1500m (4500 ft.) Frosty Spring Yunnan Roast Green, First Day Harvest (2012)

Tea type
Green Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Green Beans, Pine, Spinach, Vegetal
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by SimpliciTEA
Average preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 1 min, 0 sec 2 g 3 oz / 100 ml

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5 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Preliminary review I have been looking forward to brewing up and tasting the first new spring green of the year for some time now. And who better to provide it than Life in Teacup! I only had two...” Read full tasting note
    84
  • “Backlogging from yesterday. From a sample pack, makes me glad I ordered it when I did since there were four different green tea sample packs and I believe there is one left, maybe two. The dry...” Read full tasting note
    92
  • “This is actually the 2013 version of this tea. It has Yunnan in the name so I immediately come up with an idea of what this should taste like. I’ll learn someday. The leaf is captivating. I’m glad...” Read full tasting note
  • “This tasted so much lighter than most Chinese green teas I’m used to. I had to toss in a little extra leaf than I usually do to get a decent amount of flavor. That said, this is really good tea....” Read full tasting note
    77

From Life In Teacup

Production Year
2012

Production Season
First day harvest of the year, on February 24, 2012

Production Region
Yunan Province, Jing Gu County of Puerh City region

Style
Hong Qing (roasted)

This tea is from a different source from that of the Frosty Spring of the previous two years (the previous product is from Xi Shuang Ban Na). We have chosen the current product for its high elevation (1500 m), richer flavor, yet not higher price. The taste profile of this product is similar to the Frosty Spring of the previous years, but this one seems to last for more infusions due to its rich contents.

About Life In Teacup View company

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5 Tasting Notes

84
171 tasting notes

Preliminary review

I have been looking forward to brewing up and tasting the first new spring green of the year for some time now. And who better to provide it than Life in Teacup! I only had two spring green teas during April of 2011 (I also had a few during early June), so I still consider myself relatively new as to what to expect of them. I have been talking about my excitement with my wife (she saw me open the package from Life in Teacup earlier in the week), but I didn’t tell her that I would be brewing up the very first pot of this tea this morning. I sometimes don’t tell her what I’m brewing up so I get an unbiased opinion from her about the taste. For awhile there, after having a couple ‘smokier’ green teas (which she despises) her initial reaction to any green tea—especially one that has a reputation for being smokey, like Hunag Shan Mao Feng or any tea from the Yunnan province—that had a taste she was uncertain about,was, ‘I think it tastes smoky’. Needless to say, I would then give her the evil eye. : )

I like to experience the Tea with every sense possible: visually and aromatically—the appearance and aroma of the dry leaf, watching the leaves dance and co-mingle in their new watery home while I take in the aroma, smelling the wet leaves after the first steeping, then using the auditory senses—listening to the leaves jostling for position as I use a spoon to gently take them from their temporary home in the bag, or tin, or jar, and drop them into the clear glass pot with a tinkle, almost like a wind-chime, and listening to the water begin to stir in the kettle, signaling it’s time to pour the water, and then finally through taste—as the liquor rolls around in my mouth making my taste buds shiver with delight as the various flavors finally reveal themselves. The first time I steep a tea I pay a little more attention to all of these things. I guess it’s kind of a ritual. I invite my wife to participate as well, and fortunately she’s usually happy to join me.

This morning her one-word litany when encountering this spring green Tea with each of her senses was: interesting (said in that positive way as one draws out the initial ‘i’ sound when pronouncing it: in-tres-ting ); although my reactions were unspoken, all the while I was thinking the same thing (keeping my fingers crossed that she was going to find the same wonder that, so far, I have found in fresh spring greens). Our senses were telling us there was something about this tea that was different than all the other green teas we had been brewing up all winter.

When the time finally came to drink of the sweet nectar that was only moments ago locked within the curly leaves, we were rewarded with flavor that was clearly fresh and inviting. It was not flavor I would describe as strong, but rather a flavor profile that brought back memories of the spring teas I had tasted a year ago; it’s hard to describe—and I will hopefully improve as I continue to drink infusions of these wondrous Teas—but the sensation in the mouth is light and uplifting, full of zest, and I imagine it having a kind of sparkle to it. It’s like nothing I have ever had before. Still, quite honestly, I think it is somewhat of an acquired taste (my wife agrees). Not that the flavor is weird or bad in any way, it’s just delicate and subtle and can be easily unappreciated by one who doesn’t know what to look for or take the time to sit with it enough to really take it in (I am guessing this is also the case with fine wines).

And as far as staying power? This tea delivered three wonderfully flavorful steepings and still had discernible flavor on the forth and right up through the fifth. That is very impressive for a green tea at this price range ($18 / 5OZ = $3.60 / OZ). The wet leaf is about as good as it gets: all full leaf, few stems, and lots of bud sets and buds—all of an army green color. I plan to give more details later, but I wanted to sit down and write up what came up for me now rather than put notes on a note-card that would inevitably sit for weeks (or months) before I posted it. I highly recommend this tea for those that want to experience a fresh spring green tea at a very reasonable cost.

Preparation
165 °F / 73 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Indigobloom

this sounds delicous! sparkle tea :P
I wonder if it’d be a good candidate for Shinoba brewing

SimpliciTEA

It is delicious (if you like green teas, that is). I’ve had it twice, now (three times if I count blending it with one of LIT’s HSMF that I have) and it tasted even better the second time (it was great when blended, too), although I’m not sure why; it may be because I payed more attention the second time, allowing me to go deeper, in a sense, into it’s flavor profile.

I do plan to try this sometime in a smaller vessel (I bet it would taste better that way).

Bonnie

I love that you use all the senses. And the wind chimes.So right. If you fail to completely commit to the experience you miss so much. The review contained what I was wishing for.

SimpliciTEA

Thanks, Bonnie.

I tend to be more analytical (left-brain) than creative (right-brain), and I often don’t have the time (or the inclination) to write this in-depth of a review; but, admittedly, when I do have the time to take in the experience of the Tea with all of my senses, my creative side seems to really kick in, and sometimes very interesting stuff starts to come up. It can be a wonderful experience, and one of the reasons why I chase after quality Tea.

But to then take that experience and use it to write a good review there is the task (which takes a great deal of skill, I judge) of putting that almost-otherworldly experience into words that others can understand and relate to; that can be very daunting task in and of itself, for me at least.

With the other spring greens I have (and some I will be getting soon), I hope to be able to do as I have with this review. And you have spurred me on to do as such!

Bonnie

The more tea I drink the more I am drawn to that right brain expression. (Being left handed to begin with helps too) I encourage you to continue in this vein. I’ll be listening.

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92
174 tasting notes

Backlogging from yesterday.

From a sample pack, makes me glad I ordered it when I did since there were four different green tea sample packs and I believe there is one left, maybe two.

The dry leaves are green and twisted with some white leaves mixed in and smell very fresh, crisp and grassy. I even said yum out loud! The wet leaves smell buttery and grassy with the slightest hint of a roasted note hiding in there.

The taste is not quite like I’ve experienced before. It was grassy and brothy, like a miso soup, it was so good! Very umami, very yum! There was a silky-creamy texture with a nice mouthfeel. I couldn’t get over the brothiness of the tea, I’ve never experienced it quite like that, it was sooo good! I kept writing yum in my tasting notes!

This was a tea that I had been eyeballing since I saw SimpliciTEA’s review. I will definitely be getting more!

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Lucy

Yum! Even the name sounds delicious. I love umami very much and will have to get my hands on some of this once they are back up and running =) Thanks for the review!

SimpliciTEA

I’m glad you liked this one. It is still the strongest tasting of all of the pure green teas I have had from Life in Teacup so far; I’m almost out, and will be sad when it’s gone.

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1719 tasting notes

This is actually the 2013 version of this tea. It has Yunnan in the name so I immediately come up with an idea of what this should taste like. I’ll learn someday. The leaf is captivating. I’m glad no one was around to watch me playing with the leaf. Non-tea people already look at me with concern. Long and twisted with some heft to the appearance. For Chinese green tea the dry leaf is big. The taste is really hard to define. It isn’t weird. It’s just different. If I am using the term correctly it is umami. It is also quite subtle. The liquor itself has a kind of broth like quality – or at least this is what I’m perceiving.

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77
306 tasting notes

This tasted so much lighter than most Chinese green teas I’m used to. I had to toss in a little extra leaf than I usually do to get a decent amount of flavor.

That said, this is really good tea. It’s buttery and light, has the vegetal notes of spinach and green bean I’ve come to expect from Chinese green teas. It’s a touch sweet. More than anything it just tastes really clean and clear and has a nice feeling in the mouth, a slightly cooling feeling, a bit of the “hui gan” sensation.

Surprisingly the second infusion of this is more enjoyable than the first. I haven’t had that experience often with green teas. The second has a more foresty kind of taste with notes of pine, reminding me a little bit of Ya Bao. The vegetal notes are more muted now.

This is a very enjoyable and fresh tea, a little on the light side even for a green tea. Nothing tastes roasted about it, so I think the “roast” in the name may be simply referring to the kill-green process used as opposed to pan-firing, and not a heavily roasted tea like you’d expect from something like a roasted oolong.

Flavors: Green Beans, Pine, Spinach, Vegetal

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec 2 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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86
921 tasting notes

Oh man, gaming night last night was awesome, but when is it not? Ben got the rule book for Dystopian Wars, an awesome 10mm miniature game that we are picking up along side Dropzone Commander. We are still going to play DZC, but the local community is pretty small and waiting for our units to arrive from the distributor in England is a giant pain…seriously, the local Shaltari player has been waiting two months for his units. Dystopian Wars is huge here, so we will be able to actually play it, yours truly will be picking up Indian Raj with Britania support while I pretend to be Sir Richard Burton.

Today’s tea of choice is Life in Teacup’s 1500m (4500 ft.) Frosty Spring Yunnan Roast Green, arbor tree, First Day Harvest as you can tell from the very descriptive name, this green tea is harvested on March 9th 2014, I am assuming it is still frosty in the evenings there since the name has me thinking that. The aroma of this Yunnan green tea is a blend of toasted and fresh green, there are notes of pepper, toasted sesame seeds, green stems, fresh okra, and a tiny hint of kale. I have noticed that a few of the teas I have sniffed recently have the note of okra, which I find awesome, what with being Southern and eating a ton of okra as a kid.

Once I give the leaves a nice little steeping in the gaiwan the leaves have the aroma of spinach, okra (more cooked than fresh off the stem this time) lima beans and a touch of toast, these leaves smell like my favorite vegetables. The liquid has a mild mixture of sharply vegetal and gently sweet toastiness.

The first steep starts out deliciously savory with notes of sauteed mushrooms bordering on smokiness. This transitions to toasted sesame, giving a bit of sweetness to the steep, there are also hints of okra and a finish of green beans. The mouth feel is quite smooth and this tea is overall rather rich on its first steeping, I really enjoy when green teas have a sauteed mushroom ‘meatiness’ to them.

For the second steeping the aroma is a mix of toasted sesame and kale, specifically cooked kale rather than fresh, meaning some of the edge is taken off of it. This time around the taste does not have its ‘meatiness’ to it, the tea starts out with a touch of toast and cooked okra and then finishes with mild green beans and a touch of pepper. It was especially mild this steep which was a bit of a surprise after such a robust start.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/09/life-in-teacup-1500m-4500-ft-frosty.html

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