Sun Dried Jingshan Green

This is a nostalgic green tea for me. All of Verdant’s other greens are from the far-off village of Laoshan in Shandong Province. This one alone falls within the Southern Chinese growing region, hailing from Yunnan.

The first time I tried this was a dark rainy night in Hangzhou. I had wrapped up a day of interviews with tea vendors, mostly selling Dragonwell, and found myself out in torrential rain walking along the shoreline of the city’s famous lake. My goal was to find either a taxi or a teahouse to get out of the rain. I walked and walked with no luck at either. After about an hour of wandering and thorough pounding from the rain, I saw an old wooden structure down a side street. The whole sign was not visible, but I saw the character for tea, and made a dash for it. As I rounded the corner, I saw that the sign read “Jingshan Teahouse.” I had never heard of Jingshan before, but didn’t particularly care. I entered the old wooden building and asked for a table.

The teahouse was completely empty, and the woman behind the counter scurried upstairs to find a table and some hot water. She handed me a big, wooden-bound menu proudly and I opened it to find just three teas. Jingshan Tea, Jingshan Budset Tea, and Jingshan Early Spring Tea. I almost laughed at the oddity of three menu items, but ordered the Early Spring Tea, and waited. Instead of the usual Gaiwan, the woman brought a short glass, poured hot water and sprinkled the tea leaves on top, telling me to wait for the tea to start dancing around.

This was clearly no ordinary tea waitress. I struck up a conversation while waiting for the leaves to open and found out that her family was a farmer family in Yunnan, and they saved money to open a shop in Hangzhou to spread the tea of their village that they were so proud of. I sipped the tea and experienced a crisp, sparkling and determined sweetness that impressed me. The woman was very happy I liked it and immediately began pulling out books and picture albums of the mountain Jingshan. I convinced her to sell me a little bag of tea to drink at home, and left much happier, and with much more taxi-finding skill.

It took me three years to track her down again, and with some help from good friends in China, I was able to bring the Jingshan green that she shared with me to America. I have been drinking it hot and iced, and notice that its original effect of clearing the mind and having an overall cleansing feeling remains true. When I am not in the mood for the bean-like heartiness of Laoshan, I turn to the lighter Jingshan, and watch the buds uncurl in a glass tumbler.

My hope is that some Americans will get as much joy out of discovering tea from an obscure little-known village as I have. While neither Jingshan or Laoshan are famous, the farmers are honest, devoted and honorable.

Time to go steep up another tumbler-full!

OMG. Is this really green tea? I’m brewing this in the little yellow pot I usually use for oolongs and I suspect I’m somehow drinking an oolong instead of a green. Is it possible for green tea to have such sweet complexity and floral savory smoothness? This lightly colored liquor is absolutely lovely. It’s got this bright exotic citrus zestiness and an underlying vegetal deliciousness. Mmmm…

Steep two is more vegetal with a ghostly hint of limey flowers. It’s pleasingly drying. Mmm..brothy…

I can imagine this being so good lemon pound cake or thai food. versatile and so very good. I totally get why people are crazy over these Verdant Teas.

Hey! This is my first Verdant? I think I’ll have to explore further…
Thank you Azzrian for this delicious sample! so good!

Dry smell: The dry smell of this tea was very typical of a green tea, I picked up some citrus notes but overall it smelled like your typical green tea.

Wet smell: This is when the tea begins to shine. As soon as water hits the tea it begins to give off this strong, wonderful aroma. It reminded me of a sencha at first but as I smelled further I began to pick up on some spice smells, not unlike cinnamon. After this I hit a smell that was almost like a tropical fruity smell but tart as if it wasn’t ripe.

Liquid: As the tea first entered my mouth the first thing I noticed was it very dry and vegetal. The first tastes are like fresh cut grass and hay. As I began swallowing I picked up the same tropical fruity taste as the smell and it was mixed with the perfect amount of tartness. The aftertaste is a darker, cinnamony citrus taste combined with a great smooth feeling.

Overall this is a very good tea even though I prefer darker teas and I will probably be keeping it stocked up in my cupboard for a long time to come.

