This was my first review of a tea, ever.
NOTE: Updated on 11-6-2011. I’d been drinking loose-leaf tea for about eight months and had tried about 20+ green teas as of the initial draft of this review.
Experience buying from Jing Tea Shop http://steepster.com/places/2780-jing-tea-shop-on-line—
Age of leaf: I received this tea in early June 2011 and brewed it as soon as I got it (the tea is listed as 2011 early spring harvest).
Dry leaf: Smells slightly roasted. Looks and smells fresh.
Brewing guidelines: Brewed a full six cups, six teaspoons, 170°, 1 Min, Bodum glass pot w/ metal infuser. Added a little Stevia to complement the flavor.
Aroma: Mild, pretty standard smell for any of the basic green teas I have tried so far.
Color of liquor: A bright lime green. A little cloudy.
Wet leaf: Army green, fresh looking. Grassy smelling. Chopped, but clearly fresh. There is a good ratio of buds to leaf, with few stems (and one, small, brownish looking leaf)
Flavor: Mild, similar to other green teas I’ve had. There is some familiar green vegetable flavor here, possibly spinach? As with many green teas I’ve experienced before, the flavor (and sweetness) shines through more once it’s cooled a bit.
Value: Great! $2.99/100g (sold out as of September, 2011).
Overall: Normally I use this tea to supplement my other higher quality green tea—-by blending it with them—-and it seems to work well with the every green I’ve tried so far, as the Bai Sha Lu does not interfere with the taste of those other greens. As expected with any typical tea, the flavor degrades through each steeping, each one steeped at a slightly higher temp, and longer steeping time; It gets astringent tasting if brewed too long—-three minutes or more (as with any green tea I’ve tried). I like to steep my greens three times (sometimes four) and the flavor of this one happily stands up fairly well through three steepings (not much flavor on the forth). If steeped for too long (over 90 seconds on the first steeping) it becomes considerably astringent. There was a tinge of orange color in the second and later steepings. My favorite thing about this tea: the color in the cup. It has a lime green color like no other green I’ve seen! I will happily continue to brew this tea on a regular basis.