Category Archives: Green Tea

Saturday Morning Tea

I experienced sheer joy in taking photos of this morning’s tea, a green tea from the Yunnan province in China. It’s called Yunnan green Snow Dragon.

I don’t think that anyone rivals the tea artisans of China in their tea leaf rolling techniques. Corkscrews? Unbelievably amazing, huh?

With such an auspicious name, I wondered where this tea came from so I looked up if there were any mountains called Snow Dragon in Yunnan.  Here’s what I discovered.

Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, located in northern Yunnan province, is the southernmost glacier in the Northern hemisphere. It consists of 13 peaks, the highest one being 18,360 feet. It’s never been climbed. Wow. You can see photos of the area and read about the legend of the creation of Snow Dragon mountain here.

I steeped the little corkscrews for 3 minutes in 180 degree F water. Their shape relaxed considerably towards the end of their steeping time.

As I removed the infuser basket from my glass teapot, I was struck by an intense aroma of fresh pear. This distinct note carried on into the flavor.

These steeped leaves remind me very much of a white tea, consisting of mainly leaf buds, the newest growth on the tea plant. That said, the further manipulation of the leaf into a shape is the mark of a green (or black or Oolong) tea, not a white tea.

The straw colored liquor is as pale as a white tea though.

The flavor is very soft and delicate with notes of pear and fruit. As the tea cools, its sweetness becomes more defined and lingers in my mouth.

As I watched the leaves steep and release their shape, I thought of how we all have a tendency to hold on to things – people, situations, even sickness and emotional wounds – because we get so comfortable with them, even if it is time to move on and change our shape. Even though the unknown is scary, if we are just able to release and let go, we can discover the beauty in a new way of being. Just like the corkscrew tea leaves released their shape and transformed into a delicious cup of tea.

“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Saturday Morning Tea

Good morning, dear tea friends! This morning I’ve brewed up a pot of another green tea, this one from Korea called Jung-Jak. Interestingly enough, I did review the 2008 version of this tea here.

This spring harvest tea is usually plucked sometime during the month of May. Its name translates to “medium sparrow tongue”, a colorful reference to the appearance and shape of the leaf.

What do you think?

I’ve been looking for a  comparable alternative to our Japanese teas as my company decided to take a cautious stance and not purchase any 2011 teas from Japan.

I steeped the leaf for 3 minutes in 180 F water. I noticed that I used 160 F water back in 2008. I think that I’ll steep another pot using that temp as, right away, I taste a bit of a tang on my tongue. Have you ever had a cup of green tea that you thought was too pungent? More than likely, the water temp was too hot for steeping the leaf.

The warm sunlight in the photo above tints the tea liquor golden but it is the color of light jade. The aroma has a pronounced vegetal quality, like fresh spring asparagus, which carries over into its flavor. This tea makes my mouth feel very fresh.

I don’t consider myself a green tea connoisseur at all, drinking it probably several times a week. That said, if I didn’t know that this tea came from Korea, I would guess that it’s a Japanese sencha. I’d love to hear your feedback if you’ve tried this tea.

Next weekend I’m attending my 35th high school reunion. I’m amazed at that incredible number and am looking forward to seeing my former classmates and hearing about their life journeys since our graduation many moons ago. So, I won’t be reviewing a new tea next Saturday but I’ll be back in 2 weeks to enjoy a cup of tea with you again.

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!

“Words have no wings but they can fly a thousand miles.”

~Korean Proverb

Saturday Morning Tea

As promised, I’ve brewed up a pot of this year’s Pi Lo Chun Bao Wei. In comparing the dry leaf, while I could find some slightly curled bits, it doesn’t seem to be as spiral shaped as last year’s lot. That said, there’s quite a bit of downy tips, the new growth of the tea plant.

The steeping leaf reveals many shades of olive green and brown, very similar to last year. I steeped it for 3 minutes in 180 F water.

Now that the leaf has unfurled during steeping, it looks very similar to last year with the same amount of broken leaf bits.

The tea liquor is a beautiful golden straw color, also very similar to last year. So far, it is quite similar with the exception of less curled bits.

Now comes the test. Is the flavor similar?

