A new tea startup approached me sometimes back to help them with tea tastings and evaluation and help them with the right tea selection for their portfolio. I was happy to do so for them. I received 7 samples of tea –though I asked for only 4, and tried 5 of their teas.
The teas were sent to me in small plastic pouches, which interfered with the tea aromas giving them a little plastic smell. However, the tea inside didn’t lose its character much and the tasting went on good. I would not recommend packing teas in these kind of plastic pouches ever, particularly if you are sending it for trial or tasting purpose:
Here are my observations after tasting their teas:
Name of the Tea: EMCT – B9#
Aroma: A typical grassy green tea smell after the brew.
Flavour: A very strong bitter taste.
Brewing Time: 2-3 min.
Comments: The tea looks like grass blades and is very smooth and silky to touch. The bitter taste was very strong and it stayed for a while on the tongue and mouth.
Pictures below:
Name of the Tea: CTC – F MSD
Aroma: A very grassy smell which was not very pleasant on the nose; however green tea lovers may like it.
Flavour: For such a strong smelling tea, the taste was very smooth. I was quite surprised by it.
Brewing Time: 2 min.
Comments: Dried / just bit smoky smell when you smell the leaves. Comparable to most good green teas (not tea bags) available in the market.
Pics below:
Name of the Tea: 95101 – 174C530
Aroma: A very intense smell.
Flavour: Tastes more like an oolong tea
Brewing Time: 3 min.
Comments: The tea is all whole dry leaves with stem. A darker brew than a traditional green tea; quite different than the most available in the market. Can be positioned as nice and different green tea.
Pics below:
Name of the Tea: CTCS – 17A6528
Aroma: A very raw, oily smell after the brew; nice dry grass smell as whole leaf.
Flavour: Mild to strong in taste, but smooth with a very interesting flavour.
Brewing Time: 2 min.
Comments: Darker brew. Tea is all dried whole leaves. A nice relaxing tea, though more oolong-ish than green after brew.
Pics Below:
Name of the Tea: MSDCTC S
Aroma: The lose leaf has a kind of a semi dried smell, while the brew is little smoky.
Flavour: A very non green tea taste, good for those who like a little darker brew.
Brewing Time: 2 min.
Comments: The lose tea looks like tea granules; it nicely opens up when brewed. A nice refreshing tea. Recommended.
Pics below:
Final comments:
I liked most of your teas; though found a couple of them are more like Oolong tea than green tea. However, I also feel that most of your green teas can be positioned as premium green teas and sold to the real tea connoisseurs rather than to those following the green tea fad with major focus on the price, packaging and delivery.
If you want me to taste / evaluate your teas, please write to me at itsourcuppatea@gmail.com