Emperor's Clouds and Mist

Tea type
Green Tea
Ingredients
Green Tea
Flavors
Cut Grass, Butter, Seaweed, Sweet, Vegetal, Creamy, Grain, Nuts, Smooth, Spinach, Astringent, Bitter, Grass, Sweet, Warm Grass, Asparagus, Mineral, Green, Umami, Toasty, Wood, Wet Rocks, Smoked, Carrot, Peat Moss, Plants, Soap, Straw, Broccoli, Moss
Sold in
Loose Leaf, Sachet
Caffeine
Low
Certification
Fair Trade
Edit tea info Last updated by johnquix
Average preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 3 g 14 oz / 411 ml

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71 Tasting Notes View all

From Teavana

Praised as ‘green gold’ for centuries, this smooth green tea with a lingering aftertaste was a favorite amongst Chinese Emperors for many dynasties. One bud and two leaves are handpicked at 3,500 feet elevation where the tea trees are always shrouded in clouds and mist. This pure green tea makes an excellent cup anytime of the day.

About Teavana View company

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71 Tasting Notes

82
191 tasting notes

It has been nearly a month since I drank this one. Other than this morning’s Copper Knot Hongcha, this has shaped up to be a green tea sort of a day. Maybe I was in need of more calming vibes than my more typical day of mostly black teas could provide.

EC&M is a standard green, really quite lovely. I had it extra strong, with a three minute steep (Teavana recommends one minute) for a full bodied but not bitter brew. Just what I was looking for.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec
chadao

You give this tea the highest possible rating? Do you work for Teavana or something, or is your palate too naive to recognize a truly good green tea?

SimplyJenW

@chadao The worst kind of tea snobbery is the rude kind.

chadao

I apologize to both of you for the brutality of my comments. It was not respectful, nor was it becoming of a true tea fanatic. I hope you might forgive me for my words.

@Camiah: let me rephrase my disagreement with your rating. The only reason that I cannot give this tea anywhere near a 100 is because it tastes like an everyday green tea. At 15 dollars for 2oz, it is just not worth it for me. However, to each their own, and I hope you enjoy your tea ventures from here on out.

SimplyJenW

@chadao Perhaps this is the best green tea she has ever tasted and she has perfected the brew time for her palate. You cannot assume that everyone on Steepster has access to the finest teas on earth at the most favorable price. Sometimes what is local and easily obtainable is perfection.

chadao

@Cheryl. Fair accusation. No, I don’t work for Seven Cups, but I will admit, I do have a bias toward this company that introduced me to the finest Chinese teas in the world. I will also admit that I have something against Teavana. It seems to me that this company thrives upon selling low quality tea at ridiculously marked up prices, assuming the acceptance of a customer who knows now better, thus surviving on lies and duplicity. Once again, I will ask forgiveness for the harsh words in my first comment. However, I will not ask forgiveness for championing my opinions, which is something that we are all entitled to, and something that I will not rob anyone of (this does not mean that I will not explain why I disagree with other peoples’ opinions).

Again, though, you make a valid point of suspecting my ratings. I have only been on this site for two days.

chadao

I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was fighting with someone on here. I simply thought that I was respectfully disagreeing with the thoughts and opinions of others, regardless of my own naivite. Continuing this civil discussion…. I once again will state that I neither work for nor own Seven Cups. I work for a much larger, publicly owned tea corporation, essentially as a retail slave. I love my job, as weird as that sounds. I know the owner of Seven Cups, and she is the only certified Chinese Tea master to own a tea shop in the States. Naturally, her products support her certifications. She spends 3-4 months on Chinese tea farms, selecting only the best teas to bring home to us silly Americans :)

Anyway, Cheryl, your posts indicate that you know something about tea. Could you possibly recommend me to some teas and companies that I might enjoy, so that I could expand my palate?

SimplyJenW

Hi Cheryl! Those with an agenda usually show their true colors right away.
Personally, I love being a silly American. It shows me who is worthy of my business by still treating me with respect, and who is worthy of my respect.
@chadoa I am sure you have plenty of places to buy tea without a recommendation from me.

