2014 Chinese Greens

Made from leaves that have not been oxidized.


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May 2nd, '14, 09:01
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2014 Chinese Greens

by JRS22 » May 2nd, '14, 09:01

This past year I've been drinking japanese greens and yancha. I've been receiving emails from various vendors announcing that they've begun to stock 2014 harvest chinese greens and I'm thinking about placing a small order. Has anyone tried tea from this harvest yet?

Tea Trekker labels most of their teas AA or AA+ while Jing labels most of theirs AAA and small quantities are half the price. Even with quick vendor action Tea Trekker teas will arrive in a few days, Jing in a few weeks. The third tea shop I've bought from in recent years is Seven Cups but they don't have any 2014 teas yet.

I'm curious to know who people are buying from and what they're buying. This subject is so much quieter than discussion of japanese greens.

May 4th, '14, 07:58
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Re: 2014 Chinese Greens

by Misou » May 4th, '14, 07:58

Yunnan Sourcing (chineese not us site) has good quality greens at very good prices. Ive been very pleased with my oolongs and blacks. I can imagine their greens to be good as well. Consider a bump to EMS shipping. The extra cost is well worth it.

http://yunnansourcing.com/en/4-green_tea

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May 4th, '14, 11:32
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Re: 2014 Chinese Greens

by debunix » May 4th, '14, 11:32

My impression (after just 4 or 5 years of searching teas out online) is that chinese greens are so diverse that no one source has a full selection of the best traditional greens from every part of the country. When I read about a really interesting sounding (new to me) tea, I often look it up on websites where I've previously ordered, and I never find all those I'm currently interested in trying all at one site.

That said, I've had some wonderfully flavorful but also potentially exceptionally bitter greens from Yunnan--the same leaves that give the power to puerh, which demand considerable care to give their best as young sheng, can be delicious or vicious as green teas, depending on my brewing. I've had a lot of pleasure from quite inexpensive greens from Yunnan Sourcing, but they do demand more attention that some more famous greens if you're a bitterphobe like me.

I've had a variety of wonderful traditionally famous and sometimes quite obscure greens from JingTeaShop and Norbu, and my local chinatown tea shop has been quite reliable for certain varieties as well. The part I haven't mastered is knowing when to order which ones, because they're generally not vacuum packed like a rolled green oolong, and they do change quite a bit over the months after harvest, so that an exquisite experience with a freshly stocked sample may lead to disappointment when I go back a few months later and confidently purchase a larger quantity of that same tea, because it won't necessarily be the same when it arrives in my hands. I purchase An Ji Bai Cha year round from any of my suppliers, but am trying to be smarter about the rest.

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May 4th, '14, 12:15
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Re: 2014 Chinese Greens

by Mureke » May 4th, '14, 12:15

Thanks for bringing up the topic. I, too, prefer Chinese greens.

I found both 2014 Jingteashop Long Jings very good. At first, I preferred the Weng Jia Shan Long Jing with its stronger taste. Lately, I've really been enjoying the Shi Feng Long Jing, though. Both teas have completely intact leaves (1 bud and 1 to 2 leaves), but the Shi Feng seems of slightly higher quality in this respect. Due to its sweeter character, I find the Shi Feng to fair well in later steepings. The only complaint I have is that there are some dark, hopefully-not-animal hairs in the Long Jings.

The Mao Jian is a bit more difficult to brew. It's sensitive to high temperatures, but the first steepings are something unique: a thick, pastry taste.

I haven't tried any of the American stores.

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May 4th, '14, 18:00
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Re: 2014 Chinese Greens

by puerhking » May 4th, '14, 18:00

I've had good luck with Jing, JK Teashop and Dragon Tea House on ebay for Chinese greens. Personally I've never had a Yunnanese green I've really liked.

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Re: 2014 Chinese Greens

by JRS22 » May 4th, '14, 23:45

I wasn't crystal clear in my original post. I've bought from a lot of different online tea vendors over the last few years. I'm really interested in reviews of peoples actual experience with specific 2014 chinese greens, like the reviews of japanese shincha that usually begin to appear around now.

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Re: 2014 Chinese Greens

by JRS22 » May 7th, '14, 12:33

Apparently there's not much interest in discussing Chinese greens so far this year. I ended up ordering newly arrived An Ji Bai Cha from Seven Cups. 25 grams each of Yu Qian, which was picked before 4/20/14, and 25 grams of Ming Qian, which was picked in early April.

