I won this tea in a draw that Teavivre hosted about a year ago. It’ll be interesting to compare it to what I remember of the company’s 2016 She Qian Dragonwell, which is an earlier picking by a few days. I steeped 3 g of tea in a 120 ml teapot at 175F for 20, 40, 70, 120, 150, and 180 seconds.
The leaf is a vivid green, is mostly unbroken, and has ample white fuzz; the aroma in the teapot is of spinach and other veggies. The first steep has notes of spinach, peas, asparagus, chestnuts, cream, and umami. From what I can recall, it packs more of a punch than the She Qian. In the second steep, the chestnut and green notes are intensified and the tea has a touch of astringency. Subsequent steeps retain the nutty character, but get increasingly green and vegetal.
This is a high-quality, refreshing green tea that has more substance than its She Qian counterpart. I have over 20 g of this to finish, so I’ll be able to explore different preparation methods.
Flavors: Asparagus, Chestnut, Cream, Peas, Spinach, Umami, Vegetal