Personally, I don’t think so. The pronounced anise/licorice flavor note I found so appealing (and others didn’t) last year is not there at all. I found the aroma sweet with a note of fresh corn which carried over into the flavor.  The vegetal quality is more pronounced. As the tea cooled, a hint of smokiness came out which lingered in my mouth for quite some time. It reminded me of the smokiness of a gunpowder tea.

In conclusion, I think that I preferred last year’s lot even though I find this tea to be very pleasant. Such is the nature of tea – variations always happen from year to year.

Today is a wonderful day – we are celebrating my grandchildren’s birthdays. Ella is 3 and Landon is 1. I am looking forward to giving them each a big hug (and some fun gifts) from Gran! 🙂

“An open home, an open heart, here grows a bountiful harvest.”

~Judy Hand

Saturday Morning Tea

Good morning, dear tea friends! This is the time of year when new lots of China teas arrive, one of them being a favorite of mine called Pi Lo Chun Bao Wei, a green tea. Please enjoy my review of this tea from last November and then next week I’ll review the new lot to see how the two compare. Enjoy your week!

I’ve returned from my trip to New Mexico and am glad to be here, sharing a cup of tea with you once again. As promised, today I am brewing up a pot of Chinese green tea called Pi Lo Chun Bao Wei.

Pi Lo Chun, or Green Snail Spring, is a well-known China green tea from Jiangsu province. Its distinct spiral leaf shape is created during the firing step of its processing. After the fresh leaf is plucked, usually in the morning, it is brought to the factory in either baskets or cloth pouches to protect the leaf and allow for air circulation. Once at the factory, the leaf is spread out on floor mats to air-dry and reduce the moisture content of the leaf.

As Pi Lo Chun leaf must be manipulated during the next step, the firing step, it is placed in short, round metal drums which are placed over a heat source. A gentle twist and roll motion of the hand as heat is applied coaxes the leaf into its characteristic shape, resembling a tiny fiddlehead fern shape. In fixing the leaf into a specific shape, its chi, or energy, remains fixed in the leaf until the moment of steeping when it is released into the cup of tea.

I steeped the leaves for 3 minutes in 180 degree F water. The pale golden liquor gives off a distinctly sweet aroma.

As I take my first sip, a pronounced licorice/anise flavor note surprises me in its intensity. It mellows out as my tea cools revealing a light floral note of honeysuckle. As I usually find a Pi Lo Chun to have fruity notes, this is quite unique. And yummy. Interestingly enough, there are no vegetal notes in this green tea.

As the days shorten and the nights wrap us in a longer, darker cloak, I find myself turning inward in solitude and reflecting upon the year that is flowing towards its end. I find my center and a measure of comfort in the following enduring prayer.

All shall be well,

And all shall be well,

And all manner of things shall be well.

~Dame Julian of Norwich, a 13th century English mystic

Saturday Morning Tea

This morning I was all set up to do a new tea review and as I went to snap my first photo, my camera’s battery died. No problem, I have another so I changed batteries only to discover that battery was dead, too! So, it appears that the universe is giving me a message today so I’ll share a post from my archives. Enjoy and have a great week!

Even though we are on the cusp of autumn and the temps are dropping rapidly here in New England, especially at night, I’m still in the mood for a light tea.

I introduce you to Huangshan Mao Feng Supreme, a beautiful, spring harvest Chinese green tea. Perhaps springtime in a cup can banish away the gloominess I feel on this dark, cloudy day.

The leaf is from a very fine plucking and careful processing resulting in an amazingly intact leaf set. I loved watching the leaves dance in my glass teapot as they infused.

Just the tips, the very new growth, are plucked to create this special tea.

I have read that Huangshan is another name for Mount Huang, located in the Anhui province of China. It’s a place of  granite peaks, hot springs and beautiful sunsets and sunrises. An optical phenomenon known as Buddha’s Light occurs a couple times a month there with the sunrise. Sounds like an amazing place.

This tea is quite pale in color with a vegetal whisper in the aroma.

I chose this particular teabowl because the pale liquor allows me to see the beautiful texture inside the bowl. The flavor is light yet fills my mouth with its soft, fruity sweetness. Mmmm….

As I sip my tea, I watch the gray blanket of sky and contemplate the seasonal changes to come. My cup of springtime seems to hold back the thickening clouds as it releases the scent of new growth with every sip.

“Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke