Organic Tian Mu Mao Feng Green Tea

Teavivre kindly included this in the green sampler pack the sent me for review a while back (and that I’m just now getting to, whoops!). This is one super spinachy tea—I see other reviews mentioning notes of hay and even cocoa, but to me it’s all vegetal. It’s a nice tea, and quite smooth, but I do have a preference for greens on the milder/sweeter/nuttier side. I brewed this up hot and then chilled it for iced tea, since it’s been hot here, and while I don’t think it’s one I’ll purchase just based on my personal preferences it’s made for a refreshing drink.

Water: 8oz

Leaves: dark green, long twisted leaves

Steep: 3m

Aroma: Vegetable

Color: light yellow

Clarity: great

Taste: This tea wouldn’t fit in my teaspoon so i eyeballed how much i would need. I also noticed with my more recent reviews I’ve been immediately diving into doing longer steeps for teas instead of giving them 1m+ per steep, i may go back to try multiple steeping times and adding on 1+ each time. As for taste: light in flavor with a smooth mouth fill & slight bitter hint that lingers after the last sip.

This also starts off my Spring 2016 tea reviews!

Another sample I bought from Teavivre (basically I bought a ton of samples and used reward points and a $5 giftcard — almost coming to the end of the new Teavivre teas to review now.) I loved the look of these gorgeous green leaves, all twisted together and branchy. The fragrance is very strong and sweet. I used two heaping teaspoons for a mug and that seemed to work out perfectly. (Two teaspoons seem to work well for most Teavivre teas for my taste buds.) The pale yellow liquid has a lovely flavor — a little like corn and also fruity but I can’t tell which fruit. A little nutty but definitely not as nutty as the Lu Shan. A great lingering aftertaste. The second steep is somehow crisper, fresher, yet creamier for a green tea. It is more vegetal this time around, but still sweet. All of the green teas I’ve tried from Teavivre have been so so delicious. The best green teas that I’ve ever had. Great to stock up on!
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for mug // 32 minutes after boiling // 55 second steep
Steep #2 // 28 minutes after boiling // 2-3 minute steep
Harvest: 2015
The Teavivre sale has been announced! Get planning! :D
http://www.teavivre.com/anniversary-celebration/

The dry leaf aroma is subtle. Nutty, hay, mineral, dry bamboo, reminds me of domesticated bird feathers (no joke, and that’s not a bad thing to me).

The brewed leaf aroma is like green vegetables, raw beans, nutty, slightly smoky, slightly floral.

The liquor tastes green, raw green beans, nutty: almonds, buttery, slightly sweet. The color is pale, yellow-green with downy hairs present.

The first and second steepings were great. The third was too subtle. All were done at 90 C, and times were: 45, 60, 90 s.

As I prepared to eat my early dinner of cauliflower, carrot & parmesan quittata served with toasted organic purple wheat bread with fresh butter, I suddenly realized: Who am I kidding? How can I eat such a meal without a tetsubin of green tea to wash it down????

And so I prepared a batch of Teavivre Organic Tian Mu Mao Feng—which was delicious, too!

I received this as a lovely sample with my Teavivre order. The dry tea is a very small dark olive, producing a golden green cup. A silky, sweet, hay and honeyed cup, which is reminiscent of a sweeter, softer, less green dragonwell. Not bitter, not flowery, but vegetal and honeylike. Very much enjoyed.

Solid green tea. Very similar to dragon well, but has a more sea like vegetal flavour. Noticeably more astringent too, recommend steeping at 185°f which is lower than the suggested temperature.