This is one of those teas I thought I’d tried, but I don’t see a note. (When I pasted this review into Steepster, it turns out I did write a note for it, but I can’t see what it says! I gave it a pretty high rating, which is ominous.) I steeped 3 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 185F for 20, 40, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds. I also bowl steeped 2 g of tea in 200 ml of water at 185 starting at 3 minutes, adding water as needed.
The dry aroma is of smoke, meat, green beans, grass, and florals. The first steep has notes of smoke, meat, green beans, asparagus, butter, and grass, with a floral and smoky aftertaste. The next steep has even more smoke, and adds spinach and hints of apricot. Already, this tea is quite vegetal. The next couple steeps have hints of florals, apricot, and grass, but the smoke and spinach/asparagus/bitter veggies predominate. The final few steeps are very smoky and vegetal, and I understand why Teavivre doesn’t include them in their instructions.
When I bowl steep this tea, the bitterness and smoke are much less apparent. I get more florals, asparagus, and grass, and even a bit more apricot. The tea fades out rather than getting extraordinarily bitter.
I don’t think this is the green tea for me. I’m not a fan of smoke, and I can really taste it in this Mao Jian. There aren’t enough other flavours to make it interesting for me. Well, you can’t like them all!
Flavors: Apricot, Asparagus, Astringent, Bitter, Butter, Floral, Grass, Green Beans, Meat, Smoke, Spinach, Vegetal
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It seems I’ve become both pickier and better at identifying flavours. Interesting to see how my tea preferences have evolved.
Smokiness is my least favorite things to taste in green tea. Often a sign of low quality or stale tea. Reminds of my heathen days when I used to drink gunpowder green tea.
I also don’t like smokey notes in green tea. The only way I can tolerate gunpowder is if it has copious amounts of mint added, strong enough to hide the tobacco-yuck.
LuckyMe, I think Xin Yang Mao Jian is supposed to have a little smoke, though I could be wrong. Either way, I don’t think I would have chosen this tea. It came as part of a sample set I won in a draw. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t stale, though, as it was the spring 2022 harvest. Just not something I’d order again.
Mastress Alita, I had a smoked Lapsang Souchong that turned me off this tea type for years, so I get where you’re coming from with tobacco-yuck! Fortunately, I discovered the unsmoked version and haven’t looked back. :)
It seems I’ve become both pickier and better at identifying flavours. Interesting to see how my tea preferences have evolved.
Smokiness is my least favorite things to taste in green tea. Often a sign of low quality or stale tea. Reminds of my heathen days when I used to drink gunpowder green tea.
I also don’t like smokey notes in green tea. The only way I can tolerate gunpowder is if it has copious amounts of mint added, strong enough to hide the tobacco-yuck.
LuckyMe, I think Xin Yang Mao Jian is supposed to have a little smoke, though I could be wrong. Either way, I don’t think I would have chosen this tea. It came as part of a sample set I won in a draw. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t stale, though, as it was the spring 2022 harvest. Just not something I’d order again.
Mastress Alita, I had a smoked Lapsang Souchong that turned me off this tea type for years, so I get where you’re coming from with tobacco-yuck! Fortunately, I discovered the unsmoked version and haven’t looked back. :)