Xin Yang Mao Jian Green Tea

Thank you Angel for this sample. :)

Since I have been on a green tea bender this appeals to me very much and it’s another sample for me to drink up.

In raw form the leaves are very thin, long, curly and dark green. They have a beautiful thick, vegetal scent much like kale mixed with peony and a dash of grass. Similar to Bi Luo Chun.

Being steeped in my Gongfu teapot three times for 1 minute, 2 minutes and 3 minutes.

Once steeped this is yellow in colour and has a sweet floral and spinach aroma.

In flavour this is floral, grassy, thick, kelpy, sweet and very vegetal. It’s a little astringent and perfume like but now the leaves have been woken up it should vanish over the next steeps.

Yes the second steep is smoother and a little sweeter. Very nice :)

Overall it’s fresh and good quality, well worth a try for strong green tea lovers.

I was thinking of re stocking Bi Luo Chun but this is a very close competitor. :)

Very good green tea, slightly vegetal very little astringency that was very it was also slightly smokey but very pleasant and refreshing, This would be a tea that I would serve to friends who ask for a good Green tea.

_{Backlogging, and based entirely on my notes}

Experience buying from Teavivre http://steepster.com/places/2857-teavivre-online—

Age of leaf/Date of brewing: advertised as spring 2011; received November 2011, brewed up days later (11/14/2011).

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: small wiry leaves and buds; smells fresh, slightly smoky.

Brewing guidelines_: loose in glass six-cup Bodum teapot; stevia added; two complete steeping sessions < first / second >
……….1st: 170/180, 1’
……….2nd: 175/175. 1.5
……….3rd: 180/185, 2’
……….4th: 185/< not attempted >, 2.5

Color and aroma of tea liquor: very light green color, very mild vegetal aroma.

Flavor of tea liquor: Mild, but good vegetal green tea taste, with mild smoky undertones; flavor held up well through three steepings: “3rd (steeping): surprisingly tasty!” < this note applied to the second steeping session, steeped at generally higher temperatures than the first >; slight astringency in third cup < from the first steeping session >.

Appearance and aroma of wet leaf: some decent-looking whole leaves, with a number of buds and a few bud sets, yet there were more torn leaves that could be accounted for due to handling; fresh, vegetal aroma which was stronger than the aroma of the liquor itself.

Value: Pretty good as compared with other fresh green teas in its price range: the current price (as of 6/1/12) for the 2012 harvested tea is $11.50 / 100g (3.5oz).

Overall: This review is based entirely on my notes, and I didn’t write much beyond what I have already provided above other than, “A decent tea for the price”. I also noted that my wife preferred this tea when hot (I have personally found that some green teas taste a little better when cooled a bit). I will be trying a sample of the 2012 lot soon, so I am interested to see if there will be any notable differences.

Backlogging from last month.

Thank you Teavivre for this sample.

The dry leaves are dark green, long and thing, and smell like dried out seaweed…not the nasty smelling stuff you find on the beach, more like the kind you use for making sushi. The infusion smells of asparagus lightly cooked in salt and butter.

The taste reflects the smell of the infusion: steamed asparagus coated lightly in salt and butter. There are some notes of corn bread with a sweetish aftertaste. This tea I found to be a bit more bold than most green teas I drink yet it contained no bitterness. Thank you Teavivre for letting me try this yummy green tea!

Another green tea provided by Teavivre. Like I’ve mentioned before, I feel like this is part of a green tea education I’ve needed for a while.

The leaves are very dark green and rolled very thin. Like dried moss. They’re thinner and more delicate in texture than any tea I’ve ever had. They became a brilliant spinach green when brewed, though the tea itself was very lightly colored. A faint yellowy green. It smells like the sea and vegetables and honey all at once.

The taste reminds me a little of nori, but my senses are not very refined for this sort of thing. I’m also reminded of okra for some reason. Something about it just makes me think of summer and fresh veggies from my grandparents’ garden. Despite the short steep time, this tea is very flavorful. I think I’m starting to develop a liking for green tea.