I accidentally oversteeped this. Eeeeeeek!!!
No fair. I was so looking forward to a full round of cups. Hmph.
Oh well, that’s what I get for trying this at work. and the cup was still very drinkable, just rather heavy is all.
I did get three steeps out of it. The second one was the best, very lemony and sweet.
There is enough there in my sample for another cup so I will be extra careful with that one!
Thanks SO much for sharing Kristaleyn!
Wait, I saw that Azzrian has sent some of this out as well. I hope I didn’t mix them up!! I know it wasn’t you Bonnie, because yours had tape on them. Hmmm.
My head…

Oh man oh man oh man. This one smells pretty normal dry, but WOW does it smell delicious while steeping! Floral! Honey-like! Citrusy?! So much so that I cannot wait to try it! Screw normal logging procedures…

Yes. This one is delicious. Honey-like and a bit floral, this is not like green teas I’ve really had before. I steeped the first infusion (175F) for one minute, and I can taste it just getting to be the slightest bit astringent – next time I’d go for perhaps 45 seconds. Delicious green tea aftertaste as well. Ah. Yum!

Second infusion (175F/2min):
Smells floral. Tastes much like the first infusion, which trust me, is not an issue. YUM.

Third infusion (175F/2min):
Losing flavour here, but still good. A bit floral.

I’m very impressed. I don’t know if the flavours here are typical of a Jing Shan, but they are distinct and lovely. My note doesn’t do them justice. I’m just too distracted to write anything better right now.

The flavours do remind me of Treasuregreen’s Emerald (Silver), but it hangs on a lot longer with this tea, and astringency is definitely less of a problem. It’s also less vegetal.

Very impressed though! Another hit from Verdant :D Good thing, since I just made two more orders…

WEll, I finally got arround to trying my sample of this tea. It’s been sitting burried under a lot of other, larger bags, but that’s not a good excuse. The first infusion was prepared with my Finum brew basket and just steaming water, which was let to steep for three seconds. The result looks more like a white tea than a green tea, butthe taste quickly removes my doubts. The flavor is sweeter than any white tea that I’ve ever had, with just the lightest hint of grass. I also totally agree with David about the creaminess, which really stands out as you transition into the aftertaste, where it lingers for a good minute on the roof of the mouth. Truly and exceptional green tea.

Second cup, also 3 seconds. Teh result isn’t quite as sweet, and the flavor profile is a lot more complicated now, but I’m not sure what exactly I’m tasting. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a great cup of tea, it’s just that it’s in the middle of a transition, so I’ll reserve judgement until the next cup.

Third cup, same as the previous two. The flavors are settlying out, with an interesting nutty flavor that is vaguely similar to cashews being quite noticable. Again, I agree with David about this being similar to genmaicha, but ther edifferences are what makes this tea interesting. The nutty flavor is a bit less refined, and it’s sweeter than most genmai cha, and the grassiness is less prominent. Overall, it’s a vey interesting experience.

Fourth cup, preparedd with the same wter temperature, but steeped for 6 seconds. The tea is back to beaing subtly grassy and very sweet. The creaminess is also back, which is a wonderful surprise, and and interesting spicy flavor has begun to assert itself. This tea seems to have a lot more depth than I initially thought.

Music of the day – Existential Blues

Link – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6cGTq3nOwI

A strange yet funny song from the Dr. Demento show, which a friend’s dad pointed me to earlier this week. I had a hard time listening the first time, since I was laughing so hard.

I received this one as a free sample in my latest Verdant order. It’s a tea I’ve been meaning to try but have never got around to ordering or requesting a sample, so I’m glad David read my mind and included it. The website says that the current harvest (2012) is acutally sold out, so I guess I got some of the last bits of it!

The dry tea smells surprisingly floral and not grassy-green teaish at all. Steeped western style it has that lovely, bakery-ish buttery aroma I have come to associate with fine green teas. I never knew about that before, so the first time I encountered it, it was a shock! A pleasant shock. This one doesn’t fall into the cookie-ish category on the flavor, though. No, this is bright and fruity and a tiny bit floral. It also has this almost tingly feel to the sip. There’s also a bit of a snap pea flavor lurking about the edges. This tea is oh so summery to me, which makes it kind of an odd choice for a fall day, but it is delicious nonetheless. I feel like I could have probably used a bit more leaf, not shocking since it is so curly and thus difficult to dish out with a teaspoon, but it still has a good amount of flavor and plenty of aroma.

