Nepal 2nd Flush Cannon Ball Green

Tried gongfu those cannonballs (lovely name by the way). First steeps were great, maybe even better than western brewing.

Light, slightly lemony, hay (I suspect the age), sweet grass. As I have no idea how lemon blossom tastes; I will avoid that. And I don’t think I have noticed it afterall.

But well, this isn’t great tea for gongfu. Rather not suitable. Why? I read Matu’s tasting note and I agree with them completely. First steeps are good, almost great… but then it goes bitter and thick (in a bad way) as the cannonballs unfurl. Although using quite cold water, they need very short (10 seconds were even too much) steeps. The last ones were very vegetal too, and vegetal-broth like too.

Lowering a rating a bit; as 80 seems indeed too high to me, not just because this session.

June 2014 harvest

Little rolled balls of whole and chopped green tea leaf. Dry leaf aroma is light citrus blossom-grass-vegetal. Wet leaf aroma is strongly brothy with vegetal, roasted chestnut and anise notes. Light yellow, viscous brew. Taste is refreshing and mimics the dry leaf aroma. With the second steep, it becomes more vegetal-chestnut with a hint of anise on the sip. A pronounced lemon taste and a whisper of smoke follow, giving way to a tangy feeling after the swallow. A bit drying with a happy and floral, white peach-like aftertaste. Very nice quality for a green tea 6 years old. Somebody who’s not me has the fortitude to not open their tea packages when they arrive.

2.5g, 250mL, 175F, 3 steeps.

Hmm…really wasn’t feeling this tea. It seemed like it was lacking all the bright/vibrant flavors that make green tea good. The wet leaves had a salty vegetal or seaweed aroma. The first couple steeps were alright, with some light corn sweetness and a bit of astringency. As the little balls started to open up, the tea got quite bitter, to the point where I had to lower my steep times back down. I got some vegetal notes and a brief citric note at one point. I will try this again with lower temp or cold brew.

I don’t know if this tea is just a little old for green tea or what, but it was pretty flat, bitter, and just meh overall.

This tea starts with the appearance of the irregular, obviously handmade cannon balls of tea. I couldn’t resist rolling each pellet around between my fingers before plopping it in the tea pot – it made me feel strangely connected to the people who crafted the tea.

The brewed tea is pleasantly astringent – but still somehow mellow and kind. I was attracted by the ‘cinnamon’ flavor in the description, but I don’t taste any hint of spice here. Mostly just an astringent start, with a vegetal, grassy aftertaste.

This is delicious. Strong honey flavour, with a hint of cinnamon. Sweet and grassy, a touch of astringency. Fragrance of honey and sweet corn. Wonderful.

I used seven cannon balls, since several of them were quite small, and steeped for just over 3 min.

Backlog:

an unusual looking leaf. It looks a bit like a TieGuanYin Oolong “pelleted” leaf but with smaller leaves.

I thought that they might be fun to watch unfurl since they’re all wound up in a “cannon ball” so I brewed these in my glass teacup, but the first infusion proved to have very little “show” to them. The leaves didn’t unfurl much at all … but they did produce a very flavorful tea.

Sweet, nice, buttery texture and a light buttery note. I taste citrus notes, floral notes and hints of vegetation. The citrus is particularly noticeable toward the finish and that bright flavor lingers in the aftertaste.

The flavors develop as I continue to sip and by mid-cup, I was tasting more buttery notes than the citrus and floral flavors.

The second infusion – again, very little “show” but the flavor more than makes up for it. Sweet, whispers of flower, notes of tangy citrus, less buttery texture or taste this time around. I find that a little bit of cooling time brings the buttery notes forward.

The third infusion – the leaves are now completely unfurled. The third cup was my favorite because the flavor was simply amazing. Soft, buttery, silky, less astringency than in the first two cups, very lovely flavors this third cup.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/08/29/nepal-2nd-flush-2014-cannon-ball-green-tea-from-what-cha-tea/

Today was going to be my relax and catch up on reading day, all that travel meant that I am really behind on the various blogs and Steepster friends that I follow, instead it was a day of Steampunk Creepers. My mom got a text this morning about the Steampunk texture pack on the Xbox, we both looked at each other and more or less ran to the console. While she is not as a big of a fan of the Steampunk aesthetic as I am, my mom does enjoy it, plus we always get a kick out of new texture packs. After playing Minecraft we decorated for Halloween, and I am still not caught up on my reading!

