Ancient Emerald Lily

I’m a bit at loose ends tonight because my evening activity, a hockey game, doesn’t start until 9pm central. So I’m waiting and kind of being unproductive. So I thought I’d do something semi-productive and try a new tea!

Such pretty pretty leaves. Curly and colorful and pretty. I’m a little stuffy so I’m not getting much of anything off the dry leaves, but as soon as I poured hot water over them, I got a poof of sweet greeness. It reminds me a bit of Jade Cloud, but sweeter.

Oh but the taste. It’s a bit like Jade Cloud – a lot of the same tastes, but tweaked and rebalanced until this is so much better. It’s sweet and there is no salty/briny taste at all. And the aftertaste has a light nutty flavor. Not faint nutty, but a lighter colored/tasting nut.

So yeah, overall this tea is very similar to Jade Cloud. But better. Mmm.

When I got home, I was greeted by a package from Rishi on the doorstep. If only all things in life could be timed so perfectly.

I didn’t even bother to take my bags to my room. I dropped them in the kitchen, began to heat a kettle, and sliced open the box. I pretended to ponder over which package to open first, but it really wasn’t a choice. I had read too many favorable logs of this tea to not try it first.

Oh my god.

No, hang on, wait for it…

OH. MY. GOD.

Can we talk about the name for a second? When tea names use words that I am familiar with [unlike things like genmaicha or sencha which previously had no place in my scope of knowledge] they tend to conjure up images that the tea itself rarely lives up to.

I read something like Ancient Emerald Lily, and here’s what comes to mind. Trees that have been around longer than any people I know, which grow so high that you can’t see where they end. The unseen sun makes it presence known by rays of light which pierce through the foliage. Small particles of dust and earth shift and float aimlessly in and out of the columns of sunshine, swirling occasionally when swept into in an eddy of wind. The floor is littered with stones and roots. Moss blankets patches of ground, and the occasional flower, striking against the palette of greens, greys, and browns, stretches towards the light. The forest breathes and swells. Quiet sounds echo through consciousness.

My mother always told me that I had an overactive imagination.

But therein lies my problem. These are the things that I think about, and how can a tea compare? This is the closest that a tea has come to keeping pace with my brain when it goes into overdrive. The taste is clean and fresh, with a hint of something roasted or toasted or some other -oasted type adjective [the roasted aspect is also apparent in the scent]. It has a sweet finish. Not sweet like sugar, or sweet like honey. It’s a more subtle sweetness, like honeysuckle, or when you bite into a particularly excellent ear of corn.

The tea leaves themselves, wet or dry, do not portray any of the aforementioned qualities. To me, they smell mainly vegetal, with a sweetness that’s closer to brown sugar – very similar to most other green teas I’ve had. But the taste is rather singular. It almost reads like a white tea.

The description on the bag eludes to wild orchid and toasted chesnut. I don’t know what orchid is supposed to taste like [are they even edible?] and while I’ve seen many an orchid I’m not exactly sure what they smell like either. Nor have I ever had a chesnut, roasted over an open fire or otherwise, but if they’re anything like what I’m pulling out of this tea that’s going to have to change this season.

In a sentence – Rishi Tea Win.

Oops, got distracted and forgot about this one for a while! Apparently it can take a 7.5 min infusion though, because it’s not astringent or bitter, just tasty. I’m getting a vegetal green tea taste with hints of the sweet rock sugar-like flavours I’ve tasted in dragonwell. It does almost taste a touch strong (I did use about 2-2.5 tsp of leaf, since it’s pretty fluffy), but I am not very surprised…

It’s definitely good, and a tea I’d happily drink again, but it’s not special enough for me to go out and purchase it.

Thanks for the sample of this one, Alphakitty!

My cat like to sleep on a hay bale in my neighbor’s lawn, and he always comes home smelling of sweet, fresh hay. It’s such a nice smell, and one I associate with warmer weather. And it’s exactly what I smelled once I poured this tea into a mug! Hay, a bit of fresh-cut grass, a hint of floral orchid. They really ought to make perfume that smells like specific teas.