Camiah

So I suppose it is my turn to weigh in on this. Chadao, your original comment was condescending and rude, and an extremely unfortunate choice of words if you really wanted to know the reasoning behind my rating, the evolution and development of my tastes, and my feelings about Teavana. A better choice of words might have actually stimulated an interesting discussion, that now, I can guarantee you, will never happen. I accept your apology, and would simply recommend that in future comments (to me or anyone else) you have a modicum of class and check your condescension at the door.

Camiah

Hi Cheryl! It was actually quite interesting to come home this afternoon and rubberneck the thread. I didn’t get a chance to respond when I got up this morning, and it did warm my heart to see some response from others. I was rather gobsmacked when I saw the original comment.

Camiah

Cheryl, I forgot to ask, what did you order from Teavivre? I loved the samples I got from them and quickly drinking down all my black tea so I can get the Keemun and Yunnan Golden tip. I had a little too much fun tea buying at the beginning of the year/end of last year and need to use up what I have before I get more.

SimplyJenW

Nice order, Cheryl. I am getting my third order from there soon….. yes, it is a sickness, that ordering of tea……

Hi Camiah. Sorry to start the trainwreck today, but nothing burns me up more than people who think only their opinion is the right one…..such narrow-mindedness…… (And I would have loved the discussion on how you came to love this tea!)

chadao

@Camiah Thank you for your pardon. I hope that I can continue conversing with you on a more civilized level. On another note, I tried this tea yesterday, and I have to say it was better than the last time I tried it. It was very refreshing on this hot spring day in CO, and I can see why you like it so much!

chadao

@ SimplyJenW I like your input about being a silly American. As to agendas, who does not have an agenda? Who on earth can live a fulfilled life with out an agenda, or as I like to call it, purpose? Of course I will show my true colors from the get go, this is who I am and I am proud of it. I only hope that by joining this blog, I might be able to refine my agendas so that they are more in line with truth, and I thank you for helping me toward this goal.

chadao

I know that Cheryl is done talking to me, but I have to clarify one thing for everyone. I have done my own googling, and I see no connection between Seven Cups and ebay’s China Cha Dao. Before I get suspicious of a fellow steepster member’s veracity, I wonder if someone can show me how these two companies are connected.

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81
1353 tasting notes

I have jumped back into the green teas that Autumn_Aelwyd sent me, and when I had a look at the Chinese ones, I thought this one appealed to me more today. I think it’s the name. It’s that sort of name that pokes at the imagination. I expect it probably refers to the mountain on which the leaves are grown, but in my head it makes me expect something light and almost flimsy. Like mist and clouds, you know?

Before I began making the first cup, I had a bit of a sniff at the dry leaves. They smelled pretty much like I expected them to. Kind of grassy and not really anything else, but there was something about this specific nuance of grassy that I found very attractive. Maybe it’s the mood I’m in today that is specifically receptive to green tea smell or maybe it just has that extra quality. Who can tell?

Feeling very encouraged, I made the first cup. I tried to give it 20 seconds, but it probably turned out to be more like 40, because the first thing that happened when I tried to pour was me getting to use some time on unclogging the spout. I hadn’t even had more than a few drops out of it at that point, so the initial timing was pretty busted. (This is why I don’t usually specify how long I steep these short ones. It’s never even remotely accurate anyway.)

I got it unclogged in the end and poured my cup. And then I was disheartened because it had that thick, heavy aroma like the first steep of Dragonwell. A bit greasy and reminding me of cat breath. You may recall, I was not particularly fond of that first Dragonwell steep, but that it improved for me a lot already on the second one. This one has a lot of that same quality to it, although not as strongly.

The flavour, thankfully, is not that thick and greasy. If we think back to that Dragonwell again, I would describe this as an even mix between that first and second steep. It does have that thickness and heaviness to it, but there is a strong note of something with a little more bite. Green asparagus, steamed just so springs to mind. Slightly stringy stems and all.

Well that was rather nice, so let’s proceed right away!