Once upon a time I ordered a bunch of green tea samples from Verdant. I’ve only drank a few of them, because I wanted to brew them right, & so I held off until I got around to getting myself a better scale & a thermometer. “You don’t need a thermometer & scale” someone in my head tried to tell me, but the scale I had didn’t measure grams, & I have a tendency to over-estimate. So I finally ignored ‘the voice’ & got both.

There is enough of this sample to go for 2 different steepings, so today I’m enjoying it Jingshan style: I filled my glass cup 2/3 full, the water was too hot, so I did a few menial things, then the water was too cold. I turned the kettle back on, tried again. Of course, it was too hot again, but I paid better attention this time & once I got the temp to 175 I sprinkle on the tea.

Backtrack: dry, it smells fresh, like alfalfa. The leaf matter is smaller than dragonwell or some of the other green teas I’ve had, more broken up, very delicate. At first it was hard to sip off the cup, as there was a lot of ‘dust’ floating, but it finally sank down.

There is quite a bit of bitterness, which has an edge of lime to it. Although some of the green teas I’m drinking work well this way, I’ll use the gaiwan when I do my next sampling of this tea, because I’m not really getting any of the sweet tones that were alluded to here.

I woke up with a very nice cup of 52teas’ Butterbeer and then remembered that I had meant to brew up a new tea. Whoops! So after having a second cup of Butterbeer, I washed out my tea paraphernalia and began anew with this sample from Kittenna.

The brewed tea aroma smells strongly of nori (seaweed). The taste is a fresh, spring green and luckily not grassy. I’m surprised this tastes so wonderful considering it’s a rather old sample and hasn’t been stored in ideal conditions. But it tastes great! No bitterness or astringency. Just a nice nori flavor.

The description on Verdant’s website describes this as sweet and juicy with citrus lime notes and a creamy grassiness reminiscent of matcha. I’m definitely getting all of that! Although I do have to say that in my opinion, it’s more sweet/juicy/citrus than creamy/grassy/matcha-like. Which is a good thing for me because I’m not 100% sure that I like matcha yet. But a sweet, juicy, fresh, spring green?? Oh yes!

On to steep number two at 175 degrees for 2 minutes. Hmm, maybe I should have let it steep just a little bit longer. I can still detect nori, but it’s much quieter now. I am getting a bit more creaminess than in the first cup. For steep #2.5, I tried putting the tea back in the second cup for another minute, but that was definitely a mistake. It brought bitterness to the forefront of the sip, although the aftertaste retained its lovely nori self. I won’t hold that against the tea though. It’s my fault for shoddily infusing it.

On to steep number three! I’ll try 175 degrees for 2.5 minutes. Success! This third cup is back to the perfection of the first. Not a trace of bitterness to be found. Mmm, yum! This is such a lovely tea. I’ve had a very relaxing Sunday. I slept till noon, laid around all day with my kitty cat watching Halloween movies, and now I’m enjoying a truly wonderful tea from Verdant. Thanks for making it possible Kittenna!!!

I was very pleased with this sample after having a bum session with Songyang White yesterday, though I have plenty of leaf to revisit it another day. While they do not taste similar they leave the same feeling on the tongue, a bit dry and tingly, what I am learning to identify as lineny, a trademark of Yunnan teas, this one even reminds me of some blacks. I am even beginning to appreciate this texture for what it is, though I personally prefer teas to leave my mouth buttery, juicy, sparkling or cool.

Taste wise they are very different teas, while the Songyang was very quiet for me, this one is vibrant and evokes several tea memories for me. The first steep is mildly perfumey (in a nice way) with a touch of cocoa, it reminds me most strongly of Golden Jade and now reading the description I can relate this to sweetgrass. It gets more interesting in the second steep, which is all piney and rosemary and calls to mind more pungent white teas, even Yabao. The third steep is a blend of the first two with a nice sweet kick at the beginning and gaining an artichoke note, though I totally get the basil and lime. The fourth is less sweet but just as bright.

Unfortunately I had to move on to dinner and was a bit tea-ed out, I’m excited to try the 2012 picking and all these Verdant Yuannan black teas. I also think I shall pick up a bit of Lavender Earl Green with my Alchemy Blends order. 100th tasting note, woo!

