Gunpowder Green

I drank this in the morning before yoga class (I’m very fortunate to go to a studio where they serve tea!) It’s really nice to have green tea in a yoga studio, but this one just isn’t my favorite. The color is dark and slightly brown (teacup it was in may have influence my perception of the color though) and it just tastes like green tea. Nothing you wouldn’t expect, just perhaps slightly stronger flavor.

I’m pretty sure that it was not steeped at a high enough temperature, being in a yoga studio, so it probably had an influence on my judgment!

Thanks to LuckyMe for this one! This is the loose leaf.

It has some power. I had never had a gunpowder green before and was looking forward to trying one. It really reminds me of most bagged teas that I have had.

It is ashy, a bit bitter, astringent, and vegetal like a sauteed spinach. It’s the boldest green that I have had and definitely not the sweetest, though my first steep was maybe a little fruity because I steeped it light.

I wouldn’t buy it in bulk like numi usually sells it, but I would maybe buy an ounce or two in the future for drinking maybe once a month. Glad I got to try this because I had seen it on amazon for really cheap and was thinking about buying some.

Just can’t get over the seaweed taste I got from it. Steeped it 2-3 times now, as it’s available at the cafe I usually grab breakfast from on campus, and get the same ocean flavor every time. I do like gunpowder teas but have to pass on this one.

Compared to a “regular” green tea like a jasmine green like I had most recently, the flavor here is stronger and more astringent. I only steeped it in 8oz of water for 3 minutes, but it was quite bitter. I don’t think even adding cream & sugar would help, and I don’t think a good green should need it. The aroma is more like that of a black tea, and the aftertaste reminds me of a cheap grocery store brand. To say it tastes like compost would be generous, because it’s not that complex.

This is my first gunpowder, so I don’t know if the same applies to other brands, but I won’t be buying this. Glad I got just a sample to start.

After a hectic few weeks which included moving again, getting papers published, and all that good stuff, I’m glad to be able to slow down and enjoy a cup of tea again!

This is pretty good for a bagged green tea. Numi has always been above-average in my experience. The tea has an inviting, “deep green” aroma, and brews out to a golden green color, with a vegetal undertone. It is quite light-bodied and develops a slightly astringent mouthfeel as it cools, but on the whole it is smooth and sweet.

Staying with family for the next few weeks until I head to China for the summer. Today’s tea is from my parents’ tea stash, and while they have a huge variety even by my standards, I think only the bagged teas are ones that I’d be able to find in the database…so maybe I won’t log all the “unknown green tea #3985” here, haha. I can imagine this quandary will only grow by another hundredfold when I actually go to China!

This tea has a nice smoky and pleasantly bitter flavor. However, it is way too mild and light. I’ve had it twice with one bag for 8 ounces. I think I’ll double up on the bags next time…should make for a nice product. It’s too bad that it is so light, because it’s a nice quality tea otherwise.

Tried this mediocre bad boy at cheesecake factory with the missus. Went well with the burger I had, nice strong flavour. The tea flavour was somewhat lacking but it had a nice “umph”.

I’m guessing this is a fairly standard bagged gunpowder? I haven’t had any others to compare this to, and I’m still extremely new at unflavored teas, but I think this was good. I had it as iced tea using the cold brew method.

Gunpowder has never numbered among my “must quaff” green teas, perhaps because so many of them are super cheap and taste inferior to more expensive fare. Nonetheless, I’m always open to a change in view, and Numi included some Gunpowder Green in my sampler boxes, so naturally I’m curious, especially given my very positive experience with many of the other teas.

Verdict: this reminds me of Chun Mee! Not the dried tea, which does include the little gnarled balls for which gunpowder is named (they are smaller in size than most loose-leaf gunpowder, but still have the same shape), yet the brewed tea is golden brown and tastes very baked and Chun Mee-ish! I won’t be buying a full supply of this one, but I intend to do a couple of steep-offs with named Chun Mees…

I really have been enjoying my loose leaf tea, but I ate at my school’s cafeteria and saw they had tea bags. I have been wondering about gunpowder tea for some time now. I thought this would be an inexpensive way to see if I liked it, especially because i could purchase just a single tea bag. I ended up adding a bit of sugar like I did the last time I had straight green tea in my cupboard. Drinkable, and I feel that since it was bagged I may like loose even better. I won’t hesitate to add gunpowder to an order from here on out!