in my defense though my experience with "green" teas before that was probably how most Americans experience them: overly bitter tea bags and maaaaaybe an iced Japanese green tea.What Green Are You Drinking
It is really impressive to me how diverse the flavors of Chinese green teas are. I remember when I first started trying Chinese greens the fact that they were sweet and not overly bitter or vegetal blew my mind in my defense though my experience with "green" teas before that was probably how most Americans experience them: overly bitter tea bags and maaaaaybe an iced Japanese green tea.
in my defense though my experience with "green" teas before that was probably how most Americans experience them: overly bitter tea bags and maaaaaybe an iced Japanese green tea.
Thank you LeoFox!
Now I have to decide how much of this great tea to order. I would love to lock in years of it at one time, but it’s not Puerh, freshness counts, and I will not want to drink it every single morning….although right now I want it morning, noon and night. Again, thank you for this tea delight!
Hahaha, glad you like it! And what a great pleasure to see a bit of Hawaii in your Robert Heinlein bowl. Flower of forgetfulness - an item that is beyond valuation even in the hyper capitalist science fiction world of his short story.debunix wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 4:58 pmThank you LeoFox!
Now I have to decide how much of this great tea to order. I would love to lock in years of it at one time, but it’s not Puerh, freshness counts, and I will not want to drink it every single morning….although right now I want it morning, noon and night. Again, thank you for this tea delight!
I first saw this cup displayed in a portfolio of his items for sale, and all the other items had additional detail to their listing, like the volume, clay and price, but this one was just there with its photos. Perhaps he was not sure if he really wanted to part with it. I became rather obsessed with it, checking to see if it had a price yet and eventually I basically begged him to let me have it, and he graciously agreed to sell it to me. I count myself lucky to have custody of it.
The lovely Mauna Kea green tea, however, is definitely being consumed, so not something I can bequeath to the future. But I will certainly buy some more to support and encourage the producers to keep up the good work.
90' Aged Taiwan Green Tea / Clean storage / long sweetness
(it's a little yellow in the photo. And it should be more red in natural light)
@maple: I need to try aged green tea; thank you for bringing it to my attention. It's not something that I see often, and fresh green tea tends to be too 'cold' for me usually.
The furry tip in the middle of the photo reminds me of a fox's tail....
Andrew
The furry tip in the middle of the photo reminds me of a fox's tail....
Andrew
@Andrew S
normally green tea = cold. But not for all, there's something special green could tend warm. Hope you can meet warm green soon.
Aged green is rare due to...no one will save green/ aged green for purpose.
I have limited aged green (<10) experience. But I always have very good experience when it have good store.
In my post, it was saved in big plastic bag and big tin can (5kg) decades. cleanness make it special.
normally green tea = cold. But not for all, there's something special green could tend warm. Hope you can meet warm green soon.
Aged green is rare due to...no one will save green/ aged green for purpose.
I have limited aged green (<10) experience. But I always have very good experience when it have good store.
In my post, it was saved in big plastic bag and big tin can (5kg) decades. cleanness make it special.
Have you tried maofeng? They seem to be warming in my experience
2021 early spring sencha style tea made from zairai tea bushes in San Xia, Taiwan. These are very rare native large leaf variety of Taiwan. Again, from the connoisseur.
The bushes are naturally farmed and semi wild. Processing is full hand shaping and hand pan frying ( so technically different from what we think as sencha more like kamairi). Apparently, this processing method is inherited from a japanese company that was in Taiwan during the japanese occupation. This tea processing method was used to make tea that was marketed overseas as japanese green tea. The pan frying might have helped keep this export tea more stable. So in some ways this may be similar to how old export japanese sencha was like. @mbanu might be interested to know about this.
This is a very special tea:
leaves from rare native tea bush source made using a historical process. An interesting historical note - when ROC took over, some of their leadership wanted long jing tea. The Taiwanese used this japanese method to make "long jing" for them. This information is from the connoisseur.
The leaves are very intact and long! Sticks right out of the kyusu! They have a subtle scent of grapes.
