TGFOP Tea Reviews (c) Silverneedles est.2005

part of the drown my sorrow with three bottles of tea day.
iced tea with lemon .teany,
Morrocan Mint Green Tea .Honest Tea,
green tea with ginseng .teany.
see the level- thats how much i could drink from them.

what’s with the ginseng? make me lov u long time or what?

smell: nasty

taste: sugar + weirdness … ass? + lemon.

overall: u suck.

the end.

part of the drown my sorrow with three bottles of tea day.
iced tea with lemon .teany,
Morrocan Mint Green Tea .Honest Tea,
green tea with ginseng .teany.
see the level- thats how much i could drink from them.

smell: some lemon & … fruit? medication?… a smell i cant pinpoint, need a word, having lapse in memory.

taste:
liquid,
no sugar (labeled 10g total),
astringency/bitterness
no green tea
mint? what mint, oh yeah, hmmm. well there is some mint aftertaste after the bitterness goes.
this feels like they over brewed the mint and components too long until the plant taste started to give it this bitterness. also theres not enough mint in this. maybe other components are interacting and diminishing it.

update: i added sugar: nice and sweet now - much better - some minty flavor but not like fresh looseleaf tea (did they use enough mint ???). there isnt much nasty sugar aftertaste. some freshness from the mint in the aftertaste. pretty good now!!!

how much mint etc compared to some real fresh loose tea? somewhere around 1/2

i really dont get it. either these people dont know how to make something good (that i could like) or they’re trying to make something that will just sell.

ItoEn Flagship Store. $6/oz = 72/lb.

second ‘real’ sencha straight from sencha mother’s tit, 1st was Kawane.

dry leaf: low smell. leaf seems smaller cut than Kawane. picture is of the entire 1oz, it looks small but leaf has small volume and so occupies less space in threeDee thus not disturbing the time space continuum… right? right.

this one is a fukamushi cha: its deep-steamed (longer), loose leaf is finer, infusion is cloudy.

infusion: ~1.5min in 4oz @ 130F (they say 1tsp 6oz 176F, i’ll try that later)

liquor: dark green and cloudy (with lots of floating thingys.)

taste:
interesting, green vegetal different than kawane, i like this one, has a little flavor similar to “egg” flavor (as in this oolong huang jin gui), cant say any astringency? …
2nd infusion has a sweet aftertaste.
3rd infusion watery.

overall: i like this one. seems similar experience to the Sencha from Zhong Guo Cha, but don’t remember that having sweet aftertaste.

ItoEn Flagship Store, $5.5/lb = $66/lb

first ‘real’ sencha straight from sencha mother’s tit. i say ‘real’ since its from a Japanese company who just shipped it directly from the Japanese tea growing fields. heres #2: Sencha Megami

dry leaf: aroma sweet grassy. picture is of the entire 1oz, it looks small but leaf has small volume and so occupies less space in 3D.

infusion: ~1.5min in 4oz @ 120F (they say 1tsp 6oz 176F, i’ll try that later)

taste:
some vegetal “generic” greenish reminds of chinese green panfried-oily stuff. . good straight flavor.
2nd infusion starts tasting a little overextracted?- not really astringent?maybe some acidity? in back of throat (very mild but thats how i feel it). some grass aftertaste on tongue.

overall: …not very exciting. eh. (I’ll try different infusions but i only expect it to enhance previous flavors.)

found at Ito En’s Flagship Store.

Aroma: very light, couldn’t really tell what it is. sort of sweet.

Taste: light roasted, green tea (couldn’t pinpoint what, not real clear), sort of softness? very very mild astringency(it doesnt feel over-infused as their other bottled teas, like oi ocha, even teas tea.)

Overall: Good but flavor too mild for me and even with the lack of astringency i prefer their oi ocha japanese green. also too expensive (as this entire Weil for tea line is, $1.9/can (245ml)… i like their Darjeeling better.)

could that name BE any longer ?

i guess it could, since i left out the coconut ginger part…

smell: start with this because it disturbed me: pickled cabbage aroma… nice one ! i then was afraid to drink it… but i talked myself into it: “Come on old man, you LOVE cabbage” , “DOOO IT !!!!” OH MY GOD I CANT STOP SMELLING THAT !!!!!!!!!!!!

…

taste: pink. huh? dunno, just popped in my mind (maybe i associate bangkok, oh wait the label is pink). again as in the previous taste: their Black Currant: alot of “stuff” in the liquid: sourness, this time some clear bitterness (low, but it bothers me). i couldn’t really tear apart into precise flavors, dont care :: i dont like it. THE END.

update: had to comeback and +add this: alot of nasty aftertaste…. BOOOOOOO !!!

how about i transport you back to the store and get my $2.4 back, and that 5 minutes spent in line…

oh crap, i think im getting some diarrhea………… no… false alarm.

