Spring Laoshan Green

Shared with my parents this morning. Dad said it tasted like cat pee (I think he was half serious), but my mom enjoyed it. Tasty and vegetal for me, as always. 1min at 170F.

I’ve had students since 3:00, which is when I started steeping this lovely green tea in my Gaiwan. I followed the instructions (3 sec for the first 3 steepings, 6 for the rest):
First off, the dry smell is like green beans (which for wierdos like me means it’s appealing…lol)

The first steeping of this was luscious! It was like creamed baby spinach, with butter melted on top. It really had the mouth feel of melted butter. I don’t mean that in an oily way, but it made the taste buds that would have tasted butter sing.

I combined the next 2 steepings in my small glass teapot (that looks like a miniature koolaid pitcher from the old commercials) & they were like spring peas & butter on a bed of oatmeal. Not as buttery of a mouth feel as the first one, but it’s still there. The color is a beautiful bright yellow green.

With steepings 4 & 5, it’s more of a green bean flavor, a hint of bitterness at the very back of my tongue, & a creaminess.

Steepings 6 & 7: Bitterness fading, a little astringent, but still has a bright green flavor!

This tea has a brightness to it, like a smile on a sunny day! At the end of steeping, I added a few drops each of toasted sesame oil & fish sauce to the leaves, & it was a tasty, mildly bitter but flavorful appetizer before dinner!

Another green tea sip down today! Finished the spring harvest- will open my package of summer harvest now that the spring is gone :)

My favorite is still the Autumn though!

So I was just sitting here quietly, recuperating after a weekend with my parents and little to no choice when it comes to tea. Two kinds, Steepsterites. TWO KINDS! That’s like… nothing! At least it’s good stuff, because it’s AC Perch’s own bags with real leaf inside that I bought for my Mum for Christmas once (and now seem to be drinking for her, because she sticks to her cheap stuff and saves these for me. headdesk ) So anyway, I was sitting here, minding my own business when suddenly,

WHAM!!!

I was hit by an unusual, but strong craving for green tea. A craving that meant serious business!

Nothing for it but to comply, then. I remembered that Autumn_Hearth sent me a number of green teas that I never finished sampling, so I thought dipping into those would be an excellent thing to do under these circumstances. I chose this one because I made a pot to share with Husband and the amount of leaf was Just Right for this purpose.

Bear in mind now, though, that my nose appears to be wanting to close up again so my sense of smell and taste may be ever so slightly off. Also the fact that I just ate a Fisherman’s Friend… Yeah. Ultra-good circumstances to try something new in, yes?!

I don’t usually bother much with the description of the colour of the tea, because tea is tea-coloured and I wind up repeating myself a lot if I do. So for me, that’s a fairly irrelevant bit of information unless something really strikes me about it, like it’s unusually dark for the type, or if it reminds me of something or if it’s, I don’t know, blue or something. Okay, maybe not blue, but you get my point. Unusualness.

This one struck me as being exactly the same colour as a gooseberry when I first poured the water on. I have to admit that I’m disappointed that it didn’t retain this colour all the way through, but I wasn’t really expecting it either.

What little I’m capable of smelling is totally floral. I’m not one of those people who can really tell the scent of different flowers apart, so either stuff is floral or it isn’t. This particular one, however, reminds me of lavender just off the top of my head, so I’m going to call it a lavender note.

That’s all I can find in my present state, though. I’m sure there must be more to it, but my nasal mucus membranes are not currently interested in participating in the experience.

Based on this, I fully expected something with a strong floral flavour, and what I actually got was a surprise. It doesn’t taste floral at all. Not even slightly.

There’s something vegetal going on here, which strikes me as borderline spinach-y, and then there’s something behind it that seems kind of salty.

Salty? O.o How absurd. I know other people have consistently found salty notes before, but I’ve never in my life really been able to pick that particular one out. It has always struck me as a pretty bizarre note to have in green tea, but I’m definitely getting it here. And I say again, O.o

I sincerely doubt I’m getting the full picture here, my health situation being what it is (I really thought I was finished having a cold! Why is it coming back?), but what little aspects I am able to taste here are very pleasant and definitely hitting that green craving spot.

I think Husband is enjoying it as well. He finished his off before me and accepted seconds. This wouldn’t happen if he didn’t like it.

When spring comes, my family is thinking about flip-flops, patio furniture, fresh produce, and walks around the lake. I am thinking of Laoshan, of Mr. and Mrs. He and the wafting aroma of piles of fresh spring buds drying and being curled. I am thinking of the cool morning mist that requires you to wear a jacket in the village, and of the crystal clear spring where the kids play on the weekends.

I asked Weiwei, who maintains our relationship with the farmers while I am away, to bring gifts to the He family and see how the new harvest was going. The news I got was a bit nerve-wracking. This year was an extremely cold spring, which delayed the harvest significantly. I was told that very little tea was being picked early on. Weiwei suggested that we offer the He family far more than usual for the crop since they got so little in the first weeks of spring. Of course, we were happy to do so.

The drawback of the cold spring meant a pricier green, along with a tiny shipment of only eight pounds of this precious leaf until later in the month. However, the benefit became clear as soon as I cut open the first vacuum-sealed bag. The fragrance was thick, heady and overwhelmingly fresh. It truly smelled like being on the farm in Laoshan village.

