Review: 2016 Sencha "Yakushima" - Lupicia

Type: Green (Sencha)
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: Yakushima, Japan
Brewing Parameters: 3-4 g; 75-80°C; 45s - 1 min.
Appearance: Medium to large emerald green leaves, the shape of blades of grass
Rating: B | 86/100
# of Brews: 3

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
As I was preparing to drink this tea, I came to think about a few things. First off, I don't actually know that much about the differences between regions for Japanese tea; I know I've tried a bit from a variety of areas, but I haven't paid that much attention to how it affects the tea. Second, I don't think I know that much about Japanese teas in general– it just feels like I've drank a lot more oolongs or Chinese teas than Japanese greens. Why this is, I don't know for sure. It might be because I feel that Japanese greens (especially senchas) all taste the same, which gets a bit boring, but then again that might fall back to my inexperience with them.

Anyway, onto the actual review. This is an interesting shincha (I'm guessing Spring 2016), grown in Yakushima, a World Heritage site. I think it's more of a fun fact than something that has an effect on the flavor of the tea, but who knows. The leaves are a decent size– somewhat broken up, but there are leaves about an inch in length– and a dark, emerald green color. I'll be brewing with four grams, but like most other reviews, an unknown temperature (just under 90°C for sure).

The first brew was one minute long, and seemed to brew a bit weak. The color was a weak highlighter yellow, with a smell of grass, broth, and vegetables (maybe basil?). As for the taste, I thought it was pretty good– not as sweet as, say, the Tanegashima sencha, but it still had a bit of natural sweetness. The main flavor was grassy, minty, slightly sour, and just a tiny bit fishy. It's surprisingly smooth, leaving somewhat of a thick, fruity flavor in my mouth (with no dryness).

As for the later brews, the color got darker and green, with the flavor becoming stronger. However, it was also became a bit bitter (but not as bitter as some other teas; it's not bad at all). All in all, I think this was one of the more enjoyable senchas I've had recently.

Other Notes

Now that the second week of school is winding to an end, let's talk about how its been. Overall, I think it has been alright; I started TAing for my Stats teacher, and for some reason I don't have that much homework (which is a blessing and a curse at the same time).

African American Lit is interesting, but it's the class that a bunch of slackers are taking (probably because they didn't want to take the default English class/knew that they would all be together, since there's 1 period) which makes discussion a pain. World Lit is super fun; we're watching Rashomon, and the teacher is a great guy. A lot of the writing is more personal/non-academic stuff, like narratives and reflective essays, which is a nice change of pace from the writing of AP classes. Ceramics, I look forward to since the teacher is always interesting and throwing on the wheel is fun to experiment with. AP Chem is still a bit of a challenge since I'm a bit behind on conceptual stuff, but then again, a bunch of the sophomores/juniors that are in the class don't study nearly as much, so I'm sort of near the same level. AP Gov is great; I'm doing pretty well in it, and the teacher is really good at lecturing. Comp Civics has just been listening to speeches, which is a bit boring, and a lot of it is self-study, but the class is small enough that it's a chill atmosphere. I think next week it'll start picking up and I'll have something to do.

I think I have my final list of colleges I'm applying to, too:
I'll be applying to the UCs– namely Berkeley, LA, Davis Santa Barbara, and San Diego– and a few private schools, like UPenn, Columbia, and Cornell. Unless I get significant financial aid (which is pretty unlikely, because the household income is actually a bit high; it's just that, being Filipino, the money doesn't stay in the family– it's usually spent on family out of country), it looks like I'll be going to a UC. To be honest, I've been having like brief periods of anxiety whenever admissions comes up because the thing is this year, my courseload feels nowhere near as heavy as last year. I just want to take classes I'm personally interested in, but these classes don't look good on a college app (according to people at my school); for example, to be similarly competitive, I'd need to drop African American Lit for AP Calc, and World Lit for AP English Lit.

