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Last sample from Goldfish Tea was this Yellow Mountain Mao Feng. Been brewing it this morning gongfu style. The first cup was okay, but then it quickly grew on me with the second and third cups. I’m still drinking it as I write, and have probably reached the six short steeping now. I’m new to Mao Feng tea; this may be the first time I’ve tried one. Very light and mellow for a green tea, with no sharp edges whatsoever. Aroma, taste and mouth-feel of this one are all reliably pleasant and calming. What can I liken the taste to? . . . Hay comes to mind, but I’ve never really tasted hay and I imagine it’s probably not nearly as good as this. I think if the smell of hay could be translated into a flavor, it would be close. Sorry for putting some synesthesia in the description, but I’m otherwise at a bit of a loss. It’s not grassy or vegetal in the ways that other green teas are. In any case, I quite like it.

For me, it is in the aftertaste that this tea really shines. It goes into a lovely cooling slow-fade, which lasts for >5 minutes, and which I can more precisely associate with the flavor of good fresh-sliced cucumber. This is my favorite part of the tea; everything preceding is a bonus. Feels like the damp cool dew of an early spring morning is condensing on a grassy plain inside me. Quite nice!

I might rate it higher, but I’ve yet to gain perspective on whether there are finer representatives of Mao Feng out there. I suspect that indeed there are, and I’ll be curious to try them when the opportunity arises.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 0 min, 15 sec

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Tea drinking, tango dancing, rock climbing, and reading are my main activities of interest.

Currently obsessed with Fenghuang Dancong Oolongs and Wuyi Yan Cha. My fascination with Pu’er is steadily growing, and I imagine it will take over one of these days.

I typically don’t feel ready to say anything conclusive about a tea (and thus, say nothing) until I’ve tried it three or four times, which helps prevent both false positives and false negatives, and offers a more comprehensive sense of a tea’s dimension and character.

As of 01/12/2012, I’ve accepted full-time employment as the Business Development Manager at Verdant Tea. From that date forward I’ve decided to stop rating teas on Steepster due to my professional stake in the tea business. I have no interest in manipulating the rating system in our favor or against other tea businesses. All my ratings on Steepster were made before my employment with Verdant Tea, and reflect nothing more than my personal opinions as a tea drinker.

I want to continue writing tasting notes without ratings from time to time, for both our teas and teas that I enjoy from other businesses; but as my life has now become much more busy, my activity on Steepster will be lessened. And in any case, my future contributions here will have to be made on my personal time.

Location

Minneapolis, MN, USA

Website

http://verdanttea.com

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