Xin Yang Mao Jian Green Tea

An Ode to Tea challenge – X

Oh whoops, forgot about my rule of the tea needing to be sipdown or new, but I figured I didn’t have too many other teas for X.  Also, next time is a sipdown anyway…  I will finish it soon. I’m mostly noticing a smoky quality.  My past note (from six years ago cough) said it tasted like BBQ sauce.  But also creamed corn which I’m not noticing anymore.  Not the fault of the neglected tea!

This was a more deep and darker green tea than others of the spring harvests. The dry leaf is beautiful. I opened the package to reveal long forest green and golden hairy strands. They have the aroma of green beans and a fresh garden. I placed these fluffy twigs in my warmed kyusu and shook them up. I didn’t even have to open the lid to take in their scent. My tea room was filled with fresh picked kale and wet seaweed. I brewed up a cup immediately. The initial sip was light and sweet. This brew had a soft vegetal tone with a good bitterness at the end. It was a very refreshing cup, and it helped to get me going. The liquor was a lot darker than most greens. It was a tarnished gold and refracted the light well. I was able to pull three steepings from my pot, and the brew became sweeter with each steeping; as the vegetal tones faded. I really liked this tea, and it was perfect to help me start my morning!

https://instagram.com/p/28rJQtzGRt/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Thank you very much for the sample TeaVivre!

This one is apparently not for me. The smoky flavor is just not agreeing with me somehow! :/

Today did not go nearly as expected, the car work (that is costing a small fortune, so there goes any fun money for who knows how long) that was supposed to be finished this morning won’t be done until tomorrow. Since my plans did not come to fruition I decided to go visit the Kauffman Gardens, they were beautiful, but oh man I am so tired now!

The journey through Green Tea week continues with Teavivre’s Xin Yang Mao Jian Green Tea, one of my favorite green teas, see, I said I would say that a lot this week. These slightly fuzzy green needles were harvested April 13, 2015 in the beautiful Xinyang County in Henan Province. The leaves remind me of tiny pine needles, and apparently this tea is frequently drunk in China during the summer for its robust and refreshing qualities. The aroma is delightfully savory, mixing notes of sundried tomato. tomato leaves, spinach, and a bit of sauteed mushrooms. At the finish there was a tiny hint of cut grass and a surprising note of dulse.

Into the gaiwan the little needles go for their steeping, and the aroma stays quite savory, with notes of savory sauteed spinach, lima beans, vegetable broth, and a little like sauteed mushrooms. The liquid has notes of edamame, mushrooms, and a slight sweet pea note at the finish. The aroma is very mild, but the trichomes floating along the surface of the water amuses me and makes up for the lack of aroma.

The first steep keeps up the savory notes, blending sauteed mushrooms, some mild bok choy, a bit of edamame nuttiness, and a tiny bit of potatoes and dulse at the finish. The mouthfeel is smooth and the taste is mild at the first, but delightfully savory.

Second steep smells so much like sauteed veggies and vegetable broth, with a hint of toasted sesame at the finish giving it a touch of sweetness. The taste is still savory! There are notes of stir fried vegetable with a bit of sesame seeds there are stronger notes of zucchini and bok choy, and lesser notes of asparagus and bell pepper. At the finish there is a bit of potato and dulse, an interesting finish giving it a bit of a starchy finish, and lingering savoriness.

The third steep changes things up a bit by being more sweet than savory, with notes of sweet pea, sesame seeds, and a gentle grass like aftertaste. The taste is also more sweet than savory this time around, with notes of sweet pea and toasted sesame, it does fade to savory with notes of sauteed mushrooms and dulse at the finish. This tea had some notes I do not run into very often, which I found greatly amusing, and I certainly agree that it is refreshing, especially now that the days are getting warmer!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/04/teavivre-xin-yang-mao-jian-green-tea.html

Thank you, KittyLovesTea for a sample of this!

The leaves of this tea are skinny and pale and quite pretty. The first time I made this tea I over steeped it and was bitter so I waited till today to review it so that way it could have fair review. I was reading the flavours people associated with it and some said chicken soup? I must say I did not get that flavour (lol), but there was a bit of “saltiness” at first. Another flavour added to this tea was kale and I thi9nk that’s pretty spot on along with grass, It’s quite a unique tea and interesting to try out.

This tea is smokey like a green Lapsang Souchong. I feel like I’m drinking a light, sweet cup of green near a dying campfire. Later in the cup, I taste something a bit oceanic, almost sea-weedy or salt watery. So maybe now I’m drinking this tea while camping on a beach.

This tastes like chicken soup! Soup made with roasted chicken and tender greens – a little smoky, a little umami, a little vegetal. I was a little put off when I dumped out the rest of my sample packet and realized how smoky it smelled, but the smoke is a pleasant accent rather than the main focus. As it cools I get more of a green bean flavor. Not sure if it’s the sort of tea I’d drink every day, but it’s darn tasty!

Additional notes: 2014 harvest. 2.5 g dry leaf, ~8 oz water, steeped until it started smelling nice.

I am so behind on reviewing some green tea samples Angel and Teavivre kindly sent me earlier this summer. Life keeps getting in the way of things and, being not much of a green tea drinker, I wind up instinctively reaching for a familiar oolong or pu’er tea on most days. But, I’m feeling a little more adventurous right now and thought I’d brew this up and give it a try!

(Spring 2014 batch)

Brewed aroma: Grassy, vegetal. Almost like freshly mown grass.

Taste: Also grassy and vegetal, with a hint of salt and a pleasant, smoky bitterness lurking in the background. Crisp, refreshing aftertaste that’s very satisfying, almost as if I’ve finished a hearty vegetable stew. Sometimes I can also taste some sweetness creeping in a little later.

Like I mentioned before, I don’t usually drink green teas, but this was a nice and enjoyable one! Thanks Teavivre!

Backlog from a few days ago.

I tried this in the middle of the week right as Steepster was having its meltdown.

I don’t remember a lot about this tea now, but I do remember that I let the entire pot cool down before finishing half of the liquid I brewed, and didn’t even finish it after reheating it once or twice.

Based on that, I’m just going to assume that this tea didn’t grab me when I first tried it. I’m not sure why. I suppose it was far more vegetal and savoury than I expected.

However, I still have a very generous sample of this remaining, and I look forward to seeing if it suits me after all. if not, I’ll probably just order a lot Bi Luo Chun from Teavivre instead.

Thanks very much for the sample, Angel!

Water: 8oz

Leaves: powdery medium rolled rods

Steep: 2m,3m

Aroma: Roasted

Color: pale almost clear

Taste: I decided to try a reverse brewing method,by doing so this meant to add the hot water first then add the leaves. The tea was very light, lacking in flavor throughout the steep times. Another thing I noticed it is that this tea doesn’t last long 2 steeps maximum. Overall an okay tea.