actually looking for Oolong similar to what I’ve tasted at a number of restaurants over the years–a rich, earthy oolong. Iron Buddha tea turned out to be a wonderfully delicious poor match and it became a favorite. But I still enjoyed the restaurant kind and came to realize that this was a more fermented and roasted Oolong.
According to some resources, Chinese Oolongs tend to be less fermented and therefore more green, while Taiwanese or Formosan Oolongs, more fermented. So my findings go somewhat completely against that as I found the more fermented Oolongs to be a better match for the kind served in Chinese restaurants, while my favorite replacement for the lightly fermented Iron Buddha Oolong turns out to be from Taiwan. Individual results may vary.
The closest tea I’ve found so far to match the taste of Chinese restaurant tea is [roll the tea kettle whistle], Wuyi Organic Oolong ($22.99/lb or about $2.88/2oz), purchased in “bulk” at Wegmans, sourced from China.
For comparison, Teavana’s Eastern Beauty Formosan Oolong is also very yummy. It too is an oolong which is fermented longer and is a darker (less green) Oolong. Eastern Beauty [which has now also been discontinued] is more delicate, lovely, but missing some of the heartier notes of Wuyi. It’s just not the same.
General Information: Wuyi, as it turns out, is oft advertised as a “weight loss” tea. I can’t comment on the weight loss claims, but I’ll let you know if that changes. Since it is more fermented than Iron Buddha, however, I do feel the higher level of caffeine, so that alone may burn an extra calorie or two.
Genuine Wuyi is grown on the Wuyi Mountains in Nanping prefecture, Fujain China. (I don’t know if what Wegmans carries is genuine Wuyi or just a similar style, but the label reads “Wuyi.”)
Leaves: The loose leaves of Wuyi are mostly all brown with hints of darker green, gold and charcoal here and there. The leaves are longer, looser and appear to be lightly twisted as opposed to rolled into pellets. They don’t expand terribly much in the 190-200 degree water, but tend to take up more room per dry weight in a storage container than the greener oolongs. I want to call this “fluffy” versus dense. If Iron Buddha Oolong is dense, Wuyi Oolong is fluffy.
Flavor & Aroma: It has a lovely flavor which instantly reminds me of a good version of the tea served in many Chinese restaurants. There is a distinctly similar taste. This is what I was looking for when I’d gotten stuck on Iron Buddha. The flavor of Wyui is not the drinkable perfume that is Iron Buddha, but earthier, heartier, maltier, with a natural sweetness, a slight metallic base and lightly chestnutty roasted flavor. There is somewhat of a warm peach aroma. It isn’t as strong or dark as black tea, but clearly more intense than green tea with virtually zero green or vegetal taste.
It works well for a couple of infusions, but not as many as Jade Oolong, Iron Buddha, or Monkey Picked Oolong.
Wuyi Oolong is completely yummy if you like this kind of tea and would do well to help wash down a heavier meal which is probably why it, or something like it, is served so often in restaurants.
Enjoy!
In Search of the Iron Buddha: A Tea Review
12 Jul 2010 1 Comment
in Oolong, Tea Tags: Iron Buddha, Jade Oolong, Monkey Picked, oolong, oolong tea, tea, Teavana, Wegmans
Iron Buddha Oolong tea from Teavana was one of my all time favorite teas! Teavana sold it at $10/2oz for many years, and I thought it would never end. It did. Teavana discontinued it, instead offering only Monkey Picked Oolong (good, but expensive at $25/2oz) or various flavored and scented Oolongs. Those are fine too, but are no Iron Buddha Oolong! And I’m no tea expert–my teacabulary is at noob level, but I have been drinking tea for most of my years and I know what my taste buds like. They like good tea–it can be green, black, oolong or herbal, but there are some which absolutely sing in my mouth and I have a hard time getting enough.
Now, alas, I can’t get any more Iron Buddha Oolong and so began a quest. I’ve tasted quite a lot of teas along the way. Side-tracked by greens at times to be sure, I thought Ti Guan Yin (Iron Goddess of Mercy also sometimes called Iron Buddha) might be a good replacement because of the word “iron” in the name. Ti Guan Yin is very good too, but there is a much better match as far as flavor and that’s what matters to me.
Drumroll please… actually lets make it a kettle whistle. [Kettle whistle]
The winner is Jade Oolong Tea ($53.99/lb or about $7/2oz) sourced from Taiwan and purchased in bulk at Wegmans. Oolongs can vary a great deal in their amount of fermentation so that some are closer to green teas and others lean toward black. This oolong reminds me of a Chinese green in appearance and it’s very similar to Monkey Picked in many ways (only less expensive), but there isn’t anything quite like it (except other teas which are like it). Wegmans was a nice choice for experimentation since they offer bulk teas which can be purchased in small quantities. That way I could easily and relatively inexpensively taste all of their oolongs, of which they had quite a few, and compare to my last remaining bits of genuine Teavana Iron Buddha.
Color and flavor: Jade Oolong Taiwan brews up a light golden amber with a complex orchid yumminess. Not as overtly single-note floral as jasmine teas, this has the clean, clear complexity of a fine daytime perfume in teacup form. There is a pleasant amount of astringency, only the slightest waft of grassy green and almost no roasted flavor at all. It is anchored with a hint of earthiness. Delicious!
While some may find this or Iron Buddha too strong, I say (hopefully politely), “You’re doing it wrong!” Perhaps complaints of the strength is part of what prompted Teavana to discontinue Iron Buddha. It may seem obvious, but if it’s too strong for you, be careful not to over steep–use less tea or brew for a shorter amount of time. Since this tea works exceptionally well for multiple infusions, you may enjoy the second or third infusion best. I love the first brew, but if you don’t, consider pouring it off and chilling for iced tea. Subsequent infusions tend to bring out the mellow, earthy flavors. Each one is different. I like them all.
Leaves: The leaves are a deep jade green that are rolled tightly like pellets, but not as tight or fully round as, say, gunpowder green or jasmine pearl teas. Small before steeping, they unfurl elegantly in the 190-195 degree water as they release their flavor–transforming into beautiful, detailed, full, large leaves. These will quickly expand to fill a tea ball or even a tea strainer if you’re not careful. Cramped tea leaves results in less flavor, more wasted tea and the inability to visually enjoy the leaves as they unfurl. I suggest using a really large tea strainer or adding tea directly to the pot and pouring all water into cups after brewing for 3-4 minutes. The large leaves are easy to strain.
This tea is lovely through multiple infusions as subtle nuances evolve.
Time for more!
Copyright © 2010 Deb L. Kapke
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