Metz Tea

It’s nice to get through so many miscellaneous tea bags this week. I’m not even sure where I got this, but I wanted a simple plain cup this morning to settle my unhappy tummy.

Depth of flavour and potency 8/10 (very impressive for a green)
Mouthfeel 2/10 (very drying due to tannins but brew has some nice thickness)
Fragrance 10/10
Sweetness 0/10
Overall rating Good (for most green tea enjoyers)

This is a pretty nice green. As is typical of senchas, it is grassy and has tannic and bitter notes that come through. However, there are some roasty notes, also. In order for it to have enough flavour, I had to brew it ~3-4 minutes which also brought out the bitterness a bit. I think this would be really good sweetened and served over ice or possibly had with some sweets to offset the tannic notes. It has a fairly full bodied flavour and is quite fragrant. It smells like the classic green tea/matcha flavouring in syrups and body cream but is not super floral.

I don’t like it a lot, but it is a solid green. I’m just not a person who enjoys many green teas (except Longjing, my beloved). It brews a nice greenish yellow and is fragrant, despite being past its best before date. I think it is a great green tea, but it isn’t something I would reach for again.

I found a bunch of individual tea bags at a little tea shop in Sidney and wanted to try this brand. I love being able to buy small quantities of tea to try so that I don’t have to drink 18+ teach bags in a box.

The tea was fresh. The bergamot was citrusy, fresh, slightly bitter (in the way orange peel is bitter – so not bad) and had some mineral notes. The tea itself was quite strong and the potent tannins were much better once I added soy milk to help make this blend creamy. I did not find it stood out from most Earl Grey blends, but it was definitely one of the good ones.