Second steep was also a little inaccurate on the timing, first because I had managed to misplace my cup and second because this is one spout-clogging tea. This time the aroma has lost that greasy heavy note again. The aroma is rather vague now, but there are notes of floral sweetness in there. Nectar-y, I would say, because it’s not that dusty, perfume-y sort of floral.

Unfortunately all that dusty floralness is to be found in the flavour, complete with a funky after-taste. I think this might be what people mean with a mineral note. It does taste a bit chalky. Can’t say I’m too pleased with that. Where did my steamed asparagus go?

Strangely, I did have a hunch that I should increase the steep time some for this round, but I decided against it because it seemed so unnecessarily early to do it on the second steep already when I didn’t even have any specific reason for doing so. Now I think I probably should have gone with the hunch.

I liked the first steep a lot better than this one, so let’s just skip it and go straight to the third with a better steep time.

I gave the steeping time a good whack upwards for the third round, nearly doubling it. It’s still quite floral and dusty in flavour and with that chalky note in the background, but I’ve got the steamed asparagus note back again. It’s sort of keeping to itself discreetly, but it’s definitely there.

Considering the floral dust flavour and the chalkyness, I don’t think I’m going to get anything more useful out of this one. I wasn’t too fond of the second or third steep, but I found I rather enjoyed the first one. Enjoying the first steep is, to me, far more important than enjoying the others, so I’m going to rate it based primarily on the first steep.

With this in mind, I think is one I should also try Western style as well, even though I seem to be enjoying green more when done in multiple short steeps.

Autumn Hearth

I do have to agree with the chalky. This tea has been somewhat hit or miss for me. Never out right bad mind you, but there have been a couple times where it had these really amazing berry notes that at other times seem impossible to replicate. I think I’ve appreciated it more with comparing it to others that have different qualities, which I know doesn’t help for day to day drinking. But it does remind me the most of the Laoshans which I personally like.

Angrboda

I’m glad you agree about the chalk. I’ve been pondering that mineral note that others have mentioned for the longest time, not understanding what they meant. I suddenly got it today.

I had a look at your post about it afterwards and saw you mentioned pomegranate. I didn’t find anything like that, but now I hope I do. :D It sounds like it’s some sort of sweet spot one has to find.

I think you included a Laoshan in the package. And Spoonvonstrup sent me some recently as well from a different picking. I should probably have those next.

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92
892 tasting notes

I steeped this with some dried chrysanthemum flowers. It gave it a nice, sweet floral note.

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336 tasting notes

So I went to the gas station while I was on break to get some form of coffeenated beverage to take back to work for the closing shift, and I decided on the cold Starbucks mocha frappucinos that you get in the glass bottles, and there was a little bottle and a big bottle, and I was thinking “Get the small one, you don’t need that much coffee,” but then I was like “No get the big one, that way you can save part of it for later,” and then I drank the whole damn thing in the span of two and a half hours in the evening.

I.

Am.

WIRED.

And I’m opening tomorrow. siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh

So tonight’s tea had to not be black. I can’t remember how this wound up in my collection. I think it was from the bachelorette party from two years ago. The one wedding I have ever been in or at, the bride’s bachelorette party was a tea party, and she provided enough different kinds of tea that each bridesmaid got to take home a tea of her choice, and somehow or another I wound up with this one. I think. Or I may have come home with it after the last time I visited them. I don’t know. One way or another, I was organizing my tea shelf, picked up the big honkin tin that I thought was empty and went, “Wait – there’s tea in here. Well then.”

I did not account for the oldness of the tea in the leafing. The leaves are pretty; small, rolled, green, very fine. I’m not getting a ton of flavor. It tastes… grassy. Fresh and grassy. With that slightly weird burnt-y edge, I probably overdid it a bit. I’m not a fan of grassy.

I’ll have to give this a more considerate go before I give it a final rating or a number.

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92
49 tasting notes

Currently enjoying a cup of this right now.

First of all, I find the loose leaves beautiful. The aroma of the leaf itself, and the steeped water is also wonderful. So smooth and with an earthy, humid, sweet smell. I imagine its exactly what it would smell like high up on the misty mountains where it was grown.

