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?
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