Welcome to Mike’s Tea Review!!!

Let me start this blog by introducing myself.  My name is Mike and I reside in south Louisiana, USA.  About two years ago I was introduced to the fascinating world of loose leaf tea and I haven’t looked back since.

While I have tried a fair amount of tea, my adventure is nowhere near complete.  That’s why I have come to love tea.  Each cup is a new experience and there is definitely something out there for everyone.  In this blog I will be sharing my thoughts on teas that I have already tried as well as reviewing new teas that I have yet to discover.

I hope you will join me as I stumble upon great teas and inevitably find ones that will scar me for life.  So go ahead and grab a cup, pull up a seat next to the fire and I’ll put on the water.  It’s going to be a great journey!!!

Happy brewing,
Mike

Review #3: Adagio’s Ali Shan Oolong

Welcome back!!!  Thanks for bearing with me during my brief hiatus.  Finally, the semester is over and I can get back to reviewing.  In this edition of Mike’s Tea Review we will be looking at an oolong offering.  Today’s tea is Adagio’s Ali Shan Oolong.

This particular tea is what is known as a Formosan oolong.  What this means is that it is from Taiwan.  More specifically, it is from the Alishan (Ali Mountain) area of Chiayi county, Taiwan.  This area is one of Taiwan’s most famous tea growing regions.  Alishan teas are most commonly grown at an elevation of 1000 to 1400 meters.  Adagio’s website gives the following description for this tea:

Oolong tea from Taiwan. Formosa, meaning ‘beautiful’ was what the Portuguese explorers called this island. The oolong tea grown here continues to be called as such. The exquisite bouquet of Formosa Oolong tea is regarded to be the finest in the world. Complex floral notes echo on your palate as you enjoy this product of Taiwan’s Ali mountain. Light bodied and softly sweet with an underlying complexity, this oolong will surely come to haunt. Perfect for multiple infusions.

Dry Leaf on 1/4" Graph Paper

Upon opening the sample tin what I immediately noticed was the sweet floral scent of the leaf.  It was also noted that the dry leaf appears to be very tightly rolled.

This seems to be a greener oolong so I decided to brew this with water that was just off boil (approximately 190°).  For almost all oolongs that are not being brewed gongfu style I tend to go with a leaf ratio of .015 grams per milliliter of water.  In this case I was using 180 ml of water (6oz) so I used 2.7 grams.

The first infusion went for 3 minutes.  The leaves of the oolong began to open nicely during this infusion, but were not totally open afterward.  This tells me that Adagio is correct in suggesting multiple steeps.  The wet leaf has a nice floral scent that doesn’t seem to be as sweet as in the dry leaf.

The liquor was a nice pale golden color which was somewhat misleading.  Judging by the faint color I did not expect this tea to pack much flavor.  I was wrong.  This tea has outstanding flavor.  I expected floral notes because of the aroma, but there was also a nice honey note to the liquor.  The mouthfeel was slightly brothy and there was a nice sweet finish to the tea.  There was almost no astringency noticed with this brew.

One thing I like about oolongs is that they often have a lingering aftertaste.  This one has that quality to an extent, but not as much as other oolongs I have tried.

Wet Leaf on 1/4" Graph Paper

The second infusion was bumped up to 4 minutes and this time the leaves were fully opened.  I was impressed with just how much leaf came out of those little rolls.  This confirms that this is a very tightly rolled oolong.  The wet leaf is large,whole and there are very few single leaves.  Most are groupings of 2-3 leaves and a bud still connected with the stem.  The second infusion had similar flavor to the first.

Overall I find this to be a very nice oolong.  The flavor is outstanding and it is easy to brew.  I would like to see a little more broth to the mouthfeel and a more lingering aftertaste, but other than that I cannot say anything bad about this tea.  If you are looking for a nice introduction to the world of Formosan oolongs this alishan would be a nice place to start.

Currently, this sample is being offered for $5.  Adagio says that this sample tin will make 10 cups but I find that it will take you farther than that… especially once you factor in multiple infusions.

Well, that’s about it for this edition.  Thanks for joining me and as always –

Happy Brewing!!!

Mike T

Review #2: Adagio’s IngenuiTEA Teapot

For the second edition of Mike’s Tea Review I have decided to look at a piece of teaware. This was the first teapot/infuser that I ever purchased and I still use it to this day. Today’s review is the Adagio IngenuiTEA Teapot.

Adagio.com was founded in 1999 by the Kreymerman family.  The company that once filled orders from the basement of a house now supplies it’s customers from a 26,000 sq ft warehouse in Garfield, NJ, as well as a 24,000 sq ft warehouse in Fresno, CA.  In a very short time they have become one of the major players in the world of tea.  More info on the history of Adagio Teas can be found here.

The IngenuiTEA teapot was developed by Adagio Teas in order to be able to brew premium teas while keeping the convenience of a teabag.  Mission accomplished. The result is a very utilitarian piece of teaware that is made completely out of food grade plastic.

There are 5 major components to this teapot: The lid,  the body, the pressure plate, the filter and the drip plate.  All of these are removable which makes cleanup of the teapot very easy.

To use the IngenuiTEA you simply flip open the lid, place your tea of choice in the teapot, add hot water and close the lid.  Once the tea is finished brewing all that’s left is to place the IngenuiTEA on top of your favorite teacup.

Plunger Valve

The pressure plate on the bottom of the IngenuiTEA will fit most standard sized cups.  When this plate is pressed it lifts a small plunger under the filter.  This plunger seems to be made out of some type of silicone.  Once the plunger raises, the liquor is allowed to flow through the filter, out of the bottom and into your cup.  Simple and effective!

