Lupicia

Ginger always makes me think winter. I know that’s slightly absurd, considering it doesn’t ever dip much below the 60s in Hawaii, but this tea does work quite well in Midwestern US winters. Just saying. It’s warm, dark, spicy, and thoroughly comforting.

I don’t know about the pink argents looking like flying angels. They are pretty, though. At first, the lychee scent is slightly overwhelming, and I started to wonder if this might be one time when Lupicia hadn’t hit it dead on. I’m sure it’s got to happen once or twice.

A few sips convinced me otherwise. I’d have to be in a very specific mood to want to drink this tea, but it’s intensely fruity and refreshing. The jasmine is actually more of a solid background, while the lychee is star soprano.

This is tea as performance art, and is best brewed in clear glass so you can watch it as it brews. The act of watching is nearly as meditative as drinking. To drink is to touch instant clarity.

This was maybe the first instance of my thinking chocolate in a tea context could be delicious. Mind you, I’ve baked chocolate cakes with Earl Grey before. Tea in a chocolate context can work wonderfully, but I wasn’t drinking that cake, you know? ;)

This, though…the balance is superb. I think I trust Lupicia’s blending prowess more than just about anyone.

Ah, the last of the free teabags! I feel somewhat accomplished today in working on getting my tea under control. Sure, I’ve got a bit to go to finish off all of my one- and two-cups-worth-of-leaves teas that I have have, but I’ve made progress! And had 6 different teas today! Why, no! I’m not caffeinated at all!

Samovar has ruined me for any genmaicha + matcha. This one is just plain and boring. No thick, creamy flavor. Just a murky cup of neon green, puffed rice tasting, thinnish tea. I want more punch! I want more creaminess! I want Ryokucha.

Meh.

ETA: As it cools, it almost tastes like I made this with funky tasting water. Which I didn’t. So that would be the tea. And even though the flavor seems weak, the bottom dregs of the cup were bitter. Yeah, that takes if from a ‘meh’ to something slightly unhappier.

The Final Sipdown: Day 6
Decupboarding Total: 12

I both cupboarded and am decupboarding this tea today. And I’m totally counting it towards my total for The Final Sipdown.

I don’t hate this as much as I did when I had it last year (also as a freebie) and I’m guessing that’s from decreasing the steep time by a minute. It decreases the taste of the tea so there isn’t a disconnect between the Quik flavoring and the tea flaor.

Better or not, I still don’t love it. It’s sweet and creamy but Lupicia’s strawberry flavoring is just a big miss for me. Maybe it’s the strawberry + vanilla thing but it tastes like Strawberry Quik. It’s kind of powdery tasting and just not very strawberry-y. And I love strawberries. So when I want strawberries, Quik just doesn’t do it. Yeah, I like Quik but as a tea flavor, it just ends up being okay.

And it’s another free teabag!

This smells like Strawberry Quik. I think I’ve said that about another Lupicia Strawberry thing. A green tea one maybe.

Out of curiosity (and to compare to ROT’s sad little 1.8g teabag), I weighted this teabag too. 3.3g! Good job Lupicia! Still making it in a 6oz cup but I’m glad there’s a good amount of tea in there. Thumbs up to you!

In the cup, I’m still getting the Strawberry Quik smell but that’s okay because I like it (and can’t have it anymore) so it’s making my mouth water. I could be very disappointed when this tastes like tea… Actually, I think I smell a little vanilla underneath the strawberry, too.

Hmm. I’m not so much disappointed as I am just… not excited. The flavoring is nice and not overly fake tasting (well, aside from the whole Nestle Quik thing – so maybe ‘chemical’ is a better word). But it is very light and there seems to be a disconnect between the taste of the strawberry and the taste of the tea. Most likely because a lot of the taste of the strawberry is actually coming from the smell. I think I’m going to add a little milk to see if that brings it together.

It helps a little – gives both the strawberry and tea tastes a little creaminess which creates a little taste bridge between the two. But it just doesn’t make the flavoring pop. Ultimately I’m a little disappointed in this because the flavoring is so soft. That’s what I like about Lupicia’s flavorings with their greens and oolongs, but I tend to like those teas flavored more lightly. For blacks, I tend to like them a little more in your face (not mean, I just like to see a little aggression in them). This would be a good afternoon-in-the-garden tea. But I’m not a big afternoon-in-the-garden type girl.

Haven’t had any of this in awhile, and I only had two bags left, and I’ve been working on a three-day panettone project that I FINALLY stuck in the oven this morning. So a nice, delicate, orange-spiced-black tea really seemed like a good idea first thing in the morning! :D

I love how Lupicia has somehow managed to harness their scent of orange flower so that it isn’t cloying or overpowering in the least. Instead, it’s almost mildly intoxicating. You can see the pink peppercorns, but you can’t really smell them when you first open the package. That doesn’t come until later.

This is another one where Lupicia recommends boiling water for 3-5 minutes. No problem; 5 minutes it is. :)

The first taste is suggestive of more, and also suggestive that just a hint of sugar (maybe 1/2 teaspoon?) would stand it in excellent stead. And it does. (I love honey in tea, but I usually only break it out if I significantly want to alter the flavour of whatever I’m drinking, because it’s got such a distinct flavour of its own.)

