Cucumber and melon is one of those combinations that sounds odd until you've had a cup — this green tea from China turns out sweet, grassy and clean-tasting, with the fruit sitting on top of a base that's still recognisably green tea. Tea & Coffee packs it fresh to order at their Kent factory, and the tasting notes bear out the fruit-forward profile: melon and cucumber up front, with date, grass and a faint coffee note underneath.
Green tea sits closer to white tea than to black or oolong in terms of processing, since it goes through the second-least oxidation of the four main types. That lighter touch is what keeps its character intact, which matters more with a flavoured tea than people tend to assume — the leaf underneath still has to hold its own once the added flavourings are in the mix, and this one does. Flavouring tea leaves isn't a modern trick either; it goes back nearly to the start of tea itself.
A cup carries roughly 30mg of caffeine per 8oz, gentler than black tea but enough to help you get going. Some drinkers also value it as part of a broader routine involving L-theanine, an amino acid found in tea that's traditionally associated with calm, steady focus rather than a jolt.
Brew it with water around 90°C and give it two to three minutes to steep. It's best taken plain, without milk or sweetener, so the cucumber and melon can come through — the liquor pours a light, pale yellow.