Brewed 3g/100 mL off boiling water for 1 min/ 1min / 1 min 15s / 1 min 40s / 2 min 30s / 4 min / 8 min / ate the leaves
The tea has strong notes of dried grass/herbs and grape sweetness that develop in power as steeps progress. The second infusion has an interesting umami flavor that is more meaty than seaweedy. The aftertaste is powerful and reminiscent of gaoshan oolong and baozhong. In many ways, this tea is like a hybrid of baozhong and zairai. Based on processing and leaf type - it should also have elements of "green" pu erh
There was no bitterness despite my strong brewing parameters. The astringency is present but acceptable. There is a "qi" but it isn't overpowering.
The leaves are delicious: savory and sweet - no bitterness. Ate them on bread with a few drops of olive oil.
The bushes are naturally farmed and semi wild. Processing is full hand shaping and hand pan frying ( so technically different from what we think as sencha more like kamairi). Apparently, this processing method is inherited from a japanese company that was in Taiwan during the japanese occupation. This tea processing method was used to make tea that was marketed overseas as japanese green tea. The pan frying might have helped keep this export tea more stable. So in some ways this may be similar to how old export japanese sencha was like. @mbanu might be interested to know about this.
This is a very special tea:
leaves from rare native tea bush source made using a historical process. An interesting historical note - when ROC took over, some of their leadership wanted long jing tea. The Taiwanese used this japanese method to make "long jing" for them. This information is from the connoisseur.
The leaves are very intact and long! Sticks right out of the kyusu! They have a subtle scent of grapes.
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The tea has strong notes of dried grass/herbs and grape sweetness that develop in power as steeps progress. The second infusion has an interesting umami flavor that is more meaty than seaweedy. The aftertaste is powerful and reminiscent of gaoshan oolong and baozhong. In many ways, this tea is like a hybrid of baozhong and zairai. Based on processing and leaf type - it should also have elements of "green" pu erh
There was no bitterness despite my strong brewing parameters. The astringency is present but acceptable. There is a "qi" but it isn't overpowering.
The leaves are delicious: savory and sweet - no bitterness. Ate them on bread with a few drops of olive oil.
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It sounds like a very unusual tea, @LeoFox. A Taiwanese attempt to make a kamairi-cha (not actually sencha) and made according to the way a Japanese company made it decades ago. Layer the unusual cultivar onto this. Is it Camellia formosensis or a hybrid of it? Does this imply that the Japanese were trying to make kamairi-cha from C. formosensis?
It invites many questions!
It invites many questions!
Yes, many questions for this unusual tea. The kamairi-cha I’ve had is greener and uses smaller leaves formed like apostrophes. Based on the images of the pan fried leaf you shared Leo, it looks like some oxidation has taken place either before pan frying or after. Also, the dry and wet leaf looks more like some oxidized white teas and or Darjeeling whites that I’ve enjoyed. Glad you like the teaBaisao wrote: ↑Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:14 pmIt sounds like a very unusual tea, LeoFox. A Taiwanese attempt to make a kamairi-cha (not actually sencha) and made according to the way a Japanese company made it decades ago. Layer the unusual cultivar onto this. Is it Camellia formosensis or a hybrid of it? Does this imply that the Japanese were trying to make kamairi-cha from C. formosensis?
It invites many questions!
Kamairi is not a shape but a process. Specifically, it is Japanese tea that is pan fried in the Chinese manner. Of course, we have seen pan fried Chinese teas in all sorts of shapes, from curls to needles.
I think it is very neat that there is someone in Taiwan making tea with the methods used decades ago by a Japanese company and using the same plants.
The grape note is fascinating. I’ve noticed C. formosensis having grape aromas but also animal scent. I am curious if this tea also has that animal scent of wild tea.
I think it is very neat that there is someone in Taiwan making tea with the methods used decades ago by a Japanese company and using the same plants.
The grape note is fascinating. I’ve noticed C. formosensis having grape aromas but also animal scent. I am curious if this tea also has that animal scent of wild tea.
I will say that it definitely does not taste like any chinese green tea that I've had. To me the flavor profile resembles Hojo's tsukigase zairai sencha but with: higher aromatics, longer aftertaste, less body, less bitter, more astringent, stronger qi, different umami profile, grape juice note.
Actually that makes it sound quite different - but it is more similar to that than other teas I've had.
Actually that makes it sound quite different - but it is more similar to that than other teas I've had.