Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Delicacy’

Opening the package, the dry leaves smell grassy and have a perky sweetness about them that I’m eager to try (too much time spent drinking roasted and musty green teas has drawn me from teas like this). Two teaspoons of leaves, two cups of water, and three minutes later, I had a pale green brew with a much deeper aroma than the dry leaf had. Deeper, yet still as sweet, the grassy notes linger as well.

Deliciously smooth. The grassy flavour does not overwhelm, as some greens are apt to do. For such a lightly flavoured tea, the brew seems to carry a moderate amount of thickness to the mouthfeel. However, even those light flavours are complex by themselves, making each sip a lingering pleasure, if left to settle on the tongue.

The sweetness and delicacy of the brew leave one with a very refreshed feeling, and it is a very enjoyable tea to drink. I gladly give it a 77 out of 100 on my personal enjoyment scale, and would certainly recommend it.

You can purchase the Dragonwell Green directly from the Mark T. Wendall Tea Company website.

I prepared this tea in an almost reverential mood because the reputation of Mark T. Wendell teas is excellent.  And I was not disappointed.   Their River Mist Green tea is a great delicacy.  According to the Wendell web site, this tea is an “unusual Chinese green [which]  has abundant silver strands among the twisted green leaves and unopened buds. It’s supple, rich flavor is easy on the palate and a treat to drink.”  

This is no hyperbole at all.  This tea is a clear winner.  I’ve been tasting a lot of green teas lately noticing which ones manage to forge a distinctive identity on the memory of my nose and palate.  River Mist Green is a winner in terms of delicacy and refinement.  This is a tea to be sipped with attention and pleasure and not to be slurped down efficiently (and I do like teas that deliver huge flavor and caffeine while being hastily slurped). 

Mark T. Wendell’s River Mist Green is of the former company.  Choice, classy, and charming, it can serve as a centerpiece for entertainment or for quiet times alone.  I enjoyed every sip as if it were a delicate wine.  The tea does not have any overtly vegetal notes, which will be a recommendation for green tea lovers who don’t want to drink spinach juice.  This tea, instead, is what I would call bright, fresh, delicate, and refined.  It’s a very swanky tea but also an eminently affordable one.  

You can purchase the River Mist directly from the Mark T. Wendall Tea Company website.

Recently we received a bunch of samples from Tao Tea Leaf for reviewing. Taos is an online shop, but also has a physical presence in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada (for our US friends ).

I had been comtemplating the reviews of Taos teas for a while, when I got an invitation for a Pu-erh tasting with a bunch of other IAATL reviewers, and was surprised to hear that it was at Taos! Well, needless to say, I accepted, and was VERY glad that I did! Without going indepth, lets just say it was an amazing morning with much Pu-erh, from this years Sheng, to a 10 year old Sheng worth an estimated $300/100g – a real honour! All this motivated me to do a review for Tao myself.

I chose the Golden Monkey, because it is not a tea that I have ever had before. This required a bit of research, and I have found that Golden Monkey is generally considered a high grade black tea grown in the Fujian Province of China. It is from a special variety of the tea bush that, after withering, some leaves become golden in color, making the finished product a very beautiful mix of black and gold leaves.

The sample from Tao matches this description. I found the leaf to be tightly rolled, almost needle like in it’s delicacy. The golden leaves were beautifully mixed in with the black, and definately of higher volume that the black leaves. Typically, this tea is picked during the spring season (April to May), giving it a fresh scent and flavour.

The liquor brews up golden in color, lighter than an Assam black, but darker than a Da Hung Pao Oolong. It’s scent is that of a light Assam black, with honey like notes. It reminds me of the (now closed) Simple Leaf Honeybee Oolong, both in scent and with the color of the liquor – a favorite tea of mine, so I was very much looking forward to tasting!

The flavor is tough to describe, so I am going with complex It is light and smooth, cooling in the mouth, with malty, chocolate and honey tones. There is an underlying sweetness, but with an edge of astringincy to it, very slight, but coming forward as the tea cools. The most notable feeling I get is an icy after “taste” in my mouth! That leads me to believe this would also be a great iced tea.

I love the flavour of this tea. It is one that you will want to have cup after cup, as you explore the flavours in it. Each sip brings forth different feelings, and the flavours continue to unfold the more you drink. This tea is like a new friend, the more time you take with it (them) the more you will get to know it (them) and enjoy its (their) company .

This is what I expect from Tao. After the amazing Pu-erh’s, and an incredible Da Hung Pao (if I can tear myself away from just enjoying that one, I will review it!), this further confirms to me that Tao knows what he is doing with his tea selection. If you live in Toronto, go and see him! If you don’t, then check out his website, or even call him on the phone, I guarantee you will not be disappointed!

You can purchase the Golden Monkey directly from the Tao Tea Leaf website.

This tea is one of the most celebrated white teas and the drinking proves it.  The dry leaf is exceptionally long, tippy, and silvery (just like a silver needle).  Clearly a lovely tea, the dry leaves glow with the promise of an exceptional brew.   The promise is more than fulfilled.  The flavor is phenomenally delicate and sweet.   The pale but lovely brew unfolds in waves of apricot, pear and melon with a simple, yet elegant, base of what can only be described as a naturally delicate freshness.  The tea’s aroma and taste evokes a fruit orchard in early spring, when the flavors and odors are young, delicate, and intoxicatingly seductive.  The bright fruitiness is the keynote here and if there is a slight green or hay-like taste, it is a back-up player to the delicacy of newly ripened fruit.

This tea is best consumed with careful consideration of its innate beauty and delicacy.  I would not drink it with anything but the lightest of foods:  you would not want it overwhelmed.  I think that the natural grace of this tea might be overwhelmed by milk.  The natural flavors could probably sustain and even be enhanced by some sweetener.  I chose not to use sweetener, because the fruity taste of the tea itself added a kind of honey.

Grace Tea Company’s Organic China White Fujian Silver Needle is one of the very finest teas I have consumed and can stand up nicely to multiple infusions.  I paid careful attention to the brewing instructions and was well-rewarded with one of the very best cups of tea.   It would be a triumph to serve this as the opening or closing course to a dinner party if your guests are paying close and careful attention to flavor and taste.

You can purchase the Organic China White Fujian Silver Needle directly from the Grace Tea Company website.