Before I start on my new samples, I knew I completely forgot this one from the last round. Thank you for all the samples once again, Teavivre!

I’m supposed to be in class right now but I just feel sick and I don’t know why. It probably more has to do with the weather…while I appreciate getting rain it’s just so annoying when it’s just overcast for days. At least more lilies have bloomed since yesterday

This tea is really pretty to look at, with its thin leaves. It has a bit of a smoky, spicy scent to it.

Brewed for 90 seconds for the first steep. This has everything. Seaweed, veggies, sweetness, smokiness. I’m thinking I need to at least try asparagus, because all these teas I like that have the flavor according to other notes, I’d like to confirm that with my own taste buds and that’s kind of hard when you don’t eat the stuff. Of course I am probably like a month too late for any, but if that’s what the taste is here, I’m willing to try. I mean, I drank a foie gras milkshake last week just to find out what it tastes like. Probably not the best way to find out (you know, those weeks in France would have been a better time) but still I had to try it once.

I can’t figure out if I want to describe the last note as smoky or spicy because it’s like it changes with each sip. It’s not very smoky, or very spicy, almost just like a roasted mild pepper.

I prefer sweeter greens most of the time, but right now I really could go for a savory, vegetal one like this. I will give it another steep soon.

The chores are done, so it’s time to relax with a wonderful cup of green tea! I carefully cut open the silver package and discovered very thin, very dark leaves with a lovely aroma of spinach. The leaves are such a dark green that they look black. It reminds me of dried black moss, if such a thing exists, but with a much more appealing bouquet of aromas I’m sure.

I think I’m going to go for several steeps with this one to see how the flavors morph. This is going to be fun! I was generous with the leaf too because I almost always brew my teas too weak. First infusion for one minute, and the little leaves opened all the way up! They’re actually a very vibrant green color now that they’re open. The brewed aroma is very green, very vegetal. And the taste? Matches the aroma perfectly!

This first cup is alive! There’s no better way to describe it. It reminds me of spring, flowers blooming and grass growing. Vivacious and thriving with a nice balance between spinach and nori. It’s naturally sweet and light but also very flavorful. This is a perfect complement to my mood. :)

The greatest part of this tea is that it has a lovely lingering aftertaste. And even though it’s so green, it doesn’t taste grassy. It’s definitely a steamed veggie taste. Butter not chlorophyll. But as it cools, it loses its vibrancy. Time to move on to steep number two (176 degrees for two minutes)!

The second cup is less salty nori and…flatter. It’s still sweet, but a lot less so. It’s also no longer buttery. The first cup was definitely the best. But what’s remained constant is the lingering vegetal aftertaste, although it’s a little delayed now and less green. As this cup cools, it’s darker with hints towards, but not fully reaching, bitterness.

I don’t think this is a marathon infusion kind of tea. At least not the way I approached it with multiple long steeps. Maybe a series of short steeps would have yielded better results. Of course, now I’m sloshing with tea. So, I think I’m done for now. I was going to go for a third infusion, but I don’t think the leaves are up to it.

Still, that first cup was magic! So, I’m rating it accordingly. This is a solid choice for green tea fans.

This is from the new tea box that just arrived from Teavivre. Thank you! I am also grateful that it was the excellent puerh they sent me that set my son and now his girlfriend on the tea drinking path. Neither of them liked tea until I gave them the Ripened Mini Tuo Cha Puerh.

When I opened the pouch, the dry leaves smelled strongly of spinach or possibly even cooked mustard greens or tender greens. Quite aromatic! The leaves are a very rich green color, thin and twisted. I was surprised when I peeked in the pot and saw how much they had unfolded. They are not as big as oolong leaves, certainly, but unfolded to impressive size considering how they looked dry.

The tea in my cup stills smells very much like spinach or mustard greens, milder now. The liquor is very pale, a light yellow that is almost clear. The taste is not mild or hidden in any way. The first grocery store green teas I tried years ago tasted like hot water. Not this cup! The liquor may be pale but the flavor is bold, the tea astringent and palate clearing. It is not bitter at all. The taste lingers.

Both steeps were two minutes. I think I would enjoy this even more going to the conservative side of their suggested steep time and stopping the first steep around one minute.

The second steep is much the same but just a wee bit milder.

Thank you, Angel Chen and Teavivre, for the opportunity to try your wonderful teas!

The dry pure buds and leaves look so dark and delicate. The aroma is grassy and slightly sour. Steeped per instructions at 2m. Excellent clarity in the liquor. It has the palest of green tints. The wet leaf appears to me to be mostly large pieces of small leaves, stems, and some buds. It looks soft and fresh and oddly very green considering the darkness of the dry leaf. The leaf aroma is heavily vegetable – like broccoli or spinach.

In the sip I notice a bit of bitterness (not a bad thing), vegetable, then a green bite in the aftertaste. Complex. Fresh. Interesting. It reminds me of one of the previous Teavivre greens I’ve tasted. I don’t have my notes in front of me so I am not sure which one. The biggest difference from memory is the slight bitterness in this one, which I liked. It adds character.

To the green tea purist stop reading now…

At this point I added sweetener. This evened out the flavors making this maybe less complex and interesting but more to my tastes. I would not call this tea naturally sweet on its own and I have a Sucralose monkey on my back. I know, I know, I am drinking quality tea. I don’t need this stuff, but I NEED this stuff. This green takes sweetener well. I justify my actions by saying, after I establish the flavor profile, I want to just relax as I sip the rest of the cup without looking for all the nuances. In reality, I know that is just the monkey talking. Me and the monkey like this tea.

The first cup was a 90 with the most intense flavor. Steep 2 and 3 are roughly 80 as they lost the heavy vegetable and bitter edge. If I get the slider thingy right this is about an 85.

_{Tea sample provided by Teavivre for review}

I tried this in a gaiwan (30s, +10s resteeps) but didn’t enjoy the result very much. So I then prepared it in a glass and used longer steeps.

First steep tasted sweet, vegetal, with honeydew and cucumber flavour, and was slightly buttery. Liquor felt very smooth and soft in my mouth.

Drinking from the second steep, the flavour is obviously much stronger, but still nice and not bitter. I prefer the delicate aroma of the first cup though.

As a personal preference, I think this tea benefits from a higher water to leaf ratio than offered by a gaiwan. One cup of water (I tend to use a bit more at 250ml) per 1 tsp worked very well for me. I still have plenty of the tea sample left so I will keep adjusting the steep settings to find what I like best.

Overall Xin Yang Mao Jian turned out to be very nice with a strong aroma and a fresh vegetal feel.

Glass mug, 250ml of water, 1 tsp, 2 steeps

Happy new year everyone!!!

Free sample generously provided to me by Teavivre. Thanks so much!

Preparation notes: 3 heaping tsp. leaf to 500 ml. water steeped in my Breville at the below parameters.

Dry leaf: Thin dark green leaves – they remind me of dried blades of grass. The smell of the leaf is initially a kind of grassy smell that is quickly overtaken by smoke – cigarette smoke, to be specific. It reminds me of the Keemun I once tried (and really didn’t like) from Upton. I’m hoping this doesn’t carry over into the taste.

Steeped tea: The liquor is a light, bright green. Luckily that smoky scent is completely gone in the tea itself, replaced by a strong spinach aroma – it is very reminiscent of sencha to me which is a huge plus because I love sencha!

The taste of the tea is quite spinachy and sweet. There seems to be a slight astringent note in the taste as well, coming out more as the tea cools. It is sencha-like, but not as smooth a tea as the sencha can be.

Still, I love green teas, and this is no exception. It’s one of the more vegetal greens, so if that’s your thing, you will definitely love it!

