Temple Of Heaven

Smoky. Strong. Cheap.
Hoping this will kick me over my afternoon slump.

Not a fan TTb. As much as I love green tea, this is one that I’ve never really liked. I keep trying but it’s just never gotten a special place on my palate. Hay and grass. This one seems a bit old to me. I’m not getting as much flavor out of it as I feel like I should be. Maybe its the intense hay flavor I’m not liking so much that this one usually reminds me of.

On a side note. If you ever get a chance to go to the Temple of Heaven, do it! It’s amazing.

I used to buy this tea in the Asian grocery store long before I ever bought a tea online, before I even knew that green teas required lower temperature. I loved it then, so when I saw it on Amazon while I was putting together an order I picked one up. The Amazon price was rather high but I bought it anyway. I think I paid $6.50 or so. It sells in the Asian market for less but my Asian market has not had it in a while. My first attempt at this today was botched and tremendously over brewed so I dumped it and started again. This time I lowered the water temp to 160 degrees, dropped it to 2 tsp leaf, and lessened the steep time to 30 seconds. I got a nice tasting, somewhat floral cup with the right light yellow/green color, not the dark brew I got with 3 minutes and 3 tsp leaf. I don’t think I would buy this again at Amazon, but it is a good indication of how my tastes for tea have changed. I used to over brew this tea on purpose because I thought at the time that all tea deserved a dark color.

I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 2 tsp leaf and 160 degree water for 30 sec.

This was the first gunpowder in my collection. It’s stronger than my pinhead gunpowder, and maybe a little less smoky. I don’t taste the grassiness that has been mentioned by others, but maybe it’s because I have limited experience…when I see grassy, I think Japanese green tea, and this is nothing like that. It’s actually smoother than the pinhead gunpowder, although, I have to say, I enjoy the pinhead’s bitterness. This tea is also quite a bit cheaper, making it a nice alternative. I definitely recommend it for those of you that like Chinese gunpowder green teas.

Cheap tea!

I don’t mean that in a bad way. I got a half pound box of this for $1.99 in China Town.

I’ve tried this tea so many ways. Iced, cold brewed, hot, mixed with stuff and in the end, I prefer it hot with mint (like a sort of Moroccan Mint without the sugar) or cold brewed with fresh fruit (straining the fruit and tea leaves out after). The gunpowder green is robust enough to not be overpowered by the mint or fruit.

By itself, the tea is pretty good. A little bit smokey. It’s not the highest quality tea, but for $1.99, I’m not expecting it to be. For the price point, it’s a really good deal.

One negative is it’s very dusty, so even after straining, there is a bit of sediment on the bottom of my cup.

brew 2:30, 3:00 etc. longer/hotter 4-5 times

TTB 10

I am enjoying this greenpowder green although it is almost ascetically basic. I also must have slightly oversteeped it, which makes it taste slightly roastier than it normally would. It’s very grassy too – I’m guessing it’s supposed to be. I still don’t have as much experience with green tea as I would like to have.

All in all, an okay, decent simple green. Not anything crazy or overtly crave-able, but just fine.

I used a scoop of leaf with add-ons I grew – a couple whole leaves of lemon verbena, 1 tsp chocolate mint, and 1/8 tsp dried stevia. The mint is old stock (2 years old maybe – I was too lazy to go find the fresh stuff in the other room) but this pretty much tastes like mint. I should use way less next time. I sort of taste verbena maybe. Last time I used verbena it overtook the cup. I can’t taste the tea at all. The stevia I cannot get the hang of as even dried I seem to not be using enough to add any sweetness. If I touch the leaf to my tongue it is like licking a pink packet of death, so I don’t know why I can’t sweeten with it.

My point is respect to those of you who create the wonderful blends we enjoy. It is way harder to get right than it sounds.

I swear the last time I had this (years ago) it was very smoky. This is more roasted and kind of reminds me of a mild genmaicha. Very cheap. I paid $2 for 4 ounces. Others said I overpaid as they got it for $1. Way better than the price would suggest. Halfway through the cup I iced it – made a very refreshing iced tea.

I had a hard time finding this one because I kept thinking it was “Tower of Heaven” ….because I’m obviously a sucker for pixels and chiptune (honestly, though, I can’t get through the first panel of that game, I’m so bad at it).

I think I need to get myself used to gunpowders, because all of the ones I’ve tried haven’t been quite what I was expecting. I got this at the local Asian market (hahaha not going there anymore because the owner’s wife always pressures me to get married to my weird colleagues that she knows and now I’m scared that she’ll actually try to set me up), which has a really nice collection of East Asian teas. However, besides Numi’s gunpowder, I can’t seem to find any others in town…

Right out of the box, the dry smell reminds me of a county fair in Idaho. I mean, the whole bit — cows and hay and horses and alfalfa and goats and Idahoans. It’s a bit off-putting, I concede, but it’s also kind of nostalgic. Once brewed, it’s strong and spinachy — and while I don’t mind the spinach, I think I may be brewing it a bit too strong. It looks like the other reviews suggest fewer leaves per cup, so I’m going to try that and see how it goes.

