Hawaii Sweet Roast ~ Arbor Teas

I held out as long as i could. My excitement for trying more Hawaiian teas has gotten the better of me and i just had to brew Hawaii Sweet Roast at my next opportunity, which ended up being about two weeks after i described it in the Arbor Teas Incursion (and this review was written a good 21 days ago–impatient and lazy aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive…).

Hawaii Sweet Roast has an astringent (despite their best efforts) roast almond and pineapple aroma. Its flavor has a fascinating grilled sweet corn taste with a wet Huang Shan Mao Feng aftertaste. It’s obvious that Hawaii Sweet Roast is given a different manufacture from traditional Greens to accentuate its roasted aspect (though i couldn’t have told you it was “roasted after drying” exactly). Hawaii Sweet Roast has an okay texture, though i guess i was expecting something gritty considering how small the leaves have been chopped and the particulate content of the liquor. I guess i’d call it a medium-low Green tea grit? Hawaii Sweet Roast has a delightful neon green-yellow liquor the likes of which i’ve just never seen.

1. Aroma – 93
2. Taste – 92
3. Texture – 92
4. Spunk – 96
5. Price – 95
6. Availability – 99
7. Appearance – 94

Mean score – 94%

Highly original with an eccentric character. I really want to give Arbor Teas’ other Hawaiian-grown teas a try now (or anyone’s for that matter).  Remember, as usual, since this tea’s from Arbor Teas, you can be fairly certain it’s 100% organic. ;)