Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Wikipedia’

My first experience with lapsang souchong was pretty disastrous—reminiscent of sucking pork rinds—so when I first opened this tea packet and the first whiff that hit my nose was souchong-like “smoke,” I was very apprehensive.

But, intrepid tea taster that I am, I persevered and was pleasantly surprised. The big, black loose leaves brew up a luscious, clear red-gold color. At three minutes with boiling water (again, I erred on the side of caution thinking this was going to be really strong) the smoke taste does lead the caravan, but the other teas in the blend add a little sweetness and balance–think “cozy library with leather bound books and a crackling fireplace” instead of “Bedouin campfire with charred wood fumes stinging your eyes and snoring camels.”

But is lapsang souchong responsible for the smoky taste? That’s where this turns into a mystery. As you can see, the origin of the teas in this blend are represented in the ingredient list, but the type of tea must be a closely guarded blenders-only secret.

All the Wendell website reveals is that Victorian Afternoon was once a private label blend for the Elizabethan Club of Yale University, which Wikipedia tells us is dedicated to “conversation, tea, the art of the book, and literature, focused on—but not exclusively of—the Elizabethan era.” This tea is a perfect fit for that mindset. I suppose that if I asked the good folks at Mark T. Wendell to reveal the recipe, they would simply quote me some good ol’  Elizabethan Shakespeare: “No, pardon; ’tis a secret must be locked within the teeth.”  Oh, well. Whatever makes up this nice blend, if you’re a fan of smoky teas, Victorian Afternoon is one you’ll want to lock within your teeth, too.

You can purchase the Victorian Afternoon directly from the Mark T. Wendell website.

The Premium Dragon Well tea from the Grand tea Company is exquisitely light. I was intrigued by the sample, seeing the perfectly flat green leaves characteristic of Dragon Well tea through the stiff plastic sleeve. The leaves were whole and not broken. I knew the sample was small and I’d really have only one quick shot at capturing the essence of this tea from the Grand Tea Company of Hong Kong. The label was vague, identifying the sample only as Premium Dragon Well. I wondered what rated this tea as a premium tea.

I looked up the Grand Tea web site for this tea and found that the full name for this tea was 2010 First Harvest (Pre-Qingming) Xi Hu Dragon Well. I was delighted to have a first flush tea from this year. Now I really had some sleuthing to do as had no idea what Pre-Qingming meant. A quick look up in Wikipedia revealed that the Pre-Qingming tea is plucked 10 days before the Qingming Festival on April 5 each year. Only the youngest shoots are hand-picked by experienced hands and then processed. “Premium” not only refers to the quality of the tea, but also to its price. The leaves picked after the festival are called Yu Qian Longjin and are less expensive. “Longjing” means Dragon Well by the way, and Xi Hu is the name for West Lake in Zhejiang Province where the region’s earns its Dragon Well designation.

When I opened the packet, the most alluring scent of light grapefruit came through. I thought I was crazy because I had never come across grapefruit scent in a tea. Sure enough, even the next day I was sticking my nose into the packet for a deep inhalation. Even a few days later, I could still smell this amazing scent. I wondered if it would carry over to the taste. When I took the tea out the sleeve, I knew I had something special.

There are lots of preferred characteristics that I look for in a tea depending on its type, starting from the leaf and how it has been handled right down to how the tea finishes a few minutes after the final drunk drop! I really enjoyed seeing the pluck of the leaf and will use other teas to compare to the sample as you’ll soon see below.

Dragon Well is typically made from a bud and one or two leaves. The whole leaves are distinctively emerald green and flat and are pan-fired. Dragon Well tea liquor has a pale greeny-yellow liquor with the scent of fresh-cut grass and toasted chestnuts. It leans towards the savory, with a unique sweet and slightly bitter quality that invites one to drink more of this mellow brew.

The tea sample showed me a small delicate leaf that was light emerald green in colour. The surface of the leaves were even and there was a slight polish. The perfectly flat leaves were slippery against each other the presentation bowl . This showed there had been a lot of care and attention during the pan-firing to ensure consistency of finish. I could easily see that there was a bud and a leaf on most of the sample and for the most part were unbroken sets. Adding water would open the leaves for further inspection.