However, the thing is, I don't want to take calc because I feel like it'd be too much work for me to handle (especially with competition civics), and there are so many people in AP Lit that people don't have desks. It's even worse since I'm planning to take a science/math major in college. I don't know, maybe I can push the fact that I'm taking 2 English classes as 1. that I'm interested in history/language arts (one of my potential majors), 2. me acknowledging the fact that while math skills are great, being able to communicate is better, and 3. me doing something that anyone could do, but no one does.

Review: Mahina - Lupicia

Type: Flavored Rooibos (Tisane)
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: South Africa
Brewing Parameters: 2.5-3g; 100­°C; 3-5 min.
Appearance: Very small, orange red leaves (since it's rooibos, it looks like red tanbark) with chunks of fruit, rose petals, and marigold petals
Rating: B | 86/100
# of Brews: 3

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
So, first, let me preface this with the note that, personally, I love bananas (which this tea is flavored like), but recently have been a bit sick of them. The reason why is that I had a peanut butter and banana sandwich in my backpack a couple of days ago; I thought I finished it, but it turns out I didn't, and the bananas essentially became the consistency of juice. Said banana juice spilled out of the bag it was in, into my bag, and onto a few of my books. As a result, my bag began to smell like a mix between rotting trash (the smell of foodwaste that has been sitting in a can for a while) and bananas. I ended up having to smell that for a full school day, so right now, I can't really stand the smell.

If you've been following my blog for a while (or look at the sidebar), you can tell that I barely drink rooibos tea. It's not really that I don't like rooibos, but rather that I don't purchase rooibos that often (I usually only get it in packs of different teas). As for this tea (or tisane, if you're anal like that), it appears to be of the red type; however, the leaves are much more broken up than the other teas I've seen. I'd compare it to, say, the size of tea fannings. As for the smell, it's a surprisingly accurate banana aroma (maybe a bit overripe, but still) with a tiny bit of the cough syrup/menthol smell found in most rooibos.

Again, I brewed the tea in a kyusu (I really need to get a western-style teapot, don't I) for five minutes. The liquid came out a very deep red-orange. According to the item description, the tea has actual chunks of mango with banana flavoring, and that is very obvious in both the taste and smell. The liquid smells exactly like the dried leaf, but maybe a bit more indiscriminately fruity and less like banana. The taste is actually a bit like bubble gum at first, followed by an unsweet (unripe, to an extent) banana flavor. It ends abruptly and dries the throat a lot, to the point where I felt like coughing after each drink. The aftertaste is a minty, cooling sensation, with a slight cough syrup taste of most rooibos. To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about this tea as a whole. It's obviously one of the better rooibos teas I've had, and does banana well (I don't think I've even seen a banana flavored tea), but it's not one of the better teas I've had. I'd try it cold brewed, but it's not too bad hot. (On a good note, I noticed that the tea didn't try my throat nearly as much in the second brew, and the flavor was only marginally weaker. However, the third brew didn't really have any flavor.)

Other Notes
And that's the end of the Hawaii-specific teas! I'll be getting to the other senchas when I'm up to it and have the time to. The one I'm most excited for is a sencha from Yakushima island; I loved the Tanegashima tea, and since Yakushima is near, I'm assuming the tea will be somewhat similar (that is, if the soil and everything else there are similar).

Along with the Hawaii-specific teas, I'm also done with my first week of school! I ended up sticking with my schedule because it turns out I'm actually pretty decent in ceramics, like working with my hands, and enjoy the teacher's stress-relief and life tips (and he's very, very big on them). I also won't be able to switch into AP English Lit because almost every class has forty students; in fact, some classes don't have enough desks for people to sit in since there are too many students. When I talked to my counselor about it, she pretty much said to not worry because I'm taking two English classes already and Competition Civics (so it doesn't look like I'm slacking off senior year). I love African American Lit since it's essentially a history class with a lot of reading, World Lit since the teacher's great and I have quite a few friends in the class, AP Chem since it's a nice challenge (and other than the first test, I have been doing it pretty decently and correctly), AP Gov/Macro since the teacher's great at lectures and the topic's interesting, and Comp Civics because, well, it's comp civics.

