Premium Tai Ping Hou Kui Green Tea

Water: 8oz at 180 degrees

Leaves: very large flat leaves

Steep: 1m,2m

Aroma: light

Color: Light Green

Taste: I was interested in trying this tea because I haven’t seen anything like it before. First steep was for 1 minute, the first sip was bitter then it mellowed out to a lighter non bitter note. On the other hand the second steep was the complete opposite 2m I didn’t like it at all. This time around it was very bitter, I couldn’t finish my cup. I’m not sure if I used too many leaves or if my water was a bit hotter than expected but overall I didn’t enjoy this tea.

*Update!
I recently brewed this tea again this time following a different technique, it came out much better than the first time. Light smooth with no bitterness.

Sipdown! (5 | 282)

I just got an order of Teavivre samples today, and it inspired me to finish off some of the older ones that are still hanging around.

This is lovely, especially for spring. Very smooth, creamy, and nutty with notes of spring peas and lima beans. A tiny bit buttery, but nothing too decadent, it’s more like the natural butteriness of a cashew. There’s some fresh grassiness that comes out at the end of the sip, adding a slight astringency.

Very tasty! I’m not sure whether I’d feel the need to keep a Chinese green tea around in my cupboard, but if I did it would be more likely to be a biluochun or long jing. But still happy to have tried this, and the leaves are so pretty!

The liquid has a pale, light yellow-green color. The aroma has scents of fresh grass, sweet corn, wild flowers, peas, and a touch of brown sugar. The body is medium, with a silky, refreshing texture. There is a medium level of astringency, and no bitterness. The taste has notes of fresh grass, sweet corn, wild flowers, peas, and a touch of lemon. The aftertaste starts off grassy, and evolves into an impressive, lasting flowery essence. This flowery essence is truly remarkable.

I got a sample of this simply because of the novelty of the huge leaves. There is something really rewarding about holding a giant tea leaf in your hand.

What’s even more rewarding is a session of this tea! Really nice vegetal flavors of spinach and corn, with hints of honey and floral sweetness, all finished up with fresh grass and mint flavors.

In general, fairly familiar green tea flavors, but the added bonus of some green oolong-like floral notes. The finish is also nice – fresh grass and mint. The thick vegetal notes transform into a really refreshing aftertaste.

Priced as a premium tea, but still very reasonable and affordable. Well worth the experience.
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Dry leaf – buttered yeast roll, roasted corn, tomato vine, fragrant floral. In preheated vessel – thick roasted corn sweetness and nuttiness, wildflower honey, cooked spinach.

Smell – corn and spinach, fragrant floral sweetness

Taste – roasted corn, cooked spinach, fresh grass, hints of wildflower honey. Incredibly sweet and fresh aftertaste – honey, honeysuckle, fresh grass, fresh mint

Some of the most beautiful tea leaves I’ve ever seen. Flavour is fresh and delicious, but still not my favourite green tea.

I started at 175˚F and brewed it up to 180˚F. Might try starting at 180 or 185˚ next time.

This is an interesting looking tea, and certainly one of the most unique green teas I’ve ever seen. I’ve read tasting notes for this one previously, and I know that people said the leaves were large, but I wasn’t actually expecting them to be this large. Like, so-large-they-won’t-fit-in-my-work-infuser large. They’re very thin and flat, like dried seaweed sheets, and feel similarly brittle. The colour is variagated – from dark green tips to yellow-green leaf base. The scent – in keeping with the appearance – is strong, and quite seaweed-y, or marine-like. I like that you can tell they’re leaves. It seems somehow more honest than a lot of teas, and is surely a more expensive production process. There’s everything premium about this one.

I used approximately 1/3 of the sample pouch for my cup, not really having much to go on. I’m kind of hoping that the leaves will soften and fold into the infuser, otherwise brewing this one is going to be interesting. At the moment, they’re leaning against the side of the infuser basket, and poking out a good couple of centimetres.

