Premium Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea

Sweet delicate vegetal flavour, especially near the end of the sip. Light mouthfeel. No astringency. Hint of smokiness.

I finished this sample off last night, along with The Everything Box, by Richard Kadrey. The book wishes it were Good Omens, and a few other humorous things, but it’s not. I may now be resistant to the blockbuster and pulpy trends of urban fantasy though, if the Dresden Files run-through earlier this year didn’t set that in stone already. There’s been too much urban fantasy in 2016 and not nearly enough green tea.

The mellow, sweet, and almost creamy notes in this smooth green tea probably deserves better. I’ll have to order more of this and green tea in general when the cupboard is running lower and Canada Post isn’t nearing a strike.

This review is based on the 2015 harvest. Had a gongfu session with a glass pot. Gave the leaf a quick rinse. Steeping times: 30 seconds, 60, 90; 2 minutes, 5.

The fuzzy dry leaf has various hues of green, which become more vibrant after steeping. I particularly liked the rinse coloration:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BCniHCSwNo8/

Most of the leaves are whole. They consist mostly of individual leaves, and a few a leaf and a bud and two leaf.

The dry leaf aroma has notes of gentle seaweed and corn. Once hit washed with water, the aroma becomes stronger, smelling of buttery zucchini and a general sweet, fresh green vegetable hodge-podge.

The liquor is tinted with a very pale green. The body is full. Heavy with flavor, but not heavy itself – light in the mouth. Smooth and creamy texture. The first infusion tastes vegetal and a little sweet with sugar snap peas. Thereafter, the flavor becomes so sweet that it is reminiscent of a Taiwanese rolled high mountain oolong. Very candy-like. It also has a slight cooling effect in the back of the throat. This combination reminds me of the Japanese milk-mint candy. The liquor, though, retains its vegetal essence.

Nothing was short of enjoyable, even though it’s been a year since the leaf was harvested.

Another free sample from Angel at Teavivre.

Also, another tea that I have not yet written up. I sampled this a while back but got distracted before writing a tasting note. Bad me!

The dry leaf is thin and twisty, and dark olive in colour. It smells of hay. Wet, the leaf has a slight hint of umami and asparagus. In the pot it looks like a green cave of tea leaf stalagmites and stalactites as the leaves have vertical and some sink to the bottom. The liquor is a pale peach colour and carries little aroma; just a hint of savouriness to hit and something slightly floral or vegetal. Tasting it reveals a very delicate tea. It is lightly floral, smooth, sweet with a savoury edge. The asparagus notes carry through from the aroma and the aftertaste prickles gently on the tongue in a pleasurable fashion. Not as in-your-face as the Long Jing, this Mao Feng is a jolly good, gentle cuppa that is quite relaxing to drink.

I bought a whole bunch of samples from Teavivre recently. I haven’t explored much of what Teavivre has to offer before now. I bought some tea-ware from there a while ago and received a couple of samples then, but that’s the extent of my experience.

I’ve had two cups of this tea today (12oz water, 175F, 3min steep). For the first I used 1.5tsp of leaves. The smell while brewing was fairly strong of wood, mineral, and pepper. I expected a stronger flavor in the cup, but it is surprisingly delicate. I brewed a second cup with the remainder of the sample (more than 1.5tsp, less that a tbs) and the flavor is slightly stronger.

It’s nice, but not my favorite green tea.

Water: 8oz

Leaves: large long medium thick leaves

Steep: 1m,2m,3m

Aroma: Spinach

Color: Light yellow almost clear

Taste: Upon opening the package this tea was a pretty vibrant green accompanied by a fresh spinach aroma. The leaves were larger than expected. When pouring my water over the leaves I noticed a random brown ball floating in my cup, not knowing that it was i picked it out and made a new cup of tea. This time hoping the same thing wouldn’t happen again I continued the brewing process. Also I want to note my tea ball isn’t good at the moment so for brewing these larger leaves so I decided to try a new method. I placed the tea leaves directly in my cup & pour water over them. The first cup worked great because a majority of the leaves floated to the top of my cup making it easier for me to remove them while only a few settled at the bottom that i didn’t remove. The clarity of this tea was great with no cloudiness, crisp & clear i would say. As for the taste I found it to be nice light and refreshing for a afternoon drink. This brings me to the last of my Spring 2015 Tea reviews!

Thank you to TeaVivre for sending me a sample of this!

The scent of the dry leaf is fresh and slightly seaweedy. The brewed leaf smells of asparagus and freshly cut grass. I used half the sample packet in my ~ 6oz gaiwan/teapot hybrid. After a 5-second rinse, I steeped the tea at 182f for 30 seconds. This first steep yielded a very pale green brew. The immediate flavor note upon sipping was artichoke. The second steep (176f, 60 secs) came out slightly bitter and drying, which was surprising and really distracted from my enjoyment. That slight bitterness was still there in the third steep (180f, 90 secs). The dominant flavor note was asparagus and maybe peas, but that bitterness kept bugging me.

I used the other half of the sample pack for a Western-style brew: 186f, 4 minutes. Much better! The flavor was light, vegetal, and evocative of a stone fruit – maybe apricot? The second steep tasted much the same. I put the third steep in the freezer for quickie iced tea. It was really tasty that way!

I decided to cold brew another sample pack to see if I could get the good notes without the bitterness. It worked! The cold brew is grassy, vegetal, and light. Really lovely for a summer afternoon. Even my dad liked it, and he’s pretty iffy on iced teas.

mmmmm another interesting tea from Teavivre!

The leaves on this one are really cute. they reminded me of buds on trees. Interestingly enough, the brew liquor was less flavourful than i thought it would be. Still tasty, but not what i expected from the leaf. this is more like a darker green…spinach? maybe?It’s not grassy like other greens… subtle, and delicate.

I really appreciate the opportunity to try these out! thanks you again teavivre!

This is one of our favorite green teas. It is so smooth and sweet. There is no bitterness, no grassy taste, no sour note. There is a fresh mineral quality that makes it taste so refreshing to me. Years ago when I first tried this type of tea, I thought it was a little bland, but once my palate recovered from years of Dr. Pepper and learned to pick up the delicate flavors I loved it. Hubby prefers smooth greens, so this one and Bi Luo Chun are his two favorites.

this is an awesome tea!

when i smell the leaves dry, they smell peppery like bi luo chun green tea.

when i smell the leaves wet, they smell more grassy and green like veggies.

when i smell the brewed tea, it smells nice and sweet and grassy.

when i taste the brewed tea, it tastes grassy and sweet :D

the sweetness is why i give it a score of 100. i recommend you buy some.

many thanks to Angel teavivre for this amazing free sample! :D