Today, though, I ended up going to San Francisco for the final comp civics workshop, and I thought it was interesting since the topic was the Bill of Rights. After the workshop, the team went to a Chinese restaurant, which was a great bonding experience in my opinion. Tomorrow, I'll be going to the Oakland Art and Soul Festival to volunteer with the Uhuru Africans again.

There's also one thing I want to mention, too. So, my best friend has liked this girl for a while, and she's leaving to do an international exchange program. The thing is, yesterday we were hanging out when she texted him, asking if we'd like to get dinner with her. When we went to eat, they were late, and got a table without us (because we didn't want to eat, they didn't invite us to sit with them, so we were stuck outside the restaurant for one or two hours, after waiting an hour). They finally wanted to meet with us at a Starbucks when they were done eating, but when they came in, they pretty much just bought drinks, got them, and left without really hanging out or talking at all. Needless to say, I', pretty pissed about it, and my friend is heartbroken since she didn't even hug him (they've been friends for years now) when she left, and that was the last time he'll see her. I can't tell if they noticed how rude they were being, but oh well. Hopefully he gets over it soon, because on the ride home, he was very upset. Relationships, man.

Review: Palekaiko - Lupicia

Type: Flavored Black
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: India, Indonesia
Brewing Parameters: 2-2.5g; 100­°C; 2-2.5 min.
Appearance: Crushed/rolled black and brown leaves with chunks of yellow, purple, and red flower petals
Rating: B | 84/100
# of Brews: 2

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
So, when I went to Hawaii, I bought a set of mini tins containing Lupicia's Hawaii selection. It had six teas– the ones I've reviewed for the past week– but, while I was looking through the store, I found a seventh, not in the set. I'll be reviewing that one next, which means I'll be done with the Hawaii teas very soon. After that, I just have two interesting Japanese greens, and a variety of random tea bags. As for the description of today's tea, it is said to be "a sweet-tart passion fruit flavored black tea... accented with spicy ginger." Interesting.

Just opening the foil bag containing the loose leaf could I tell that this tea was going to be different. The smell was outright weird; dry, it smelled exactly like fruity nail polish remover, but wet, it smelled like tonkatsu sauce (or worcestershire sauce). The liquid was a very bright golden color– I don't know why, considering its black tea base (I'd have expected it to be darker). Tasting it, I thought it was one of the better teas in the set. It didn't really have the spice of the ginger, but it definitely had the tart flavor of the passion fruit. The taste begins with the mellow taste of the passion fruit, with a tiny bit of chocolate. As you keep drinking, it gets slightly more and more sour until you stop; then, it gradually dies out on an aftertaste. It's relatively smooth and doesn't leave any waxy feeling in your mouth. The tea doesn't seem to have a long life, however, as the taste was pretty weak by the time of the second brew. All in all, not the worst tea, but not the best; I'd recommend it for people who aren't into very fruity teas, which make up the majority of Lupicia's Hawaii teas.

Other Notes

I took my first test in AP Chem! And.... I got a D+. To be honest, I'm not that surprised; although it's much, much less than what I aimed for, I'm not that upset (at all, really). I can't tell if its early onset senioritis or what. The thing is, I have had no formal teaching for chemistry– all I know was learned in a month out of a textbook and study guide. So, in my mind, I know jack about the subject, so I think this is a good learning experience and gives me a place to start figuring out what I need to learn to catch up. Once the tests are returned, I'm going to go to the teacher's office hours and go over what I missed, since I want to be at the same level as the rest of the class by first quarter. The funny thing, though, is that I actually got over the class average (albeit not by a large margin).

There's one thing I noticed though: my class is made up of mainly sophomores, and hearing them before the test makes me a bit disappointed. On my way to class, I passed by a group of guys who were doing some last minute study, and one of them said they'd better "pass this or pass out," which I think is just a stupid maxim. Sure, it might have been a joke, but the thing is that it's representative of a growing mindset at my school– a competitive and at many times toxic mindset in which grades and GPA come before actually learning a subject. Oh well; I'll let you guys know how my chem adventure goes.

