Confession time: I have a lifestyle crush on Marcus Samuelsson. He is nice-looking, has a neat restaurant, seems to genuinely like his super-hot wife, and exudes competence on Top Chef. The guy just seems to have his life together. This weekend, I took a knife skills class and got to the cooking school a little bit early, giving me just enough time to wander around and spend more money. When I saw that he had a beautifully packaged new tea line, there was no outcome where I didn’t purchase it.
I mean LOOK at that tin. It’s so pretty.
After an agonizing ten minutes deciding which of the four offerings I would select, I left the shop with the Ambessa Lingonberry Green. Let’s start with the downsides before I go on to the fun stuff. Bad part one: it’s a sachet, which I didn’t realize. Bad part two: I did not suddenly become a Beard award winner OR the partner of a model after drinking a big cup of this tea.
Now, on to the fun part. I love lingonberries. They’re somewhat uncommon in the United States (though if you live up north, you can grow them), but they’re a staple in Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and other consistently cold European nations. They’re tart and sweet, and boast a host of nutritional and medicinal properties that make me wonder what all the fuss about acai berries is. The green tea they’re blended with here is a Japanese sencha, and it’s very delicate. We’ve covered how great green tea is for you in the past, so no need to rehash here.
The nose on the leaves was just slightly fruity- enough that you knew there was cowberry in your future, but not enough to remind you of Celestial Seasonings Peach Whatever Whatever. I steeped it for threeish minutes and took the bag out and this is what I got:
Incredibly pale, yes?
It’s subtler than I expected- the lingonberries are there if you’re looking for them, but they don’t knock you out. That’s a drawback of some teas that come blended with fruit, and I was glad we sidestepped that particular pitfall. This would make a really nice iced green tea for a hot day, but I enjoyed it in its intended form, too. Definitely recommend, despite the fact that it did not come with complimentary Michelin stars. Ugh.
The lingonberry green runs about $8 for 40 sachets, and is available here.
Anyone tried any of the other Ambessa teas? I’m curious about the Earl of Harlem!
