It’s time for the first instalment in my Lupicia Quick Tea Reviews series! Last week, I managed to try four Lupicia teas – three are from the November tea subscription and one is a sample.
The first tea is called Bungo Les Bains and it’s inspired by Oita’s onsens and is supposed to be a white grape and yoghurt flavour. Personally, I thought the grape notes was pretty strong – I could smell it in the dry leaves and definitely smell and taste it in the tea liquor. The brewed tea was a bright amber colour and apart from a grape note, had another fruity note I couldn’t quite place. I was reminded of fruity yoghurt but I’m not too sure if I thought of it because I knew this tea was supposed to have a yoghurt flavour.
The second tea, or rather, tisane, is Setouchi Lemon, a lemon-flavoured rooibos. I don’t have much to say about this one; the lemon flavour is rather light and doesn’t taste artificial. It’s a pity I couldn’t really taste the rooibos in this, but it’s a pretty nice tisane all the same.
ETA: I made my mum a pot of this tisane and she thought I added fresh lemon to the rooibos! So that’s a point in the tea’s favour if you like a natural-tasting lemon note
The third tea is the Momo Darjeeling, a peach black tea. While the smell of peach is rather faint, the peach note is quite distinct when you drink the tea. Perhaps this is my lack of experience with darjeeling teas talking (and here is the temptation to buy more tea!) but I couldn’t really taste any thing that made me think that this tea tea was made with Darjeeling tea leaves instead of any other type of black tea.
The last tea is not from the tea subscription and is a sample called Afternoon Tea. The tea looked quite light – possibly because it’s in a teabag and I don’t have control over how much leaf I’m adding – but it tasted pretty rich. The sweetness reminded me of honey and it has a nice malty noted to it. I had this with some matcha bread and the tea paired very well with it. I might actually want to buy this as an everyday black tea if it’s not too expensive.
And there you have it! I’m not sure how much teas I’ll be able to finish next week, but I will be back with more quick reviews.
White grape and yoghurt flavored tea is already pretty out there, but I’m sure it’s but the tip of the iceberg. Like that salty Mongolian tea I’ve heard about. Anyway, I have a feeling you’re not going to stop until you’ve drank every kind of tea you can find on the planet. I can only hope you have a lot of fun trying them all out.
I’ve not actually tried Mongolian milk tea (which is apparently savoury) but if I ever had the chance… I mean, I’ve already tried cheese milk tea so that can’t be too different!