Spring Harvest Laoshan Green

Lol, used a bit too much leaves (the whole sample) and the taste(and the smell) I got is impressively similar to a fried flatfish. Never got anything like this from a proper amount of leaves so the moral is: do not use too much :)

I have a hard time getting my green teas in.

It’s not that I don’t like them-I do, but I like black teas better, and the way my Zoji boiler works, I have to be certain I am done with black teas for the day before I go green or white. Problem is, I may have consumed 5 cups of black before my machine is cooled enough for green and by then, I am near my limit for the day. Well, I am drinking tea a bit later today, so that’s good news for my greens!

I was nervous about liking this one, but the reviews were so glowing, I went ahead and got some-glad I did. The dry leaves are very dark green, tightly twisted and curly. The aroma reminds me a bit of the floral in a green oolong as well as a green vegetable.

Brewed leaves turn cooked spinach green. Brewed aroma is mostly vegetal with maybe some light creamy and toasty notes. Liquor is pale, more yellow than green in color.

Flavor is mostly vegetal mostly with dominant notes of cooked spinach. I was hoping for the notes of carmelized green beans, but don’t taste that yet. Reminds me a lot of Teavivre’s Xin Yang Mao Jian. This is kind of sweet, very smooth, and zero bitterness. I like this quite a bit. I’m on my third steep and I haven’t tasted any notes of vanilla soymilk-and I would think I would recognize that since I drink it a lot. However, I didn’t buy the tea for soymilk notes and I like it just fine the way it is. I’m not sure 6 months ago that I would try these types of greens-I was mainly Moroccan Mint and Jasmine. I can thank Steepster for helping me to expand my horizons.

This is DELICIOUS! But I do think I prefer the Autumn Harvest! Oh well, it is still incredible and I’ll still gladly drink it all up :)

Steeped per Verdant Tea’s instructions. 4 grams of leaf in 4 oz of water. Quick rinse. 2 second infusion. Beautiful colored liquor, like gold sunlight. Some haze, but not enough to detract from the appearance. First impression of the aroma is a soft grain character. Similar to wheat or spelt. Some sugar-like sweetness as well. The taste bears this out. Wow. So soft and smooth, beautiful texture. Some grassiness, and honey as well. The aftertaste lingers nicely. An inviting and delicious tea.

After getting used to this tea and having an idea of what to expect from it, it didn’t excite me the same way some Japanese greens do each time I prepare them, but it was very nice to find a green tea that I enjoyed this much from another region.

The first steeping always has a nice honeysuckle sweetness; it isn’t a strong flowery aftertaste, but the initial part of the sip tastes like honey that is soft and sweet like the smell of honeysuckle (maybe orange blossom honey?).

Further steeps are greener, more like chestnuts, or snap peas. It was a good one.

Thanks to Pureleaf for the sample.After screwing up my first infusion and making this tea too strong(not sure if it was amount of water,temp,or duration.just dropped the ball)I got it right the second time. As far as green teas go I’m not a huge fan to begin with but it’s hard to deny the clean taste thids portrays.For me,this is GREEN.The greenest I’ve tasted.Very grassy with low astringency.Aroma of wet leaf matches the flavor.Smooth with light aftertaste. Tune; Of Monsters And Men-Dirty Paws

This is a very fickle tea, but if you are willing to put the effort in it will reward you. The nose of both the dry and wet leaves is outstanding, with a strong smell of salt and brine. The flavor is much more mellow, but it is delicious. Just make sure your water temp, timing and tea/water proportions are exact. I’ve made it three times (first infusions) in the last two days, and I am still playing around with the brewing, as I know I haven’t reached its full potential yet.

As for their suggestion to eat the spent leaves, well, I wouldn’t recommend that. My tasting notes for the spent leaves are bitter grass.

Editing this note after my fifth try: this tea could win an award for its fickleness. I think I am closer to reaching its potential (still not there), and the flavor is very nice. It has a light salt/brine taste that was present in the nose. Using a thermometer and timer with this tea is a must, and even then be prepared to experiment

Last edit: having finally figured out how to consistently brew this tea, I’m definitely giving it a bump in the ratings (I previously was holding it down, because I wasn’t a fan of wasting tea with a 50-50 brew success rate). It is flavorful, it is fantastic, it is exactly what I am looking for in my green tea. Hopefully you just hit the right brewing combination before I did. I found not exceeding 45 seconds works best for my first brew, and then about 25 seconds on the second.

I prepared this gongfu style. First infusion is super-smooth. It reminds me of a pi lo chun, along with the taste of a good sencha.