Kokang Green Tea

Light and grassy

Backlog:

An interesting tea that tastes different when served hot versus served cold.

When hot, it’s a fresh, exhilarating, rich, brothy type of tea. Smoky. Not overly vegetal, in fact I found the vegetal note to be a bit subtle which I found surprising given it’s a green. Buttery and creamy. Like browned butter. Distant notes of fruit and flower.

As it cools, the creaminess tastes less like browned butter and more like fresh cream. The smokiness seems to leave the cup as it cools. The fruit becomes more prominent in the cooled cup – a bit like fruit and cream. Nice.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/07/16/kokang-green-tea-from-shan-valley/

Good news everyone, my insomnia broke sometime after 2am last night and I slept until 2 in the afternoon. I am still pretty pooped, but I no longer feel like a zombie. Though I did spend the majority of the day yesterday convinced it was Friday, and then I kept thinking today was Monday. All this sleep disturbance seems to have confused my perception of time, it is still 2010, right?

Now that silliness is out of my system, it is time to visit Shan Valley again, this time to taste their Kokang Green Tea. Grown in the Kokang Region of Myanmar, which is close to the popular tea growing region of Yunnan, China. This Green is the highest quality tea available to the public, that has me intrigued. The aroma is quite umami (or savory if you are unfamiliar with the term) with strong notes of smoked mushrooms and vegetable broth. There is also an underlying sweetness with notes of honey and yeast. The aroma is interesting, it very much reminded me of mushrooms cooked over a grill, which I greatly enjoyed.

Upon brewing this tea in my gaiwan (like I do) the grilled mushroom aroma is replaced with a slightly smoky, very vegetal, aroma. There are notes of green beans, asparagus, and butter in the wet leaves. The liquid did a complete turn around from the wet leaves, with strong notes of caramel, honey, marshmallows, and a delicate hint of papaya at the end.

The first steep is fairly light and delicate, with notes of spice, smoke, and straw. These notes are present throughout the entire sipping experience, but there are also notes of caramel at the midtaste and a bit of asparagus at the finish. I am very curious to try the second steep and see if the delicate notes become stronger.

The aroma of the second steel is a blend of sweet caramel and asparagus, not gonna lie, that sounds like a delicious idea for a food dish, especially if it tastes like it smells. The taste of this steep starts out sweet with notes of caramel and papaya, this fades to vegetal with noes of asparagus and green beans. The finish is like butter and is just as smooth. I liked this tea, it had interesting notes in both aroma and flavor.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/07/shan-valley-kokang-green-tea-tea-review.html