Yunnan Orchid Green

Day 22 of Sara’s Old Tea

Mmm, strong vegetal taste, kind of like asparagus. It tastes… very green, LOL. I like it.

Making this tea was such a comedy of errors… I guess that’s what I get for trying to multitask in the kitchen too much! I forgot to change the temperature on my kettle (which is on 205F by default) and realized it the SECOND I started to pour the water over the leaf and saw the steam rise… I stopped immediately, dumped the leaf (I seriously have TONS of this stuff, a 50g bag from 2017 to work through!), set the kettle aside to cool down to 175F, and got a fresh 2g of leaf to start over. Lost a bit of water from the ordeal, so this is a bit less than my typical 350ml cup, but I’m not sure by how much… 2 minute steep.

I can see why it is called “orchid” green, because it has a very sweet, floral aroma… something about the smell makes me think of flowers and strawberries? Definitely a berry fruitiness to the aroma. There is definitely a floral note present, that lilac/orchid note typical of green oolongs… There is a fruitiness here too, but not the berry note I was getting in the aroma, more of a very subtle green grape. Smooth vegetal taste of fresh green beans and peas that I often taste in Chinese greens is present as well, and probably the most present note, as it lingers after the sip.

A pleasant green, but like my last large, old bag of green tea, I’ll likely use it up making liter-sized batches of cold brew until it is gone.

I happened upon this one at my local tea shop this afternoon. I’ve been experiencing the GI joys of diverticulitis and recently read that green tea can be helpful for that condition. Green tea seems to be quite the panacea, effective for a multitude of miseries.
What a wonderful medicinal – No spoonful of sugar needed to help this medicine go down!

The dry leaf smell is sweet and mildly floral. As the tea steeps the aroma is very strongly evocative of oolong. The flavor too suggests oolong, along with floral notes of chrysanthemums and wildflower blossoms with a bit of honey. There is a mild vegetal note – Just enough to remind you that it’s a green tea you’re drinking.
I was a little leery about the 190F brewing temperature, but no bitterness. I used 3 generous teaspoonfuls for a 16 ounce pot and steeped for four minutes.

Yunnan Orchid Green is a lovely green tea – One of the very best I’ve had. My tummy feels better already.