This is your big boy, brother of its little sibling oiocha .5L
the most liters of clean bottled tea one can buy… in the WORLD !!!!

and its pretty good taste too !

Pkg: nice and symetric, contains just green tea and vitamin c (works to keep it good). very low level of bullshit on antioxidants etc.

Price: in my little supermarket … 6$ , sort of expensive, might be better priced elsewhere with more population, like Manhattan/Chinatown/Flushing.

Taste: green tea - the type which tastes roasted-toasty-pan-fried, astringency (medium-mild). Not quite as clear taste as a fresh looseleaf brew.

Compared to others, cant really say much difference: Pokka’s can of green tea seemed more defined, Tea’s Tea green (still ito en) seemed less astringent, Adagio’s Green seemed less defined, with a weird little tiny flavor in there.

Overall: the best bottled tea out there (in the USA, in a 2L pkg)

*no, ito en doesn’t pay me in moneys, stocks or free shit. i just like their product.  

Found at Whole Foods Market, $1.5

^ click for bigger image.

Dont remember having this before, so i thought i’d give it some tongue time.
Was imagining it to be like the ItoEn’s OiOcha Green Tea but it went like this:

flavor: green tea on the roasted/fried flavor side, no nasty baggy tastes, astringency is low and blends nice with the green flavor. The Pokka’s Japanese Green Tea had a more of a crispy grassy green flavor.

overall: GOOD! i like it. you go on the list.

Adagio Teas 6$/4oz or $15/lb +S&H … cheap, but its mixed, flavored… tea.
ordered this along with the bottled teas,
just to see what mixed tea tastes like…
also mango is my favorite fruit (to eat, not to clean and slice every little bit from the pit.)

Dry:
smells good, maybe too pungent — additives?!
looks like some sort of flat green chopped up. with little bits of yellow mango.

Method: leaf + water @ 180 x 3min

dry leaf_________ infusion 1_______ in the cupwan_____infusion 2 _____ _ wet leaf

Liquor: yellow-green, second infusion dubiously fluorescent green.

Taste: a mild green astringency dominating + mild mango..ish?
<going to clean tongue, feel confused.>>
clean tongue — same — a bit confusing.
added sugar: brings more of the mango…ish taste to the tongue, not much green feel anymore.
the mango bits taste sort of like mango, without sweetness,
the leaves also contain some sort of flower petals?

Overall: its ok. smells better than tastes. would i get it again … eh… probably not.

1 can $1.5 incl tax, found somewhere on Broadway, at a Sushi restaurant.
label says made in Singapore for Pokka of Japan, under strictest control.

As i remember its better than the Green Tea.Pokka i tasted a while back.

Method: pay, open can, drink, take picture of can, give crazy look back to people looking weird at your for taking pictures of a can!

Taste: Green tea, good, nice flavor, maybe sencha, mildly fried sensation. Astringency-tannin present at low intensity, unlike ItoEn’s teas. Its better than i remember, and somewhat more pleasant than ItoEn’s green tea. (unless my tongue is not at its best today.). I do have to revisit ItoEn’s products, its been too long since last time. Good thing their store is close by, i should check it out.

There are no weird tasting flavors, no cruddy bag tea astringency or vitamin C or anything unpleasant.

Aftertaste: low.

Again: Yes. and it goes on my list.

Adagio Teas 17$/8oz , $27/lb … thats pretty cheap

leaf: see some snails, but the leaf doesnt look very good, kind of beat up, see some ‘hairs’, also some fine dust either pollen or broken ‘hairs’. Along this… one can also find… seeds(1st pic center and a little low right)…?! and something that looks like clumps of pollen(2nd pic) (or maybe its the clumps of broken ‘hairs’) not that i care about the former, but the later - seeds…?! ahem… never seen that before.

techniques:
@ 120F x 2-3min theres pretty strong green astringency-tannin back sides of mouth + tartness.
@ less than 100? F + 3 min or longer –> BLC flavor (green) + some ‘fruity’ somewhere around apricot skin (as i would imagine that would be like) but… a little tangy astringent-tanninic).
@ room temp water x ~10min –>better, more fruity bi-lo-chunnish, less tarty, & flavor held good for at least 3 more infusions. here the liquor: light green.

taste: Compared to Wing Hop Fung’s BLC Adagio’s seems not very defined in taste, more astringent-tanninic+tartness, and seems more sensitive to “high” temperatures.

^ LEFT: Adagio (gaiwan) …..^RIGHT: WHF (in my*sniff* broken cup)

wet leaf: after about 3 times, the leaf almost unfurled completely you can see many leafs are cut, there is alot of little bits that escape if using the gaiwan, and also found some of the seeds.

overall: …uhh…the taste dont like too much, the dubious quality (leaf, seed,cuts,tannin) kind of deterring me from buying again.