Update: Yesterday I tried the sample David sent of the 2012 first plucking thank you. I could tell as soon as I poured the water that this was different. It smelled so very vegetal, even though the steep was only 5 sec and rendered a perfectly clear liquor. The first two infusions tasted more like Laoshan green. The third through fifth reminded me more of last years Jing Shan but I wouldn’t draw the Golden Jade or Yabao comparison this time. It still has that same Yunnan texture to it but is so much more green and I dare say a bit sweeter! So it tastes like itself only more, if that makes sense. In the end I’d say its a very well balanced and delightful green.

_{Backlogging and based almost entirely on my notes}

Experience buying from Verdant Tea http://steepster.com/places/2886-verdant-tea-online-minneapolis-minnesota

Date of Purchase/Amount of Leaf/Age of Leaf/Date of Steeping: I received a 15 grams sample of this from David in the fall of 2011; I believe it was harvested in the spring of that year; I steeped this on 12/10/2011.

Appearance and Aroma of dry leaf: All I remember here is that the appearance and aroma of the leaves reminded me of the best qualities of an expensive spring green tea I tried from a local Asian market months earlier.

Brewing guidelines: < no notes here, but I vaguely remember using most of the sample with six cups of H2O, and I probably steeped it loose in my glass six-cup Bodum, with stevia added >
……….1st: 165⁰F; 1’
……….2nd: 180⁰F; 1.5’ (“180F was intentional due to it being a sun-dried tea.”)
……….3rd: 185⁰F; 2’ (“Much later in the day.”)
……….4th: 188⁰F; 2.5’

Color and Aroma of tea liquor: Pale yellow color; < no notes on aroma >.

Flavor of tea liquor (by steeping):
1st:… mild, but good flavor;
2nd:.. a little more flavorful then the 1st (probably due to the higher temperature)
3rd:.. still good, but very mild
4th:… minor flavor

Appearance and Aroma of wet leaf: No notes here other than, “Leaves were on the top during all steepings.”

Blends well with: I tried blending the remaining amount of this sample with another green tea, but unfortunately it didn’t turn out well; my guess is that the other green tea had different brewing requirements. Needless to say, I make it a goal not to mix samples any more (I was bummed, as I really liked this tea)!

Value: This wonderful green tea is about as expensive as the other green teas Verdant Tea offers (as of 6/5/2012 it is on clearance, but I believe it is normally about $40 / 4 OZ); it’s too expensive for me at regular price, but I may decide to acquire some if I can get a ‘deal’ on it at some later date (i.e. during a sale) when the fresh stuff comes in, or possibly as part of a sampler pack.

Overall: It’s been over seven months since I brewed it up now, but I do remember thinking at that time that this was one of the best tasting green teas I had ever had. Although I have enjoyed tasting all of the green teas he carries, I think I liked this one the most. “It reminds me of a Teatrekker tea that tasted like artichokes. I like it!” Notes on 2nd steeping: “I think I should have done the first steeping hotter. Slight astringency (bite/dryness) here that was absent on the first steeping.” My understanding is that since sun-dried green teas are processed a little differently than the Chinese green tea processing methods normally used (basket or pan fired) it needs to be brewed a little differently. I think I would start at about 175F-180F the next time I brew this one up. I am hoping to be able to get my hands on some of this great Tea again sometime in the near future!

Thanks Mercuryhime for the sample!

After reading the reviews and finding that this is one of the ‘fancier’ teas, I whipped out my little gongfu pot for serious tea brewing business!

It was worth it. I steeped it three times, and I really enjoyed the buttery green flavours. I tastes a little sweet and a little citrusy as some of the reviewers have mentioned. Maybe I should have steeped it for longer but this feels like a delicate green, suitable for quiet reflection (as opposed to some of my flavoured blacks that are good when I’m juggling 5 things at once and want tea that comes to me, instead of me sitting down to enjoy it!)

Amazing! The teas from Verdant Tea are absolutely amazing! Every single tea I’ve tried has been so good.

This has a very bright, crisp flavor. The vegetative flavor here is light and not what I would consider “grassy” it is more of a steamed vegetable taste. It has a pleasant sweetness that lingers.

I will be writing more about this later… for now, I just want to sit back and enjoy!

Flat out! I LOVE THIS!
I’m backlogging a cuppa, too, but now I have a little more time to state my claims here…

This is incredibly CLEAN. It’s sweet and makes your mouth water. There are Sun-Dried flavors that pop out much like they would in a Sun-Dried Tomato for example. Very sweet and slightly tangy in a lovely way!

