David's Green Tea Private Reserve

Thanks to these damp tea leaves, I now understand the proper meaning of “vegetal.” I won’t confirm whether this is positive or negative…

Anyway. This tea is pretty tasty. Lately I’ve been trying to branch out from greens, because it was all I drank when I learned of proper tea, but it’s my fallback. So when I requested a free sample from Chicago Tea Garden, I went with the green. I can’t resist it.

Good choice, though. This steeps up practically clear and has a light taste. I tend to oversteep my greens, but it’s no big deal with this one. Despite the ridiculous amount of green tea I have in my cupboard, I would buy this one, too. It has a complex fragrance, like a hint or roasted nuts or something beneath the tea. It’s quite fun.

I’ve brewed this tea twice now with very different results. Thank you to PattiM for sharing your experience brewing with Chicago Tea Garden’s suggestions – this method produced a much softer brew that I enjoy and expect from a budset tea. Previously I brewed it for 2 minutes with more leaf and the notes of spice and smoke came out too much – the tea was overall too distinct and assertive for me, especially for a budset tea.

The color is a very pale yellow color similar to Silver Needle. The aroma is sweet and mild with straw and grass, as you might expect. The liquor is unique – gentle, sweet and uplifting feeling with hints of spice and even some smoke near the back of the mouth and in the sinus area during the finish. Delicious!

Slight green, mostly straw colored with a nutty aroma and taste. Very nice.

I followed the steeping/resteeping suggestions: 1 tsp./6oz. 1. 1 min.—very pale greeny-yellow tea. Sweet aroma with undernote of something more toasty, almost roasted spice. Light flavor with starchy finish. Wet leaves smelled like almond cookies. 2. 1 min—something in the aroma I can’t quite identify, cardamom-like maybe. Not overly vegetal but in a good way. 3. 1 1/2 min.—very light flavor with a glaze of sweet spice. 4. 1 3/4 min.—floral aroma!! Starchy with a hint of sweetness.

Overall, I found this one of the most interesting, complex green teas I have tried. I liked the spicy surprises and the fact that the vegetal notes were there but subdued to allow other elements to come forward. I want more of this tea!