Fortunately they do, so it’s all good. I gave them 2.5 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees. The scent is milder than I was expecting, vegetal and a little nutty. The taste is similar – quite subtle, with notes of samphire, salt, and an edge of almost-floral. There’s a slightly mineral aftertaste, like wet rock. The floral is a bit of a surprise, especially in the way it “blooms” at the end of the sip. Up until that point, this struck me as a pleasant – if fairly standard – green tea. That floral, which graually gives way to the more mineral, oolong-like end-note, makes this an altogether more unique experience. Added to its overall smoothness, and complete lack of bitterness or astringency, this makes for a very pleasant cup. I’d happily seek this one out again, from future harvests.

I love Tai Ping Huo Kui. I feel in love with it a few years ago. It’s such a beautiful tea, with it’s long graceful seaweed look, and the flavors are buttery, sweet, creamy, and greeeeeen.
This is a wondeful green tea for people who prefer to avoid bitterness & dryness, because it doesn’t fall into those categories.

Thank you to Angel & Teavivire for the generous samples, which I shared with friends. My apologies for taking so long to get around to writing a review.

Free sample from Teavivre

I’ve not had this before so when I opened the packet I was amazed and delighted by the size of the leaves. They’re huge and flat and green; actually longer than the infuser basket I’m using which is as deep as my mug. Crikey! They smell grassy with a hint of peas.

The liquor is pale green and has a soft mouthfeel. The taste is light and vegetal with a hint of pepper. It’s a savoury tea and quite refreshing with a pleasant, slightly peppery aftertaste.

This is one of the samples of the new harvest that Teavivre sent me this week. I have had a Tai Ping before but I can’t find my review of it.

I have had a lot of tea lately, but it has been at breakfast or iced at a meal or with lots of company. I looked forward to having a quiet tea time with my best friend, steeping and resteeping and really having a chance to experience our tea.

I love the unique shape of these leaves and the pleasure of steeping them in a glass so you can see them dance and then soften and bend. The long, flat leaves stand straight up at first, and then begin to sag as the leaves saturate. It is really nice to watch in a tall, thin glass. Let yourself go and really lift and turn the glass and enjoy the movement, letting your hands join in the dance of the leaves.

The liquor is pale yellow to medium yellow (second steep). The overall taste is smooth and sweet. The second steep was stronger but never astringent. We kept all steeps at three minutes or less. You can go to five if you like it stronger. I think it would be a great introduction to green tea for people who have been turned off but bitter or sour grocery store, and the beauty of steeping it adds so much.

Then hubby and I had it again for supper tonight, made differently. Instead of drinking three individual steeps I placed the leaves in my large Kamjove that I bought from Teavivre. I made three consecutive steeps and let them combine in the pitcher before pouring any. It made a lovely, smooth green tea with buttery notes to drink along with our Asian takeout.

If I were introducing a tea “scaredy-cat” to green tea, I think this would be a great choice, even over Dragonwell. For those who love the bite of astringency with or after a meal, I am not sure if this would be your best choice unless you give it a full five minutes, which the label says can be done, by the way.

Thank you, Teavivre, for the samples. This is a really good one!

From a Teavivre order a while ago! Probably one of the more interesting looking leaf shapes I’ve ever seen… inches long green leaves that look attached and pancaked together. Leaves so long they hardly fit vertically in the tea basket infuser. I’m not really sure how or why they look like this! Though Teavivre does have some info about this mysterious tea: http://www.teavivre.com/info/manual-made-tai-ping-hou-kui/ I used most of a sample pouch for a mug. The flavor is surprisingly mild for such leaves. Sweet and light flavor! Really no flavor notes to distinguish it from more complex green teas, and I really like my complex green teas, so this one might not be my favorite. If I’m really searching for flavors, I might say it has hints of seaweed, butter and vegetables. I think this tea is more of an experience than flavor, so I wish I had brewed it in a clear glass! I think this tea is mild enough that being left in the cup wouldn’t make the flavor too strong.
Steep #1 // 32 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 25 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep