Magical Mao Jian Green Tea from Teasenz

mao_jian_teaTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Teasenz

Tea Description:

Small and curly leaves that are reminiscent of our bi luo chun but with a stronger, more vibrant taste. If you are looking for a highly refreshing green tea that leaves a fresh, clean taste in your mouth, then magical mao jian is just what you need.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Mao Jian has been, for a long time now, one of my very favorite Chinese green teas.  And this Magical Mao Jian Green Tea from Teasenz is delightful!  I’m not sure why they chose to call this Mao Jian “Magical” but, it’s tasting magical to me!

Sweet and vegetative with a moderate astringency that leaves the palate feeling tingly clean after each sip, this Mao Jian is pleasantly invigorating and yet mellow and soothing to drink.

The flavor is sweet and light.  There are hints of a toasty nutty flavor in the background.  The foreground has a crispness to it, and the vegetative taste is somewhere between sweet/grassy and savory/vegetables with maybe just a touch of butter to accentuate the flavor of the veggies.  But even with that light touch of butter, the astringency of this tea seems to wipe the palate clean, readying it for another sip.  The buttery notes never become heavy or inundating.

I find that as I sip on this tea, my worries seem to melt away and I just sort of lose myself in the cup!  That’s what I like best about Mao Jian … and this one is top-notch!

Mao Jian Green Tea from Little Red Cup Tea Co.

maojianTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Little Red Cup Tea Co.

Tea Description:

Our Green Mao Jian Tea is pure whole leaf organic Chinese tea, Fair Trade certified and sublimely drinkable. A marvelous tea to accompany you throughout a busy morning and into the early afternoon, a tea both for the dedicated tea consumer and one for the casual tea drinker as well.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I just came in from a massive marathon of holiday shopping, and I can’t think of another tea that revitalizes me quite the same way as a sweet, lush green tea like this Mao Jian Green Tea from Little Red Cup Tea Co.  There is something just so … enlivening about green tea that seems to re-energize my drained “batteries.”

Mao Jian is one of my favorite green teas, because it has a sweet, vegetal flavor that is very fresh tasting but without a bitter grassy taste.  This is more like a young, spring-green grass note that evokes thoughts of the dew that might form on the grass early in the spring mornings in a grassy field.  There is a slightly savory quality to this cup as well that hits just after mid-sip.  Savory … yes.  Bitter?  No.

And this is an excellent Mao Jian.  It tastes light and refreshing, and I can feel it revive me as I sip after what has been a very long day of shopping.  I like that this tea is organic, I like that it’s fair trade … and I like the way it tastes and how it’s giving me a much-needed jump-start!

Nonpareil Te Gong Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea from Teavivre

NonpareilHuangShan

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Teavivre

Tea Description:

The historic Huang Shan Mao Feng is well-known as one of the ten famous Chinese tea. This Ming QianHuang Shan Mao Feng was picked on March 23, 2013, is a kind of pre-ming green tea. Pre-ming tea has strict requirement of the picking time and its making standard, thus the bird-tongue appearance could been perfect formed, as well as the brisk flavor. Both of which are favored by tea lovers.

Our Nonpareil Huang Shan Mao Feng Green tea is Te Gong grade. Te Gong refers to two Chinese words: 特(tè) and 贡(gòng). 特 is short for 特级, which means the tea’s grade is nonpareil; while 贡 is short for 贡品, meaning that the tea was used to be paid as tribute to the emperor.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I’ve had the opportunity to try many different Mao Feng Green Teas, but this Nonpareil Te Gong Huang Shan from Teavivre is one of the very best that I’ve ever encountered.  It has an outstanding flavor.

These gorgeous green leaves produce a clear, soft green liquid that tastes earthy and sweet at first, and then as I continue to sip, I notice different flavors develop.  The taste and texture is soft and creamy, with the cream notes falling somewhere between milk and butter with slight vanilla-like tones.

