2010 First Flush Hawaiian Green Tea from Mauna Kea Tea
In Hawaii, 2010′s first tea harvest has come. The kind folks from Mauna Kea Tea, a small family-owned and operated tea company in Hawaii, sent me a sampling of this year’s first flush teas, as well as their sweet roast green tea. Today’s tea is their first flush green tea.
Right off the bat, I should note one thing: this tea doesn’t come cheap. At $20 for a 15-gram bag, each cup is costing a few dollars (depending on how many steepings you can get out of your leaves). But there are a few good reasons for this: the tea is organic; the cost of labour in Hawaii is higher than in India or China; and the tea is in short supply. This is the kind of tea you buy out of curiosity, to see what Hawaiian tea tastes like.
All that aside, let’s focus on the tea. We have lent out our photo camera at the moment, so I have borrowed a photo from Mauna Kea’s website to show you what the dry leaf looks like. It has a lovely appearance, with the kind of meticulous quality you would expect from a hand-harvested and hand-processed tea.
The tea infuses into a pale green brew, but surprises with a full-bodied flavour. A shot of lemon, underpinned by the vegetal flavours of steamed spinach or kale and accompanied by the taste of walnuts. There’s hardly a hint of sweetness to this, though there is a note of roasted sweet potato in the aroma.
2010 First Flush Hawaiian Green Tea is available from Mauna Kea Tea.
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ksu wrote:
interesting, never heard about hawaii tea before
2010 First Flush Hawaiian Oolong Tea from Mauna Kea Tea | Tea Finely Brewed wrote:
[...] to go to Mauna Kea Tea.If you’re interested in Hawaiian tea, also check out my reviews of Mauna Kea’s 2010 first flush green tea and Narien Teas’ Kilinoe.Disclaimer: I received this tea as a free sample from Mauna Kea Tea. [...]
first flush wrote:
I will definitely visit the Mauna Kea Tea. I think it will be good. and the experience that you shared with us is great it will attract the people towards the Hawaiian tea.thanks for introducing this tea