There’s no actual hay in the taste (which I suppose is a good thing) though I am getting a tiny bit of grassiness. It’s mostly nutty and floral-tasting, with hints of hazelnut (or maybe pine nut, it’s very faint) and orchid. It’s a very clean, crisp tea. For some reason it makes me think of spring in a cup!

The scent of the dry leaf is comforting and inviting, hay and dried grass not unlike many white teas. The smell of the leaf while brewing is even more promising, the hay is still there along with a nutty and buttery scent, and I didn’t know it was possible but I’m actually smelling sweetness, and a little bit of a floral scent like faint and fleeting traces of jasmine.

I should also mention that the leaves of this tea are gorgeous. The taste is more complex than expected, first and foremost it’s nutty, but there is also quite a floral taste and a sweetness reminding me of a green oolong, and it finishes with a mild buttery-smooth flavor.

This is a very nice, soothing cup.

Sipdown!

Erm… I’m 90% sure that this came from Rachel, but it was so long ago who knows. If it was someone else, I’m sorry!

Pale kind of spinachy-flavor with a little bit of nuttiness. It’s good. I like it. Not in love, but I’m on my second steeping, so that counts for something :)

What beautiful leaves: long and fluffy with colors that vary from white to pale green to olive green and smelling of hay! When dunked in water they develop a light floral fragrance, almost an orchid but lighter and sweeter. There is a very, very slight vegetal but nothing objectionable. The taste is true to the fragrance with the addition of the very slightest nutty note. It is not a sweet green tea, which surprised me but it is quite nice.

Much thanks to takgoti for this wonderful tea!

Loose

Appearance: large, bicolored curled leaf, green tones
Aroma when Dry: sweet, creamy nutty, herby, fuzzy, hints of floral notes
After water is first poured: nutty, buttery, sweet, floral, cream
At end of steep: buttered seaweed
Tea liquor:
At end of steep: light spring green
Staple? Yes
Preferred time of day: Any
Taste:
At first?: bodied buttery grass notes with salt close
As it cools?: salt notes mellow,chestnut and other nutty notes surface
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, buttery, vegital notes, sprinkled in sea salt. slight grass astringency on close as it cools

Second Steep (5 min)
Taste: sea veggie broth

I found this at Whole Foods the other weekend, and remembered it was on my shopping list. It’s a little more tannic than I expected – and I even steeped it a shorter amount of time than they reccomended. I think I will pick more up and play with the parameters because I’m not really liking this cuppa as much as I hoped to.

I figured that if I like Yunnan’s so much, why not find a green Yunnan. The Japanese greens I tried were a bust except for one. Green is new to me, but I actually like this one. Out of the tin this one smells like hay to me. Steeped it takes on a different persona. I get a slightly nutty taste with floral notes. The tea has a sweetness to it and I get the smell or orchids as it cools. I have some Indian greens coming next week so I hope I can find more that I like.

takgoti sent me this tea, even though I had bought a canister of it for myself! So I figured I’d try her batch first, since it’s “older” than mine.

Yay! Anyway, the dry leaf is absolutely gorgeous. Green and silvery and long and wiry. The dry leaves have a sweet leafy smell. Like sweet hay, in a wonderful way. Not a barn-y, old way.

Anyway, I dumped a tablespoon of this into my pot, and let the steeping begin! The leaves unfurl very prettily, expanding. They’re all completely full leaves, gorgeous and green. I couldn’t wait for the pour. The tea itself smells absolutely delicious, let me tell you. Buttery and a bit of nice vegetal. Like buttered peas, maybe? A bit floral too.

I actually liked this tea a lot better as my cup cooled. On first sip, when it was pretty hot, the flavors didn’t come out as much, and the slight vegetal notes were a bit strong. But as the cup cooled… mmmm. The buttery notes came out as an aftertaste, delicious and creamy. A bit like buttered corn on the cob, maybe, but it’s very subtle. With more of a veggie taste than a white tea.