Still not qualified to rate this one yet. I brewed up a nice strong cup of this baby today…to mix with rum, lemon juice, and honey. I’m sick sick sick; having caught a cold the Thursday before last, getting the flu last Monday, having my cold worsen this past Thursday, study and take my pediatrics final (Friday night, and Saturday morning respectively), then have the cold get even worse (somehow) last night. So, it was definitely time for a hot toddy today.
My regular 12 oz. cup of tea made with two big teaspoons of this gunpowder,
about an ounce and a half of rum, a squirt of lemon juice (a slice of lemon is best), and a tablespoon of local honey. Yum. Soothes the throat.

Not ready to do a real rating of this one, but did try it today with lunch. I’m still scared of green tea, not totally sure how to approach it, so I jumped in and made a big cup. This was ok, pretty vegetal, though no more so than any other green I’ve had. It wasn’t bad with a spoon of sugar, and it’s definitely something I’ll be drinking as I continue to battle the forces of the cold my whole family has been through. I swear, my tea-drinking and yoga are keeping me in good hands.

I bought this tea in my local grocery store for $0.99/100g. Yep, really that cheap. So how does it taste for the price?

In my opinion, pretty darn good. I wouldn’t say it’s THE BEST green tea I’ve had, because it’s certainly not. It has a bit of a bitter after-taste no matter how long you steep it, and has a bit of strange colour after steeping. It has a bit of a “mouthy” feel while drinking that’s hard to describe. But for 99 cents? You can’t beat it.

I like to mix this tea with some dried fruit (or even fruit-based teas) to give it a bit of a flavour-kick. Dried apple and mango are especially good. The smoky flavour of the tea is nicely balanced by the sweetness of the fruit. I don’t put sweetner in it whether it’s straight or mixed with fruit.

I just finished a small bowl of tofu stir fry with rice and wanted to finish the experience with a green tea. Gunpowder has been on my mind recently and I have two boxes of this brand (for some reason) so I might as well give it a try now.

The loose tea consists of dark green small balls with not many but a few stalky bits mixed in (so not great quality but this was only cheap). It didn’t smell of much either other than having a peppery floralness.

Once steeped this tea is dark yellow in colour and has retained it’s un-steeped scent.

In flavour it’s darkly floral with a slight toasted with a little sweetness.
There are also cabbage like vegetal tones which compliment my stir fry rather well.

As far as strength goes gunpowder greens are generally one of the stronger tasting greens and this is no exception. This tea always makes me think it’s an Oolong in disguise.

It’s nice enough for everyday drinking but the quality isn’t great so really you get what you pay for.

very inexpensive green tea. not the best out there but definitely a very good candidate for a daily drinker!

Loose
Appearance: dark green gunpowder curls
Aroma when Dry: nondescript
After water is first poured: dusty, sweet (eastern)
At end of first steep: vegital, sweet (eastern)
Tea liquor:
At end of first steep: dusty green
Staple? No, will usually drink type if around
Preferred time of day: any
Taste:
At first: vegital, slightly grassy smooth hints of creaminess
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, with faint creamy buttery notes

Temple of Heaven
China Green Tea
Special Gunpowder
A review of Special Gunpowder China Green Tea by Temple of Heaven

Company: Temple of Heaven
Tea Name: Special Gunpowder
Tea Type/Varietal: green
Region: China
Steeping Vessel/Amt. Leaf: cup/ loose leaf
Plucking Season:
Liquor Color: light yellow-green
Leaf Characteristics: The tea leaves are tiny, tightly rolled pellets and when infused with hot water the leaves are fuller.

1st Steeping:
Water temperature: 190 Fahrenheit
Time: 2 minutes

I must admit that I drink plenty of green teas and I should probably consume less green tea perhaps. As I continue with my green tea expedition, it is now Gunpowder Green tea. I take 1 teaspoon of the tea and put this in my cup and adding cold tap water to my cup I then put the cup in the microwave for 2 minutes.

The leaves bunch to the top of the mug and are steaming; I always note that when I microwave teas it is easier to scoop out the leaves since they are all atop / floating with water underneath; so usually one scoop and leaves are removed. Tea’s color is light yellow-green; with no astringency in the smell.

This tea is smoothly refreshing

2nd Steeping:
Water temperature: 200 Fahrenheit
Time: 2 minutes

I am able to steep this tea for several infusions and each is as nice as the first. The tea continues to be smooth tasting and clean with a very light body. Overall impression is that it is a smooth tea with a lovely color.