Adagio Teas 2$/ea or 24$/case of 15 + s&h
anteadote Black, Oolong, Green, White … i dont know what anteadote means, obviously a play on the Tea word, but to me it just sounds related to a medical drug or something. antidote is a substance used to neutralize a toxic substance.

Package:

Product of China.
not going to spank the monkey on the whole organic thing again, am tired of typing about it. whatever.

nice packaging, this one is less appealing as the name does not stand out. should be bigger/bold and darker. label is crooked and stretched. (i’m feeling very picky… calm down…should drink some of the white tea)

Liquor: golden-yellow meaning i hope tea is oxidated & most likely not much preservatives.

Smell: faint, imho a bit of medicinal but lets see taste.

Taste: some mild astringency-tannin back of throat/tongue, then swishing around feel “roasted-toasted fried” green tea taste - ok, tastes like tea. no medicinal flavors, no citric acid-lemon. But… after tasting the 4 teas from them i have to say there is sort of a funky flavor in there, in all them bottles… its not the lemon taste, its a weird faint medicinal maybe kind of funk…

Faint aftertaste, but doesn’t feel completely watery, some remnants on tongue and back of throat but again, faint. i think it kind of feels fatty-coating on the tongue in the aftertaste(might be wrong).

Overall: taste is mild-medium, ok, not bad, i wouldnt go out of my way to buy it again, and if ito en was there i’d pick that first. compared to itoen’s green tea, adagio is more mild, subdued, less astringent-tanninic, less defined, and it also has a funk-o-flavor on my tongue.

Zhong Guo Cha G-17-3-2 Sencha *sample . 15$/50g = 8.52/oz = 136/lb ? is that right?

looks like sencha, it must be sencha imho kind of small cuts but what do i know about proper sencha?! the other senchas i tried from Kowa, Chado seemed to be bigger.

liquor: nice and green, tiny particulate matter giving it a ‘cloudy’ appearance.

taste: strong presence, vegetal, feels ‘fresh’ in some way to me, a small twiggy feel, a tiny feel of sweet on the tip of the tongue that goes with a small reminder of “egg” flavor (as in this oolong huang jin gui), some astringency feeling green.

leaf bits are small and so hard to drink straight from cup (ok, actually i did drink straight from the cup, and chewed on some of the little bits of leaf), but if one wants to down one real fast you’ll get a mouthfull. so you need a good strainer.

this feels like a good quality tea & leaf-’cos of the strong flavor, but i’m not experienced with many senchas.

found at target next to the “calorie burning” crap, enviga (also coca-cola)
price <2 >1

label: attractive,

sugar: 22g /8oz(240ml) almost like snapple 24/8oz, i think coke is like 34g/8oz
so… its sweet enough.

Taste:
-> sweet sensation
–> strange perfume-y around back of mouth
—> tea! damn! ill be friggin damned! Coca-Cola managed to create more green-tea tasting drink better than Snapple?!
—–> astringency, oh, unfortunately at first taste one can feel a cruddy cheap-green tea teabag astringency settling on the tastebuds.
after 1-2 sips just like most drinks, taste changes and dont feel all the details, remains only the sweetness as the major component.

overall: ! surprised! it was not bad, and much better than snapple’s green tea crap.

sidenote:
think it has many/enough additives-preservatives:
1. the bottle is clear - everyone knows green tea liquid doesnt like light
2. color of liquid,taste didnt change at all even next day when i finished what you see in the picture.

i didnt buy those japanese tea sodas when i had the chance… why did i buy this? ? i dunno, curiosity.

calorie burner, just what i need to melt the lard on my humps, my humps

found at Target, priced <2$ but >1$

didnt feel like editing the picture so here it is unprocessed.
on one side the can babbles about some eggcgn and probably
natural and organic and calorie burning or some shit, i didnt read it.

liquor photo is darker, and more orange than reality, but u can see the murkiness probably due to the millions of nano-bots that will be doing the calorie burning work on your ass.

taste:
lots of soda bubbles
-> front tongue: lemonade-y
–> back: lemonade, some weird sugar taste, some remote astringency (oh yeah!!! thats it right? the astringency !!!! its the green tea ***CONCENTRATE*** !!! i dont know ! because it doesnt taste like tea at all, but damn, that must be the green tea !!! the green tea!! OH MY GOSH THE FAT IS MELTING RIGHT OFF MY ASS ! I CAN SEE IT FLOWING !!! WHOLY CRAP !!! WHY GET LIPOSUCTION !!! DRINK GREEN TEA !!! WHY EXERCISE ?!?! CHUG 5 of these babies for brkfst lunchanddinner and you’ll have your own commercial just like that subway guy !!! (actually i just had the king size Double Whopper at Burgerking, with onion rings and a medium milkshake, and after drinking 5 of these calorie burners my cholesterol dropped 100 points, to 1500 !!! (nah, im just kidding, … about the cholesterol points ofcourse.
—> swishing around feels remotely like redbull but a more ‘mild’ taste with a lemon lemonade feel
—-> aftertaste: can feel the shitty leftovers of fake sugar (and there it is, on the label, asspartame)… WHY???? oh , its a low calorie drink, …now i get it.

did this give me any energy? yeah !!! it pissed me off so much i started babeling like a lunatic for a minute in that previous passage. seriously? no energy, maybe for a minute ‘cos i was excited to drink something new.

