Getting excited for Spring green teas?
I always love talking about green teas. They are my main tea. If I don’t get at least one green tea in for the day, I am very grumpy. So I’ve started my green tea buying already.
Yunnan Sourcing has a great selection with my favs there being Anji Bai Cha (Scott just posted last years tea at the beginning of this year so I got to try it out and then placed an order for another 50g when the 2019 was posted), Classic Laoshan Green (not as much enamoured of this tea as I used to be but that’s only because I prefer the Japanese Kamairichi teas over this most of the time), Tai Ping Hou Kui, and Imperial Xinyang Mao Jian of Henan.
For Teavirve I pre-ordered Huang Shan Mao Feng, Lu Shan Yun Wu (really loved this one in 2018), Bi luo chun (always a fav), & Xin Yang Mao Jian. I’ve never tried their Mao Feng or Mao Jian but based on the taste profile of the tea, I should like them.
For Taiwan Tea Crafts, they had a tea picked in January that was posted early. I tried that one Qing Xin Green and it was very good. I want to get more but am waiting for a few 2019 teas to post. I especially want Baguashan Pre-Qingming Qing Xin. When I tried the 2018 tea it’s soooo good. Something about it was so familiar but I couldn’t think what that flavour was. When I read the details about it online, it all made sense. It’s from the same cultivar as Oriental Beauty.
LuckyMe , I’ve been watching Yuuki-cha too to see which 2019 teas get posted. I’ve got a few favs from this company. Also did not order dragonwell. It’s not one of my favourite greens. Maybe I just need to find one that blows me away.
Who has fallen off my green tea list this year? Grand Tea. For two years I raved about their Nan Jing Yu Hua Cha but last year’s tea did not impress me. Maybe my tastes changed but it seemed to me the tea was different.
Arghh, I wish I’d added that Xinyang Mao Jian to my YS order. I see that even Stephen Colbert has reviewed it.
It’s been a while since I’ve ordered from Teavivre. The Huang Shan Mao Feng was one of their first teas I tried and I remember it being a good one. I loved their Tian Mu Yun Wu a couple of years ago so I ordered a 100g bag last year but sadly it wasn’t as good. I find that I prefer their regular grade green teas over the nonpareil versions.
I’m leaning towards the Yakushima Kuritawase sencha at Yuuki-Cha. There are no reviews for it but the description – floral, delicate, and aromatic – is really enticing. Holding off until the 2019 kamairicha are in stock so I can buy everything in one go.
Thanks for the TTC recommendations. I missed out on their experimental green teas last season which I heard were awesome. I’ll be placing an order there eventually once the spring baozhongs roll out.
I love Stephen Colbert’s reviews especially him trying to pronounce those Chinese names. I wouldn’t do much better!
I’m glad I didn’t order the Tian My Yun Wu from Teavivre. I only got a sample of it to try out. Hope I love the Mao Feng & Mao Jian.
Yakushima Kurikawase sencha does sound wonderful. I may order some myself and I like the description. Don’t be concerned about no reviews. I’ve ordered quite a few that had no reviews and they were amazing, one being Miyazaki Kamairicha Minekaori. The price is so low and it’s my favourite kamairicha. That one is on the top of my list to get for 2019. I ordered the 2018 twice and still have a tiny bit left I’m stretching out. Then the Miyazaki Kamairicha Tsuyobi Shiage has some really good reviews for 2018 and it’s the cheapest. I ordered that one early this year to try out and was disappointed in it. It’s not like the other kamairicha’s at all. Too savory. A little bit like Laoshan green but more like Jujube tea. Yes, it is good for an everyday tea if you’re on a budget but I am used to better quality teas. I guess I’m a bit spoiled.
Wow, Ubacat, that’s quite a list! I was tempted by the greens from Taiwan Tea Crafts as well, and didn’t know that one of them was from the Bai Hao cultivar. I might have to try it.
I am planning to order some of the Teavivre samples of the new harvest and narrow my list of greens for the year. I like to keep them fresh and I am moving the older ones out as fast as I can!
I ordered from Yunnan Sourcing as well. Excited to try their greens! I never ordered from them before.
I got the Yunnan “Spring Tribute” Green Tea Sampler: Yunnan Green Spring Snail Bi Luo Chun, “Yu Luo” High Mountain Pure Bud, Yunnan “Jade Snail” from Mojiang, Early Spring “Cui Ming” Premium Yunnan Green, Yunnan “Pine Needles” from Mengku.
I usually buy my teas locally from a dutch vendor (Thee van Sander) who imports them himself. I’ll be buying his samples of the new harvest as well when they come in.
Teavivre seems to be popular with you guys. I’ve been looking at their website for a while now, but I haven’t ordered anything yet. Do you prefer them over Yunnan Sourcing?
Also, has anyone ordered from VerdantTea before?
I also ordered spring greens from Yunnan Sourcing recently. It’s only my third time buying green tea from them so jury is out until I am able to try them. However, based on past experience I haven’t been overly impressed with their green teas except those from Laoshan. The tea grown in Yunnan comes from a different cultivar than typical Chinese greens and has a stronger, more pungent taste. When I ordered this time, I specifically picked out non-Yunnan teas.
Teavivre has a good selection of classic Chinese greens and you can buy inexpensive samples to try a bunch of them.
Verdant has been a favorite of mine for a long time and they have excellent quality green tea. However their greens primarily come from the Shandong and Long jing areas of China. So your options are limited to Laoshan variants and Dragonwell. Good tea, but the selection is less diverse than other vendors.
I only started buying from Teavivre a few years ago. I like to keep a diverse selection of greens and they have some good ones. They are a bit pricier than Yunnan Sourcing. I find the Tai Ping Hou Kui tastes pretty much the same from both but is cheaper from YS so I always buy that from YS.
I’ve ordered from Verdant too. They have quite a selection of Laoshan teas in green, black, & oolong. I find them quite pricey but their tea is very good.
Mandala Tea has some new greens posted. I didn’t order from them last year but he has some pretty good teas.
Login or sign up to leave a comment.