Two Greens - Green Roasted Mint and Dragonwell

First of all, I think I may have neglected to wish readers a happy Mother's Day! So, happy belated Mother's Day to all the moms, aunts, grandmothers, out there...I spent my day at the Arnold Arboretum again for their annual Lilac Sunday event. I've included a photo so you can see some of the beauty. It was a spectacular day. The lilacs had suffered a bit from all the rain - some were beginning to rust and others hadn't yet opened, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

Something else to check out: The Los Angeles Times had several articles on green tea this week. (Thanks to Tea Guy Speaks for alerting us to that.) The topics were green tea in South Korea, finding Boseong tea in LA, brewing green tea, pairing matcha and chocolate, and recipes for green tea ice cream and for green tea and black sesame cheesecake. Happy reading...and cooking.

I am going to be attending an exciting event this afternoon that I'm anxious to share with you. Today is the New England Culinary Tea Competition where students from a number of culinary arts programs will be presenting their desserts, savories, and tea cocktails for judging. This event is being sponsored by a number of partners, including "Tea, A Magazine," the Boston Park Plaza Hotel (and its Tea Sommelier Cynthia Gold), and Upton Tea. I will have a full report for you over the weekend.

In the meantime, two greens today for review.

Andrews & Dunham's Damn Fine Teas Dragonwell
The first is Andrews & Dunham's Dragonwell. This is the third of their First Series teas. I reviewed the other teas here and here.)

The dry leaf was long, flat, and impossibly smooth, kind of like pine needles. The scent was fresh, leaf, and green. I also picked up notes of lime. I was surprised and kept checking, but it was definitely there.

The liquor brewed to a peachy yellow and the aroma was floral, fresh, and reminiscent of sweet hay.

The flavor was surprising - very different from what I've come to expect from Dragonwell. It was almost nutty, like roasted chestnuts. I also picked up notes of apricot. I found this to be an unusual, but truly enjoyable, Dragonwell. (I brewed 2 tsp. at 190 degrees for 2 1/2 minutes. In increased the leaf from my usual because it is such a large leaf. This is the kind of tea that you are probably better off using weight rather than spoon measures.)

The Tea Spot's Green Roasted Mint

This dry leaf was very woodsy looking to me - brown flat leaf pieces, stems, bright green mint mixed in. The base of this tea is Hojicha. Hojicha is made from bancha leaves and stalks that have been roasted. Bancha is plucked after sencha so the leaves are lower down on the plant, and thus, a bit larger than leaves for sencha. Pieces of the stalk are often harvested along with the leaves.

The scent was primarily of mint with a slightly smoky bottom note. (I hadn't read about this tea before reviewing it. I usually try to do my tasting notes first, so I didn't know it was hojicha at first. I was kind of proud that I recognized the smokiness right away! My palate is definitely improving.)

The liquor was an orange brown. The brewed scent had lost the strong bite of mint, but the mint aroma was still apparent in the blend.

The taste of this tea was like mint tea, but without the harshness. I would have guessed it was spearmint but it's actually peppermint. (Strike one for that improved palate of mine.) This tea had that cool, fresh aftertaste you get when chewing mint gum. An enjoyable tea, but I think it would be fantastic iced. (1 1/2 tsp at 190 degrees for 3 minutes)