Good Earth Tea

Anyway, let's talk about some tea.

I wanted to add a note here before I get started regarding my Kyuusu piece. I wanted to properly attribute the photograph to Brent H., author of the Tea Nerd blog. Great pic, no?

OK - Today I decided to try out a few of the Good Earth tea samples I've received. I wasn't too thrilled with the chais I had tried of theirs so I haven't been overly motivated to get to these other samples. But, the company was so generous with sharing all their different kinds that I felt obligated to plod onward!

I cupped four of the teas today - all in paper tea bag form:
Organic White Tea - Sweet Citrus: This teabag contains white tea, lemongrass, rose petal, spearmint, chamomile, and flavorings - all organic. The rose and chamomile came through in the scent for me. The tea brewed to a peachy colored liquor. The flavor was very fruity. It reminded me of some of the Republic of Tea white teas. It was a pretty decent tea, but a bit too fruity for every day.

White Tea - Vanilla Blend: This teabag contains white and green tea, lemongrass, lemon oil, rose petals, vanilla extract, and natural flavoring. The scent was like strawberries. The liquor brewed to a honey color. The taste was vanilla with some astringency at the finish. I didn't really care for this tea. The vanilla was interesting but there seemed to be competing things going on.

Organic Green Tea - Mango, Peach & Pineapple: The teabag includes green tea, lemongrass, tilia (linden), rose petals, cassia (related to cinnamon), chamomile, and flavorings - all organic. The scent was flowery, likely the rose and linden. The liquor was a pale yellow. Again, instead of blending together, the flavors seemed to be overwhelming one another. The green tea flavor was overpowered by the lemon and rose. Not my favorite.

Super Green Tea - Matcha, Sencha, & Orange: This teabag was sencha green tea, orange oil, green tea extract, matcha, chamomile flowers, and natural flavors. The orange came through right away in the scent of this tea. I haven't cared for lemon with green tea so I wasn't sure how I'd feel about orange. The tea was a yellow liquored brew. There was a nice mouthfeel to this tea. The first sip seemed light but there was a pungency in the second stage. Astringent. The orange notes became more apparent as I sipped. Not as strong as I would have expected from matcha, but I actually liked this tea.

Tea: A selection of teas from Good Earth
Source: Good Earth
Type: Organic White Tea - Sweet Citrus; White Tea - Vanilla Bean; Organic Green Tea - Mango, Peach, Pineapple; and Super Green Tea - Matcha, Sencha & Orange
Brewing details: 1 tea bag at 180 degrees for 2 - 3 minutes (as instructed on packaging).
Comment: I think the graphic design of these bags kind of turns me off...at least the organic tea bags. The line drawings make the bags look a bit outdated to me. It makes it feel old and outdated, not a fresh company.
Comment 2: I actually liked the two non-organic options. Weird. Would have expected otherwise. I think in the organics there was just too much extra flavoring for my tastes.

Taken from http://teapages.blogspot.com/