jing tea shop

Gone!

First time back with this tea in a while, after pushing a lot of alishan (opened several bags to do a comparative tasting a while back and was dutifully trying to finish them off before returning to the other greener oolongs). I really packed the gaiwan. Mmm….so floral and rich and sweet. I adore the spiciness of the Alishans, but my heart belongs to TGY!

This is a lovely, floral, spicy-sweet TGY, entirely as expected from Jing Tea Shop. Reliable tea happiness, brewed up a little today in a small gaiwan, enough leaf to just cover the bottom when rolled tightly, which fills the cup entirely and is trying to sneak out the top as it has unfurled completely. When I get impatient to get the water back to 205 degrees, the leaves forgive and at 185 still give a tasty brewn. Many steeps of sweet spicy floral delight!

Two Tai Ping Hou Kui green teas

Head to head comparison of an inexpensive version from Wing Hop Fung, and a fancier grade from Jing Tea Shop.

2 grams of leaf: Wing Hop Fung on the left, and Jing Tea Shop on the right
Jing’s version has larger, more intact leaves, and the color is brighter and fresher

I reviewed this one in a head-to-head comparison with an inexpensive version from Wing Hop Fung. Full notes with photos are on my web site here:

<http://www.well.com/user/debunix/recipes/TaiPingHouKui2.11.html>

I used 2 grams of tea in gaiwans with about two and half ounces (75mL) of water at 160-165 degrees per infusion, and infusions times of 45 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute, and 90 seconds.

Even though the leaves are quite long, they soften enough to fit in the gaiwans.

The Jing tea is not only lighter in color of liquor and leaf, but cleaner and lighter in flavor, with lemon notes amid the sweet pea vegetal flavors. There is a bit more spiciness in the WHF version, probably a bit of astringency coming out. This was consistent through all of the infusions, the greater refinement and higher quality of the Jing tea being obvious.

Despite the in-depth description, the nuances of this tea were wasted on me. I like the tastes of the Wuyi Oolongs, but to me, it just doesn’t excite my palate or interest me in the way a good TGY oolong or Japanese green does. I know I am comparing apples and oranges…and I am voicing my lack of excitment for “oranges”. :) The only tastes I could glean were minerally, slightly buttery, but weak. I only did 2 steepings and decided I’d try something else.

Finally opened up the sample I ordered quite a few months back, and it is fabulous. Floral, sweet, a little spicy, with a rich thick liquor texture.

I used 1 gram of tea per ounce/30mL of 190 degree water, for 30 seconds, and gradually increase the infusions to a couple of minutes. I stopped on it at the 6th infusion tonight, because I was done, not because the tea was done. Given how strong even the 6th infusion was, I expect it to give 10 or 12 at least before it gives out.

I did buy more of this tea when I ordered again from Jing, and have finally been making good use of it. Today I brewed up a thermos full and it was sweet, floral, rich, and still has that Mao Xie edge that is subtly, beautifully distinct from Tie Guan Yin. Mmmm.

Another day, another lovely series of infusions. This is a very very nice tea.

This is a lightly oxidized greener oolong, less floral and fruity than the greener TGYs and the Alishan oolongs I’ve been drinking, with a spicier note that dominates the middle infusions (reminds me a bit of rou gui, but not as clearly cinnamon as that tea) and something elusive that is not precisely spicy/sweet/fruity/floral but not either smoky/earthy/toasty, something that is both tart and herbaceous and delicious.

I start with water between 190 and 200, and am too lazy to keep reheating the water when at home, so the water cools with later infusions. But I start short and hotter, and go longer as it gets cooler.

I only bought a one-ounce sample of this tea, and I have enjoyed quite a few mostly very small-scale brewings of it. As my tea cabinet runneth over, I won’t be ordering more of this one now, but when I do order again from Jing Tea Shop, some of this will be in the cart.