By the time I’m at mid-cup, I begin to notice a crisp apple-y taste that is sweet with hints of tang.   The tangy note develops further into something that is more savory than tangy toward the bottom of the cup.  It’s a nice, well-rounded tea.

I really enjoyed this Mao Feng from Teavivre .  Be sure to take this tea through its paces because it can deliver several flavorful infusions!  A true delight to drink.

Pre Rain Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea from Driftwood Tea

huang_shan_mao_feng

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Driftwood Tea

Tea Description:

Our Huang Shan Mao Feng comes from the first picking in early spring, when the finest teas are selected, and is a beautiful example of one of China’s ‘Ten Famous Teas.’ A real Champagne tea and one every Chinese and green tea lover should really experience fresh.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Ah … lovely!  This Pre Rain Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea from Driftwood Tea is really a wonderful tea to experience.

The leaves are long and fluffy, and their shape and fluffy/bulky kind of quality reminds me a bit of a Silver Needle tea, but the color is a darker green color than the typical Silver Needle tea.  They also do not feel as soft to the touch as a typical Silver Needle tea.  But that’s OK, of course, because this is NOT a Silver Needle tea … it’s a Mao Feng.

And this is truly a lovely example of a Mao Feng.  It is light and delicate, with notes of a fresh “grassy” kind of taste … but this grassy/vegetative taste is not a strong note.  It is light, and there is an overture of sweetness that is almost nut-like, and this sweetness keeps the grassy tone from tasting ‘bitter’ or off.  It’s a very pleasing, delicate balance between sweet and vegetative.

There is also a very enjoyable floral note that is almost indistinguishable with the first few sips, but as I continue to sip, this delightful floral note develops.

Mao Feng is a classic Chinese green tea, and as the above description states, it’s one of the famous ten teas.  What makes Mao Feng teas so special to me is their simplicity.  But even though I tend to call Mao Feng teas a “simple” green, there is complexity to them too.  They have lovely layers of flavor, very soothing, and very pleasing to the palate.  Sweet, nutty notes together with a brothy, vegetative grassy tone that is delicate yet lush, and the floral note that builds as one continues to sip.

A truly lovely tea, this Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea from Driftwood Tea!  If you are a green tea lover, this is one for you to add to your must try list!

 

Organic Tian Mu Mao Feng Green Tea from Teavivre

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green

Where to Buy:  Teavivre

Tea Description:

Organic Tian Mu Mao Feng Green Tea is one of the ten famous Chinese teas. This Organic Tian Mu Mao Feng Green Tea origins in organic tea base of Tianmu Mountain in Lin’an, Hangzhou. The organic tea base of Tianmu Mountain, has passed the organic certification of European, USA and Japan, is a significant base of planting organic dragon well and green tea.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

These leaves are beautiful.  So long and slender and wiry.  The color is so deeply green on these leaves that they almost appear black.  A deep, forest-y green like the color of the evergreen forests here in the Pacific Northwest.  Gorgeous!

The brewed tea is very light in color and has a very pleasing flavor.  Mao Feng is one of my favorite green teas … quite simply because it tends to be very simple!  It tastes like what I expect green tea to taste like. That isn’t to say that there isn’t a complexity to this cup – it certainly has many layers of enjoyable flavors – what I mean to say is that it doesn’t try to be anything that it is not.  It is green tea, and that is what it tastes like.

It has a forward vegetative taste that tastes of sweet, broth-y vegetables – sort of like a comforting bowl of vegetable soup but without the chunks of vegetables!  It isn’t really “grassy” … it is more like vegetables, but occasionally, I do get a distinctive tone that is more grassy to me than veggie.

When served hot, it becomes a very cozy, relaxing cup of tea.  When served iced, it becomes a very refreshing, exhilarating drink.  It is sweet and enjoyable served straight, but it also takes the addition of a thin slice of lemon quite nicely.  A sprig of mint would also be agreeable.

This is one of those teas that I’d choose for an everyday green tea.  A really enjoyable Mao Feng.