Another generous sample from Teavivre! This tea smells like roasted vegetables. I did a two minute western style steep at 180. For a green tea its got a very strong vegetal flavor, almost like a gyokuro and chun mee blend. The strong vegetal flavors followed by a nice bite. Not a lot of natural sweetness going on in this tea but thats ok cause you just need to pair it with something, I tried it with dark chocolate and that was a good idea. Nice tea but I wouldn’t drink it on an empty stomach.

I love the subtle aroma of the dried leaf. I brewed this with ample leaf for 2 minutes and the first impression I got was asparagus. This faded as it cooled. The color is a lovely yellow green hue with a slight bitterness. I may have used too much leaf. Either way I am thoroughly enjoying this tea. Fellow Steepsterites have commented on drinking greens later in the day because of the lower caffeine. For me, there is a certain something in greens that I do not get in any other tea. A soaring energy. I think this a wonderful tea. Another winner from Teavivre.

Thank you TeaVivre for the sample!

I would have to agree with most tasting notes on a few aspects; the leaves are quite dark and thinly rolled, and smelled slightly of nori. I found that even with short steeps, this is a bold and mildly smokey green tea. Tasted like steamed asparagus/spinach combo. Quite nice, a little bitter on the end of the sip but nothing unpleasant.

This is an incredibly light cup. The liqueur is almost completely clear. Just a faint hint of a pale, sea foam green.

The flavor is similarly delicate, bright, fresh and clean. No bitterness or vegetal notes, and yet also no sweetness. It does have a surprising astringency to it, however.

A very pleasing tea, but I have a mind that I ought to be serving it and sipping it from very fine, very thin, very fragile, delicate, white, bone china.

I could see this making a truly excellent iced tea.

A sample from Teavivre. The day after Thanksgiving here in the USA, much thank to them!

A tea I have no experience with, I’m looking forward to giving it a try. I was in the mood for something different, rather than my usual Longjing fix, when I remembered the handful of samples I’d received from Teavivre.

Brewed in my Finum I find this is just the perfect single serving Gaiwan-like experience with out all the hassle of dealing with hot lids, multiple cups and fairness pitchers. Plus I get the added benefits of double wall clear glass. I dump the whole sample pack into my 5 oz. cup

With my 1st steep at 30 seconds I get smoke. Not overt, but there. Vegetal, with light mildly astringent brightness and a creeping sweetness that played around the periphery. “Yellow-green” in color, as Teavivre describes it, would be accurate. I’m liking it. I’m not bowled over, but I’m liking it.

2nd steep I take a little less time at 20 seconds. I tend to find that brewing this way. The first steep takes a moment to wet the leaves, but by the 2nd, the wet leave are primed and ready to go. Third and onward I’m coaxing out flavor, extending the time bit by bit. Color is still true. Smokiness clear, but still not overwhelming. The notes from the first steep, if anything more defined.

3rd Steep and it’s all smoothing out for me. Everything’s still present, just leveled out, coasting across my palate. Color’s maintains its vibrancy, sweet tones are somewhat more pronounced. Mouthfeel is expansive.

4th steeping is the most agreeable for me. Water temp in my kettle has dropped considerably, and I can’t be bothered to get up and get any hotter. Smokiness has been reduced considerably and it’s become more about the things I like about this tea. That being the subtle sweetness and the afterglow that it leaves.

5th steep now with fairly hot water, probably verging on 190˚F. Oops, that had to be over a minute there as I searched for the degree symbol on my keyboard. Oh well. It’s pretty hot, so I’ll let it sit for a bit. Smoke is back as I slurp to cool. Colors still pretty vibrant. Overall I’m pleased with the experience, but not dying to repeat it. That’s funny… candy cane. Just the smell, not the the taste. Hmmm.

I’ll probably be able to get a 6th and maybe 7th steep out of this. But I’m losing interest. If it’s anything particularly notable, I’ll add more details later. In the meantime, I’ll let this rest.

Caffeine? Nothing terribly noticeable. I’d say fairly low. I’m pretty sure I could drink this and go right to bed.

Another free sample provided by TeaVivre. Thank you!