Nestea … or … Nasty? (imho my tongue picks #2) … at least it doesnt taste like pee.

Yunnan Sourcing LLC
$12.5 /250g = $1.42/oz :O !
Fall 2007 Harvest
“flavor is bold and nutty but if not over-brewed is smooth and satisfying”

need to edit pics

Dry leaf looks great, really really nice (imho)

Yes! another new flavor. I love good tea!

first green tea where the liquor came out green! (picture is not green, but trust me, it is )

flavor: just like it smells, green, fresh, a tad on a flowery side but its not predominant
somewhere out of a pungently fresh green vegetal, has its own specific flavor, never had before. maybe reminds of 1/3 of the biluochun mixed + 1/3 kuding + 1/3 smoky black yunnan

NICE ! I LIKE

Zhong Guo Cha

no time to edit pics

dont know name, not on their website

taste: green+twiggy+hay and a little nutty, flavor strength is medium(2/3) oversteeped a stronger greenish astringency, not unpleasant.

but its not my like.

Zhong Guo Cha G-1-3-3 Dragon Well (Long Jing) Green Tea
50g $5.50 = $3.1/oz = $49.6/lb yeah, my kind of price 3$/oz

Leaf: looks like pieces, small, ~1.5cm, flat, nice colors.

Pictures: infusion 1, 2, wet leaf

10oz dixiecup + tea about .75cm + roomtemp water to half + rest with 200F water
good param
#1 ~3min : good strong smell, flavor of “pan-fried” green not as strong but getting there, seems on the watery side tho, maybe should’ve infused longer.
#2 ~3min : i’d say something of a greenish astringency twiggy, pan-friedness low now.

~2scoops ~5 oz ~170?F
liquor: nice and yellow-a tad fluorescent , i hope its natural
smell: ok
flavor: good, cant describe exactly, i’ll say its somewhere around pan-fried…vegetal…
wet leaf looks green and young

2 infusions (~10oz) kept all taste.
3rd infusion ~6oz lost “pan-friedness” more green vegetal

not the most original/complex/strong flavor…the huan shan mao feng, similar taste profile >> fried flavor <<, plus… i like the leaf better.

Zhong Guo Cha G-1-12-3
50g(1.76oz)/$4.99 = $2.83/oz (! cheap, lets see if taste is cheap).

Dry leaf looks good, has a golden hue (ok maybe not, i think im color blind today).
~2tbsp dispenser + 4oz gaiwan.

infusion reveals bits and pieces, seems this is the normal Huang Shan Mao Feng appearance.

150F - taste: flavor medium-low strength: green pan fried oil sensation.
did 3 infusions = 12 oz.
not enough flavor strength for me, seems less than HSMF (hair tip) from Chado. but this one is not hair tip.

200F - taste: flavor medium strength: green pan fried oil sensation. + deep astringency-bitterness. (duh! what did you think boiling water would do to a green leaf???).

will have to redo, more leaf, temp 160-180-190

$3.9 /bag = cheap & nasty. found it at Hong Kong supermarket, Flushing ny.

just horrible experience: dry leaf has a bluish-grey dust like appearance, so i washed it for 30 sec. guess what
after brewing the liquor was so cloudy i could not see the bottom of the cup (1 inch below)! and this was a light yellow color liquor with tiny white and black dust floating among an opaque liquid.

i drank it, then cursed.

.no. i have no idea how this gets to be on a market shelf.

local market ~4$/1.something oz.

individual packets of instant tea powder destined for 8oz cold water.

lets see how it goes.

1 pack in 7oz water:
smell faintly grassy,
taste: very faint (1/7) grassy

2 pack in 8oz water:
faint-mild grassy smell,
taste: thick, milky, feel dust on tongue, faint 2.5/7 grassy, astringency.

…ymy… come on… i know you can do it, but this is not it.

