Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
A great find for those looking for a more green tea with more character! Like several of our other teas, Liu’an Guapian is deservedly in the list of China’s top ten teas. Made only from larger, mature leaves that are rolled up during processing, the dry leaves have a distinctively plump shape to them – giving rise to its Chinese name of “melon seeds”. Very uncharacteristic for a green tea, it has a quite sweet taste and strong aroma, that is also overlaid with an almost smoky, spicy tang.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
For the longest time, my favorite of the Chinese green teas has been Tai Ping Hou Kui (which is also available from Teavivre here), but I think my taste may be shifting, as I’m finding this Liu An Gua Pian Green Tea from Teavivre to be absolutely amazing … so good, in fact, that I may just have a new favorite Chinese green tea!
The leaves look like little tiny scrolls that have been rolled up. I don’t know if they really resemble any melon seeds that I’ve seen before, but, they definitely look to me as if a lot of work goes in to these little scrolls … each leaf so carefully rolled up by hand, they are beautifully crafted. They slowly unfurl and open up to release their amazing flavor … they are fun to watch brew, so do yourself a favor and brew them in a glass teacup or teapot and watch them do their thing!
And the flavor is sublime! So sweet and so juicy tasting. The flavor is soft and there are very few vegetative tones to this – if you slurp the sip you can notice faint hints of vegetation but, mostly what I taste is a sweet, fruity note to this at the start, and by mid-sip, a spice note seems to develop. This spicy-tang (as mentioned in the above description, and I find it to be spot-on to describe what I’m experiencing) seems to come forward strongest in the aftertaste.
A really unique and delicious Chinese Green Tea … this is the green tea for those who think they don’t like green tea for it’s strong, grassy overtones because this tea doesn’t have those grassy notes! This tea is just … so different! I love it!
Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
Produced in Tianmu Mountain(天目山), Lin’an County, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang, China
Harvest time: March 8 – March 10, 2013
One bud with one or two leaves
Dry tea is shaped straight and pretty
Soup presents tender a yellowish green color, tastes sweet and brisk; aroma lasts long in the middle and back part of the tongue.
Fresh aroma with chestnut flavor
Low caffeine (less than 10% of a cup of coffee)
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I received my samples of the new spring teas my first tasting selection to sample was Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green from Teavivre. The aroma is strong, awakening, and as fresh as a tea can smell. The dry leaf is so pretty and bright green. The flavors range through various steepings from nutty, buttery, vegetal, and salty, but every single steep brings forth the freshest flavors you could imagine.
When steeped properly there is absolutely no astringency and of course no bitterness. There is also a lovely light sweetness to the flavor that can be detected at different levels through the various steeps. The color is very light so do not be tempted to over steep this lovely tea. Take your time with it and let the flavors be gently caressed out of the leaf with shorter steep times which will provide you a longer and more relaxing brewing session. Green teas like this one from Teavivre are deserving of your time and focus. I do not recommend a tea like this for an out the door on the go tea. You can do that if you wish, but I feel it is cheating the tea from providing all that it has to offer and really just cheating yourself.
Some teas are great for an on the go pick me up and get me going for my day ahead tea. This Long Jing however is a relaxing, meditative, sip and consider type of tea that will rock your world in a totally different way if you give it time and allow it to. I find that while this tea is refreshing, and so lightly fresh, it has a brothy mouthfeel, verging on creamy in some steeps. I love it when a tea can bring out both feelings, light and fresh, yet thicker in the mouthfeel, as it is an unusual combination.
Teavivre brings us so excellent offerings in their new spring line, and I am really amped up to try them all but today I shall sit with this tea, looking forward to many steeps to come. It is absolutely lovely. See all of Teavivre’s Spring Teas here and learn how you can get samples of all of them for free!
Superfine Tan Yang Gong Fu Black Tea from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
Being the first one among Fujian’s three best Gong Fu Black Teas (Bai Lin Gong Fu, Zheng He Gong Fu, Tan Yang Gong Fu), Tan Yang Gong Fu Black Tea has tight and thin leaves, looks glossy, which could be seen from TeaVivre’s product photo. When looking at this tea, the golden pekoe is particularly eye-catching, strongly connected to its high quality. Under the effect of photosynthesis, fresh buds contain the largest amount of beneficial substances than other parts. Moreover, the traditional making method of black tea has retained the nutrition in the most volume.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Having tried several different Fujian Gong Fu Black Teas, including Teavivre’s stunning Bailin Gongfu Black Tea, I was looking forward to trying this Superfine Tan Yang Gong Fu Black Tea from Teavivre. But, my previous experiences with Fujian black teas did not prepare me for what this tea had in store!
This is simply different!
It is still quite similar to other Fujian black teas in that it has the sweet, satisfying flavors of chocolate and caramel. But whereas most of the Fujian black teas with which I’ve had experience would be vaguely reminiscent of say, an Assam in its rich, malty tone, this Superfine Tan Yang Gong Fu Black Tea is much more reminiscent of a Ceylon. It has that bright, brisk tone to the cup that reminds me of a very high-quality Ceylon, but with the sweet, chocolate-y and caramel-y tones that I love from a Fujian black. With this tea I get the best of both of those teas in one cup!