One last thing: I turned in a new form for a schedule change, but it looks like I won't be able to switch into AP English Lit (Photography is up in the air right now, and I'm still 50/50 on leaving Ceramics). I'm not too upset since I have friends in World Lit, and the teacher's great, but just a little disappointed. I guess I've bought into the idea that I need to take as many APs as possible to get accepted into a decent college (peer pressure is great!). I'll just try and figure out a way to spin my passion for American history and ELA into my essays, even without taking AP Eng Lit; talk about my two English classes, maybe?

Review: Kuuipo - Lupicia

Type: Flavored Black
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: India, Kenya, Indonesia
Brewing Parameters: 2-2.5g; 100­°C; 2-2.5 min.
Appearance: Mix of CTC and broken up rolled dark brown/black leaves, with rose petals and chunks of fruit
Rating: B | 84/100
# of Brews: 3

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Two more teas left for the Hawaii set (barring any non-Hawaii specific teas– I got a few interesting senchas that I want to review)! Today's tea is "an alluring sweet-tart guava flavored black tea with red flower petals." I don't know specifically why they chose to say "red flower petals" instead of rose petals, especially when its pretty obvious what they are, but I guess it makes it sound fancier?

Anyway, smelling the tea, I thought it was very similar to fruit snacks (Welch's?). I thought it actually smelled a bit more like cherries instead of guava, which was a bit weird. This tea suffers from the same issue that a few of the Hawaii teas– that is, the fruit smell is a bit too artificial smelling, which makes it a bit hard to discern what the actual flavor is. Brewing it, the tea had a very dark, orange-amber (more towards amber) color. The liquid was a bit closer to smelling like juice than the leaves, but it still wasn't too pleasing or realistic.

As for the taste, it was surprisingly very similar to that of yesterday. Like Anela, the texture was smooth, with the fruit flavor being the main flavor, but mellow at the same time. In short, the guava flavor lasted the longest, ending on a sharp, but short, tangy note. It stayed as an aftertaste, leaving a slight waxy texture on the tongue. This was accented by the earthy flavors of the black tea base. The one issue I have with it is that, for some reason, it had a taste somewhat similar to soap after the second brew. Overall, it's one of the better teas, but I think Anela and Hoku are still the better teas.

Other Notes
Welp, apparently, the reason why my schedule hasn't been changed is because the school office lost my request forms. So, it looks like I have to fill out a new one to switch out of World Literature (to AP English Literature) and Ceramics (to Photography). I just have a few reservations, though– I like the speed of AP classes, but I don't like the people; I just find that its too competitive for no real reason (there's the mentality that to have an A, someone else has to get a lower grade– I feel like college admissions has to do a big part). Also, Ceramics is nice, but I'm not too passionate or interested in the subject. The teacher is a great person, but he doesn't necessarily seem to be good at teaching (and even if he is, I'd rather not force myself to try and like the subject). Hopefully I get switched in,  but we'll see by next week.

Other than that, it looks like I'm pretty prepared for the AP Chem test tomorrow; in the review session in class, much of the class (at least the vocal part) didn't know some of the concepts to the same level that I'm at, so now I'm not too worried about doing that badly. Again, my goal is a B- so I can figure out my weaknesses and work with the teacher on it afterwards. That aside, I'm going to start working as a TA for my stats teacher soon, and so far I like most of my classes bar ceramics. I'll give an update on how everything goes with my next review. See you!

Review: Anela - Lupicia

Type: Flavored Black
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: India
Brewing Parameters: 2-2.5g; 100­°C; 2-2.5 min.
Appearance: Medium-small, rolled brown and black leaves with whole flower buds and chunks of flower petals
Rating: B+ | 88/100
# of Brews: 3

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Quick review today since it's the first day of school. According to the brochure, this tea is "a sweetly aromatic strawberry and lychee flavored black tea." The strawberry is definitely noticeable just by smelling the dry leaf, and there's hints of tomato. I didn't really notice the lychee, on the other hand.

