8th and Ocean (Kokomo Tea)

Okay, so I’ve never been to Miami. I think the closest I’ve come is Naples, FL for my brother’s wedding. This blend from Kokomo Tea, apparently inspired by 8th & Ocean a big party district in Miami is fruity and smooth.

This fruity blend of florals, fruits and a Chinese Sencha smells floral, looks like green tea and tastes fruity. It’s quite the party to be sure.

Looking at the loose leaves you see mango bits, sunflower petals, cornflower petals, choppy Sencha style green tea leaves and a cacophony of other ingredients. This makes for an interesting, if busy visual to take in. Brewed, the liquor shows as a nice yellow-gold.

The aroma of the dry and the spent leaves is very fruity. I get guava and mango with a hint of passionfruit and marigold in there as well. The tea liquor however smells more vegetal, almost like steamed leeks. My guess is that comes from the Sencha base.

This tea seriously dries the palate. The finish twinges of guava. However, rolling the liquor in the mouth provides a more apricot taste. You can tell this is a Sencha even through all the flavors. There’s the vegetal tones inherent ni the green tea, a nuttier lightly roasted sense I get which would be a more southern grown plant. The gritty bitterness from a Sencha is clearly present.

It’s nice to have a blended tea like this where you can actually taste the base tee. Often the base tea is overrun by hoards of ingredients all vying for the top spot. The one major issue with this tea keeping it from a higher score in flavor and a lower score in boldness is its penchant for reminding me of having cotton balls in my mouth.

I would recommend this tea to fans of guava, passion fruit, mango, Earl Grey and Sencha teas blended with fruit.