Another sample from Sanne Tea – thanks so much! The leaves alone look like a unique green tea – it looks like a blend of many different types of green tea somehow. So many different shapes of leaf and colors. I used the suggested three grams of leaves for a mug, so about two teaspoons. The flavor makes for a fantastic green tea – so sweet, buttery, maybe hints of nuttiness. The second steep somehow maintains the sweet and buttery of the first cup but also completely different – more savory without being astringent… and I sipped it down much too fast! I could swear there were even marshmallow and coconut flavors added to the second steep! There are so many layers to this tea, I can’t begin to figure it out. I’m not sure I’ve tried many Taiwan green teas, but this is a good one. I can taste the quality and healthiness! Green tea can’t be any better than this.
I loved reading Mr. Chen’s story – the farmer of this tea – his commitment to only grow teas that he loves and his family taking shifts through the night prepare the teas properly. I’m sure many tea drinkers have thought about what it might be like to operate a tea farm but there must be so much work that goes into farming tea. Many Taiwanese tea farmers believe that their tea farms should have zero pesticide residue while USA rules still allow 5% pesticide residue. I can really taste in the flavor of the cup that Mr. Chen knows exactly what to do, especially reading this in the description on sannetea.com: “Mr. Chen only picks the well-grown tea leaves, which contain sufficient nutrition to generate exquisite flavors. After harvest, the fresh tea leaves were naturally withered under the sun and gentle breeze. Compared to blower withering, natural withering keeps the tea’s innate aroma. Next step, the stir is the key for making excellent green tea. Insufficient stirring would make tea smell moldy and fusty; over stirring would lose the freshness of green tea. Only an experienced tea master can adjust the amount of time and temperature during stirring, extracting the correct notes from the fresh leaves to impart a wonderful sweetness.” There is so much to learn about tea!
Steep #1 // 2 tsps // 27 minutes after boiling // 60 second steep
Steep #2 // 25 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
