Loose Leaf Green Tea Recommendations?
Hiya, I’m new to the group and new to tea. Someone on a LiveJournal group pointed you to me.
This March a friend gifted me with a variety of loose-leaf teas and accessories, complete with instructions hoping to convert me—and succeeded. She loves Black Tea, so that was mostly what she gifted me with, and she’s a good resource about how various Blacks taste—but she has stayed away from Greens, so there I have no one to advise me. There was a sample of Hojicha from Adagio she gave me I loved, and from another sample I discovered I don’t like Gunpower Tea (too smokey/flinty). So when I ran out of non-Black Teas, I made my first order ever of teas a couple of weeks ago from teasource.com, which is where my friend got most of the teas she gifted me with. I loved most of what I ordered, the White Peony, the Oolongs (especially Big Red Robe). The Hojicha was a lot more earthy and malty than Adagio’s but still enjoyable. But I hated the vegetal taste of the Sencha and the Dragonwell. Drinking spinach-water not my thing. So much so I’m thinking either of throwing the rest of the teas in the trash or mailing them to a tea-loving friend.
My experience makes me wary of ordering more Green teas and throwing money away on teas I’m going to hate. So here’s my question. Can someone tell me which teas are vegetal in taste I should stay away from (or smokey like Gunpowder). From what I’ve read, Gyokuro should definitely be off my list. What Green Teas might I like?
I’m only interested in unflavored teas. I know flavors can mitigate that vegetal taste, and in fact I liked a sample of Green Pomegranate with Roses from TeaSource very much. It had a Sencha base which is why I thought I might like Sencha. But particularly because I’m new to teas, I don’t want to complicate things with all those varieties out there. I also don’t want to mess with powders or cakes or blends. Below is a list of the unflavored Green Teas available at the moment from TeaSource I haven’t tried I’m particularly curious about—if anyone can tell me which specifically are vegetal compared to Sencha and Dragonwell I’d appreciate that.
Clouds and Mist Green Tea (Organic and Supreme Grade)
China Dark Green Needles (Hunan)
Green Dragon Pearl
Green Jade Sprout (Cui Ya)
Huang Shan Mao Feng
Pi Lo Chun (New Lot and Imperial)
Precious Eyebrows (China Moon Palace or Chun Mee)
China TeaSource Green (Hunan mao jian style)
Darjeeling Green (Giddapahar Estate)
Gyokuro is definitely more vegetal. I personally don’t find Dragonwell to be especially vegetal (I get mine from Teavana, and I find it to be very buttery and smooth – it’s one of my favorites, I’m drinking it right now!)
Flavored senchas are also, I’ve found, a lot less vegetal than straight ones.
The Clouds and Mist – I’ve not had TeaSource’s, but I’ve had Teavana’s. That one had a very light flavor with a hint of sharp, lingering sweetness at the front. It may be a bit vegetal.
I personally really like the Huang Shan Mao Feng that I’ve tasted from Teavivre – it’s sweet and a little bit floral.
The Chun Mee I find to be a bit vegetal, although my experience with Chun Mees is limited.
That’s the best I can give you… disclaimer, I’ve never actually tried TeaSource’s teas, and I like both Dragonwell and sencha. You might try checking out Steepster’s reviews on each of the teas you have listed to get a more complete picture of it.
Good luck, though, and welcome!
I’ve heard that teas can differ a lot from source to source, so maybe Teavana’s Dragonwell is a different cuppa? TeaSource is a small company a friend of mine discovered by word of mouth. I really loved the blacks she got me from there (a Darjeeling, a Assam and a Hong Mao Feng) and I have no complaints about the White Peony, Iron Goddess of Mercy and Big Red Robe I got. But there doesn’t seem to be many reviews of their stuff on Steepster.(Which otherwise seems a gold mine of information).
Thanks!
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