After your tea session is finished, simply remove the leaves.  A quick rinse and wipe-down later and the IngenuiTEA is ready for your next cup.  The removable filter may become stained with time, however Adagio sells replacement filters at their website for a meager $3.  In fact, I keep at least 3 of these at all times.  This way I can use a dedicated filter for green, black and flavored teas.  Although the risk of flavor transfer is minimal, I like to be sure.

Removable Filter

Cleanup is a breeze

If there is one thing I would like to see from Adagio is the addition of graduations on the side of the IngunuiTEA.  As it stands now I must premeasure my water in another container which causes it to drop in temperature.  While this isn’t a major concern it would be nice to get rid of this step.

Overall the IngenuiTEA is a great piece of equipment and has held up very well to daily use.  It comes available for $19 in 16oz and $24 in 32oz sizes so it’s possible to make tea for large groups of people (which comes in very handy during the holidays or at work!!!).   The website also offers a 16oz IngenuiTEA gift pack that comes with your choice of sampler for the same $19 price tag.  You would be hard pressed to find a better deal than this.

Well, that’s about it for this edition.  Thanks for joining me and as always –

Have A Cuppa Day!!!

Mike T

Review #1 : O-Cha’s Uji Sencha Miyabi

Hello, and welcome to the first edition of Mike’s Tea Review. It was a rough go at it for a while but I finally made it and I once again have tea. Today I will be reviewing a japanese green tea from O-Cha.com: Uji Sencha Miyabi.

O-Cha.com was founded in 1998 by Mr. Kevin Moore and is a Japan-based business, located in Iwaki City , Fukushima, Japan.  Their website gives us the following description of Uji Sencha Miyabi…

From the first harvest, a very special sencha from Uji, near Kyoto, this tea is very aromatic and is of the highest quality. From the moment you open the package, that special aroma lets you know you’re in for a treat. Deep green in color, “Miyabi” is arguably one of our very best sencha green teas . We originally found this wonderful tea on a product scouting mission in Japan and brought some back to offer our customers. It’s been popular ever since.

This particular sencha is a chuumushi (or medium steamed sencha).  More information on tea steaming can be found here.

Upon opening my package from O-Cha I found that not only was the tea in a nitrogen-flushed Mylar bag, but that bag was itself sealed in a plastic bag.  I would assume that this extra bag is for if the box were to get wet in transit.  This attention to detail illustrates that the people at O-Cha take their (and your) tea seriously.

When I opened the bag,  the aroma of the dry leaf filled the area.  The leaf was a mixed bag of long needles and not so long needles.  This was my first chuumushi, so I can’t say for sure if this type of leaf is typical ( although it did look like more long needles than my last fukamushi).

Dry leaf on 1/4" graph paper

The brewing guide that O-Cha provides recommends using 0.6 grams of leaf per 1 ounce of water.  This is a baseline ratio and is a good starting point.  Personally, I prefer to brew more leaf with a shorter steeping time.  All of my water temperatures take into account a preheated kyusu.  The following were my observations:

Leaf: 5.4 grams
Water: 6 ounces

Steep 1 – 1:15 @ 160° : The initial steep yielded a very robust vegetal, almost spinach-like flavor.  There was very little astringency and a mild sweetness.  The liquor on this brew was a pale yellow/green.

Steep 2 – 0:15 @ 167° : This steep yielded a deep murky green liquor that reminded me of a fukamushi in appearance.  Upon tasting there was a bit more astringency, but the most noticeable characteristic was the amount of umami.  It was so apparent that it pretty much overpowered even the vegetal taste of the tea.  This is quite possibly the most umami I have ever tasted in a cup of tea.

Steep 3 – 0:30 @ 175° : This steep was probably my favorite of the five.  The liquor was still murky, but not nearly as dark as the previous steep.  There was still umami, however it was nowhere near as overpowering as before.  There was also almost a perfect balance of sweetness and astringency.  One thing that I noticed on this steep that I did not notice on the others is that there was almost a nutty finish to the taste.

Steep 4 – 1:00 @ 180° : This brew was somewhat vegetal however the sweetness is starting to emerge from the leaf.  The liquor is moving back towards a pale green and it was very easy to drink.

Steep 5 – 2:00 @ 190° : The fifth and final brew was pale yellow/green and produced a very mild and sweet cup of tea.  This was a very pleasant drink and the sweetness almost seemed to be a “dessert” to the main course of umami that I had experienced earlier.

The following pictures show the appearance of the brewed liquor.  The first brew is top center.  Following brews move clockwise around the circle.  There is also a picture of some of the brewed leaf on 1/4″ graph paper.

Wet leaf on 1/4" graph paper

Liquor color - 5 steepings

Overall, this was a very enjoyable yet complex tea.  If you like fukamushi sencha then you will almost assuredly enjoy this chuumushi.  At a cost of $25.95 per 100 grams it is not the most economical tea, however the quality is apparent.  As with most things in life, you get what you pay for.

Thank for joining me and I hope to have another review for you soon.

Happy Brewing!!!

Mike T

A Minor Setback

Well folks… It would seem that my blog has had a bit of a snag.  I came home to find that a possum had crawled up into the insulation under my house and died there.

When I opened the door the smell hit me like a ton of bricks.  All of my tea had been sitting in a house reeking of decomposing possum. 😡  Needless to say all was lost.

Anyway, I have tea in the mail and should have my first review up shortly.  Rather than reviewing teas that I have already tried I have decided that I will give them another go.  That way I can add pictures of the dry leaf, liquor, brewed leaf, etc.

Until then, happy brewing!!
Mike