Organic Bai Hao (White Downy) Green Tea

Very happy to receive this sample from Teavivre. Upon opening the package my nose was met with a wonderful sweet smell. It is almost akin to a cross between a Silver Needle and Bi Luo Chun. After steeping it quickly, the taste was also very similar to both of these teas. There are floral, sweet, and light tastes along with a new almost buttery and nutty aftertaste. The second steep brought some earthiness to the taste. Not a dirtiness like puerh, but rather just some hints of earthiness—almost like dry autumn leaves. There is also an increased amount of astringency. However, there is still a hint of sweetness and floralness like a Bi Luo Chun. Overall I really enjoyed this sample though. Excellent taste and aroma, not to mention the beautiful dry leaves.

Another lovely green from Teavivre! Wow, these green teas are always amazing. The leaves are very long, wiry with a half and half mix of green and white color! It’s very interesting — I haven’t seen a green tea like this. The flavor is fantastic. The first steep couldn’t be better. Another perfect green tea for me. The flavor is bright, fruity, sweet with hints of corn, while also being very nutty (my favorite green type). It’s tough to explain this one, as it is a very complex green. The subtlest hint of bite or astringency also makes it perfect. The resulting brew color is a cloudy light green. It’s the most delicious green tea. So thirst quenching. I can’t say enough about it. I really hope I remember to steep this one exactly the same next time.
Steep #1 // half a sample pouch for a full mug// 32 minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 30 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Harvest: April 2016

Thank you, Teavivre, for the sample!

Gongfu session with a glass pot. No rinse. Steeping times: 10 sec, 15, 10, 25, 45, 35, 45, 60, 90; 2 min.

Based on the website’s description, I expected a soft-going aroma, but that is not the case. The leaf – dry and wet – is very aromatic. Beany, buttery, grassy, and a little sweet. Fills the pot easily and escapes. Additionally, I smelled a little tobacco in the wet leaf after the second steep.

The liquor is pale green, thick, and full-bodied. Full of flavor from beginning to end. For the couple steepings, I taste strong and creamy notes of buttered vegetables, beansprouts. A little bit salty. They are very much like a thick sencha, having umami like a gyokuro. Beginning with the third steeping, the flavor becomes gentler and sweeter. Each cup finishes with a cooling mint leaf. I felt considerably more energetic after drinking the sixth steeping (I consumed 1-6 within two hours, about 12 oz worth).

Buttery green teas aren’t to my taste – they tend to be too heavy for my stomach. However, while this tasted rich, it didn’t feel rich. It was tolerable. Even though I did not take to loving this, I appreciated the mint finish and aftertaste most. I recommend this as an excellent summer tea. The brewing temperature may be a little high for summer, depending, but it’s worth it for the cooling note.

Gongfu, 5g, around 125 ml, 185-190F

Brews a slightly cloudy golden yellow.
Taste is beautifully sweet with a flavorful, savory fruitiness. TeaVivre’s description mentions sweet corn and I find this accurate – this is soft, sweet and mildly nutty without any grassiness. No bitterness. Lovely.

This is the first to try from a sample package of spring 2016 green teas that I won. There was a short delay in getting them as one of the teas wasn’t available yet, so they sent me a silk scarf as an additional gift! Thank you TeaVivre for being so sweet!

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First off.. I have to say thank you to Angel and Teavivre for sending me a generous sample of this. After smelling the dry leaf I’m excited to try it!
The dry leaf has a sweet leafy aroma to it. It’s somewhere between a wet sweet hay smell (like a pumpkin patch in the fall) or bee pollen. It’s fantastic.
The aroma of the tea still has that sweet note like wet hay. The flavor of the tea is awesome. It’s sweet, vegetal, has that sweet hay note. It has a slight bitterness to it but I may have oversteeped and it honestly kind of adds to the flavor. It’s bold for a green tea but it’s quite possibly one of my new favorite green teas.

I get to be first to review this one!

First I have to tell you, when I originally came to Steepster I was drinking all Twinings and Ahmad. Shortly after, Angel sent the first set of samples to me and I was absolutely blown away. Everything I tried was a new eye opening experience. Now several years have passed and I have tried literally hundreds of teas. Teavivre remains the yardstick by which I compare all natural unflavored teas. It is rare when I taste something I enjoy more.

On to this one provided by Teavivre – a simple sniff of the bag was enough to convince me I loved this. It is like sticking your nose in an ear of sweet corn without getting butter all over your nose.

The leaf is cool. Looks for all the world like a white tea. Lots of downy white needles and deep green leaf.

Once steeped the leaf smells of corn and creamy vegetables. The liquor is bright clear yellow with golden highlights. The liquor scent is corn and a comforting spicy/floral mix.

The taste is sweet corn (see a pattern here?) and a stone like mineral spring water. I think Teavivre mentions chestnut, but since I have never tasted one I can only offer from a reference point I know. It feels smooth and kind of thick but not syrupy.

I prepared this western mug style with a 3 minute steep, so I am getting a green briskness late in the sip. It is not bitter or drying. This fades into a leafy plant green aftertaste. I pretty sure short gaiwan steeps would be absent of the briskness.

This is plenty sweet on its own. Any addition of sweetener would ruin a beautiful cup in my opinion. As a former Splenda junkie trust me.

I wrote on my blog this is “Complex enough to entertain but not so much as to demand concentration.” It is more than a comfort tea but not necessarily a deep meditation tea.