Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Spring Harvest’

The little leaves are twisted wiry leaves that are dark green in color. The smell of the dry leaves is sweet and nutty.

Recommended brewing time is 3 minutes. I started out with a 2 minute infusion. The color is light.

First smell reminds me of a Japanese green. The taste reminds me of Genmaicha. A nutty tone is present, smooth, light, savory. The nutty tone is described by Leaf Spa as a woody note. This is a “pan-dried fine spring harvest green tea from the Jiangsu province of Mainland China.”

Went for a second flush on the leaves, it is ok, but not as good as the first pot. The nutty/woodsy notes are much weaker in this second flush. All I taste now are the grassy notes. Not bad, just different from the first cup.

You can purchase the Organic Bi Luo Chun Tea directly from the Leaf Spa Tea website.

Roasted teas are interesting.  As a step during the finishing,  they are roasted in a manner similar to roasting coffee beans for a short period. This imparts a “nutty’ or “toasted” flavor and scent.  (Green teas are usually withered by steam, stir frying (think of a huge wok), or occasionally roasting. Green Needles (Lu Zhen) is a spring harvest (Qing Ming) tea, that is noted as a very brisk and strong tea, unusually so for a green.  Roasted teas are sometimes recommended for people trying to move away from coffee.

This tea from the great folks at Rishi, shows a long pine needle shape with a slight curl and whites tips on dark green.  There is a fresh, sweet smell to the dry tea.

2.5 tsp (about 6g) tea in 6 oz water @180F in my green Xing for 3 minutes. Tan with hints of red in the cup, with a brothy, nutty nose with a hint of toasted nuts. Nutty, complex, big flavor with a big astringency and a lingering dryness.

This is a very big green tea!  My first pass at this tea caught me off guard – much larger personality than the usual greens I drink.

Wet leaves unfold to a leaf and a bud shape expected from this type of tea.  Leaf is consistent in size and shape, with almost no broken leaf.  A mark of quality I expect from Rishi.

2nd Infusion 185F for 4 min. Nose more typical green, with more roasted nuances, taste nutty and dry.  I got 2 more infusions out of this @5 minutes before it washed out.

Wow, this is a big, strong, green tea. This is not the soft, introspective kind of green. This is a strong, energizing tea – reminds me of the energizing effect of Yerba Mate – with a good bold, robust flavor. This is a  green for first thing in the morning to get you up and running, or any time you need a pick me up.

You can purchase Rishi Teas Organic Green Needles (Lu Zhen) Roasted directly from their website.