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.
