Liu An Gua Pian Green Tea

During my first forrays into tea, I bought a sample of what I suspect was an inferior Liu An Gua Pian, and then I mistreated it terribly. Thinking it was something else, I dumped boiling water on it and kept it in my Finum infuser for five minutes. (I’m sure you’re all reporting me to the tea equivalent of PETA now.) I chose this TeaVivre sample partly to make amends, and partly because even with my non-traditional brewing methods, that tea tasted good.

I followed TeaVivre’s instructions and steeped about 3.5 g in a 120 ml teapot at 185F for 30, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

In the teapot, this smells like the popped rice used in genmaicha, with a bit of florals and seaweed in the background. The first steep has quite a punch, with notes of seaweed, iodine, florals, toasted rice, spinach, and kale, and a long, drying aftertaste. The second steep has a good balance of sweet, vegetable, and umami flavours. There are other vegetable notes in this tea, maybe green peas and asparagus, but I’m having trouble picking them out. The next couple steeps are sweet, vegetal, and a bit mineral and drying. The final steep, which was not in TeaVivre’s instructions, was still tasty and refreshing.

A lot less subtle than many green teas, Liu An Gua Pian might be more up my alley. Judging from the reviews, my experience of tasting seaweed and toasted rice seems to be unusual, but maybe it’s because of the slightly hotter water? I might not want 100 g of it, but I’ll have no problem finishing the rest of my sample.

I preffered the gua pian from teadrunk over this one but its astronomically more expensive. This is a delicious tea full of umami. I drink it grandpa style.

116/365

I’m pretty sure this is the last of the Spring 2015 teas in my cupboard, and it’s a pretty good feeling to get to this point. It also means that I can maybe allow myself some of this year’s spring greens, just in time!

This one isn’t a variety I’ve tried before, as far as I can recall. The leaves are pretty unique looking – long and very thin, but twisted. They can be unfurled into almost whole leaves in most cases. The scent of the wet leaf is strongly vegetal (in the way of spinach, or green cabbage), but the tea itself is a more delicate affair. In some ways, it’s almost more floral than vegetal – drinking this reminds me a little of the scent of lilies. There is a vegetal flavour also, but in truth it’s more underlying than I expected it to be. I have some doubts as to whether spinach and lily really work _all_that well together as a flavour combination, but that’s mostly just me being a baby. It’s okay, really.

It was interesting to try a new-to-me green variety, although it’s not going to become a favourite I don’t think. That’s still Bi Luo Chun for me!

Moderately sized, dark green twisty leaves that look more like a Baozhong than a regular green tea. Sweet, slightly vegetal aroma. The taste is very clean and predominantly vegetal. Somewhere between kale and edamame. Somewhat buttery and also reminds me of sugarcane and (oddly) pumpernickle bread.

This is a nice green tea, very mellow and refreshing.

This such a unique green! The leaves are these small moss agate colored rolls. The dry leaf has a deep dry vegetal aroma. I didn’t have enough to brew gongfu, so sadly I brewed this up western styled. The good part is that it still was amazing. The liquor is a pale jade, and the steeped leaves carry a vegetable garden aroma. The initial sip is sharp with a floral spice, but it soothes down to a spinach and honey flavor. I really liked this brew, and I cant wait to try brewing it gongfu.

A very standard green. When I drink it, it basically tastes the way I would imagine “green tea” as a category to taste. Vegetal, mineral, a bit of sweet and fruity, equally balanced, as well as a hair bitter. I prepared using a very low temp, which was good, as I can’t imagine how bitter it would have been if I had used water over 160, but it worked well this way.

Wow. This is.. wow. I actually thought it was a black until I grabbed the bag to log it – it tastes surprisingly like a Yunnan. Really, really enjoyed it, and wish I had a bit more.

So… I can picture who I got this from, I’m just so horrible with handles…. please forgive me, lovely Canadian I had tea with in Edinburgh, and did this tea swap with! (I know your real name, just not going to say it here).

I can definitely get the notes of green beans, spinach, asparagus, and artichoke in this tea. Those or something like them are definitely present. There is also a vegetal quality to it. There is also a slight sour note to it. It not bad, just not great, somewhere in the middle.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and 175 degree water for 2 min.

Another sample from my last order! This is an interesting green tea. The leaves are straight, twisted (which the description says is hand rolled) and VERY emerald green. I adore the color. The scent of the leaves are very sweet. The parameters say to use three TABLESPOONS for 17 ounces but I asked Teavivre and they say that is since the leaves are so long it’s actually better to measure with a tablespoon, loosely, but they actually mean 8 grams of the leaves. I’m not following instructions but I went with three loose teaspoons for my 12 ounce mug. The brew color is a very light yellow. If only green teas were actually brewed the color of the emerald leaves, I probably couldn’t resist drinking them every day. The flavor isn’t as different as I thought it would be. It’s definitely green tea flavored, though this one is difficult to describe. A little mild but the second steep was a touch on the bitter side. I’m glad I didn’t use the three tablespoons of leaves. Otherwise it’s a little grassy, soupy, vegetal, buttery and nutty. I thought with the look of the leaves that this green tea would be a favorite, but there are other green teas I like a little more.
Steep #1 // 32 min after boiling // less than two minute steep
Steep #2 // 20 min after boiling // 3 min steep

http://www.teavivre.com/black-friday-sales/ – I just want to shamelessly share the link one more time (sorry – I don’t have a blog or anything.) They have been adding more teas to the sale page. I know the contest is over, but I love how generous Teavivre always is! Thank you!

Dry leaf: light sweet potato scent
Brewed tea: Very thick mouth-feel. Dominant flavour is fresh spinach- this is quite prominent. Grassy and mineral on the finish.