Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Early Spring’

The Grace Tea Company originally hails from New York and was founded by one Frank Cho – a man deemed an experienced tea taster. The focus of the company has always been on bringing rare teas from many different areas to the palates of the public. In 2009, all operations were moved to Acton, MA., under the care of Elliot and Hartley E. Johnson – better known as the owners of the Mark T. Wendell Tea Company. I was so slow in realizing the connection I even commented how the websites looked similar. This is why I love “About Us” sections.

Grace’s Organic China White Fujian Silver Needle hails from – you guessed it – Fujian province. Also known as Bai Hao Yinzhen (White Hair Silver Needle), this white tea is made using the buds of the Dai Bai or “Large Leaf” varietal. Said buds are hand-rolled into needle-like shapes after a light fermentation process. The best whites are picked in the early spring; the more fuzz on the leaves, the younger and better they are.

I don’t consider myself an “expert” tea taster by any stretch, but I am quite familiar with Silver Needle whites. They were the first loose leaf tea I ever tried, and to this day remain one of my favorites. I’ve had good ones, fair ones, and wretched ones. Quality can usually be discerned on first whiff. This Silver Needle smelled of melons, lotus blossoms, cream and spice – absolutely wonderful. Also appealing were the leaves themselves, tightly-rolled and basking in their furry display.

Brewing instructions on the sample bag called for 1 tsp of leaves per cup (likely 8oz). Grace Tea instructed that water should be brought to a boil and then allowed cool for a minute. The actual steep recommended was one-and-a-half to two minutes. I didn’t like the temp instructions. Instead, I went with my usual approach of water heated to 165F and a steep of two-and-a-half minutes – same leaf measurements, though.

The liquor brewed up almost clear, save for a slight yellow tinge. The aroma was wonderfully fruity, faintly citrus-like with a grape-y lean. Any melon echo it had was gone, but that was okay. Flavor-wise, it lived up to how a Silver Needle should be – floral, creamy, fruity, slightly nutty, and no vegetal profile. This was just as impressive as the Silver Needle put out by Mark T. Wendell. A fabulous late-afternoon cup o’ subtlety. It made me feel like a Chinese aristocrat…even though I was wearing gym shorts at the time.

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

Canton Tea offered up this opportunity for me to try their Superior Long Jing and I jumped at because I’ve never tried this quality of Dragon Well before.  I really appreciate and enjoy the experience that comes with every Long Jing, regardless of it’s grading, it’s always good.   This particular Long Jing is from a aged tree high up in the Weng Jia Shan Village of the Zhejiang Province. It’s a ‘Superior’ grade meaning
that it was picked in early spring (first flush).  The dry leaves are long and flat and have a strong vegetal scent to them and they are full leaves, clearly they had to have been hand-picked.  There is absolutely no dust in this tea which doesn’t surprise me, I’ve never had a tea from Canton that was dusty.

I’ve pre-warmed my teapot and boiled water to 208 degF.  Pouring the water over the leaves and the first scent I’m getting is one that is slightly sweet with a touch of grassiness.  I let the leafs steep for 5 minutes and the color went to a crystal clear, light green hue.  The taste is clean and slightly nutty.  I have resteeped this tea five times and, only now, the flavor is fading.  It really is a pleasure to be able to enjoy this quality of tea and I hope to have the opportunity to try new teas from Canton Tea.

You can purchase the Superior Dragon Well Green Tea | Traditional Long Jing directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.

The China Yunnan Silver Tip Choice Tea from Grace Tea is a tea that anyone can enjoy. Yunnan tea is grown at high altitudes in the mountains in the south of China. Yunnan tea is one of the oldest style of tea, known for its intense black tight-wired leaf and brassy red-brown liquor with low astringency, a spicy note and complex bouquet. Yunnan is one of the world’s versatile teas, used for flavouring teas such as Earl Grey.

The sample of Yunnan black tea demonstrated uniform precision of the twist in the small dry black leaf. This is certainly “choice”. There was a small amount of golden tips of maybe 10% and even some silver tips which makes this tea “silver”. When tea leaves are picked in early spring, the pekoe (“hairs”) on the leaf are silver. With processing, the pekoe becomes golden. Its a bit more unusual to find silver tips in a Yunnan and I looked hard to find them. I compared the content and texture to a superior Imperial Yunnan and a Golden Yunnan. The Imperial Yunnan was keenly floral, malty and toasty-scented when I opened the package. The China Yunnan however was very light in scent, almost no floral or malt dominance but there was a light fired-scent. The Golden Yunnan by contrast had a heavier amount of golden tips perhaps 40% with a larger leaf. By looking at the leaf, I mused that I was going to get a lot of colour and a bit of flavour with some astringency from the Grace’s smaller leaf Yunnan.

I noticed there even some small green chopped pieces that gave me some ideas on preparing this tea. I recall my friend in Hong Kong never used boiling water even on black tea. If you are English, please don’t gag reading this. So in following her lead, I took the water off the boil and at 90 Celsius poured the water over 2.5 grams of tea in a 5 oz. gaiwan. Just as I was placing the lid on top of the gaiwan, I noticed the colour was expressing almost immediately. I waited an impatient 2 1/2 minutes for steeping. Now that may seem like a short time, but I’m used to pouring off green teas after 30 seconds. I poured off the brew noting it dribbled awkwardly from the gaiwan. I smelled the warm leaves, taking in the toasty sweet scent. The colour of the wet leaf was a mahogany red. I could see that the leaf was softened but hadn’t opened fully. I knew on the next steep that I would increase the time.

The colour of the liquor was a golden-red bronze-brown. There was no debris or cloudiness. A rim of chlorophyll settled around the cup. See photo.

There was a “tar” scent to the liquor in a good way and perhaps even some chocolate tones. I slurped the tea taking the liquor to the back of my tongue. I could sense the astringency sitting lightly on the tongue and at the back of the throat. There was a woodsy taste, not smoky and any other flavours seemed light. The astringency lingered unwanted. The extended steep time next time would draw out more flavours.

I brought the water up to temperature again and this time my steep with a fresh sample was for a full 3 minutes. What a difference 30 seconds makes! The leaves sank to the bottom of the Gaiwan and the pouring off was now flowing off the leaves. The colour of the liquor was a deeper golden-red and the flavours were better developed, being more “mellow” in flavour than light of flavour. There were more complex notes with some discernable chocolate and maltiness coming forward with a light spiciness. The astringency sat in the front and middle of the tongue instead of at the back of the throat. There was a less “dry mouth” and no lingering astringency. The sweet notes could now be identified as caramel.

As excited I was that the tea had finally revealed itself, I now had to try the steep with milk as there are always people whose preference it to use milk with tea and will insist on using it sometimes indiscriminately on all teas from everywhere! However, it is perfectly alright to add milk to Yunnan black tea and is probably the only tea from China that is acceptable to add milk to. I noted that the colour of the Yunnan tea held strong when a drop of the milk was added and the flavour did not diminish nor was it enhanced. I did not take this tea up to 4 minutes but feel it would be alright if you have a preference for something stronger. This Yunnan is one stable tea and is one I can recommend to others easily. I was actually keeping my eye open for an easy-drinking tea like the Yunnan Silver Tip Choice. Its one you look forward to having with or without a meal, as a compliment to heavier dinner flavours or with a light afternoon tea service. It is almost like a “black Darjeeling” and I’d insist you try it.

You can purchase the China Yunnan Silver Tip Choice directly from the Grace Tea Company 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.