Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Tea Description:
The nuance and texture of this early spring picking is one of the most fine and complex that we have seen from Laoshan Village. The body is perfectly smooth, silky and creamy, while the aftertaste lingers in the back of the throat with a sweetness that only an early spring tea could achieve.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Apparently this spring was quite cold in the Laoshan Village where this tea is grown, resulting in a smaller harvest of this tea. It also resulted in a sweeter, richer tea, and that much is evident from tasting it. This is one of the most remarkable pure (unflavored) green teas I’ve tasted.
While I noticed the oat-like qualities of this tea with my first tasting, what really blew me away was the sweet, creamy aspect of this tea. It was thick and rich, almost like a high-quality green Oolong might be, with a delectable creamy taste and texture that reminded me almost of a fine Milk Oolong. But … even better, because with a Milk Oolong, there are some distinct floral notes that cut through the creaminess and with this tea, there really isn’t that sharp floral tone to cut through the sweet, creamy notes.
Now, I’m not saying that the floral notes of a Milk Oolong are bad. What I am trying to say is that because there was such an indulgent, creamy flavor and texture to this tea with hints of vegetation, what this Spring Harvest Laoshan Green tea did for me is transport me to one of the happier memories of my childhood – visiting a friend’s family farm, and having a delicious, home-y breakfast complete with the most amazing, fresh cows milk. Not fresh from the grocery store, or fresh from the dairy farm kind of milk, but fresh from the cow that was able to graze in the grassy meadow kind of milk. The flavor of this tea reminds me of that deliciously, pure, unadulterated milk with hints of grass in the background.
No, this tea isn’t as creamy or thick as fresh milk, but, the flavor reminds me of that sweet, delicious taste of fresh milk. I was so excited to be drinking something that reminded me of such a delectable memory.
With my second cup, I was able to put aside my memories and focus a bit more on the tea. Yes! I do taste the oat flavor here, reminding me a bit of warm, nourishing oatmeal with a touch of creamy milk mixed in. It has a very soothing quality to it. Further steepings became less creamy, and more vegetal, but still intensely sweet.
What a delicious journey this tea provided. Although this spring’s harvest was a bit smaller and the result is a more costly tea, the deliciousness of this tea is worth the price … think of it as an investment in good taste!
