Let me start buy saying this was purchased a while ago, seeing as it is a 2013 harvest, and I’ve only just remembered about it. I put it to ‘rest’ for a few months but have left it for the better part of a year and half. My mistake! I’ve been looking around trying to find some information on someone else doing this but when it comes to aging and resting greentea there is little to no information on it. Most say to drink greentea asap while it’s fresh and that is should never be kept for too long as it loses flavour. Well I had this in the hopes to ‘mature’ it a little to see what would happen. At this point I think all I can do is give it a try.
The leaves are a beautiful, glossy, dark green that form curly/squiggly pieces. Not bright green but not brown or dull either.
The scent is toasty yet sweet and ‘smog’ like, so a hint of smoke in it’s thickness. Also mild floral tones. Overall it’s quite strong though on the ‘mellow’ side of strong. As you keep sniffing it gets sweeter and sweeter.
It’s quite late (11pm) and I’m pairing this review with watching anime so I think I will use a gongfu teapot across three steeps. Using roughly 5g of leaf and 80C water.
Steep 1 – 1 minute
Colour is yellow.
Scent is sweet and honeyed with light toasted grass and floral tones.
Flavour is soft and sweet at first with honey, orchid and toasted grass with a buttery finish. As I continue there is some dryness in the aftertaste.
Steep 2 – 2 minutes
This steep is more floral and still as sweet and buttery. Perhaps less toasted now though if anything. The dryness is still the same but it rather adds to it’s charm. Some astringency, like thick grass.
Steep 3 – 3 minutes
Soft flavours with astringency. All that really remains is butter, mild toasted grass and sweetness now likened to sweetcorn.
This was a success for me, and was perhaps a good thing I rested it for so long. While I have not tried this specific companies tea, I have had Lao Shan green’s before and found them to be ‘full on’ and ‘thickly smog like’ at times. While that is all well and good I do think that perhaps I have to be in the right frame of mind for it. Whereas with this long rested period it’s smoothed those tones out but the sweetness mixed with toasted grass and honeyed flowers blend beautifully to create a more ‘balanced’ version of a Lao Shan green. At no point while I was drinking did I stop and think “Wow, this tastes old” or anything similar to that effect. In some ways it was comparable to an Oolong, like Jin Xuan.
So my mistake was not costly, not in the slightest it would seem. I know that the rest of this can be enjoyed in the very near future. Perhaps I can take some to a party my mother is hosting soon to show off her new summer house, see if anyone is ‘daring’ enough to try it. If not then more for me, but if someone manages to strike up a conversation about tea with me while I’m there it would make my day.
Flavors: Butter, Grass, Honey, Orchid, Sweet, Toasted
