Rare Tea Co.’s Chinese Whole Leaf Green Tea | Tea Review

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The other day, I realized it has been over a year since I had a Chinese green tea, so it seemed about time to try another one!

Description: “The flavours are clean and bright with notes of fresh spinach and pea pods, complemented by a smooth, silky mouth feel.“

Instructions: 2g per 150ml | 158°F (70°C) | 1 – 2 minutes, tasting regularly | Infuse tea at least twice.

Review: Green tea, with its more vegetal and grassy notes, tend to remind me of spring. The dry curly leaves were a mixture of dark olive and lighter green leaves. There was also a fair amount of tan pale fuzzy buds since this is a spring picked tea known as White Monkey Paw or Baimao Hou. The leaves and buds had a strong steamed vegetable and spinach smell.

Infusion 1 (1 minute and 30 seconds): After the infusion, the liquor was a pale yellow-green colour, with some fanning at the bottom of the cup. The sip started off delicate and had an gentle umami flavour with notes of steamed vegetables, spinach, roasted chestnuts, and was faintly floral. The liquor was drying at the back of the throat.

Infusion 2 (2 minutes): Due to the longer infusion, the yellow liquor had a sharp cooked spinach and wheatgrass taste and was underlying toasted. The vegetal and nutty notes linger in the mouth, as well as some astringency and bitterness.

I stopped at two infusions as astringency and bitterness was starting to seep in. The wet leaves were shades of green and a nice fresh-cut grass, vegetal, and roasted smell. Some of the leaves were broken and had reddish-brown tips.

While I generally enjoy more delicate green teas, I found the few times when I brewed this tea with a bit less water, it had a much more intense taste and a wider range of flavours. Normally will try food pairings suggestions by the company but this tea was too delicate in taste to have with food. Since the steeping temperature of this tea is fairly low, I would suggest drinking it quickly or it becomes cool fast. Overall, this would be a nice tea for someone who enjoys more delicate green teas, teas that a vegetal and grassy, or the roasted notes of pan-fried teas (3.5/5 rating).

The question of the post: What tea do you drink during the springtime?

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