Six Types of ITO EN Oi Ocha Bottled Teas

As a chronically sleep-deprived junior at BISV, tea is a daily staple in my diet. There’s no doubt that every morning you’ll catch me with a bottle of tea in one hand. As a self-proclaimed tea connoisseur, I have tasted a variety of the Japanese ITO EN Oi Ocha Bottled teas. Below is a brief guide to six of the flavors I have tried, ranked based on my preference.

I. Golden Oolong Tea 

Personally, this flavor is my favorite because it is the sweetest out of all the flavors I have tried. The tea tastes kind of like flowers but in a good way. There is also a pleasant fragrant aftertaste which I like. Another benefit of this tea is its effectiveness in keeping you alert. I felt attentive and awake in my P7 Biology class after drinking it throughout the morning, even though I would usually feel extremely tired in this class, as it is towards the end of the day. Therefore, I rate this an 11/10.

II. Jasmine Green Tea

Next up is Jasmine Green Tea. The most accurate way to describe it would be the type of tea served at traditional Chinese restaurants. There aren’t any weird artificial flavors; the tea tastes completely natural in the best way possible, which leaves me feeling extremely refreshed. It’s the flavor I’m expecting when I think of “green tea,” and it did not disappoint. This even exceeded my expectations with the subtle hint of fragrance from the jasmine flowers. 10/10 in my book.

III. Matcha Green Tea

Number 3 is Matcha Green Tea. This tea tastes like grass in a good way, with minimal sweetness and no aftertaste. However, what gives it a lower spot on my ranking is that if I drink it too much, the grassy taste gets overwhelming. Moreover, this tea didn’t make me feel as awake as the other ones(although it may just be my lack of sleep). Overall, I think this tea will be a hit or miss with people, depending on whether they like matcha or dislike the rich grassy taste of it. Personally, I’m a fan of matcha, so I rate this an 8/10.

IV. The OG Flavor (Green Tea)

Next up is the original green tea flavor. Since this was the first flavor I tried, it tasted a little bitter to me at first. However, after drinking it for a while, the flavor became extremely addicting. After not drinking this flavor for a while, I start craving the taste of it. It tastes like freshly brewed green tea with no artificial flavoring at all, giving me a comforting and warm feeling. The only reason this is ranked lower is because I prefer the other flavors more, as they have a more distinct taste. Still, this tea deserves a solid 8/10.

V. Matcha Green Tea Flavored Cold Brew

Now, here’s where the rankings start to take a turn for the worse. The flavors I listed before were all tea flavors that I enjoyed, but these last two are ones that I would not drink again. The Matcha Green Tea Flavored Cold Brew is a weird combination, as it is sweet at first but is followed by a bitter aftertaste. As the name suggests, it tastes like a mix of coffee and tea, which personally isn’t something I would recommend because the coffee and tea flavors conflict negatively with each other. Each type of drink loses its distinct and iconic taste, making the resulting solution taste unexpected and overpowering, like grass on steroids. I rate this a 3/10.

VI. Bold Green Tea

Alas, we’ve arrived at the last flavor, Unsweetened Bold Green Tea. When I tell you that this tea is BOLD, it is genuinely BOLD, for real! It is unbelievably bitter and the strength of this BOLD flavor truly shook me. However, I do believe some people might enjoy this flavor if they like drinking BOLD and strong flavors. Personally, it’s not up my alley. -100/10.