The aroma is comparable to sweet grass and sweet corn and I think it’s tremendous! WOW!

YUMMY YUMMY!!!!!

Back logging in from my notes. I made this for me and my mom Western style. I will do a proper Gonfu one later. She thinks it’s ok, but she really isn’t a green tea person. Neither am I, but I am learning to appreciate it.

1st Steep
Cinnamony tasted with savory undertones and sweet grass flavor and crisp coolness of apples in the aftertaste.
cooled: more creamy and sweet.

2nd Steep
More nutty warm tones. A bit more savory with citrus tang zing. More crisp dry after taste then before. SIP: Wow I really taste lime in the after taste.

3rd Steep
Very light body, and BASIL. LOTS OF BASIL. It is a lot more Vegetal too. It seems to have a light citrus after taste. I really want to eat some Italian food with this. hmmmmm, garlic bread.
Fridge Cold: Nothing special, much better warm.

Overall: The first steep is ok, but the 2ond one is the best. Personally I would combine the 2ond and 3rd steep for the best experience.
***********
Specifics
Water: 2 cups per steep
Sweetner: none or just a few drops of light Agave
Brew Style: Western
Leaf: 2 tsp
Pot: Glass, with open top

This is different from any tea I have ever tasted. I think I now understand what ‘linen’ means. I am not sure if I like it or not. I don’t hate it but I think this one is going to be a bit of an acquired taste for me. I feel terrible not loving it as much as all the cool kids do. :( I’ve tried it Western style and jingshan style. I will continue messing with steep times to see if my opinion changes. I think the biggest problem I have is that linen taste and mouthfeel..I will leave the rating off for now. Next attempt will be western style but with about half the steep time.

Okay, having tried it the above way I like it much better. Still leaving the rating off until I ‘get’ this one.

I just used up the last of my stock of this tea. Not to worry I ordered more as it is currently on sale! (Bad influence I know) I’m not usually a fan of green teas, but I am slowly finding out which ones I like and which I don’t. This is one I really enjoy a lot. It does have a bit of a veggie flavor to it, but in a good way. This is a really crisp cup of green tea. It also (at least for me) never gets bitter – which is a green tea turn off for me.

I also have to say the description here is pretty accurate the tea almost sparkles in the cup and it is very refreshing. I’ve also enjoyed it iced too. I scored three infusions of what little tea i had left…I sure hope my new order arrives this week! I highly suggest picking some up.

I truly believe I have found a great tea seller with Verdant! This Sun Dried Jing Shan Green is a gorgeous tea. Especially after drinking the Hand Picked Oolong! The aroma is intoxicating and so is the flavor! I brewed this basket style with a generous amount of leaves. I am higher than 10 Himalayans! My sincere thanks to David for honoring my request for a sample of Big Red Robe { a generous amount too } and the Dragonwell. You have a loyal customer….

I guess I’m in a green tea mood (it seems to go well with creative projects. Good green tea that is!)
First infusion:
This has a nice umami kind of nature to the scent of the liquor. The flavor is pretty light and bright with a little bit of astringency. I can see where other people would get a citrus flavor – to me there is an element of orange or lemon rind or zest that I think makes the astringency seem more forward than it is.
There’s an interesting sweet fruit-like aftertaste.
Second infusion: Went to a bonfire, got completely distracted, so I can’t comment. I’ll have to brew this again to see if the flavor changes!

I have been saving this tea for a sunny day where I could sit quietly and enjoy this beautiful tea. I am glad I waited, and this morning brewed up a small pot to start my day. What a joy it was to sip and savor the complex, yet very subtle flavors. If you enjoy delicate white teas, or gentle greens, then this is one you have to try. I actually used a kyusu (Japanese tea pot) that holds about 6 ounces with about 1.5 teaspoons of dried tea leaves.

1st infusion: 2.5 minutes, at about 180F gives a very pale yellow green brew that smells and tastes of sunshine, sweet grass and maybe a touch of shiso ( a knid of Japanese basil/mint).
2nd infusion: 2 minutes, at about 180F yields a slightly more green brew with even more of the same flavors, just a bit more intense.
3rd infusion: 3 minutes, at about 195F brings out more vegetal tones, with maybe a bit of fresh hay smell in the aroma.

Yet another wonderful tea from Verdant Teas. A Yunnan green worth note! :)