Review: The Royal Tea Company’s ImmortaliTea

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The Subject:
ImmortaliTea

Company:
The Royal Tea Company [More info]


Rating:

Water temperature: 140-160° F

Steeping time: 3-4 minutes

Tea type: Blend of Green Tea and Jiaogulan vine leaves

Scents, flavorings added: N/A

Aroma, dry tea leaves: Green hay, nutty

1st Infusion (in the cup):
Aroma, plain — Grassy
Taste, plain — Grassy, buttery, lightly smoky, mild, not bitter
Aroma, enhanced — N/A
Taste, enhanced — N/A

Additional Infusion(s):
2nd infusion — grassy aroma; flavor not as buttery, still grassy, smoky, mild, not bitter

3rd infusion — flavor faint, not buttery, still smoky, some chalkiness from tiny pieces breaking off from tea leaves

Comments:
The package has good steeping instructions. We steeped for 3 minutes to avoid bitterness.

The description on the Website wasn’t quite precise. Only after I steeped it did I realize that there were two different plant leaves in this: Camellia Sinensis (the darker leaves in the right-hand picture) and an herbal vine called Jiaogulan (the lighter leaves in the right-hand picture).

The company stresses the health benefits of this tea/herbal combo but doesn’t cite studies. Hubby and I aren’t too concerned about this since we drink tea for the pleasure of it. This one certainly fits our goal. It’s very Asian in character and great for a quiet tea moment, sipping on a smooth-tasting green tea.

Get the most out of your fine teas by determining the best way to get several tasty infusions. One tip is that if you want to do multiple infusions, start with more tea leaves at the beginning. We did 12 ounces of water per infusion (to give each of us a 6-ounce cupful) and 3 teaspoons of tea leaves. Increase that to 4 teaspoons per 12 ounces of water and you should get even a 4th infusion with sufficient taste satisfaction.

Store this tea out of the light, since the package has a translucent side. This will help preserve the tea flavor, especially if you are keeping it on hand from a few months or longer.

Little Yellow Teapot wanted his buddy, Matruska (the stacking doll) and her 6 “offspring” to be on hand as a tribute to the tea company owner, Alex, who is originally from the Ukraine.

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, the rating of the tea and any opinions concerning it are always strictly objective.