April Tasting Notes: Chinese Green

[Salsero]

Post any observations here. I posted a compendium of brewing suggestions in the other thread which was probably a waste because

• 1) experienced green tea brewers are going to ignore them
  2) novices to green tea won't know what to make of them.

Maybe Victoria or Pentox or someone else with a gift for cutting to the chase can give more practical guidance.

Geekgirl, yours went out in today's mail.

[Chip]

Woohoo, FP.

I just tried the Mao Feng, 3 steeps so far, I will come back to it a bit later for what seems like 3 more. I sense a deep flavor reserve in these leaves even though the flavor is so nice and subtle.

But this is a shuweet MF, w/o question the best I have had. I don't know if I will ever be able to even look at a standard grade again. This stuff is awesome.

The first steep was soft, brewed a gram per ounce in a preheated gaiwan for 2 minutes with 160* water. I think this could take hotter water, but I really like it this way, so sublime, sweet, gently floral. This is Mao Feng at its best.

2nd steep, a tad more asserrtitive but still so nice and sweet, a little more veggie this time.

3rd, more veggie, more assertive then the 2nd, still very nice a sweet, floral.

Just superb! Thanks Sal for sharing this treasure with us.

[MarshalN]

• 1) experienced green tea brewers are going to ignore them
  2) novices to green tea won't know what to make of them.

The first point is probably true -- I do have plans to ignore them, as my way of brewing green is relatively unconventional.... and in most people's eyes, probably pretty heterodox.

I do think novices might find them useful though.

[Chip]

Just had the Yang Yan Gou Ding, and I brewed it myyyy way.

Anyway, a gram per ounce in a "gaiwanesque."

The dry leaf smells remarkable. As the first steep brewed, I snuck a few whiffs, wowza, floral, sweet, vegetal background. The first steep was more pronounced as I expected than the Mao Feng. It was very good to say the least but lacked the imperial quality I immediadely felt with the MF which I think is fit for royalty.

This is definitely more vegetal than the MF as well, but there are floral and sweet nuances that are clearly present. Another exciting sample. I would call this an exciting green, while the MF was sublime.

I definitely would not mind having either of these selections in my line up. Very well done, Sal. An outstanding tasting. I have not been this excited about Chinese greens in several years. Thanks again!

[fencerdenoctum]

I tried the Darjeeling first. I used half the bag in my glass teapot filled halfway with off boil water for 4min.

Quite a sweet lil tea we have here. I caught floral notes with a nice honey scent. I only got to do one steep of it, but I'll prolly dump the rest in the gaiwan and see how this performs that way.

Green soon.

Thanks Sal!

[joelbct]

Thanks Sal!!! Hit the spot, i was out of green...

Notes (i am by no means an authority on Chinese Greens, but here goes):

Mao Feng Yellow Mountain: Sweet, mellow, a bit thin, gave it a 5/6 out of 10

Green Hook: Fuller, vegetal, notes of asparagus, and even umami. Gave it a 7/10, i liked this one.

Sorry they aren't more detailed, but tried these at work... I'll update on the other one tomorrow!

[Salsero]

BTW, James Norwood Pratt posted a brief review of Huang Shan Mao Feng on tching a few months back:
http://www.tching.com/index.php/2008/09 ... n_twn-930/

[Wesli]

Thanks so much Sal. This was the perfect thing to come home to after a long day.

It's almost 10PM, but after smelling the leafies, I couldn't resist.

Yang yan gou king has an ensnaring honeydew melon smell to the dry leaf. And a similar juicy aroma that is made for salivation. Who knows how I brewed this stuff, but it turned out good. Light in character, but individual in flavor to make it exciting and new for me. Yum yum yum. Looking forward to more cups and the other teas.

Sal, you successfully brought much happiness to my night.

[Salsero]

Sal, you successfully brought much happiness to my night.

Few things could please me more!

[Wesli]

MMmmm the Darjeeling just turned out great as well. On top of the usual floral and fruity terroir of a Darjeeling, there's a strong, individual white grape aroma and taste. Refrehing, satisfying, and a lot of great concentrated aroma on the wet leaf! Yum!

[Salsero]

Well, I made the Puttabong to the same gong fu standard that Andy suggested for the Lapsang (3.5 gr in 70 ml gaiwan, off boil, starting at 1 m) and I like it more that way: creamy fruit presentation with floral aromas and a really lovely color. I'm sure I am still missing lots because of my compromised olfactory senses, but it's more interesting to me at this strength.

[Wesli]

The Guo Bin Li Cha Mao Feng is really light stuff. I glass brewed it and got not much more than sweet water with a crystal-vegetal aftertaste. I can see how some would like it as a "refined" tea, but I need some flavors to grab onto first. Going to try hot-brewing it next.

[joelbct]

the Green Hook/Yang Yan Gou Qing is great, having another session.

Levi the cockerspaniel-poodle liked it too, he just jumped up on the coffee table and stuck his nose in a cup... i wonder if i should finish it?

[Chip]

The antioxidents should protect you, Joel!

Wes, how much Mao Feng leaf did you use? Using 1 gram per ounce water makes a lot of leaf volume. Although it was lighter than the other sample, it really rocked my taste buds. And I am not a Mao Feng fan.

[Geekgirl]

Got mine today. Will commence with the tasting tomorrow. My officemate was in, and I thought I wasn't going to get out of there with my Darjeelings. He had a death-lock on the bag and kept inhaling. Ha!