Chicago Teahouse

This was a sample from the Chicago Teahouse. After a weekend of being tossed around, the leaves seem quite broken, but we will see once we open the bag. I wish the website would list where she gets this from. Obviously, it’s Japan. But which city? Shizuoka? Uji? Kagoshima? And what cultivar is this? Okumidori? Doesn’t quite taste like a Yabukita…

Dry Aroma: Umami. Butter. Sweet Grass. Wet Grass. A bit of seaweed. There is also a vegetal note that I can’t quite put my finger on.
Makes my mouth water
Dry Apperence: Mostly broken, but there are still a fair amount of longer leaves. Tightly twisted. Glossy dark green.
Steeping the way I learned with a larger cup filled with liquid and dumped on the leaves.
Taste: High in umami. Wet grass. A small bit of minerality. Fresh steamed spinach.
Mouth Feel: Smooth. A bit of astringency if steeped too long, but not unpleasant (unless you really forget ^^; )

Cold Brew Sipdown (2582)!

It’s been a hot moment since I’ve done this, so I thought I’d do a “Teas I Drink In A Day” roundup a few days ago – no theme. Just whatever I wanted to drink.

Big thanks to davidsteashareaday on IG for giving me this sample! I’ve had this tea before a few times and thought it’s actually nice it’s never really all that memorable. I think this cold brew was a good example of that. It was a smooth, green tea forward profile with some sweet notes, some nuttier elements, and a hint of red fruit but generally speaking none of those flavours were particularly well fleshed out which created a tea that sort of felt like it was going through an identity crisis.

Not unpleasant, but the idea needs a little editing/refinishing in my opinion.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C5RdiYtuAuR/?img_index=5 (5th Pic)

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyOh8HpaDbI

This sample was a gift from my friend Chase (aka Davidsteashareaday on IG), who works at the Chicago Teahouse. I don’t know the history of what happened here SUPER well, but I believe Chicago Teahouse used to be the Chicago location of TeaGschwendner before it was taken over by new management and renamed?

Seems like, while there are some differences in teas, they’re primarily still using the same supplier and/or carrying the same blends. Like this one.

I know I’ve had it before (under the TeaGschwendner label), but it’s been years and I can’t remember what I thought of it then. As I drank this cup, I couldn’t help but fixate on the fact it’s such a European style of tea blending. Very naturally floral leaning (even with the jasmine in the blend), and that hallmark green and black tea blended base. It’s even got the red fruit flavouring. I think it’s supposed to be strawberry, but as I was drinking this mug my brain read it as raspberry.

Pretty solid!

For anyone curious, this is “O’ Connor’s cream” but since chicago teahouse is no longer Tea Gschwedneder they have renames a few of their teas. Picked this up a few weeks back on a much needed quick break from the insanity of 16 days away from home for work