2023 Chinese green tea thread

[GaoShan]

Japanese green tea seems to get all the love around here! Are any of you getting fresh Chinese green tea this year?

I caved and bought some Anji Bai Cha and pre-Qingming Bi Luo Chun from Teavivre. It's not the world's most ultra-premium tea, but it's good enough to bowl brew without breaking the bank. I'm also going to order some greens from Yunnan Craft in the next few days.

I'm curious to see whether those ultra-premium teas are worth the cost and what you'll be ordering in 2023!

I love Teavivre's Anti Bai Chai! Last year, I purchased it from Yunnan Sourcing and while good, it didn't quite have the same vibrancy.

I'm also going to hit up Verdant for Laoshan green tea and maybe Dragonwell if I don't pick some up from Teavivre.

Who do you think has the best reasonably priced Dragonwell, Verdant, Teavivre, or someone else? I just received a handmade Mingqian Bi Luo Chun from Teavivre, which is quite fruity and has very little bitterness. I've only had one session with it, but I'd recommend it at this point. Their Anji Bai Cha is on its way!

[d.manuk]

If I remember correctly green tea is graded AA-AAAAA with 5A's being the best?
Anyway there was a western source where you could buy Chinese green tea graded AAA - AAAAA but I forgot the name. Obviously $$$

[GaoShan]

If I remember correctly green tea is graded AA-AAAAA with 5A's being the best?
Anyway there was a western source where you could buy Chinese green tea graded AAA - AAAAA but I forgot the name. Obviously $$$

I wonder if there are any criteria for these green tea grades as there are for the SFTGFOP grading system for Indian teas, or whether vendors can assign grades at their discretion. I know teas picked earlier are usually more expensive.

I recall that Bitterleaf has several grades of pre-Qingming Dragonwell, and that Tong Xin She and Mud & Leaves also have versions of this tea. However, I was wondering which moderately priced Longjing you thought was the best quality and/or value. It would be nice to find something in the $0.50-$1/g range instead of the $3+/g that the fancier versions cost.

[LuckyMe]

Japanese green tea seems to get all the love around here! Are any of you getting fresh Chinese green tea this year?

I caved and bought some Anji Bai Cha and pre-Qingming Bi Luo Chun from Teavivre. It's not the world's most ultra-premium tea, but it's good enough to bowl brew without breaking the bank. I'm also going to order some greens from Yunnan Craft in the next few days.

I'm curious to see whether those ultra-premium teas are worth the cost and what you'll be ordering in 2023!

I love Teavivre's Anti Bai Chai! Last year, I purchased it from Yunnan Sourcing and while good, it didn't quite have the same vibrancy.

I'm also going to hit up Verdant for Laoshan green tea and maybe Dragonwell if I don't pick some up from Teavivre.

Who do you think has the best reasonably priced Dragonwell, Verdant, Teavivre, or someone else? I just received a handmade Mingqian Bi Luo Chun from Teavivre, which is quite fruity and has very little bitterness. I've only had one session with it, but I'd recommend it at this point. Their Anji Bai Cha is on its way!

Yunnan Sourcing is the cheapest of the bunch. I would stick to the authentic Dragonwells from Zhejiang though and avoid the ones from Yunnan. While Yunnan produces excellent puerh, their green teas are from the assamica sub-species, not sinenses like traditional Chinese greens, and tend to be a little more aggressive and bitter.

Can't really say which is the best as I've had good Long Jing from all 3 vendors and there's variation in flavor every year. What I can say is I generally enjoy the second plucking more. First flushes are a little too delicate for my liking.

[GaoShan]

I love Teavivre's Anti Bai Chai! Last year, I purchased it from Yunnan Sourcing and while good, it didn't quite have the same vibrancy.

I'm also going to hit up Verdant for Laoshan green tea and maybe Dragonwell if I don't pick some up from Teavivre.

Who do you think has the best reasonably priced Dragonwell, Verdant, Teavivre, or someone else? I just received a handmade Mingqian Bi Luo Chun from Teavivre, which is quite fruity and has very little bitterness. I've only had one session with it, but I'd recommend it at this point. Their Anji Bai Cha is on its way!

Yunnan Sourcing is the cheapest of the bunch. I would stick to the authentic Dragonwells from Zhejiang though and avoid the ones from Yunnan. While Yunnan produces excellent puerh, their green teas are from the assamica sub-species, not sinenses like traditional Chinese greens, and tend to be a little more aggressive and bitter.

Can't really say which is the best as I've had good Long Jing from all 3 vendors and there's variation in flavor every year. What I can say is I generally enjoy the second plucking more. First flushes are a little too delicate for my liking.

Thanks! My past experiences with Yunnan green teas bear this out, though I have 50 g of 2023 Yunnan greens coming to me from Yunnan Craft in the hope that they will change my mind (I didn't get any Yunnan-grown Dragonwell).

Seven Cups and Bitterleaf now have 25 g samples of their Qingming-adjacent Dragonwell on sale:

Seven Cups:
Longjing Traditional cultivar: $42
Longjing 43: $26
Shipping to Canada: $16

Bitterleaf:
Traditional Longjing: $55
Longjing 43: $32
Free shipping over $99, with some Silver Needle I can add to make up the difference

Still, this is a big commitment for someone with 100 g of green tea from two different companies on the way. Money spent on "cool," hyped, or super-fancy tea is sometimes, though not always, regretted (DaXue JiaDao is very much an exception to this rule).

[TeaTotaling]

I like to order from Seven Cups. I get some longjing, an ji bai cha (early & late) and Tai ping hou kui. I usually try at least one tea that’s new to me. Seven Cups generally offers the teas at a 20% discount the first weekend they’re up for sale.

Hey, @Janice! Put in my first order with Seven Cups, today, as I need some green to brighten up my mornings. I feel like it has been almost a year since I have had a cup of tea... In short, waaay too long. I'm also thankful for this community, it was nice reading through some threads once again.

How did you enjoy this years Anji Baicha?

[aet]

If I remember correctly green tea is graded AA-AAAAA with 5A's being the best?
Anyway there was a western source where you could buy Chinese green tea graded AAA - AAAAA but I forgot the name. Obviously $$$

I wouldn't rely on that grading too much as they sometimes call it as they pleased.
On market you can see like 4-5 grades of Bi Luo Chun which the lower grades not worth to do retail business with ( unless you want to sell it with high margin , which also happes in some EU or US shops ) .

[aet]

In general the best time to buy Yunnan greens is around end of April and if other provinces , then May , begin of June when all tea has been harvested and processed. If you are fan of 1st harvest then better pre-order or check shops end of the March.