2011 Taimu Shan Snow Sprout Xue Ya Tea by Tea Trekker

2011 Taimu Shan Snow Sprout Xue Ya

Taimu Shan Snow Sprout is a beautiful sword-shaped spring bud tea, unusual in that it is a whole-bud green tea made from the buds of tea bushes that were historically reserved for white tea production. A proprietary varietal tea bush that was hybridized in the 1950’s for white tea production, the mother bushes for those plantings have been since been transplanted to gardens that specialize in green tea manufacture. The leaf for this tea descends directly from those mother bushes.

Taimu Shan is a world-famous mountain range for tea production. Near Fuding City in Fujian Province in eastern China ( the heart of Yin Zhen white tea production ) the tea bush cultivars planted here are lush and produce an generous quantity of large, long buds.

Taimu Shan Snow Sprout is made only in the early spring ( pre-Qing Ming ) in extremely small quantities. We are very fortunate to have this tea this season.

1 Tasting Note

SimpliciTEA

_{Backlogging and based almost entirely on a few notes}

Experience buying from Tea Trekker http://steepster.com/places/2820-tea-trekker-online-northampton-massachusetts

I got this as a free sample with an order from Tea Trekker in the spring of 2011.

This was a bud-only fresh spring green tea. The leaf was “dark green” while the wet leaf was “bright green!” I started a little cooler and shorter than my standard green tea steeping parameters, and I got four ‘good tasting’ steepings, and one more ‘decent tasting’ steeping out of it (for a total of five). “Tasty, vegetal.” That’s all the notes I have. I do remember being impressed with the freshness of the flavor and leaf (it was one of the first spring green teas I have ever tried), and at the vibrancy of the leaf.

It was originally $20 / 4 OZ, but now it’s one sale for $12 / 4 OZ either way, that seems to be a good price for a bud-only green tea.

Since I remember very little about it (and as it was one of my first spring green teas), I’m leaving off the rating.

2012-06-18 21:41:41 -0400

165 °F / 73 °C

0 min 45 sec

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