The upfront of the flavors are highly complex. I doubt I can even begin to put them into words properly. There’s definitely a floral note. It’s very light. There’s also faint nuttiness if I swish the tea around my mouth. Maybe that’s the chestnut? Then there’s the lingering sweetness on the palate, which makes you almost want to eat your tongue. Yes, that sounded bizarre.

The only complaint that I have is that it’s a tad bit astringent. Not anything overwhelming, but there is a bit of dryness to the tongue that comes with each sip. I found that I liked taking breaks between series of sips to almost “refresh” my palate.

But boy, is this tea pretty damned complex. In a wonderful way. It boggles my mind that the tea plants these leaves and buds are harvested from are ancient, and still producing wonderful and delicious teas such as this.

Absolutely NOM NOM NOM. Thank you, takkerz, for sending me this! So yummy!

I received this from Mel in a swap, thanks!
This is very very good; honey-sweet and has a nice flowery taste. It left a strong aftertaste and made you want to just keep taking sips. It was gone before I knew it!

The 2nd and 3rd steeps were still somewhat flowery, but lost a noticeable amount of flavor compared to the first, so I couldn’t give it a 90 or more. I would consider buying this one at some point.

I just placed an order with Rishi (last day for 20% off with their mother’s day code!) So I’m trying to finish off some of my last round from them. I was looking forward to this one, but tragically didn’t rinse my filter well enough after washing it, so lost a whole mug to soap :(

More rinsing and a fresh batch of leaves makes a better cup, but now I’m paranoid and keep thinking I taste soap. Arg! It is being a little bitter, but I probably just used too much leaf…

I finally opened my tin of this this week. I bought this on a whim at Whole Foods.

I love the flavor when it cools down for 5 minutes, that’s perfection. I love the aftertaste. It’s an interesting taste, can’t really compare it to another green tea though it fits the genre. I get a roasted corn aftertaste, too. Interesting and lovely. Worth a try, for sure.

An excellent light, nutty and mellow green tea that has more aroma and nuance than outright flavor. Do not drink at work or when otherwise occupied; you’ll need to focus to really appreciate this one’s lightness.

I haven’t developed the palate or vocabulary to describe green teas, so I’ll defer to others’ descriptions here. The leaves definitely smell like hay (in a nice nature way, not in a way that conjures up images of horses and petting zoos). I keep wondering if I’ve under steeped because the color is so light, almost like white tea, and the flavor is slightly stronger than water. But I steeped for the recommended 6 minutes and I think I even used more leaves than recommended. So…hmmm…I’m undecided on this. I think I like it, but its not anything I’m going to crave in the future.

The first time I had this tea it was iced, and I was shocked by how buttery it is. It manages to be incredibly creamy, even though it’s also super light.

Hot it is very ‘typical green’-tasting, but angelic. It manages to be well-rounded without being heavy or full-bodied. Later steepings bring out more back-of-tongue richness, almost wheat-like. It is well balanced but not bland or equivocating…as someone else said, it is similar to Jade Cloud, but with more personality. It’s an “every day” tea without being…everyday.

Hmm, I actually quite like this one. I’m not really into green teas, but the name “emerald lily” and the description of this one really caught my eye. With the big, long, curly leaves, I was concerned I didn’t have enough leaf – but now I’m wondering if I’ve been preparing some other greens too strong? I have some Dragonwell that sort of freaked me out with the super strong fruit and veggie flavors, but maybe it was just too much leaf!

Anyhow, this is subtle and lovely with a mild fruity and flowery flavor. I’m not sure that I’m getting toasted pine nut..but..maybe. :)

I ran out of green tea (gasp) and grabbed this at Whole Foods to hold me over. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. It was floral and nutty at the same time. I drank a whole testubin full :)

As the leaves are steeping, the aroma reminds me of fresh, steamed corn on the cob. I’m getting a little bit of chestnut as well, and taste-wise, the touch of lightly-sweet flowers is just plain awesome.