Backstory:
Well then. Now that I finally have a cupboard that is utterly full, and after having tried a far larger number of teas than before, I wanted to revisit this one. I’ve been enjoying green teas and greener oolongs so much recently that my perspective on these teas has changed a great deal.
Plus, I’ve begun to appreciate vegetal flavours/notes in green tea much more than I used to. It still isn’t my favourite – for example, I’d always rather have that lovely orchid flavour of TGY and similar green oolongs – but it doesn’t put me off like it used to.
And after a great experience with Verdant’s Dragonwell and a couple of Butiki’s greens/greener oolongs, I think I ‘get’ Chinese greens much more.
Review:
So yeah! I pulled out my little glass teapot and used a good quantity of these intensely green leaves – it’s such an amazing, deep green! I didn’t measure, but if I had to estimate I’d say I used around 5g. Using cooler water (it was just before the point when bubbles start to form on the bottom of the pot), I began my session!
Overall, I did five infusions: 10", 30", 60", ~2’ (too weak), 10’ (ideal)
The first two infusions were kinda how I remembered this tea before – it is really vegetal. Asparagus is definitely the flavour that hit me most. BUT I did get the sweetness that’s described on Canton’s packaging now – there was an almost floral, fragrant sweetness, particularly in the after taste. The leaves looked lovely whilst infusing, too – they cast a delightful green light through the pot. It was a little bitter, though they may have been a consequence of the quantity of leaf that I used. It definitely wasn’t so bitter that it was unpleasant – I genuinely enjoyed it.
The third infusion was excellent – a far more balanced infusion, with a mouthwatering combination of sweet and savoury. The fourth I underbrewed – I was a little wary of drastically increasing the steep times in case the bitterness ramped up.
The fifth infusion, though not the strongest, was amongst my favourites – it was really delicious! I got some lovely fruity notes, that gental floral fragrance and a gentler, but still present, vegetal flavour.
I still don’t think this is my favourite green tea. But following a very savoury lunch, it went down a treat and I enjoyed it much more than last time. I won’t be reluctant to finish this tin off, now, anyway :-)
Flavors: Asparagus, Floral