? too flavorless, no.no. YAMAmotoYAMA’s Green Tea bags are better. then again, you could always get some loose leaf tea…

t 1115 , $19.99/lb

Had this in storage for about 3 months, lacking any good teas at the moment… awaiting some deliveries :),

so id thought i give this a try. either that or make more room !

try #1 28/7/07

just had some grapes so mouth feels somewhat astringent already

1 tbsp measurer black one, ~ 4oz water, 190F 3min
smells good ofcourse
taste: … ehm… huh? mild , hmmm…. astringency, mild jasmine, …errr…

try #2-5

very pretentious leaf, gives me attitude and no good reliable taste.

conclusion: hot water = astringency, unpleasant.
cold water= less astringency mild/more enjoyable jasmine flavor.

i feel no CHI , QI … ?… rather …slapped in the face…

definitely a no.no.

found @ Whole Foods NYC @ Columbus Circle, along with a couple other rtd tea bottles,
then i took them out for a walk in Central Park… me, my tea bags, and my bitches…

enjoying the shade… and a couple wild vultures…

Well … guess what… yeah… shit.
but anyway, here’s the shits description: smell 1/3 lemony. drink: 1/3 flavor of ?tea? mixed with 0.5/3 vitamin c or whatever everybody mixes this shit with these days. = .no. rebuy.

issues…:

1. Forgot to take a pic of the cap, a Roosevelt saying “Women are like teabags…” jesus. whatever it said after that didnt matter anyway. but maybe its just me.

2. wtf is with the name? just green tea… hmmm… are they gonna sue me? the wayback machine only got me archived in feb’07 with the category name

3. now along organic, natural, ecgc pc dc, antioxidant, and other bullshit the tea companies have a new label to wank: ‘FAIR TRADE’. like i give a rats ass, and like i believe any of their bullshit - how can we really check anyway how much the tea pickers get paid, without it being relayed thru many intermediaries.

did drink something good today tho, >> yeah its looseleaf tea, thank god!

Finally have found you!… green “tea” by snapple… seems to be out on the East coast /NY, not on the west coast (at the time of this review.)

Taste: low-medium flavor of….unknown…+ sweet (the diet version has splenda), some tea flavor (but low)

Overall: disappointing, but not surprised.

no, id not get this. rather drink water, or some coke, sprite, 7up(has too much bubble), pepsi(gives me tummy ache after too many mL.). Ergo, NOT on my FavoriTeas Bottled Tea list

UPDATE: a better tasting (as per my tastebuds) sweet green tea drink is from Gold Peak

emergency alternatives in case of green tea 500mcg EGCG AOX antioxidant withdrawal:

• chew some grass
• eat some leaves
• hump a tree.

dont know what this is, from the looks might be a bi luo chun.

This is the “majestic” ‘Qing Shan Lu Shui’ “qing shan lv shui” (青山绿水) Ku Ding tea (cha).

wet leaf: looks like small tender young top leaf and buds.

liquor photo: L is 3 minute, R is after the infusion liquor was left a couple hours. (thats alot of oxidation going on!)

smell: somewhat medicinal… not my favorite

140F
- method 1:1 leaf volume:water volume ratio @ ~40sec: flavor: seems more distinct taste than previous, same sweetness perceived on the back sides of the tongue, and its particular ‘green’-astringent taste.
- regular brew method: flavor: a strange sensation: warm mildly sweet feeling with even more mild ‘bitter’/astringent feel. brewed longer the sweetness did not become stronger, but there was an unpleasant aftertaste - like after drinking earl grey with lots of sugar.

190F
flavor: pop of medium-high dose of astringency-bitterness on the tip of the tongue, then tongue senses some medicinal mixed green vegetal flavor. theres a touch of sweetness in here somewhere. …dont know…. maybe i brewed too much leaf. 1.3 tbsp measurer 6oz 190F 3min.
usually dont get this strong out of greens. neither the liquor color change! (must be the young leaves)
redo.

done with this. not very exciting to me, .no.

yes thought id try these things again but after the peach mango fuze fiasco, i fizzed down on the enthusiasm…

this too tastes rather shitty, something like baby-barf wash with some baby soap and window washer mixed in…cant even compare it to the oolong fuze … large gap in product flavor, dont know what the hell happened here.

made in taiwan

found at Singapore Banana Leaf (Farmers Market at the Grove). SBL is on my top list of the food court restaurants (wonderful consistent good food and great flavor).

liquor yellow

taste: flavor 3/7 some kind of strange green tea bag concoction… an awful sour powerful astringency hit my tastebuds… it reminds me of aspirin dissolved in water. After it thoroughly numbed my mouth, astringency and other tastes could not be felt like normal, had to rinse my mouth couple times…

no. definitely wouldn’t touch this ever again even if there was no water around.

again, seems like everybody wants to stick their tail into the tea market. Which TJ does due to a desire to lower end product cost to consumer, since they brand their own products…

was happy to see it,

99c /1L ! …maybe because its new to market.

similar bottle with Tejava, except for a green tint and different label.
ive seen ascorbate (vit C) on other tea labels so i thought nothing of it.

opened bottle… oh-oh… smells like lemon … errr

taste: lemon flavor 3/4, tea astringency 1/4 … fudge pack…

i guess someone told them, yeah, mask that shit it dont taste like nothing anyways, just drop a ton of ascorbic acid in the mix, them suckers wont know and we’ll get our money anyway. damnit TJ get some better TEA people.

overall: NO. i like Ito En Japanese Green tea (Oi Ocha) actually tastes good…

dry leaf appearance: good, has a grayish haze (not from the photo processing).
in the 2nd pic (not the best), you can make out little hairs on the leaf so ‘hair tip’ is  accurate description!

