Premium Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea

I opened this package to reveal an assortment of beautiful leaves! The dry leaf consisted of long forest green tendrils spread with silver downy buds. They smelled of green beans and spinach. I placed this forest of tea in my warmed kyusu and gave it a shake. My brewing vessel gave off a deep vegetal and seaweed aroma. I brewed up a few cups immediately. The liquor was a pale glistening topaz, and the steeped leaves had a robust edamame tone. The initial sip was tasted of vegetal broth and forest moss. This brew had a very deep and vegetal body with a light sweetness at the end. This was a wonderful brew! I would consider this to be on the more darker and heavier side of this company’s spring harvests. I enjoyed every bit of it!

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Thanks again for the sample, Teavivre! This will be the last of the new batch to review. The leaves here look wild and tangled, but I know the tea farmers put great care into picking the leaves… it just LOOKS like a mess! The bright green leaves have a sweet corn and cream fragrance. I used half of a sample pouch (so around 2.5 grams)… that seems to work for all of these big leafy green teas I’ve tried, if you are brewing in a mug. The pale brew is delicious – some more cream and corn to match the scent of the dry leaves, with some added nuttiness. I think this is what I imagine the flavor should be if I think “mao feng”. VERY delicious! The second steep wasn’t as good because of my own fault – I didn’t steep the perfect cup (the temperature should have been hotter and the time longer – not paying enough attention.) It is impossible for me to pick a favorite Teavivre green tea. I have loved all of them, both from this year and last year.
Steep #1 // half a sample (around 2.5 grams) for 11 ounce mug // 30 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 32 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Harvest: April 2015

Thank you to Teavivre for a sample of this!

I never thought I enjoyed unflavored green tea until I tried Teavivre’s. There is something amazing and special about being able to drink this bright, fresh, slightly vegetal and buttery green tea, knowing it was picked recently.

I actually used that tag line to tempt my husband’s cousin into having a mug with me. I think next time I would use the whole packet to maximize flavour and deliciousness… But I was happy to share with him some truly tasty green tea… Vs the dusty old crap we are accustomed to buying at local grocery stores.

115/365

This is from the Spring 2015 harvest, so it’s release from my cupboard is long overdue. It seems to take longer to brew up than I’d expect, and after 3.5 minutes it’s still basically the colour of water, with just a tinge of light green. That’s not to say it’s not flavourful, though, because it is. It’s lightly vegetal, and very smooth, with just a hint of smokiness. The flavours I get mostly are cucumber and garden pea, so it’s slight and fresh-tasting, and just perfect for the early days of spring. Another one I shouldn’t have left so long.

ETA: I found out my cat died while I was writing this note. She was 21, so pretty old for a cat, and she’d had the most amazingly pampered life so I can’t feel bad on that score. It really hurts, though – we got her when I was 9 so she’s been with me through most of the major things in my life, and lots of ups and downs. I’ve lost a lifelong friend, and I’ll miss her.

I could have sworn I’d reviewed this one before because I remember this lovely taste and fragrance. I must stay that Teavivre is my go-to for good straight green teas and I like that they list whether the caffeine is low or higher on their site, too. The dry leaf is dark green, a touch curly, thicker than the Bi Lo Chun from yesterday. It smells fresh, green, light, airy, and floral. The brewed tea is a pretty clear sunshine liquor and smells more green and distinctively Huang Shan Mao Feng for lack of a better description. I know that’s helpful. :P This tea has a special flavor that is for sure floral with perhaps a touch of green beans or another fresh green and crisp veggie. It is also light, with a touch of sweet and mineral that is not bitter at all. All I can say is that it is an enjoyable cup and Happy Tuesday! :)

Thank you so much to Teavivre for sending this sample to review, and my sincerest apologies for taking so long in getting to it. I finally dug out my Teavivre packages, and hopefully will get the majority of them reviewed in the next few days.

Anyhow, first up is this delicious-smelling tea. The aroma from the baggie is sweet, vegetal, green beany…. my ideal green tea. I also am brewing up the Nonpareil Te Gong version, and this one was a darker green with a more intense vegetal aroma, although both smell great.

First sips… and I think I’ve made a couple mistakes here. A) contaminated palate (just ate some supper), so the tea tastes weaker than I think it actually is, and B) I think I may have underinfused. I neglected to set a timer, but was pretty sure I’d given the teas about 2 minutes, my standard green infusion (at about 180F); the bag recommends 3-5 minutes, and I think next time I’d go a bit longer. There’s certainly no indication whatsoever of bitterness, just a light, creamy, vegetal green, with a wonderful sweet, hay-like aroma. Comparing to the Nonpareil version, I think this one has greater flavour potential, although I believe both are nice. Looks like, however, I’ll be waiting until the second infusion (during which I will infuse more generously!) to make more detailed notes.

Side note: I did only measure out about 1.5 tsp… it’s possible that I underleafed, since the leaves here were delicate and intact. Hard to say where exactly I went wrong, but personally, understeeping is preferable to overstepping!

ETA: Yep, this one is the more flavourful/vegetal/beany/sweet of the two, and therefore more enjoyable. I added probably another tsp of tea to the infuser, and gave it a 4 minute infusion, and it was great. The original flavours, but amplified. No bitterness. Hard to believe with such a long infusion!

Thanks to Angel for giving me this sample. I’m just now getting back to my samples. A floral green tea. not grassy on my palate at all. Love it!

I received this tea as a free sample from Teavivre. Thanks again Angel! You rock!

This tea isn’t on the Teavivre site, so I’m not sure what that means. As of yet, I am still experimenting to get the steeping parameters right, but I can already tell it’s going to be very fresh, sweet, and rather buttery. Will try to remember to report back once I have the parameters nailed down!