Ordering from Seven Cups gets the tea to me with the least distress for both me and the tea. It's air-shipped from China, promptly vacuum packed in the US, and then sent priority mail. I find the post office faster and cheaper than Fedex for Seven Cups shipments. The problem with Jing is no matter how quickly they process and ship the tea it takes weeks under uncertain conditions to arrive here. I still order Yancha directly from China, but I hesitate with green tea.
Last edited by JRS22 on May 8th, '14, 09:29, edited 1 time in total.

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May 7th, '14, 14:29
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Re: 2014 Chinese Greens

by debunix » May 7th, '14, 14:29

Since it was made clear that the OP wanted to discuss this year's teas, it's too early for most of us to have anything to contribute to the discussion. I wouldn't assume that means no one will be ordering and drinking them, but I have no fresh greens of this year to discuss.

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May 7th, '14, 16:59
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Re: 2014 Chinese Greens

by JRS22 » May 7th, '14, 16:59

Debunix - as the original poster and frequent follower of your reviews, my apologies. I must remember to avoid posting when I'm tired AND grumpy.

I owe a large part of my Teaware collection to your reports of new items on some of my favorite etsy sites.
Last edited by JRS22 on May 8th, '14, 09:27, edited 1 time in total.

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May 8th, '14, 05:57
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Re: 2014 Chinese Greens

by hopeofdawn » May 8th, '14, 05:57

I love Chinese greens too, but correct me if I'm wrong--I think it's a bit early in the season for most Western shops, at least, to get their hands on them. Unless you're talking about pre-Qing Ming dragonwell or bi lo chun, both of which I think are early spring greens?

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May 8th, '14, 09:36
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Re: 2014 Chinese Greens

by JRS22 » May 8th, '14, 09:36

I'm on the mailing list for Tea Trekker and they had several pre Qing Ming teas available on 4/13/14. They're right nearby in Massachusetts so that whet my appetite for a young spring tea the way the shincha discussions create a desire for 2014 japanese greens.

I should have the 2 an ji bay cha teas from Seven Cups in a few days so I'm now scouring my tea cabinet for 2013 leftovers to finish up.

May 25th, '14, 03:12
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Re: 2014 Chinese Greens

by bankung » May 25th, '14, 03:12

I have been a happy customer of amazing-green-tea for a few years now. Although the site looks not professional and sells a lot to non serious tea drinker, the teas good, especially their long jing and tieguanyin.

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Jun 14th, '14, 03:15
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Re: 2014 Chinese Greens

by Mureke » Jun 14th, '14, 03:15

I finally got my order of 2014 wild growing long jings from JKteashop. Except, the bags were labeled 2013. When inquired about this discrepancy, the vendor claims to have forgotten to update the labels for 2014.

The premium long jing is quite nice, but not of the highest grade, as one might expect for this price. The leaves are quite broken up. JKtea pride themselves in a great "wild-grown" chaqi. I must admit that this tea did change my state of mind, but such things are difficult to judge objectively. There was a bitter edge that developed in later steeps, so care must be taken in brewing this right. I suppose it is a chestnut-type long jing.

The imperial long jing looks like a high-grade shi feng. The orchidity holds up well in multiple steeps. I've no complaints other than that the 2014 long jings from Jingteashop are superior. They are just that much smoother with a recurring huigan hours later.

Jun 14th, '14, 04:56
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Re: 2014 Chinese Greens

by ethan » Jun 14th, '14, 04:56

Mureke, I don't remember ever experiencing huigan recurring hours later. Do you go w/o eating or drinking anything else after drinking that green tea for quite a while? I ask because I wonder that my eating or drinking after tea sessions ruins the chance of tea having long-lasting effects.

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Jun 14th, '14, 10:35
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Re: 2014 Chinese Greens

by Mureke » Jun 14th, '14, 10:35

ethan wrote:Mureke, I don't remember ever experiencing huigan recurring hours later. Do you go w/o eating or drinking anything else after drinking that green tea for quite a while? ..
Admittedly, I was exaggerating a bit. I had an experience after drinking the freshest Shi Feng from Jing where I left for a long drive and was getting recurrent huigans throughout. There was a strong huigan still 1½ hours after drinking the tea. The downside was that I eventually had to stop the car to get the excess water out of my body.

I indeed didn't eat or drink anything after all that tea at breakfast. When drinking water normally, I suppose the huigans aren't usually that extreme.

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