~2teaspoons dispenser + 4oz

taste: flavor ~medium strength flavor, mostly ‘regular green’ feel, pan fried oil sensation with something of a honey sensation (can be felt in the smell as well). some sweet aftertaste coating left over on the tongue and palate which does last a couple minutes. [compare w HSMF.Zhong Guo Cha,  HS Yun Feng .Wing Hop Fung]

at most 2 infusions maintain taste, subsequently flavor drops, astringency takes its place.

HSYF.WHF: mostly 1leaf+bud (maybe its not the same type of processing anyway)

wet leaf is not what i like - too much chopped up stuff. color is darker - dont know if pick is older in age, or part of bush, or storage, or processing.

me try again: .maybe

found at Assi supermarket

heres some paparazzi for ya:

flavor: 0/7

if i’d cut out the cardboard box and infused it in boiling water - that would’ve had more flavor than this ‘tea’.

buy again: aaaa hell no.

i dont know… i feel bummed… maybe i got defective tastebuds… but

all the ItoEn bottled teas have tasted the same with minor variations in astringency and intensity…

we have today a bummer of a ‘combination’ of white + green tea

taste of bummer: 3/7, mostly fried oil/roasted flavor, astringency mild, aftertaste minute.

uhm, thanks for not putting any sugars :P, and selling it at whole foods (where by the way most of the bottled teas have sugar). priced at a fabulous $2.03 (incl CA tax).

T1096 39.99/lb

a mao feng.

1st infusion 194F 3min:

tea smell: present, greenish vegetal.
aspect: green leaf in water looks ok, length <.75inch. more open leaves with darker colors, less ‘young looking’ green tips, but they are smaller.
flavor: 4/7 green vegetal, astringency when present even when strong is green vegetal (pleasant to me, unlike black tea astringency.)

(^ .^)/

dont know why this theme’s indent shows up as a talk-baloon.

T1110 68.99/lb

pi luo chun = Pi Lo Chun, Bi Luo Chun, BiLuoChun , Xia Sha Ren Xiang, Tai Hu lu cha, Green Snail Spring, Green Snail Springtime, but hey! I’M NOT CONFUSED, maybe if i learn chinese writing it will be easier…. ill make my own translation.

about 2tsp ~160F water. ~3minutes, if astringency comes its probably over-steeped.
flavor 4/7: greenish + unknown fruit (maybe apricot).

flavor fades by the 3rd infusion, astringency dominating the subsequent infusions.
astringency produces a sweetish aftertaste.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1st infusion 194F 3min:~~~might not have been enough tea~~~

tea smell: medium.
aspect: green leaf in water looks ok, length <.75inch, more broken leafs.
flavor: 3.5/7 green vegetal… i have a sensation of fried but not very outspoken, astringency when present is ~ok ~green vegetal (pleasant to me, unlike black tea astringency.)

T1137 39.99/lb

a mao feng (from Feng Huang Shan, Guangdong Province … i think)

1st infusion 194F, 3min

tea smell: present, greenish vegetal
aspect: green leaf in water looks good, length .75inch
flavor: 4/7 green vegetal, astringency when present even when strong is clear green vegetal (pleasant to me unlike black tea astringency.)

2nd, subsequent steeps

flavor: starts to get fruity: apricot, yum! very pleasant clear taste, low astringency.

infusion in cold water does not come out too well. 1st and 2nd are ok but subsequent fail to extract flavor out of the leaf.

I dont have any problem drinking green tea on an empty stomach. so called ’stomach punch’ (nausea).

I regularly drink alot of tea on an empty stomach.

I know people that have problem drinking tea on an empty stomach, and also taking vitamins on an empty stomach none of which i have had any trouble with.

The problem i have is with having an empty stomach for a long time… get a little dizzy and sweaty (from the hypoglycemia caused by not eating and no adequate response from my organs). But green tea does not have anything to do with that in my system.

Found at the Glen Cove Mansion in Long Island. (really nice place).

Seen these Harney and Sons <more reviews here> teabags in numerous places in Long Island…

Flavor: smack of pineapple…. no green tea flavor that i could feel.

im not one for weirdly blended or scented greens, but this is not a green tea if theres no green tea flavor. (im not as upset on them as i am on the Tealeaves company whose teabags i never even 1 enjoyed.)

tried to enjoy these tea bags at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills during a looong conference.

I really HATE bullshitted fancy named asskiss names for teas,… especially shitty teas… ESPECIALLY SHITTY TEA BAGS.