Steeped up, this Laoshan early spring harvest is unlike ones I have tasted before. I expected an exquisitely sweet flavor, but I couldn’t have anticipated the thick creamy body, or the nuance of the sugar snap pea flavor. It actually makes perfect sense when you think about it. Colder spring and slower harvest means smaller leaf that has spent less energy growing. Less energy to put out big leaves early on means more sugar and nutrients stored in the leaf contributing to the rich flavor.

I am so honored that the He family is willing to part with this crop and trusts us to represent it well. Mr. and Mrs. He pass on their thanks for all the support and kind words that I translate from comments left here on Steepster. Indeed, the enthusiasm here is one part of what drives their commitment to innovating, improving their Laoshan green and Laoshan Black every season.

May everyone enjoy this tea. I hope the fresh smell, the tender leaf, and rich flavor evoke for others even a small part of this village that I miss so dearly.

AMAZINGLY good. So incredibly good. OH my!

The dry leaf is incredibly aromatic, with strong “green” notes – green as in fresh grass clippings and dark, leafy green vegetables. Sweet and fresh and vibrantly green. The brewed tea maintains that strong green scent, although it is softer than that of the dry leaf.

The flavor is sweet. It has a thick (think velvety thick … and soft!) mouthfeel, with a delicious creamy note that melds beautifully with the sweetness. Easily one of the creamiest, sweetest “pure” (aka unflavored) green teas I’ve ever tasted. Smooth and rich and silky, with a mild vegetal tone. There is some astringency to this, but I find that most of it is softened by the creaminess, making the sip from start to finish remarkably smooth and well-rounded.

This may sound weird, but, this reminds me of fresh milk. Not fresh from the grocery store milk, but fresh from the farm milk … not a dairy farm, but, a small, family farm that allows its cows to graze on meadows of grass. Milk that hasn’t been processed or pasteurized or homogenized or any other such thing – just pure, fresh, unadulterated milk where you can still taste hints of the grass. I haven’t had milk like that in many more years than I care to admit to, but, the flavor of this tea brought those delicious memories of visiting my childhood friend’s farm back to me.

I have to confess when I smelled the dry leaves I will swear I smelled chocolate. A mild chocolate. Weird? I noticed another taster got this same aroma but I think it was from the liquor. Anyway, this tea is so very nice. I just found out my GFs roommate is from Laoshan. Her sister gave me a tin of a very similar tea that to this day is one of the best teas I have ever had. This one is right there with it. The flavor and aroma are nothing short of superb. There must be something in the air or soil or the water or a combination of all three that make a tea such as this. It was just tonight that I told my GF that it’s from Laoshan. Her response was “Ali city”. I only had a sample of this unfortunately and my gift from Alis sister is long gone. If you are new to green tea this is a great place to start. If you are a connoisseur, you will appreciate this to say the least. This is a gorgeous tea….

I’ve enjoyed the other teas from Verdant so far very much, but I’m gonna refrain from rating this one as I feel like I HAVE to be brewing it wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I like this tea and I think it’s quite a good one, but I’ve been trying hard to see why everyone seems to be blown away by it and why I paid so much for it, but I can’t. To me it tastes very similar to the dragonwell that I have in my cupboard. I’m really not trying to be critical, I just want to figure out if it’s my fault before I waste the rest brewing it incorrectly. Any suggestions?

This is the 2012 Spring Harvest.

Tiny, gently curled dark green leaves. The first steep smells lightly green, and sweet. Sugar snap peas is not a bad way of describing it – it’s a fresh garden green, but not the rich heaviness you get in summer. I’m not getting creaminess or milk, exactly, but it does seem to fill my mouth in the rich way of fresh milk. The second steep has a richer flavor and color, and makes my mouth water.

Finishing the first two steeps while eating some leftover homemade pasta alfredo seems almost blasphemous… but they go really well together :D The heavy cream sauce is making all of the light green tea flavors more distinct in comparison.

2.5g leaf (about 1 heaping tsp) in my 3.5oz glass teapot, gongfu style

This lasted well through six infusions, adding a couple seconds for each, and started getting weak around the seventh. I think I’ll steep one more time – longer, a minute or two – then see if the leaves are indeed a tasty snack!

ETA: the last steep was still quite mild, but the leaves were tender and sweet, not the least bit bitter (as I expected). I’m not normally a leaf chewer, but if you are I’d expect these to be a tasty treat!

I’m not a huge green tea lover but this is definitely one of the nicer ones I have tried lately. I need to write my review since I just finished the sample! It has a wonderful fresh and nutty smell when you open the bag. The tea is super mellow and rich, has a walnut taste and a bit of butter in the finish. I would recommend it without hesitation.

Like a lot of green teas this one is a finicky creature and is easy to ruin if you steep it with water that is too hot or steeping time that is too long. This makes it difficult for me to enjoy at work where I don’t have the benefit of being able to stand around with my timer and thermometer! I was a skeptic but am amazed at how much better my greens are when I keep the water temp. lower & the steeping time short.

I have enjoyed these Laoshan green teas very much, thanks to Verdant for making them available…