Green Twirl

I acquired this little puppy through my membership to the Canton Tea Club. I knew that wasn’t a wasted effort. The first tea write out of the starting gate was a Nilgiri green! Nothin’ excites me more than notching off a new type of tea from a region I didn’t did this certain type.

Upon opening the bag, I was greeted by a really unusual scent – salty-sweet seaweed. It reminded me of those Japanese seaweed snacks one can pick up at an Asian mart. The leaves were huge – not the type I usually associate with Indian teas, probably large leaf assamica.

Taste-wise, it was really peculiar – somewhere between a Korean daejak, a Darjeeling green, and a Mao Feng…but more delicate. It easily lasted two infusions, and did quite a wake-up.

For more information on it, read Jane Pettigrew’s blog here: http://www.cantonteaco.com/blog/2012/10/week-1-green-twirl/

This is from week 1 of the Canton Tea Club which arrived this morning. I am not that familiar with Indian green’s so this will be a nice treat from the norm.

The tea itself is in small twisted pieces that smell very mature and sort of swampy or pondy if you will. They are also bright green and look very fresh and fun.

Brewed this takes on a wonderful yellow colour which still gives off a strong and potent swamp/pond fragrance.
The flavour is also the same as the smell, I know I have said swampy a lot so far but it truly is. It’s green, grassy, strong, extremely floral in taste and also has a thick natural sweetness.

I know that what I have described of this may not sound like a nice cup of tea but it is actually rather pleasant. It has character and uniqueness. The more I drink the more I can imagine being in a large meadow and having the ability to taste everything that I could smell there.
I might even be so bold as to announce this sort of tea the green equivalent to black tea’s Lapsang Souchong purely for their uniqueness and interesting aroma’s. It’s also going to be something that you either love or hate.

Great for special occasions and to feel uplifted by something completely different. I must admit that the taste has to grow on you but once it does it makes you smile. :)