Interestingly, the brewed tea, darker than the others, left what appeared to be gold flakes in my teapot despite me not seeing it in the dried leaf. The color was more of a gold orange than the others, and all I could smell were the strawberries. I thought that, unlike the other teas, this wasn't too artificial; in fact, it even smelled a bit like fresh berries or an Italian soda. The taste was similar, too. The closest thing I can place it to is a strawberry Italian soda– a slight bit sour, with a touch of sweetness. There was some bitterness, probably from the tea base (which I'm guessing is a darjeeling, based on the slight green color of the leaves in the water.

All in all, I think this was one of the more enjoyable teas of the group. The fruit taste was mellow and enjoyable, and it went down pretty smooth.

Other Notes

First day of school went alright. I think my favorite classes are African American Lit, AP Gov/Macro, and Competition Civics so far. However, my schedule change didn't go through yet, so it looks like I'll be stuck in World Lit and Ceramics for a few more days (my counselor said I can get a schedule change into AP Eng Lit, but not ceramics, if I can have my entire schedule switched, so there's that. Hopefully it happens tomorrow? Ceramics to photography apparently is next week).

As for the AP Chem struggle right now, I'll be studying my ass off today and tomorrow to figure out types of chemical reactions, predicting products, and writing equations (which didn't seem too hard when I did it at home, but when we tried in class I was clueless). Stoichiometry is okay. So, I'll be working on that for the next few hours. To be honest, my goal is a B for this first test, figure out what I need to learn, go to the teacher's office hours, and then put as much effort as I can into the first quarter so I can get caught up. Wish me luck! 

Review: Hua Ki - Lupicia

Type: Flavored Black
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: India, Indonesia
Brewing Parameters: 2-2.5g; 100­°C; 2-2.5 min.
Appearance: Very small, broken-up, rolled black leaves with chunks of fruit and purple flower petals
Rating: B | 83/100
# of Brews: 2

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Number three of the Hawaiian teas! I think for the rest of the reviews, bar one, the tea will be a flavored black tea. This one is no exception. Like yesterday (and for the rest of the black teas), I'll be brewing in the kyusu according to the brewing parameters.

Again, like most of Lupicia's flavored black teas, this has that vaguely fruity smell that is very artificial. The description only states that Hua Ki is "a tropical fruits flavored black tea... luxuriously blended with mango–" except it doesn't smell like a mango. It has the smell of tropical fruit juice, but if you didn't tell me it was mango, I wouldn't be able to guess. For some reason, it reminds me a bit of barbeque sauce, actually. Compared to yesterday's tea, the leaves were actually quite a bit smaller, with even the flower petals broken up. Also, I think yesterday's tea smelled better in general.

While I did think it smelled worse (mainly because it was just too artificial), I think it tastes much better. After brewing, the liquid came out a dark orange, clear enough to see the bottom of my cup. The mango, too, definitely came out once it brewed; the wet leaves smelled exactly of unripe mango juice (a bit sour, but still fruity). As for its flavor, it is surprisingly mellow for a black tea. The main flavor is an earthy, slightly woody taste accented by the tangy mango. It ends on a very strong chocolate note, which ends abruptly. Nothing really lingers in the mouth, but a very faint mango note stays on the breath. It made me a bit thirsty after drinking; however, it wasn't really astringent or bitter. Overall, I think this tea is good, but like yesterday's, not knock your socks off good. It doesn't seem to need any milk or sweetener to make it taste any better– in fact, I think adding any would overpower its fruit flavor.

Other Notes

Last day of summer! I just made a checklist of what I should do, like cook certain meals (french toast and tonkatsu!), prepare for school, read and study, and so on. So far, I've cleaned the new room so there aren't random boxes lying everywhere, cooked french toast and my lunch for tomorrow, had a friend come over, and wrote this review. It's a bit of a lazy day. I don't know if I should do anything special, and if I should, what it should be. I'll write about it tomorrow or later this week if I do figure that out.

As for plans this school year, I guess I have quite a bit since it's senior year after all. To go on a tangent right now (because I just really want to talk about it– I can always write my plan for the year later, and these reviews are generally streams of consciousness), there's an issue I have with my school. The thing is, being from a suburban upper class school, it's come to feel like my life depends on college admissions. I don't want to worry as much as other people– mainly, the people that I go to AP classes with– but there's just so much pressure coming from my peers (and my parents, to an extent) to go to an Ivy league. Like, it seems that UCs, the schools I want to go to (and pretty selective, too), are terrible because they don't have a less than ten percent acceptance rate. Some people even have schools like Berkeley and LA as their safeties.

This mindset has put me at odds with both my classmates and myself. On one hand, there's the idea that I won't be able to get into a "good" college (by their standards) if I don't take AP Calculus, but on the other hand, I just want to take classes I'm interested in, like African American literature. The other issue too is that I want to take a STEM major in college, but my standardized tests and coursework points toward the humanities, like English and History. Classes like AP Calculus probably would help me in the long term, but the thing is I just want to enjoy my senior year. With college admissions, it's just like everything is a rich man's game. Not an average person's. It's not easy for me to have access to the opportunities that the people at my school have (namely through family connections or just money), and in order to be competitive academically, I can't do what I'm passionate in. Don't get me wrong, I love to do math and research, but I think at this point, seeing the current state of science is making me disillusioned.

I want to make a difference in the world. But the issue is that, at this point in my life, it looks like the only people that can do that are those with money to afford fancy internships at colleges, or those with family members in science. I've tried to do what I can on a budget: do science fair projects, research on my own, join free summer camps, and so on. However, for the things that do get you into the schools for the programs I want, this isn't enough. I guess we'll see.

Review: Lanikai - Lupicia

Type: Flavored Black
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: India, Kenya
Brewing Parameters: 2-2.5g; 100­°C; 2-2.5 min.
Appearance: Mix of CTC cut and broken-up, rolled dark brown leaves; there are also lavender/bluish colored flower petals, chunks of dried fruit (unsure what), and light blue rock sugar
Rating: B- | 82/100
# of Brews:  3

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Second Hawaii tea! According to the brochure, this tea is "a peach, orange and mango flavored black tea. Its sweet and fruit flavor goes well with milk." For the sake of keeping things the same during reviews, I won't be drinking with milk– but for the record, I usually drink my black teas with milk and honey. I'll also be brewing western style in a kyusu since I don't exactly own a teapot for single brewing, and the kyusu I do have has a pretty large volume.

Anyway, as this is a black tea, I don't expect this tea to last past one or two brews, especially since it is flavored and the leaves are pretty small. Brewed for two and a half minutes, the liquid came out a dark, orange-amber color– but not necessarily as dark as, say, English or Irish breakfast teas. The smell was fruity and sweet, but I couldn't really pin it down to a single smell. For some reason, all of Lupicia's fruit flavored teas have generally the same smell: a bit perfume-like with a bouquet of fruits. If I could guess, the strongest here is the mango, with some chocolate from the black tea base.

As for the flavor, it didn't taste as rough as I was expecting. Rough, as in terms of bitterness or astringency, which is the norm for many black teas. For Lanikai, it starts off with that indiscernible fruit flavor, then moves into the orange– a bit tangy and bitter, like bergamot oil– and ends with a mango aftertaste on the tongue lengthening the sour flavor. The tea leaves a sort of waxy texture on the tongue, but does not create any sort of drying sensation in the throat.

In the end, I got three brews, with the second losing most of the fruit flavor (but still having some of the black tea base), and the third having little to no taste. Lanikai is one of Lupicia's better flavored black teas– their teas seem to be either really good or really bad– but I'm not exactly crazy for it. I'd make it a daily drinker for breakfast or something or have people who are not into tea try it, but it's not really my cup of tea per se.

Other Notes

Recently, my brother came to live with us after graduating from college, and so, we ended up renovating the house. As of this review, I'm now in a new room, which is pretty nice; in this new setup, I have a big desk (not just a drawer now!), workspace underneath a bunk bed, and most of the stuff I had in my old room– just more compact. Sadly, I won't be able to sleep in this room this weekend since we're missing a mattress, but I think I'll be moving in early next week.

As for school stuff, I got my schedule, but it turns out my counselor last year messed up and didn't file my papers for changing classes. As a result, I'm taking African American Lit, World Lit, Ceramics, AP Chem, AP Gov/Macro, and Competition Civics (in that order). I've turned in the papers for a schedule change (to switch World Lit for AP English Lit and Ceramics for Photography), but it looks like I won't have the change until after the first day of school. Since this is the last weekend of summer, I have no idea what to do, either. Most of this week I've been renovating the house, and today I studied chem for most of the day. I'm excited for school, but at the same time, I'm dreading it. Here's to a successful senior year?

Expect a few more reviews coming soon. I might do multiple in a single day, but my issue is not being able to put anything in this section. Maybe I'll just write the actual reviews in one day, save it until I have something to write about in this section (e.g. on the next day), and then publish it. Who knows.

Review: Hoku - Lupicia

Type: Flavored Oolong
Producer: Lupicia
Origin: Taiwan
Brewing Parameters: 2.5-3g; 100°C; 1.5-2 min. (recommended)
Appearance: Dark green ball oolong with small stems, yellow and blue flower petals, and metallic colored rock sugar
Rating: A- | 90/100
# of Brews: 4

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Woah, it's been a while since my last review of Lupicia tea. While I do admit that Lupicia isn't always the best quality since their teas are generally flavored (this tea is no exception), it holds a special place in my heart as the company that helped pull me into the world of tea. Anyway, I picked this tea up during my trip in Hawaii, which I just got back from last night. This will be the first of a set of seven reviews, covering Lupicia's Hawaii exclusive teas. I also bought a few interesting shinchas while there too, so expect some more reviews coming soon.

I ended up choosing this tea in the Hawaii set to start with because it's a balled oolong, and to be honest, I haven't had a decent oolong in quite a bit. Looking at the tea before I brew it (gongfu style), the most interesting things are 1. the silvery, metallic sheen of the rock sugar and 2. the very pungent, flowery perfume smell of the dry leaf. In general, however, the tea looks to be a standard Lupicia tea with the choice of flowers and shape of sugar.

For brewing, I decided to stick with the recommended parameters despite brewing in a gaiwan. The liquid was a light, golden cream color with a scent very similar to the dry leaf– perhaps even more fruity and sweet. Immediately upon drinking, the first thing that came to mind is pina colada; the first and last thing I tasted was a creamy, pineapple flavor. After that was a bit of tanginess, like that of a mango, some cooling sensation, like mint, and then the return to the pina colada. As for the texture, I noticed that it was a bit irritating to the throat, but I chalk it up to there being a bit of dust in the drink (not sure if it was from my set or from the actual tea).

In the end, I was able to get 4 brews from three grams of leaf– double what was expected. Being that it was a flavored tea, it tasted the same throughout the whole session, just becoming weaker as time went on. All in all, I enjoyed this tea quite a bit, which is saying something, since I think Lupicia's tropical-flavored teas are usually they're worst.

Other Notes

Hawaii was actually pretty fun; we did quite a bit of hiking, shopping, and eating. I was surprised to see that there was such a large Japanese population there– both tourist and residential– and that the food was so good (ended up having quite a bit of udon and croquettes). Our hotel was in Waikiki, but we visited Pearl Harbor and the museums there, along with the Polynesian Cultural Center (Ha Breath of Life was amazing) and a few other places. Matsumoto shave ice was also one of the highlights of the trip.

Anyway, it's the last week of summer. I decided not to go to Freq.Fest.SF since I don't really have the money (spent it on the tea, heh) and it can be streamed from DNA Lounge's website. In fact, the whole time I've been writing this, I've been listening to the show. As for school, I missed registration so I don't know my schedule yet, but I'll be going to make up registration tomorrow; I'll update you all once I get it. To be honest, I'm not really sure how I feel. For one, I'll have something to do and will be able to see my friends and all, but then again, I have college apps and tests and so on.

If you don't remember, the classes I signed up for are African American Literature, AP English Literature, AP Government/Macroeconomics, AP Chemistry, Competition Civics, and Photography. Here's to hoping I get all of the classes I signed up for.