“AROMA: Sweet & grassy”

what the shit??!?!? flavor: mild slap of minty flavor, on the way down some kinda green tea astringency.

this is shit. i emphasize SHIT. keep this shit away from me.

looseleaf green tea little pellets. “gunpowder”

Kinda taste like a milder version of this Japan Sencha (Kowa).

there was alot of POWDER in this gunpowder… lots of dust, and it made the liquor murky/opaque-not very sexy…

flavor 3/7 greenish, some green astringency, no fried & no fish taste. some twig taste, very mild lemony.

no.

who’s ready for a science experiment????!!!

these cans caught my eye at Ralph’s since they were “on sale” 2 for $5

they’re SELF HEATING!!! yay !!! way cool!!!

turn it upside down, press a button to release a chemical, turn it on its side until an indicator turns white, then put it right on the table.
about 5 min later i pop the top and the liquid was HOT HOT HOT!!!

that sounds all dope and shit, but i bought a tea…so how’s it taste???

well i shoulda remembered that one time at band camp when i put milk in green tea - it wasn’t nice - i didn’t enjoy that taste experience. so how’s this?

taste: milky, it has sugar, some tea flavor. don’t know if its the combination with the tea but it tasted like powdered cheap milk concentrate or some shit.

i didn’t like it, only reason to drink it was for the sweet milk, but then the combination with the tea felt nasty.

buy again: NO. i’ll try the other i got- chai latte- keep my fingers crossed for better.

***UPDATE: the other one: chai latte from hillside tea tastes a bit like chai, milk, but it has the same shitty ‘powder milk’ taste that i dont like.

5.4oz 190ml @ ~ $1.6

can is already printed in english unlike the plastic bottles which have a sticker attached with english translation.
the can repeats on the “catechin” & “antioxidant” words.

liquor: green (finally. i guess the light-proof can protects from oxidation as well).
taste: smoother than the plastic bottles (oi ocha).
astringency: 2.5/7 tanninic (less than the oi ocha) with a twist of fried oil as usual(less than oi ocha).
flavor: 2.5/7 (less than the oi ocha), mildly green grass …mild…
minor aftertaste.

somewhat disappointed with this product, was expecting a shot of grass-like taste.
size is also annoying.

buy again: no. (would rather get the oi ocha hit me with its astringency).

~$2

i don’t know what oi ocha koi aji ryokucha means but it sounds Japanese

Damn! is this green tea concentrate ??? (which I’d rate as astringency 7/7 no green tea flavor).

liquor: brown
taste: hit by tannins-astringency, some faint green tea flavor but toasty,

as far as i remember its almost identical to the oi ocha green tea .ito en …

keepo? .maybe (kinda bummed it doesn’t have a distinctive flavor).

side note: had the pork bao (char siew pork) at Famima!! but didn’t enjoy it- breading was nice and fluffy tho not as fluffy as the one i had in Chinatown (forgot store); filling was sweet, then a taste of canned meat(kinda bitter), then some pork taste (filling was quite similar to the one in Chinatown).

“with lemongrass and natural flavors”
“a natural source of antioxidants”

yes, when you have nothing substantial to put on a package do fill the space with crap.

water: hot fresh off tha boiler in the amount of 1 cup.
cup: cleaned it today.
infuser: not what my momma uses.
timer: stopped at the 4 minute mark.
taste: present with a strength of 3/7
flavor: contains mostly lemon sensations with some itsy-bitsy grass undertones (sidetones?).
astringency: dont remember

again: no. (personal preferrence)(when calling it green tea i expect green tea taste detected in equal amounts to other contents, otherwise just call it a fancy name like tazo likes to do).

PS: what does that mean ‘natural flavors’ ??? the tea powder they use is so crappy they have to add flavoring???

where? Mitsuwa market/Torrance
dinero? .98/can+tax
package? aluminium can

flavor: 3/7 fried green tea taste, some minor green tea flavor, minor astringency.

again: no.

this is starting to frustrate me, all the bottled teas tasted sofar taste basically the same…

looseleaf 8.99 made by Kowa company (i think they’re into the coffee business.)
my bugger with this: they call it ‘Japan Sencha’ yet its made in Spain?

great packaging: airtight metal box (this should be a model to all who boast about their supposed ‘freshness’.)

dry leaf: varying shapes, some stem, some brown stem = “quality is low”

flavor: tastes green, astringency does not bother too much.

astringent continues in the aftertaste along with a lemony sensation.
if this is all sencha green tea leaf and nothing else thats good because i detect some lemon on my tongue. or maybe its the green twigs or something from the plant… i remember chewing tree leaves when young… but im pretty sure its lemony… i think i sense it in the smell as well.

buy again: yes. nah, made up my mind. i don’t think so.

found at Fujiya Market /Silverlake. cost $ 2.50 !!!

good thing i had notes, otherwise i wouldve rated them all a 1. (%_%) ! ?

flavor 1.5/7 (’fried’ green tea flavor ~0.5) astringent 2/7, aftertaste 0.

again: no. (id pick itoen green tea bottle, at least i know im paying for some astringency).