Dry leaf is finely rolled with really dark green hue with a lot of petioles that give of pine leaf resemblance. That being said, leaf is 1,5 to 3 cm long and here and there you can find some around 4 cm. If you look more carefully you can also see some pebbles and even non-rolled leaf parts making (about 10-15%). There’s some smokiness about it, but you really have to dig in your nose to sense it.

One of the ways I savor dry leaf aroma is by dropping it in heated teapot and let it rise to my nostrils with the steam. At this point I can sense some buttery notes with vegetal hint.

1st infusion (3gr 80C 250ml 60s)
Clear liquor with light jade tone. On first sip you get a light hint of pleasant bitterness that quickly dissipates and turns to bold vegetable note, or more like some herbal tea with bitter note (like Mountain Germander). Finish is a bit dry and at this point I can picture myself quenching thirst with this tea in summer heat. I’ll have to wait for it though.

2nd infusion (80C 250ml 90s)
Second infusion yielded a bit stronger character with more bitterness but still in pleasant range. I think I shouldn’t have stretched it but keep it at 1 minute infusion – getting the impression that too much flavor got released.
Vegetal note has increased also and sweetness appears just after swallowing. Not bad, not bad at all.

3rd (3gr 80C 250ml 90s)
After this I’m pulling the plug. I could have pulled out one more steep if I hadn’t gone too far in second.
Here I get more robust cuppa with very little bitterness (less than from 1st steep) and astringency takes over. After swallowing starchy dryness is present in throat.

To wrap it up, I might get a bag of this as summer closes in, and I yet have to try it in cold brew fashion.

(This sample was generously provide to me by Teavivre. Thank you so much Team Teavivre.)
Dry Leaf: Smokey and vegetal.
Wet Leaf: Has a warm vegetal aroma with a very slight smokey aroma
Liquor: Is a yellowish green color.
Taste: Has a smokey flavor with a vegetal taste and there is a slight bitterness that lingers in the back of your mouth in a pleasant way.
Overall Opinion: I give this tea a 88. I think this tea has a rich flavor and quite unique from other green teas. Also, I think if you are eating a flavorful food dish this would be a great tea to go with it.

This is exciting-my first order from Teavivre and my first order direct from China!

I’ve never heard of this tea before, but Teavivre’s web site said this is refreshing in hot weather and with an early summer in the States, I thought it was worth a shot.

The leaves are as everyone says-thin and very dark green, almost black (Charleston Green, perhaps?). The dry leaves are very fragrant and smell like spinach and a touch of cream, or maybe even creamed spinach with a bit of nutmeg? Brewed leaves turn a very nice spinach green color.

Have made this two times. First time was 1 tsp at 175 for one minute. 2nd steep was 175 for 1:15. Very pleasant. Taste very similar to aroma. Spinachy, kinda sweet, smooth. Slightly weaker 2nd steep-but definitely worth 2 infusions.

Today I used 2 tsp at 175. First steep was 175 for 2 minutes. Liquor was a pale green-yellow, with more green in it than yellow. Spinach was the dominant flavor-really the only flavor that I can describe. Surprised that there was a bit of bitterness in this steep and I think I brewed this a little too long. Still, it was good.

Second steep: 175/2min. Maximum spinach/vegetal flavor. Zero bitterness. Clearly brewed the earlier steep too long. Liquor is paler, again slightly more green than yellow. Very enjoyable.

Third steep: Liquor is paler still. Again a bit more green than yellow in color. Flavor is weakening. Still slightly spinachy but gravitating toward what I perceive as a generic green tea flavor-a GOOD general tea flavor, but not as unique as the first two steeps.

Well, our hot spell ended before this tea arrived, so I can’t comment on its effect in hot weather, but it is a refreshing tea and I expect it to do well. I may even ice it.

I am mostly a black tea drinker, but I feel I need a bit of balance in my teas. This has worked out well and I will probably order it again-feel stupid for ordering this just before the new harvest came in. Still, excellently packaged and the tea looks and tastes very fresh.