This tea is not quite as rich and not quite as full-bodied, in my opinion, but that isn’t a bad thing. Sometimes, a crisp, exhilarating cuppa like this is just what you want! This would make an exceptional afternoon cup – it makes a great pick-me-up for those times when you’re starting to feel yourself wind down but you still have stuff to get done. This will help energize you without causing you to start bouncing off the walls!
This is a pleasantly sweet tea, as I mentioned before, with notes of chocolate and caramel, but there is also a sweet fruit note to this as well. I think that the lightness to this tea allows the fruit notes to express themselves a little better than in a typical Fujian black tea. Hints of a flower seem to float in the far-off distance.
A really enjoyable cup of tea – courtesy of Teavivre – a name that has become synonymous with fine teas!
Fengqing Golden Buds Ripened Pu-erh Cake Tea 2005 from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
This Golden Buds Puerh Cake made in 2005 is the high-end products from Fengqing Sanning Tea Company. There’re plenty of highest quality tender buds with white tips. The buds which turned to be golden color after fermentation were combined with other levels Puerh maocha which contain much flavor content so that this Puerh cake has the characteristics of pure aroma, mellow taste and quick sweet aftertaste. This puerh cake is produced in Fengqing, Yunan. Fengqing is the original place of the world-wide famous Dian Hong Tea. And it is also a classic place of Yunnan Pu-erh. It is a place in Lingcang which is one of the four famous Pu-erh production areas. It can be said that this Puerh cake is the most representative and highest quality one. It is quite good for the Puerh enthusiast who has much experience of drinking Puerh tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was a little hesitant with this Pu-erh, because the aroma of the dry leaf is very earthy. And the fragrance doesn’t soften all that much once it’s brewed either … so I was a little scared, to tell the truth. It’s that strong earthy flavor that I am usually puts me off when it comes to Pu-erh, but I remained hopeful and decided to give it a shot! And I’m glad that I did. This Fengqing Golden Buds Ripened Pu-erh Cake Tea 2005 from Teavivre is really quite nice!
The flavor is not nearly as earthy as the aroma suggests. Yes, there are earthy tones, but they’re really quite mild, and evocative of a mushroom-y kind of taste rather than of peat or other less-than-appealing earthy tastes. It also has a really delightful sweetness to it, that reminds me of a cross between molasses and caramel. Nice!
I also taste notes of flower in the background, and these flavors seem to develop as I continue to sip. It never becomes a really strong, pronounced flavor, but, I like how this note sort of teases the palate.
I brewed this Pu-erh the way I usually would, with a quick 15 second rinse, and brewing the first infusion at just 30 seconds, and 45 seconds for the second. The first two infusions were then combined into one cup, and it created a surprisingly dark brew! Darker than most black teas that would be brewed for 3 minutes or more! And like most other Pu-erh, this one is good for many more infusions, I spent all afternoon with this tea and it was a delightful experience.
The flavor is rich and complex yet delightfully mellow, and I appreciated that the earthy tones were much more subdued than the aroma suggested to me. While it does possess some of the flavors that I would expect from a Pu-erh, I found myself happily surprised by this one. If you are one who appreciates a really lovely, lightly earthy Pu-erh – one that’s sweet and pleasantly floral! – this is one you should put on your MUST TRY list!
Superfine Tan Yang Gong Fu Black Tea from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
Origin: Tanyang Village (坦洋村) in Fu’an, Fujian, China
Ingredients: Tea buds with pure leaves
Harvest time: May, 2012
Taste: It presents slight aroma of sweet potato when brewed; tastes smooth and mellow with sweet aftertaste
Being the first one among Fujian’s three best Gong Fu Black Teas (Bai Lin Gong Fu, Zheng He Gong Fu, Tan Yang Gong Fu), Tan Yang Gong Fu Black Tea has tight and thin leaves, looks glossy, which could be seen from TeaVivre’s product photo. When looking at this tea, the golden pekoe is particularly eye-catching, strongly connected to its high quality. Under the effect of photosynthesis, fresh buds contain the largest amount of beneficial substances than other parts. Moreover, the traditional making method of black tea has retained the nutrition in the most volume.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Superfine Tan Yang Gong Fu Black Tea from Teavivre offers quite a different experience. It has a lot of the same flavor notes that one gets from a Fujian black tea such as sweet potato, malt, and cocoa but Superfine Tan Gong Fu is much lighter both in flavor and mouthfeel.
It is quite relaxing and soothing in the way it makes me feel thus a good afternoon or early evening black. I don’t think I would particularly select this tea for morning as I find it brings about a tea high state rather than the wake up call I need.
As I sipped on this tea I found myself so relaxed, and spaced out that I checked my blood sugar (I’m type 1 diabetic) just to be sure I was not running too high. High blood sugars often mimic a spaced out state of dizziness and being sleepy. My blood sugar was perfectly fine. Outside of aliens having zapped my brain I am pretty sure it was the tea. I have had tea highs before, generally with pu’erh but now and then I get it in other leaf types. This is one of those times.
The tea itself is rather sweet and has a fruit nectar note to it. There is also very much a pipe tobacco note within this tea as I have noticed a couple of other reviews mentioning. It causes the throat to feel a bit dry after the sip, a little scratchy too but that feeling does not last too long.
Seriously – I keep spacing out writing this review so I am going to close by saying – a truly unique experience. I am very glad that I had a sample of it from my last Teavivre order.