Had a fun 15 minutes at Fujiya Market in Silverlake on Virgil, they had couple of ready to drink ‘real’ teas in the fridges. After tasting them, it wasnt too much excitement but at least it wasn’t a totally worthless experience.

Here we have a can of Green Tea made by ‘UCC’ Ueshima Coffee Co of Japan.
Can’s description is not far from the truth as i see it:
“we present: mild body and aroma to you”

maybe being refrigerated numbs my tastebuds but here it is: watery flavor 1.5/7 (I’m exaggerating), astringent 2/7, there is a little tiny sneaky lemon flavor but maybe its just me., aftertaste 0/7.

again: no. I’d choose the Ito En Green Tea bottle over any of these i took today.

found at Famima!! -they had all the Ito En products: Sencha Shot, Ocha green tea, Tea’s Tea… while at Whole Foods they only had Tea’s Tea and the sweetened tea bottles.

was ~ $2.03 for .5L bottle. nice packaging. NYC seems to have english labels naming the tea ‘Japanese Green Tea’ (see photo). in Los Angeles i had Japan import bottle, with a little translation sticker on it - original named ‘oi ocha’ (dont have pic of that)

Smell: toasty

Taste: yay! finally, a good, un-sugarized tea … strong full flavor ‘pleasantly’ astringent tea taste, tho faintly green, there was some toasty ?rice? taste in there…
overall…ok…flavor, astringent. This is alot better taste than any teabag i ever brewed, not as good as a good looseleaf tea, but its a fast, ready to drink substitute.

Overall: keep-r-us? YES!

Competition: Pokka’s Japanese Green Tea, Pure Green Teas Tea(still by Ito En), Japanese green tea 2L bottle (same)

wish they’d sell this at Ralphs or Savon or Whole foods…but probably those have exclusive contracts with lipton or some other marketers of sugarized ‘tea’ shit.

1. sweet taste

2. lemon-citrusy

3. a faint tea flavor .. couldnt say its green… more like black
4. honey

5. a prolonged sweet aftertaste from the ’sugar’ (splenda)

obviously they only see us wanting sweets… or does the sweet get more re-purchased…

i drank the regulr arizona lemon green tea which is very sweet.

my opinion? : this is CRAP. keep? no. hell NO.

ah, the health benefits of >insert plant name here<
yes, name a plant and it can cure everything from diarrhea to dogbites drug addiction doofyness and cancer. Why people seek and believe in such unproven ridiculousities is part of human behavior. Misinformation, no information, lack of information, distrust of information, ignoramus, ideas of cheapness, illusions of naturality and organicness attract and perpetuate such ideas ad infinitum.

When whatever substance/root/plant/flower claims to cure multiple diseases including HIV/AIDS and cancer … that should raise a red flag.

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ah, numbers…what do they mean anyway…
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AICR 2005 phone survey(mirror) (~ 1000 Americans), JACC 2005 food questionaire study(mirror) (~100,000 Japanese)

Total green tea drank:

• USA:
  • 8% drank green tea everyday.
  • 0.3 cups/day ( 60mL tea/day, American cup = 180mL)
• JAPAN:
  • 65% drank green tea everyday. (1.5% drank black tea everyday, 6.5% oolong tea)
  • 3-4 cups/day (480mL tea/day, Japanese cup = 120mL)

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Life expectancy:

• USA life expectancy: 77.9 years (2004)
• JAPAN life expectancy: 81.1 years
• CHINA life expectancy: 71.8 years (link)
• INDIA life expectancy: 64
• SRI LANKA life expectancy: 72

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number of registered deaths, rate (/100000) and causes (WHO year 2000)

USA:

JAPAN

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USA all cancers incidence rate: ~ 460/100000 (all ages, both sexes, adjusted rate) ,
Japan: ??? cant find corresponding

Don’t know why the Japanese (Osaka cancer registry) have higher cancer incidence rates (maybe increased detection?)(mirror, hopefully)

• world cancers http://jjco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/34/6/352/HYH056F1
• Japanese cancers 1985 http://jjco.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/34/6/352/HYH056F2

Stomach Cancer incidence(number of new cases) (2002):

• USA: 5/100000
• JAPAN: 44/100000 (but the Japanese have longer survival %, and they’re focused on early detection)

(i ‘m not sure how healthy Japanese food is if they have a huge incidence of stomach cancer, 780% greater than Americans’, or do they have a higher infection with h.pylori that is not treated?…maybe …ok, found this publication).(more Japanese cancer statistics, this graph shows a huge portion of Japanese cancer in the digestive tract, liver, pancreas etc.(they changed links, its probably somewhere in statistics).

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I don’t see how you would fiercely advocate the “benefits” of green tea, when
Americans who drink not even 1 cup green tea/day live about 3 years less than the Japanese who drink ’so much green tea’,
Americans live 6 years more than the Chinese (and they’re supposed to have the longest green tea drinking (since they invented it