It is Wednesday, so that means it is time for What-Cha, specifically their Nepal 2nd Flush 2014 Cannon Ball Green Tea from Greenland Organic Farm in the shadow of Mt. Kancghenjunga. I absolutely love the shape of these little tea balls, I am not sure why it is called Cannon Ball except that maybe it is a play off of Gunpowder Green, and these are bigger so they are cannon balls? Until corrected, that shall be my head cannon (yes I am a terrible person for making that pun, no regrets.) The aroma of the leaf balls is very green and quite sweet, there are notes of cut grass, freshly broken green stems, a tiny bit of hay, and a nice sharp finishing note of citrus. It has a very refreshing aroma that I hope carries over to the brewed tea.

Watching the little leaf balls slowly turn into a pile of small leaves is rather entertaining, they did not so much unfurl as fall apart, much like a cannon ball hitting a fortress wall. The aroma of the soggy leaf pile is a blend of freshly squeezed citrus (reminds me a bit of Yuzu, actually) and cut grass. The liquid once liberated from the leaves is very fresh and refreshing, the aroma has notes of light citrus, fresh grass, and a very mild touch of pepper at the finish.

The first steep can be summed up best as odd yet refreshing! As with the other teas I have had from What-Cha’s Nepal selection, it has a real clean spring water taste to it, I am not sure if it is a terroir thing or a farm specific trait, but I love it. Now I cannot tell you if I love this because of the taste or because it instantly transports me to one of my favorite places, ever, either way it is a powerful effect. There is more than just spring water to this tea, there is also a strong middle presence of green in the middle, it cools my mouth and tastes like broken stems and grass. This passes to citrus at the finish, adding a brightness to the tea and a touch of sweetness.

The second steep’s aroma is much like the first, it smells clean and fresh with a strong presence of green grass and citrus, no pepper this time though. The taste is brisk, not brisk like a black tea, but brisk like a stroll on a cool spring evening, it is refreshing and invigorating. There are notes of spinach and cut grass at the front, this transitions to lettuce and broken stems in the middle, and lastly the tea fades to citrus and sweet hay with a slight aftertaste of saltiness that I found pretty neat. With a lot of types of tea you start to see a pattern, similar tasting notes, similar aromas, so I always get a real kick out of teas that shake me out of similarities.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/10/what-cha-nepal-2nd-flush-2014-cannon.html

Cannon Ball! Love the name. Some of the balls are monstrous (I wanted to spell it monsterous but spellcheck said that is not a word – should be). Some of the balls are only the size of average oolong nuggets. The dry scent I got I have not seen in any other review. It was bread and honey, kind of malt with sweet hay. Thought maybe I didn’t get the press thoroughly clean but the pouch had the same awesomeness.

The first cup was crisp, vegetal, and savory. Dryness builds as the cup cools. It had a bite that was the good bitter. The aftertaste had a citrus note that to me wasn’t obvious at first.

The second cup I used less water – 8 oz with the same leaf (the first was a 10 oz mug using 7 balls). The scent is highly lemony. I did not notice the dryness, but because of the amount of leaf and the 2 1/2 minute steep, the bitterness was kind of intense. I added a little sweetener and it balanced right out. Now it tastes very nutty. The sweetener made the citrus really pop and there is a good dose of grassy vegetal late in the sip that along with some floral notes drift right into a healthy citrus aftertaste.

I don’t have time for a third cup at the moment but according to the review on SoriTEA Sisters it will be the best cup yet. I hope to find out for myself later.

Unique and worth a try.

Fantastic! Dry, it smells like a slightly lemon scented dragon well. Steeped, it starts with sweet corn, fills the mouth with sweet grass/straw/nuts and finishes with a surprising and amazingly strong citrus peel that lasts and lasts. Really nice!