Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Wow, that’s a mouthful. And this tea is a mouthful of deliciousness. This organic Chinese green tea is sweet with just a hint of almost salmon-like butteriness. I’ve paired it with lemon verbena, marshmallow roots and lemon-, marshmallow- and pastry- organic flavors. Be prepared to have your socks knocked off with this one..
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was excited when I saw the announcement for this Lemon Meringue Mao Zhen Hair Needle Green Tea as the tea of the week for March 23rd from 52Teas! I love Lemon Meringue Pie! And I got even more excited after I read our SororiTea Sister Nichole’s review of this tea. I really couldn’t wait until I was able to find the time to sit back and enjoy this tea!
My first sip or two of this tea were not as impressive as the rest of the cup for me. I took those first couple of sips when the tea was still very hot because to be honest, I couldn’t wait to try it. I mean, hello? Lemon Meringue? I want!
But the tea hadn’t cooled enough yet for the flavors to really emerge the way they began to after a few more minutes of cool time. After about six or seven minutes, the flavors really began to establish themselves in the cup. Now I can taste the tangy lemon notes – imagine lemon curd but not the lemon curd you’d buy on the grocery store shelves! Think to a homemade lemon curd or even to your (insert name of baking relative here)’s lemony filling for their lemon meringue pie. That’s the lemon flavor I’m talking about! It’s bright and sunny and vibrantly lemon-y, but not so tart that I’m puckering. There’s enough sweetness to the ‘filling’ taste that I’m getting a strong, assertive lemon-y flavor but I’m not puckering as if I just bit into a lemon wedge.
After the lemon note, I taste the fluffy marshmallow notes that mimic the sweet, creamy meringue flavor and even a hint of buttery pie pastry. Delicious!
And I’m happy to say that the green tea flavor isn’t lost in this tea. I taste grassy, vegetal notes from the green tea. Instead of “melding” or “marrying” with the lemon meringue pie flavors to create a unified flavor, this tea tastes very much to me like lemon meringue pie + green tea. It tastes like a nice balance of the two and I like the way I’m getting a slightly savory flavor from the green tea that contrasts with the sweet, dessert-like flavor of the lemon meringue pie.
The second infusion was even nicer than the first, because the lemon tones down just a little (still a very lemon-y tea!) and the green tea has become a silkier, smoother taste with a hint of creaminess that works beautifully with the marshmallow notes.
A really delightful tea. I think this particular tea is best served hot. Not piping hot like my first couple of sips were, but after it’s cooled a few minutes so that the flavors can develop but before it becomes cold to the point that it’s like iced tea. I find that the flavors become a little more muddied when the tea becomes cold. So drink it while it’s hot and it’ll be like you’re eating a piece of your favorite lemon meringue pie but without the fat and calories!
Lemon Meringue Mao Zhen Hair Needle from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Wow, that’s a mouthful. And this tea is a mouthful of deliciousness. This organic Chinese green tea is sweet with just a hint of almost salmon-like butteriness. I’ve paired it with lemon verbena, marshmallow roots and lemon-, marshmallow- and pastry- organic flavors. Be prepared to have your socks knocked off with this one..
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Lemon Meringue in a cup. . sign me up! I adore this tea. It really tastes like a slice of lemon meringue pie. I loved it so much I actually just picked up 3 more packs. When I first saw this one the site, I knew I would like it and automatically added it into my cart, just didn’t realize how much I would love it.
The dry leaf smells exactly like a homemade slice of lemon meringue pie times ten. The smell is almost overwhelming but amazing. I had people stopping by my desk and asking me if I had a lemon candle on my desk while the tea was brewing. The green tea is there and provides a fantastic richness. I think I’m going to have to order some Mao Zhen Hair Needle on its own and see what that tastes like. I think its the first time I’ve had this particular green tea and am wondering what all it is adding to the flavor.
I’m loving this one and will be sad when my stash is gone. Reminds me of my mom’s amazing lemon meringue pie. So Good! And crazy helpful for when I’m craving something pastry like while I’m on this diet of mine.
Organic Huang Shan Hair Tip from Arbor Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Arbor Teas
Tea Description:
Our organic Huang Shan Hair Tip Green Tea (also known as Huang Shan Mao Feng) is grown in the mountainous regions of China’s Anhui province, in the vicinity of the picturesque Yellow Mountain (Huang Shan). This tea is one of the top ten most legendary teas in all of China. Mao Feng teas are usually plucked when the buds are swollen from rain but still young and tender. The medium-green leaf sets yield a pale, straw-colored infusion with light body and a smooth, somewhat sweet and lightly vegetal flavor reminding of fresh garden zucchini.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I like to taste the tea – drink about half the cup – before I start my reviews, so that I can get a good idea of what I want to say about it. I also like to drink about half the cup before I start writing the review because, I like to wait before I read the description of the tea from the vendor so that I can formulate my own opinion about the tea without the influence of the purveyor’s description.
So, when I did get around to reading the above description, I have to say YES! That’s what I’m tasting. Especially when I got around to the zucchini comparison. This tastes very much like zucchini: mild tasting, and with a hint of butter, as if the zucchini has been either lightly sauteed in butter or perhaps steamed and then lightly buttered. There are also notes of hay and some very faint fruit tones to the cup, somewhat apple-esque.
When I took my first couple of sips, I could have sworn I was sipping on a yellow tea … because it has some similarities in taste to my beloved yellow teas too, although I must say that this is definitely more green tea tasting than yellow tea. But, it was quite nice to discover some yellow-ish taste to this!
Overall, I’m really loving this tea… certainly a good one. But, as I’ve gotten to know Arbor Teas over the past couple of years, it’s become somewhat expected! They have some of the best teas available anywhere online! I highly recommend them!