Tai Ping Hou Kui - Monkey Picked Tea

This tea has the most fascinating look I have ever seen! The leaves are flat, large and long, with different shades of green. It was fun watching the leaves unfold in the glass as they were waving like a bunch of seaweed. Will definitely recommend it.

Liquor color: light greenish yellow
Taste: mild, vegetal with a floral note
Aroma: sea breeze

tea from christina this one is my first teasenz tea and it’s so pretty! giant, flat, sometimes transluscent leaves. the tea itself isn’t knock your socks off but it’s pretty good :) it’s a really light tea with sort of bean notes. thanks for sharing christina!

This was a tea Christina generously sent to me. I have today off from work so could take my time learning how to brew this one. It’s not my first time having this type of tea and I’ve liked it in the past but find it a bit expensive compared to other teas.

Of course who couldn’t love the dry leaves of this type of tea. So flat & big and they smelled so fresh. I found Teasenz video on how to brew and followed their directions:

http://www.teasenz.com/tai-ping-hou-kui#.VeBJR5pRGpo

Here’s my cup:
https://instagram.com/p/67SW0rtDAP/?taken-by=ubacat

Okay, so I brew it in a cup but do I drink it in a cup? Doesn’t the leaves get over steeped? I gather I’m not supposed to drink from the cup since I time it two minutes so I transferred it to a pouring pitcher but it’s a messy business pouring from a cup.

It’s a beautiful light tea with green bean notes. It seems to have a bit of floral edge to it too. I don’t get much chestnut or buttery notes from this tea which is common in many Chinese greens. That makes this tea quite different and special. In the past I considered this tea too expensive but look at how much work goes into making it. I watched this video from Teavivre while drinking this tea:
http://www.teavivre.com/tea-videos/manual-making-method-of-tai-ping-hou-kui-green-tea-p-61/

I can really appreciate now this is a great tea to keep in stock for when I’m in the mood for something different and fancy. Thanks Christina for the sample.

The dry leaf of Teasenz’s Tai Ping Hou Kui is gorgeous and unlike any other kind of tea I’ve seen before. The leaves are pressed long and flat like thick blades of grass and have a delicate, fluffy texture like feathers or moth wings. The different strands of leaves mingle together so that it looks almost like the tresses of some beautiful mermaid.

The first steep produced a brew that was pale yellow-green and had a mild smell that was briny and vegetal. However, the taste itself was much stronger — it packed a sharp punch that reminded me an awful lot of some sweeter sencha teas.

Full tea review at: http://booksandtea.ca/2015/08/teasenz-tai-ping-hou-kui/

First of all, the leaf of this is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Long flat leaves ranging from about 2-3" long. Almost translucent in some parts, and delicate. I’ve never had a monkey picked tea before, so I don’t know if this is the norm, but it’s beautiful. And the smell smells just like all my favorite green teas, deliciously vegetal.

Brewed up, this is a pale pistachio color. The flavors are very soft and delicate, gently caressing you taste buds with light asparagus and green bean like flavors. The second steep provides a darker, deeper asparagus flavor complemented by a soft chestnut flavor. As it cools it develops a slightly floral hint at the edges.

This was an absolute delight, and one I’ll have to restock on.

Soft asparagus start, mild astringency that offers classic chinese green chestnut taste. Not really complex, but I’ve never had this tea before so I don’t really know what to look for!