Emperor's Clouds and Mist

I’ve not been too pleased with Teavana in the past. Their prices are very high, but I don’t feel like I’m getting my money’s worth (in part because I find that I have to use more leaves to get flavor). So it was with hesitation that I ordered this from Starbucks today (it was my brother’s first day back at work after a long illness, so I went to say hi).

I was very pleased. The result was one of the better green teas I’ve had in a while, to be sure. It’s subtle, sweet, and vegetal. I’m withholding judgement until I buy a tin and see just how many leaves I have to use, but I really enjoyed the tea bag that I had today. I tentatively recommend it.

Gave this one another shot. It’s a good tea, just not my favorite. A little weak for my liking…it has similarities to gyokuro, but doesn’t have quite the bite and sencha grassiness. I’ll finish out the 1 oz sample, but I doubt I’ll buy it again. We’ll see…maybe I’ll change my mind.

Emperor’s Clouds and Mist has now supplanted Tazo Green Tips as the Chinese straight green in the Starbucks cafés. Happily, it’s quite good, even though I forgot to ask for a couple of ice cubes to be thrown into the bottom of the cup to lower the temperature a bit. I did remove the lid while it was steeping and pulled the bags out for a breather about half way through the steeping. Then I removed the well-stoked bags for good after about three minutes.

Smooth and lightly vegetal. Very similar, in fact, to Green Tips, so I am assuming that this is a close relation to Mao Feng? (Could it be Green Tips under a new label, just as Tazo Passion has become Teavana Passion Tango? Inquiring minds may well wonder…)

The second infusion, which I prepared at home, was also tasty. So nice to know that a decent pure green is still available chez Starbucks even after the demise of the Tazo line, which I quite liked, but apparently no one else did!

A tsp I took from Marco Polo TTB

I didn’t get very much out of this one, unfortunately. It was mild, vegetal, a little sweet.
Maybe I need to put half a cup of leaves in my mug like they do at teavana.

I got out of class early today so I decided to go to the mall to pick up my free oz of tea! But dude. Malls are dangerous. I’m not much of a shopper, but I saw an Aldo and I needed my shoe inserts. And I passed by a Crabtree & Evelyn and I knew I needed some hand lotion since work is getting my hands all dry from work aaand I sorta splurged haha.
So Aldo, Crabtree & Evelyn, and free tea from Teavana! But I did purchase a tin since it was 50% off :)

I decided to go for this tea for my free oz. I wanted a green tea, and this one sounded cool so I went with it! And I don’t have that many spinach/vegetal teas so I figured I’d go with a strong green.
This one has a very strong vegetal scent dry. Leaves are super cute and nicely rolled up hehe
Once I poured the water in, it started getting a nice vibrant green colour to it!

Oh, this is a very nice tea! Not too vegetal, which I like. I did steep it for 1min, but it wasn’t flavourful enough. So I added 30seconds and it’s good! Maybe a tad too much spinach so next time I have this, I think 1min 15sec would do the trick!

And I can tell there’s still plenty of flavour in the leaves so I can’t wait to see how well it’ll resteep :)

One of my favorite green teas. It’s lite and sweet and has a very simple misty taste. It really does taste like a misty morning on a high mountain. If you’re not a fan of the more vegital and earthy green teas this one would be good to try.

I’m brewing this tea hotter than normal, but it seems to take the heat quite well. The extra heat seems to make it a bit more vibrant. The leaves look a little like gunpowder, and has very little dry aroma. The moment water hits it, its very fragrant, sweet, green and buttery. It has little bitterness, and a decent amount of theanine sweetness.

This is one tea that I find myself craving. The flavor profile leaves little to be desired. It is both full bodied and light. I enjoy drinking this at any time of the day and take each sip as a chance to relax.

This tea has a very light liquor and delicate aroma. The taste is just the same as the smell, light and sweet with a pleasant, lingering vegetal aftertaste. This tea is always lighter in color than I expect so I end up adding a bit of extra time and it doesn’t affect the bitterness.

Evidently I like to overbrew my tea, because I let this one go for 4 minutes in my tea steeper.

I was all set to sing its praises, but for some reason this cup turned out rather weak. Maybe next time.