Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘jade sword’

Jade Sword also known as Mao Jian is a favoured tea among many for its light refreshing vegetal flavour and pale liquor. Canton Tea has again provided an exceptional sample. In digging around on the internet, I found a comment in an article by Jane Pettigrew about the difficulties in sourcing tea in 2010 due to climate conditions. This Jade Sword tea sample is from another region that i was receiving more rainfall: ” … Edgar Thoemmes, the founding partner of Canton explained that “we have had to be agile this year!” and instead of sourcing Canton Teas Jade Sword Mao Jian from Zhejiang this year, their supply has come from Guangxi province”. The Canton Tea web site says this tea is sourced from Da Ming Shan which is located in Zhejiang.

Could you find a prettier tea? The long thin fronds are so tender and graceful and the colours are muted sage and silver tips. This tea is so pleasing to the eye and so celestial looking. If you have guests, put this tea out for a visual inspection, to smell and for admiration. The scent of the dry leaf is heavenly – sweet with grassy freshness. I used a Gaiwan for this tea using 2.5 grams tea in 150 ml water at 90 degrees C. for 2 minutes.

The scent of the wet leaves is light and fresh, with a note of asparagus. The wet olive-green coloured leaves were opened only lightly, leaving room for additional steeps. I used a shorter 30 second timing on the second but had a weaker cup rather than one producing more flavour with a more open leaf. I would not want to be dissapointed on a 3rd steep so I stopped. Examining the wet leaves, I could see the long bud and even some chopped leaf.

The colour of the liquor was very pale yellow almost clear! This Jade Sword is a smooth drink, but not as full in the mouth or as astringent as other Mao Jian’s I’ve tried. There was an exceptional aftertaste though. Sometimes, one has to wait for the best experience at the end rather than at the beginning. The umani lasts and lasts. There is an astringency and minty-coolness across the tongue. And the natural sweetness stays in the mouth.

I would not serve this tea with anything other than a light almond cookie or cucumber or watercress sandwich least it mask the subtleties of this tea. This is an all-day any-time drinker. Frankly, I would love this in the spring or early summer. I would sure like to know what the Zhejiang-sourced Jade Sword is like in comparison.

You can purchase the Jade Sword Green Tea | Mao Jian directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.

Ok, so as I embark on my first official tea review, I realize that I have been procrastinating because I felt so much pressure to write a meaningful review that will educate, enlighten and fully describe my experience as I tried this tea. I had to remind myself that even though I have had the pleasure of experiencing hundreds of different teas through my training to become a Certified Tea Sommelier, in the end, my review is still subjective and may be totally different than someone else’s experience with the same tea. I have decided to lessen some of the pressure and just write a straightforward and honest review that hopefully will be useful to others who may be interested in trying this particular tea.

When reviewing a tea, I feel it is important to comment on multiple aspects of the sensory experience, including an analysis of the dry and wet leaf as well as the steeped liquor. I have kept the “technical terms” to a minimum, but I have used some standard industry terminology in describing my experience.

I was very excited to try this tea because I love China green teas and this one is beautiful. The name alone makes it sound quite exciting – Jade Sword – it conjures up images of ancient China and fearless warriors. As it turns out, Jade Sword is Mao Jian, one of my favourite China green teas. One thing I noticed with this sample from Canton Tea Co. is that many of the leaves are quite a bit longer than is usual with this style of tea. The leaf is twisted and the colour is medium to dark green with some downy leaves in the mix. The dry leaf has a mildly floral and sweet aroma.

I used 2.5g of tea to approximately 4 oz of 175 deg water and steeped it for 1 minute intervals. The wet leaves were a beautiful medium green colour and were only partially open after the first steep. The leaves had a sweet and slightly vegetal aroma. The liquor was a pale yellow shade and also had a faint sweet aroma. The taste was beautifully smooth, mildly sweet and coated my pallet with an almost creamy aftertaste that lingered. After one sip of this tea, I was feeling relaxed, calm and at peace.

I was able to steep this tea three times and probably could have gone a little further if I had increased the steep time to 1.5 or 2 minutes. The astringency (dry mouth feel) came through a little more with subsequent steepings and there was even a very slight peppery taste detectible. I am usually a “first steep kind of gal”, and this tea was no exception as the first steep was heavenly. However, I always get as much mileage as I can out of any tea, and this one did not disappoint.

This is definitely a tea I would recommend and will continue to drink myself. On a scale from 1 to 10, I would rate this tea at 8.5. Mao Jian is best enjoyed clear and although it could be paired with something simple like a white cake or even certain cheeses, I prefer to take it all on its own so I can truly indulge in the tranquility that comes with that first sip. Visit the Canton Tea Co. website for more information or to order Jade Sword: http://www.cantonteaco.com/green-tea/jade-sword-green-tea-mao-jian.html.

You can purchase the Jade Sword Green Tea | Mao Jian directly from the Canton Tea Co. website.