Colombia Bitaco Green Tea

141/365

Another from the regional group buy. I tried the Bitaco Black a few days ago, and so I’m intrigued to follow that up with the green. This is the February 2016 harvest.

On the whole, it strikes me as another subtle, lightly flavoured green. Perhaps I’ve just had too many of those lately, but I was hoping for some oomph and I’m really not finding it. It has a pleasant flavour – at least, what I can find of it. It’s like fresh garden pea, quite sweet, with a slightly deeper flavour (green beans) towards the end of the sip. I suppose I could brew it longer, or use more leaf, and that might increase the flavour to a level I’m happy with. I’d be a little worried about the potential for bitterness and/or astringency if I tried that, however.

I like this one – it’s a palatable green, with a pleasant, mildly vegetal flavour. It’s just a little on the watery side for my liking.

I’ve never had tea from Columbia before, so this was a first!

The leaves are darkened and slightly twisted with a bean-y aroma along with some slight grass, and a minor floral. This was a rough smelling tea. I grabbed my kyusu and filled it up. The taste was different. The brew was very light and grassy with a slight sweetness. Later sipping, I could note some mineral. This was a strong or complex tea, but it was decent it smooth. The drink was light and would make a nice lazy easy drinker that requires little attention.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRGu6Y9gjKa/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel&hl=en

Sipdown (201)!

Finished this one off at work the other night with some added in honey. I may have added in a bit too much honey because the taste of the honey itself was a bit strong, and definitely a touch more so than I’d have wanted. Even still it did nicely play off the anise notes of the tea itself, and the buttery/creamy artichoke flavour that seemed to be going on as well. Other than that, it was just rather grassy.

This is an interesting tea. What-cha describes it as “aniseed” and I agree, but it’s very subtle and you forget about the licorice taste easily. It also has a faint, faint scent/taste I’ve come to associate with pu’erh. Earthy/green/barnyard. I am not at all a fan of pu’erh, but the taste/scent here is so subtle I’m intrigued by it instead of repulsed (as I usually am). I wouldn’t make this a daily-drinker, but it’s good if you want to change things up.

This tea was an odd one. There was a strange sort of maltiness and astringency mixed with that floral funky earthiness of a green tea. Another tea that makes me wonder if a green tea and a black tea had a baby.

Thanks LP for putting together the regional group buy. To me, this is a pleasant tea with a light and mellow cream and grass flavor. I get some floral or fruity notes and aromas but nothing overpowering. I’d drink this again.

Backlog: I had a hard time with this tea. It distinctly tasted like licorice western which was really odd to me. I am not a licorice fan. Then I see the notes Alistair came up with, and he describes it being like anise. I totally get the anise. I will say this is a unique green tea making me glad to try this terroir. I might like it better Gong Fu, but I need to try it. Until then, it was personally not my cup of tea.

Sipdown. From the regional group buy. Did this at ‘not’ boiling . Creamy, sweet, small amount of green at the end. Very much a mouthfeel tea for me. Liked this so much better than the Bitaco black.