Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
Tuocha, a compressed tea in hollowed hemispheric shape, is mainly produced in Yunnan. This 100g Tuocha is from Fengqing, Lincang, Yunnan.
The materials of Tuocha are from Fengqing large tea speices. Fresh tea leaves will be made into dry tea in traditional craft method after being picked, then will be pressed into nest shape. The appearance of Tuocha reminds you of mountain. While smelling the faint scent of Sheng Pu-erh, you will have the feelings of being in beautiful scenery of Yunnan.
Sheng Pu-erh has strong flavor for first sip. Yet the sweet aftertaste will bring you a wonderful impression. You can feel a hint of sweet as sugarcane remaining in your mouth.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Sweet! This Fengqing Raw Pu-erh Tea from Teavivre has an enjoyably sweet flavor, a sweetness that is balanced with notes of sharpness and notes of vegetation, wood and earth (think mushroom). As I continued to sip, I started to pick up on notes of stone fruit.
I like that with the very first infusion (following a 15 second “rinse”) the flavor is strong and well-defined. I could taste these flavors with this first cup, I didn’t have to wait until the third or fourth cup to start experiencing the lovely flavor. I usually find that Pu-erh tends to have a mellow flavor, but this is a bold Pu-erh, and I’m appreciating the differences that this tea offers.
Later infusions surprised me with even stronger flavors! I still experienced the amazing sweetness, fruit notes (I think I even tasted a hint of grapefruit!) and woodsy tones. Full-flavored with notes vegetation, but this isn’t like the same kind of “vegetation” that I’d experience if I were drinking a green tea. This is more like the vegetal flavor you’d experience from a woodsy mushroom. It’s deep and earthy and flavorful, but in the distance you can taste notes of vegetation.
A deep sweetness – the description above suggests a “sugarcane” like sweetness, and I agree with that assessment – is present throughout the sip, from start to finish. It lingers in the aftertaste.
A really enjoyable pu-erh experience! I managed eight infusions from this tea and I suspect I could have gotten even more – the flavor wasn’t quitting! This tea has many different flavors to explore – a delightfully complex tea.
And when I visited Teavivre’s webpage for this tea, I noticed that this will be part of the #3 Sale Round from August 4 through August 5. Mark your calendars!
Organic Superfine Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
This Organic Dragon Well Long Jing 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. This dragon well long jing tea persists a high level in picking and producing while meeting the standard of organic certification. The tea should be picked as one bud and two leaves or three leaves in order to reach the standard. Tea workers also have excellent skills, which help keep the natural features of fresh tea leaves. Combined with the advantages of organic tea and high grade tea, this dragon well long jing tea is suitable for tea lovers of organic tea as well as dragon well green tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I previously reviewed Teavivre’s Spring 2014 She Qian Dragon Well and I absolutely LOVED it. It would seem that the She Qian is sold out now, so if you’re looking for an alternative, this Organic Superfine Dragon Well from Teavivre is an excellent choice.
The flavor is sweet and vegetal, with notes of butter and a nutty taste in the background. The nutty flavor is slightly “toasty,” like fresh, roasted chestnuts. I like the way the butter and the nutty flavors unite to offer a slight creaminess to the flavor. It’s not a heavy cream taste, but just a little something to contrast with the mild vegetative flavor.
The texture of the cup is light and refreshing. With every sip, my palate feels clean and energized but i don’t feel overstimulated with this drink. It’s a calm, peaceful sort of beverage to sip, but at the same time, I can feel it “renew” me. It’s not a drink that feels “weighty” on the palate, nor does it feel “brothy” or creamy. It’s smooth and it has a light richness to the flavor, but, it isn’t a real overbearing texture on the tongue.
And what’s great about this Dragon Well from Teavivre – besides the fact that it tastes awesome and it’s organic! – is that it’s a tea that keeps on going. You can infuse it several times with no loss of flavor. In fact, it’s well worth the effort to infuse this at least two or three times because I find that the later infusions are more flavorful than the first cup.
