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.
Vietnam Shan Tuyet Black Tea from Upton Tea Imports
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Upton Tea Imports
Tea Description:
This fully oxidized Shan tea (or Mountain Tea) is produced from ancient tea trees from the Northern Highlands of Vietnam. The dark leaves are decorated with a modest amount of tips. The liquor is a rich amber color with a smooth, clean taste and a lightly sweet finish.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m sure it’s pretty obvious by now that I enjoy trying new teas … and I especially enjoy trying teas from other parts of the world. I mean, Japan, China and India are pretty well known for their tea production, but, when I’m presented with an opportunity to try teas from other countries – like this Vietnam Shan Tuyet Black Tea from Upton Tea Imports – I jump at the chance. Not just because the tea is “new to me” but also because even though I’ve been drinking tea for a long time now, I am still quite amazed at how different one tea can taste so different from another, based upon little else other than the location where they are grown. It’s really very interesting.
I’ve tried a few Vietnamese teas by now, but, they still feel fairly new to me … they feel different to me. They definitely taste different than teas from other parts of the world. There are certain similarities, of course … and I’m liking this tea not only for its similarities but its differences.
It is a smooth, rich tea with an interesting finish that reminds me vaguely of a coffee taste. You know that deep roasted taste that hits the palate when you take a sip of coffee, that warm, delicious, roasted tone that sits upon the palate at the finish? That’s what I’m tasting here. And since I don’t drink coffee – I used to enjoy the taste of coffee but I didn’t enjoy the sickly feeling it would give me a few hours later – it’s quite pleasurable to find teas that have a coffee-like taste to them.
The sip starts with a sweet, earthy tone that transcends into the aforementioned coffee-like taste. The finish is slightly dry and astringent, and the aftertaste is clean. My palate feels like it’s ready for another sip … this tea keeps me drinking, and it’s a tasty tea until the very last sip.
Pre Rain Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea from Driftwood Tea
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!
Pear Mountain (Li Shan) Oolong Tea from Boutique Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Boutique Teas
Tea Description:
Grown on the highest mountain ranges in Taiwan, Pear Mountain oolong is a lightly oxidized rolled oolong. It brews a light liquid with floral notes and a sweet butter cream finish.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Pear Mountain (Li Shan) Oolong Tea from Boutique Teas is really delightful!
The aroma of the dry leaf is soft and floral with hints of vegetation. I found the brewed tea to be more fragrant than the dry leaf, the floral notes are very distinct now, although I wouldn’t call them overwhelming or even “strong” … but they do make themselves very obvious to the nose.
As with most Oolongs, I took this one through several infusions, brewing the tea in my gaiwan and combining two infusions in one cup. My first cup (the combination of infusions one and two) is very light in body and taste. The floral notes are sharp but subtle. The finish is soft and smooth. This first cup is a very delicate tasting cup, but, don’t let that scare you off! If you take this tea through its paces, you’ll be rewarded with the next few infusions, I promise you!
My second cup (infusions three and four) offered a stronger flavor than the first, with more pronounced floral notes, and even a hint of fruit in the background. This cup is not as soft but just as sweet as the first cup … perhaps sweeter because the flavors are more defined now. The astringency here is very light … lighter than the first cup.
My third cup (infusions five and six) was almost as equally as strong as the second cup, but the flavors seemed to meld together better with this cup. The floral notes were not quite as sharp and distinguished, and the sweet fruit notes in the background came forward a little more. I tasted a thin, flowery, honey-like sweetness that was quite enjoyable in this cup.
I liked this Oolong quite a bit … I liked the way the dimensions of flavor revealed themselves slowly, in their own time, so that each layer of flavor could be recognized and enjoyed. Another great tea from Boutique Teas!
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!