Re: 2014 Chinese Greens
I have, and greatly enjoy, this spring's Lu Shan Yun Wu from Teavivre. With the express shipping, it takes about a week to Boston.
Re: 2014 Chinese Greens
I've been enjoying a 2014 Lu Shan Yun Wu from Teavivre. I'm getting many (>10) good infusions and a long lasting huigan.
Re: 2014 Chinese Greens
That is a beautiful picturebrandon wrote:
In a green mood myself this week.
Jul 18th, '14, 11:09
Posts: 470
Joined: Jan 23rd, '07, 14:50
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:
Evan Draper
Re: 2014 Chinese Greens
IT'S LIKE I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOUbrandon wrote: In a green mood myself this week.
Re: 2014 Chinese Greens
Does anyone know which site is best to buy samples of the 2014 chinese greens? I'm thinking about sampling different type, not just long jing, as I really want to explore Chinese greens. I read teaspring has good TPHK, but I'm not sure how good the rest of their teas are. Maybe a little bit off topic, and I apologize for that.
Thanks in advance.
Thanks in advance.
Re: 2014 Chinese Greens
I finally received my 2014 Anji Baicha from Jing. The original package was apparently lost in China Mail, but Sebastien resent my order. The whole 250 g is packed in a nice paper bag with a foil lining on the inside, but it wasn't sealed - only wrapped around itself for a bit.
The Anji Baicha leaves are just like those pictured on the Jingteashop site. It seems like excellent quality. The taste is midly sweet as it should be. The leaves keep on giving despite multiple long steepings.
Another favorite of mine is the 2014 Taiwan Style Green Tea from Taiwan Tea Crafts. Even more so than Anji Baicha, this tea is easy to brew. It can take long steepings even with fairly high temperatures. It makes me feel good. There is no bitterness, but rather a strong, sweet tea taste. There's a lot going on, including reminiscence of Baguashan Baozhong. The leaves can be somewhat large as in a high mountain oolong. There are even some pieces of stems. This is reflected in the price, however.
The 2014 Long Jing from TTC is also excellent. Unlike other LJs I've had at this price point, this tea is smooth with a lack of bitterness. It doesn't seem like a pre-Ming tea to me, as the leaves are large compared to LJ from Jing or imperial LJ from Jkteashop. However, the leaf structure is intact. Overall, it is a better tea than the premium LJ from Jkteashop.
The Anji Baicha leaves are just like those pictured on the Jingteashop site. It seems like excellent quality. The taste is midly sweet as it should be. The leaves keep on giving despite multiple long steepings.
Another favorite of mine is the 2014 Taiwan Style Green Tea from Taiwan Tea Crafts. Even more so than Anji Baicha, this tea is easy to brew. It can take long steepings even with fairly high temperatures. It makes me feel good. There is no bitterness, but rather a strong, sweet tea taste. There's a lot going on, including reminiscence of Baguashan Baozhong. The leaves can be somewhat large as in a high mountain oolong. There are even some pieces of stems. This is reflected in the price, however.
The 2014 Long Jing from TTC is also excellent. Unlike other LJs I've had at this price point, this tea is smooth with a lack of bitterness. It doesn't seem like a pre-Ming tea to me, as the leaves are large compared to LJ from Jing or imperial LJ from Jkteashop. However, the leaf structure is intact. Overall, it is a better tea than the premium LJ from Jkteashop.
Jkteashop has a variety of greens in their sampler pack, but I don't yet have enough experience with them. My experience with the quality of Teaspring is mixed, but I've only tried their Bi Tan Piao Xue (good, vanilla) and lower-end Long Jing (not so good last year). Another vendor, that I haven't tried, is Amazing Green Tea - experiences, anyone?tinols wrote:Does anyone know which site is best to buy samples of the 2014 chinese greens?
Re: 2014 Chinese Greens
They sell one of the best long jing I have ever found online.Mureke wrote: Another vendor, that I haven't tried, is Amazing Green Tea - experiences, anyone?
Re: 2014 Chinese Greens
With chinese greens you have to pick and choose depending on what you are looking for.
For example while 7 cups has decent oolongs, their hou kui is fake.
(you can tell because its way too long and thin)
Since chinese greens are so much about the subtle flavors you want a company that knows what they are talking about. When you find a company look at their about us section, or see if they have a blog.
One sign they might not be good is that they are new to the buisness. Chinese teas is probably the most difficult to understand, partly because there is so much fake/bad versions out there. It takes years to develope a real pallet for these teas and to be able to tell if a tea is good. Chinese tea vendors are not always honest so this skill is very important.
Look at their blog. A good tea vendor will want to tell you about tea, and in depth. If they have one whole post about one single tea, thats a good sighn.
The blog posts should inform you of stuff. I read one blog where the guy was given a random pu erh and he said he didnt mind the astringency. What type of astringency? Where did he feel it in his mouth? what else did he taste? The more detail specific a blog post is the better.
Also look to see if they talk about health benefits. If they do chances are they are a bad company. Companies who have truely good tea don't bother talking about health benefits because they dont have to sell it like that.
last of all look at the price. Unlike japanese teas which are usually a blend, chinese teas are single farm and sometimes single bush. This makes them expensive. If you see what looks like a good tea at a very low price, there is a catch. I once bought an rou gui from a company for $30, for this price I personally dont expect more than an ounce or two. (I'm way down the rabbit hole). When I opened the box the bag was huge, this made me worry. Sure enough when I tasted it, while it had the basic notes of rou gui it was not anything special. I didnt even finish the bag.
To be honest though, most of this you wont have to worry about too much since you are just getting into chinese greens and you arent looking for high quality.
for now
teance, harney and sons, teatrekkers and verdant are ok
Later start looking at J tea oolong and Tea Drunk (tea drunk has high prices but the best tea I can find)
For example while 7 cups has decent oolongs, their hou kui is fake.
(you can tell because its way too long and thin)
Since chinese greens are so much about the subtle flavors you want a company that knows what they are talking about. When you find a company look at their about us section, or see if they have a blog.
One sign they might not be good is that they are new to the buisness. Chinese teas is probably the most difficult to understand, partly because there is so much fake/bad versions out there. It takes years to develope a real pallet for these teas and to be able to tell if a tea is good. Chinese tea vendors are not always honest so this skill is very important.
Look at their blog. A good tea vendor will want to tell you about tea, and in depth. If they have one whole post about one single tea, thats a good sighn.
The blog posts should inform you of stuff. I read one blog where the guy was given a random pu erh and he said he didnt mind the astringency. What type of astringency? Where did he feel it in his mouth? what else did he taste? The more detail specific a blog post is the better.
Also look to see if they talk about health benefits. If they do chances are they are a bad company. Companies who have truely good tea don't bother talking about health benefits because they dont have to sell it like that.
last of all look at the price. Unlike japanese teas which are usually a blend, chinese teas are single farm and sometimes single bush. This makes them expensive. If you see what looks like a good tea at a very low price, there is a catch. I once bought an rou gui from a company for $30, for this price I personally dont expect more than an ounce or two. (I'm way down the rabbit hole). When I opened the box the bag was huge, this made me worry. Sure enough when I tasted it, while it had the basic notes of rou gui it was not anything special. I didnt even finish the bag.
To be honest though, most of this you wont have to worry about too much since you are just getting into chinese greens and you arent looking for high quality.
for now
teance, harney and sons, teatrekkers and verdant are ok
Later start looking at J tea oolong and Tea Drunk (tea drunk has high prices but the best tea I can find)