If you’re looking for your Dragon Well tea source for this year, you can’t go wrong with Teavivre. This is true of any tea that they offer – everything that I’ve tried from them has been top notch.
Premium Tai Ping Hou Kui Green Tea from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
TaiPing HouKui green tea has uniquely long, flat leaves that make an amazing sight when brewed in a clear glass – which we strongly recommend! The tea is made from one bud with two leaves that come from a large leaf variety of the tea plant found only in Anhui province. During processing the leaves are pressed flat in an oven, giving the tea its unique shape.
TeaVivre’s TaiPing KouKui has a fresh, orchid like fragrance with a classic sweet green tea taste. When brewed it has a bright green color, that combine with the size of the leaves to make a tea that is great to admire in a tall clear glass. This tea is not bitter in the least, and retains its sweet taste even after many infusions.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Another sample I was more than happy to review! Tai Ping is one of my coveted, favorite green teas, probably my favorite of the Chinese green teas. So when Teavivre sent me this Premium Tai Ping Hou Kui Green Tea to review … YES!
It has been a little while since I had my last cup of Tai Ping, so I had to think a moment about how I was going to brew it. While I brew most of my green teas in my Breville One-Touch, I really love to watch the long, beautiful leaves of a Tai Ping tea steep. I could put them in my gaiwan and leave the lid off of it, but then I wouldn’t get to enjoy the leaves as they begin to stand straight up.
Does it make me a tea nerd that I like to watch this tea brew? And I kind of emit an excited squeal when the leaves begin to stand up and gently sway in the water?
So I decided to get out my glass teacup. The same one I brew flowering teas in so that I can watch that cool tea show. I let the tea brew for 1 minute and 45 seconds in 180°F water. Then I strained and took my first sip.
The aroma is so gentle and sweet. It reminds me of early mornings at the beginning of spring, when the new signs of life are starting to show themselves. On the nights after a spring rain, the morning you step out onto the doorstep and the aroma of the air, fresh and flowery and ‘green’ – I love that smell, and that’s what I smell as I lift this cup to my nose to inhale the fragrance.
The flavor is sublime! The above description suggests a “classic green tea flavor” and I suppose I get that, but, since that doesn’t really tell you just what I’m experiencing, I think I’ll go into a bit more detail.
The sip begins softly. A gentle sweetness washes over the palate. Notes of orchid and hints of sweet grass mingle with a buttery note. The butter is a sweet, creamy butter taste, and there is a slight creaminess to the texture that accentuates the butter notes. The finish is slightly dry but only slightly. This isn’t what I’d refer to as an astringent tea, so if you tend to steer clear of those, you’re safe with this one (and you really SHOULD try it!) The texture is soft … almost fluffy. Almost vanilla-esque. Quite nice! The aftertaste is sweet and I taste that sweetness for quite a while after the sip.
For a truly MEMORABLE cup of tea, I’m of the opinion that you really can’t go wrong with a Tai Ping. And as Teavivre has proven to me time and time again that they are one of the very top sources for Chinese teas, this would be the place to get yourself some Tai Ping. And it didn’t escape my notice that this tea is currently 20% off either! Time to stock up on this freshly harvested tea (it was harvested in April!)
Nonpareil Te Gong Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea from Teavivre
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 Qian Huang Shan Mao Feng 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:
What a pleasure it has been to try Teavivre’s newest green teas from this spring. They taste so fresh and wonderful!
This Nonpareil Te Gong Huang Shan Mao Feng Green Tea – quite a name! – is lovely. I am a fan of Mao Feng Green teas anyway, they’re one of my favorite of the ‘ten famous’ Chinese teas. I enjoyed two infusions from one measurement of this tea, and I found both to be quite good.
The first infusion was delicate in flavor at first, and I found that the flavor developed as I continued to sip. I’m not sure if this is because the tea was cooling slightly or because the flavors developed on the palate after taking a few sips. Either way, this is a tea that requires a patient palate, but don’t worry, that patience will be rewarded soon enough!
