2.5 out of 5 Hoagies
Published 2025-06-12
tag(s): #reviews #infusions
Last time I mentioned calling these reviews sounds pretentious, since I am completely
unqualified. But any other name sounds worse.
In any case, keep in mind that I know nothing about tea :)
AND I am trying to keep it that way a bit, not getting lost in rabbit hole of reddit reviews
and "professional" opinions. Which is something I've been meaning to write about for a while
now.
But not today!
Maria ordered some goods online and got me this tea from an Argentinian brand.
It is a mix of gunpowder green tea, mint, peppermint, lemon verbena, and common marigold.
If there was a moment to feel like an impostor, it was looking up the translation to cedrón
online.
Greens aren't my favorites I think, but maybe I just need to know how to prepare them better.
That said, this one is pretty good. The instructions in the package are garbage though. 70 C
water, for 3 minutes is too cold for my taste. And it reduces the flavor to "peppermint".
The website instead offers the more acceptable "70 to 90 C water". I found that 90C and 4 minutes of brew time worked the best. I re-steep with a 5 minute time. Tried a third steep a couple times, but it didn't have any taste, so that was it.
I forgot that this blend had mint until I was writing this. I can tell there's more than just
green tea and peppermint - but not exactly what.
Is the tea at fault? or is my palate too limited? We'll never know.
Do I recommended it? It is interesting, but this brand delivers only in Argentina, and it
didn't blow my mind enough that I would justify hunting for it.
2.5 out of 5 Hoagies
Another one I got at the Asian store in Edgewater.
This is another green tea, which is roasted. The instructions gave a brew time of 1 to 2 mins, and because I like stronger taste I went for 2 minutes. The tea literally made me sick, I couldn't finish it.
So the next time I tried with one minute, and I loved it. It has kind of a
burn taste, which I like a lot[1]. But it doesn't overpower the natural
green tea flavor, it's just...different.
A second brew of minute and a half to two minutes is possible, but anything after that, the
taste is gone.
I recommend this one, and the Wikipedia page (linked above) suggests it has less caffeine than
regular green tea, so it is ideal for a post-dinner cup. Just remember that it goes extra sour
if you let it steep for just a bit too long.
4 out of 5 Hoagies
I got this one when I
impulsively bought my teapot,
after resisting the impulse and giving it to a different one...
Anyway, it seems the Teapigs brand is well known.
The name doesn't lie, it is a strong cup of Earl Grey, very aromatic. It can easily turn out too bitter though, so I tend to use a little less tea than the recommendation. Just a pinch less.
Can be steeped once more, after that it has even less taste than regular tea. I am still
experimenting a bit with this one, so maybe I should have skipped the review...
Or not!
3 out of 5 Hoagies
I received my Father's Day present early, an order from iN-TEA[2]. I now have a lot of teas to try, so that's fun.
Also embarrassed of how much time I wasted doing the minihoagies for the scores 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