Here’s where you smell the pink peppercorn, and slightly taste it as well. It’s not biting or sharp, but it adds a certain zing to that orange/black tea combo. This tea tastes like memories, and is a deep amber in colour that it reaches after about 4 minutes of brewing.

Meanwhile, the panettone is baking up beautifully and is almost done. The house smells heavenly right now. I can’t wait to try it. Happy Festivus, everyone! :D

This tea lives up to its company description. If you get the loose variety, it’s easier to examine the various components visually—-one of which is pink peppercorns. However, if you get the bagged version, it comes in delightful, silky, pyramid-shaped teabags that almost feel like the nicest sort of lingerie. The aromas pre-brewing are intoxicating, and post-brewing, the flavors fairly explode in your mouth.

(Yes, I did just say that, and no, I didn’t write any of the English subtitles for Ryori no Tetsujin. ;) )

If you like fruity tisanes, this smells like heaven. If you don’t, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Light and dancy on the tongue, very playful. Delightful. :9

The leaves in this tea are a deep gorgeous green and no stems to be found in this tea. The ratio of leaves to rice is high which gives the final product a beautiful green colour. In comparison, I have some cheaper genmaicha which is full of stems and mostly rice and the outcome is a less flavourful yellow product; not nearly as nice to taste or look at as this comforting tea from lupicia.

LOVED this tea. I have everyone try it. I like it a tid bit sweet, to bring out the juicyness of the melon flavor. I love oolong as well and i thought this was a great take on the usual. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED :) i love it hot or cold. Also, the flavor gets better with every cup, the second is usually the best.

Turns out the shop has put the wrong labels on my teas hence have to update this note. I had the real Pommier tea today and it was delicious. There is a subtle rooibus undertone and the apple part is very strong and fragrant. Good with milk or without. Makes a perfect night time tea since rooibus has no caffeine.

One of my fave flavored jasmines.

After several FAILS this morning, I went to an old friend. I love how fragrant and light this tea is. It’s very delicate, and just wonderful.

I only have 2 more bags and then I have to switch to the non-special grade for a bit. Not sure what the difference is there, but that’s what they had last time I placed an order.

I wanted something citrus-y today, but most of my citrus teas have a lime kind of flavoring to them and I wanted something more along the lines of orange. Then I remembered that Auggy had sent me this so…bam.

I popped open the bag and gave it a whiff while I read her tasting note. It smelled like orange sherbet, which is my favorite kind of ice cream, so I got a little excited. I was surprised to see that this sucker is supposed to be steeped in boiling water, but I took one for the team and did it anyway.

It didn’t scald anything, shockingly enough [or not, maybe, since Lupicia says to boil it], and it was actually pretty light in flavor. It definitely tasted like an orange. A sweet orange. Really, more of a synthetic orange. Like the kind of orange you’d taste in a Capri Sun, as opposed to something fresh squeezed. Maybe orange jello. It didn’t have any tartness to it, which I didn’t miss.

To be fair, this is comparing it to something like a navel orange, though, and not a mandarin which typically read much sweeter to me. However, it still doesn’t quite taste natural. The flavor is also light. Barely there. Like something you know is definitely there, but you have to grasp at.

In my mind, this is both good and bad. Bad, in that if you reach for this because you’re craving that flavor it probably won’t sate you. Good, because it keeps it from being…well, Capri Sun. This wouldn’t be an every day tea for me, and I think that the orange flavor being both so light and unnatural tasting is going to keep me from buying it. I’ll enjoy what I have left, though. In the meantime, I have a box of orange jello powder in the kitchen if I want that flavor. No Capri Sun, though. [I always hated the stabby pouch thing. Led to disaster too many times.]

2nd infusion, added a dash of splenda to sweeten

This tea does multiple infusions well; still fruity and yummy (a little less fruit and more oolong-y than the first infusion).

(drinking the bagged version of this tea)

One of my favorite oolongs. It has a good fruit flavor, not overpoweringly mango, but just right.

Sweetened with a dash of splenda.

The matcha adds a bit of sweetness to this wonderful rice japanese tea. The colour is lovely too and comes out a nice light green. This is a brilliant tea indeed.

This is such a lovely ice tea. I mean, it’s practically melon juice – I can barely taste the tea in this – but mix it up with some milk and tapioca pearls and it is a perfect summer drink!

Right now, in the middle of November, it’s still quite nice when it is hot and milkless. Today I totally oversteeped it – I put the tea leaves in, went upstairs to watch a documentary about Haunted Savannah, and came running down the steps half an hour later to save my tea – and it tastes fine. It’s as honeydew-sweet as ever, with just the slightest bitterness from the overheated white tea leaves, but that only serves to help balance the flavor even more. Yum yum yum, it’s like a taste of summer.

Some teas speak to you immediately, for good or ill, while others take their time revealing themselves as you drink. This one talked to me loud and clear with the very first sip, and I knew that we were going to be friends.

This isn’t one of the more delicate jasmine teas I’ve tried but the jasmine manages not to overwhelm the tea, just the same. The jasmine is quite strong in the aftertaste, and there’s a hint of astringency lurking alongside it, too.

There’s something very warm and comforting about this tea that really goes well with being safe and dry on a cool, wet night.