It is a beautifully sweet flavor with notes of fruit. I don’t often experience fruity notes with green tea (usually I experience grassy or vegetal notes, but not so much of a fruit note as this Mao Feng offers), and it reminds me of a combination of sweet grapes, melon and apple. There is no tartness to these fruit notes, so think only of the sweetest grapes and apples, with the lush, juicy taste of a sweet honeydew melon. This is a tea you want to slurp to get the most out of these fruit notes! Aerate the tea on the palate and you’ll be happy with the result.
I added thirty seconds onto the steep time for the second infusion. This cup offers a deeper flavor with even more sweetness. You definitely want to take this tea for a second steep! There is a lot of flavor to this second cup. Sweet with nutty flavors, and the fruit notes are still there too. This time, I taste less of the grape and more of the melon. There is a little bit of vegetative taste that comes through now too, but there is more fruit than vegetable to this cup. It’s a very refreshing cuppa!
Of the two infusions, the second is my favorite, but the first was certainly worthwhile too. I enjoyed both and what I liked best is that both were so different from one another – it was like taking two adventures with one tea. An exceptional Mao Feng!
Lu Shan Yun Wu Green Tea from Teavivre
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Teavivre
Tea Description:
The fresh tea leaves of Lu Shan Yun Wu are picked under strict requirement of one bud with one leaf or one bud with two leaves. After processed, the leaves will shape into tight, curly and strong strips. The liquid presents bright and green color while showing brisk fragrance. The scent of roasted chestnut lasts long. This Lu Shan Yun Wu is better to be brewed with big glass. It will has brisk and refreshing flavor and sweet taste. After several steeps, you will see the tea leaves tenderly stretched and showing its soft and light yellow appearance.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I know I mentioned it in a previous post, but, I LOVE when spring arrives and with it – the new flushes of spring teas!
That’s actually my favorite part of spring. Oh sure, I love the flowers and the fresh new buds of life on the trees and bushes but I’m not particularly fond of the pollen that comes with all of nature’s new spring life. Or more accurately, I’m not particularly fond of the allergic reaction that comes with the arrival of the pollen. Then again, there’s really very few things that are more soothing than a cup of hot tea! Yeah … like I really need inspiration to drink more tea!
So I was more than happy to try the new spring teas that Teavivre has added to their collection, including this Lu Shan Yun Wu Green Tea. Oh yum!
When I opened the pouch, I inhaled deeply to take in the fragrance of the dry leaves. While dry, I noticed a leafy green type of scent, evocative of a trip to the produce market – the smell I notice when I’m walking along the wall where all the leafy greens are housed. But once the tea starts brewing, I noticed less of the vegetative aroma and more of something much more exciting . . .
Chestnuts! Yep. The description above suggests an aroma of chestnuts, and this does have a strong chestnut fragrance. There’s also a delicious chestnut flavor to go along with it: sweet, nutty, roasted. It even has that creamy taste and texture that I’d experience if I were eating a freshly roasted chestnut. Mmm!
Most green teas have a vegetative flavor to them, and this is no exception to that, although I’m finding that this Lu Shan Yun Wu has less of a vegetal note and more of a sweet nutty flavor. For those of you who tend to shy away from green teas because you don’t really care for that overly vegetative taste, I think you’d do well with this tea. It’s really quite sweet and wonderful!
As I continue to sip, I notice the roasty-toasty flavor developing. By the time I was nearly finished with the cup, this sweet, roasted flavor was intense, and it kept me sipping and thirsty for more of it. It’s a very comforting flavor, and it seemed to nourish my soul.
Nice, especially after enduring these bouts with my allergies. And yes … I take allergy medication and I even use locally harvested, raw honey that I drizzle on my morning toast, but, I still have a few days when the pollen just wins out. Not fun. This tea makes these days not only more tolerable, but a JOY!
A really BEAUTIFUL green tea from Teavivre. I have a few other reviews of Teavivre’s new green teas from this spring’s harvest that will be featured in the coming days … watch for them!