I weighed the sample in at 2.8 grams and used a glass teapot with about 150 ml of water at 85 degrees Celsius . By the way, on the Grand Tea web site there is a link to a youtube video showing the proper way to steep a quality Dragon Well tea in a tall glass. I appreciated the instruction but prefer my wider glass teapot so I can see more the action of the leaves with the water. Maybe I’m a bit of an amateur in that respect. The recommended steep from Grand Tea is 85 degrees Celsius for 1-2 minutes. I timed at 1 minute, The liquor was a light lemon-green colour and smelled lightly grassy. After allowing the tea to cool down slightly, I took my much anticipated sip. The natural sweetness came through with low astringency and suprizingly, no grapefruit taste. I received a toasty almost caramel note that left me with a smile on my face. It was a bit short on lingering flavours so I decided I want sightly more intensity on the second steep. For that, I decided to use a little less water but would keep to the 1 minute timing.

For the 2nd steep, I was rewarded with a more robust flavours, with more biscuit tastes rather than toasty. The liquor was more astringent now but fully round in the mouth and I found the flow of chi going to my heart and head. I went for the 3rd steep to see how much this young tea would hold up under pressure. Again I gave a 1 minute steep. The colour was more pale now, washed out but the flavour still held in there without losing its profile. I think if I were to have this tea again, I’d use a 2.5 or a full 3 grams and steep a bit longer for the 1st steep, maybe 1 ½ minutes. There is no point in increasing the water temperature with such a delicate tea. Just play with the timing and you will be rewarded. By the way, the price for this premium tea at $5.60 USD per 25 grams is excellent.

After the tea was consumed, I grabbed an inexpensive Dragon Well tea that cost $10 CND for 100 grams, no doubt it was last year’s post-Qingming. See the photo to the left. The leaves on the left are the Premium Dragon Well from Grand Tea. See how small and tight they are with a vibrant green set of 1 leaf and a bud. The picker was very careful to pick only at the base of the bud and leaf set. The Dragon Well on the right is large, bulky and in some cases clearly shows a bud and two leaves. The picker grabbed a lot of twig as well. I prefer to pay a premium price for tea that is well picked and processed rather than by the weight of twigs and branches. So, I will recommend the Premium Dragon Well Tea from the Grand Tea Company as indeed a premium tea that is good to present and to steep. I will be reviewing the Grand Tea’s Bi lo Chun and hope to report that it too, is premium.

You can purchase the Xi Hu Premium Dragon Well directly from the Grand Tea website.

Noticing that the last tea I drank that had “Mao Feng” in the title was a green tea, this made me curious, so I first went and looked up what “Mao Feng” meant. According to the “wonderful source of all knowledge,” Wikipedia, Mao Feng “is a term in tea manufacture denoting the picking of a bud and two leaves of equal length.” It goes on to tell about their broad, curved shape and the desirability of this design.

Dry, these leaves are long, thin, and wiry. The aroma is mild and a bit malty. After steeping for the recommended time, the aroma really opens up, revealing delicious smelling honey tones.

Taking my first sip, the flavour explodes across my tongue, drenching it in much the same flavours as were smelled in the completed liquor: a bit of a malt, with sweet, dark honey tastes.

What seems to be a simple tea actually contains a myriad of experiences for the senses, all coming together to make this a nice tea experience and a delight to drink. I rate it a 75 out of 100 on my personal enjoyment scale.

You can purchase the Hong Tao Mao Feng directly from the Drink The Leaf website.

First off, I am a sucker for clever packaging, and the little pyramid single-serve boxes from Tea Forte just scream “adorable.”.  I pried mine open very gingerly so I could preserve the pattern—I work with fifth graders at my church, and I’m seeing triangular game pieces in the near future. For more adult purposes, the paper pyramids would make lovely little gift basket tuck-ins.

Packaging, however, does not a tasty tea guarantee–so I checked out the contents of the little mesh pyramid bag more analytically. First sniff—grape! Second sniff—more grape! Which made me curious: is a currant like a raisin or like a blackberry? The picture I pulled up on Wikipedia looks more like a grape-ish blueberry. So what does the tea taste like?

Grape.

This, however, is not a bad thing. It’s nice and strong and round and fruity. Furthermore, it’s what I call a forgiving tea—I got sidetracked and left to steep about a minute more than recommended, and it was just right without being bitter.

Tried half of my sample straight up and half on ice. I’m thinking the on-ice half will be worth a repeat this summer when the temps start to climb.

You can purchase the Black Currant directly from the Tea Forte website.