The flavour is similar to the smell, smooth and sweet, not at all bitter. The only downfall is how dainty the taste it. I really have to savour it to find that wonderful taste. Next time I have this tea I will use more tea leaves and hopefully the aromas will come out a bit better.

Overall, despite how weak the taste is, I am pretty happy with this tea. I am normally a fan of Japanese greens, not Chinese, so it’s nice that I’ve found a chinese tea to change things up a bit if I feel like something other than Gyokuro.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Michelle

I love this tea!

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79
300 tasting notes

This is the only tea in the Tea Prosperity Collection that is currently available on Teavana’s wall and I have drank it at work countless times over the summer, though Gyokuro has become my go to green in the last six months.  It’s lovely curly little leaves smell super sweet and a mix between veg and floral candy.  

The first sip of this disappoints me, I feel it’s a tea that needs to sit to develop its sweetness and in subsequent steeps there is some slight smoke, otherwise it’s a tad astringent.  Second cup smells more fragrant, floral, but I can’t pin point it.  There’s something chalky here and now I know why I preferred this iced with Taracco Ruby Orange over the summer or hot with Silver Needle.  After the third steep I think I’ll move on to the Yunnan Emerald Buds.

Update 5/5/2012: this tea really surprised me today with a wonderful fruity aroma in the brewed leaves and the first cup that I have decided reminds me of POM (pomegranate juice). Quite nice, sweet and vegetal with just a hint of fruit. Three steeps at 15-30 sec each.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 0 min, 45 sec

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89
20 tasting notes

What a wonderful, wonderful green tea! In my third installment of ‘Drink Teavana’s Tea of the Week’ I went and tried this today after running an errand. The leaves were nice. This one is a pure tea with nothing but the tea so help you gods of tea. The scent was a bit smokey with a lovely sweet undercurrent to the aroma.

The first sip was just lovely. E’sC&M has a flavor is smooth the aftertaste is a flavor I have a hard time describing with words? It sounds stupid to say, ‘It tastes like green tea’ because, well, DUH, it IS a green tea Nerdette! So can I say that a flavor is Green? This is the first non-flavored tea that I’ve had in a while and so accurately reviewing its taste is just so difficult. The mouth feel is also very good. The tea goes down buttery smooth and just makes my eyes cross!

I’m not sure if anyone else likes to eat things while drinking a hot tea, but I had some cinnamon flavored pretzels and I found it to compliment the lovely, light golden tea perfectly. Basically…if you like a good green tea, I can’t imagine you not liking this one.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 30 sec

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82
255 tasting notes

This was one of the few personal favorites I had been advised to try by Laura at Teavana’s Park Royal North location, as I had pointed out their Gyokuro Imperial green tea. She had said that most do not like the strong grassy flavor of Gyokuro Imperial and mentioned Emperor’s Clouds and Mist.

As she described Emperor’s Clouds and Mist, I had mentioned Darjeeling green tea being similar, which surprised her as she didn’t know that existed.

And, that is exactly what this tea reminded me of, was DarjeelingTeaXpress’ 2011 Darjeeling Autumn Flush Puttabong Green Tea.

The leaves are beautifully and tightly rolled, with light to deep green colors. The scent is light and soft, very smooth and sweetly earthy.

Steeping gives a very light greenish white liquor, with a light and delicate grassy aroma.

The flavor is a very smooth earthy taste, very bright and delicate. There is very little astringency, more a slight freshness in the aftertaste.

It is surprising how overall delicate this green tea is, but it is not surprising how overall delicious and enjoyable it is as well. Because of it’s delicacy, I can see myself drinking this at any time of the day.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 0 sec

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74
38 tasting notes

With a vegetal and, believe it or not, white chocolate scent, this tea surely pleased the palate. A very nice a bright grassiness with a slight umami quality. Just a bit bitter on the ending notes near the back of the throat. A classic, great quality green tea!

20 down – 480 to go!

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec

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85
8 tasting notes

First cup last night was exquisite! Love this green tea although I honestly have really only had bagged green tea in the past.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 0 sec

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