Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Mandala Tea
Tea Description:
Like many of China’s famous greens, this tea also has a rich history. Known in China as Ding Gu Da Fang (Valley Peak Da Fang), it was named after the Buddhist monk who originally grew the plants on Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) centuries ago.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is my first tea that I’ve tried from this new tea company (or perhaps I should say, a company that is new to me!) and based upon this very positive experience, I am glad it won’t be the last tea I taste from them. I am absolutely LOVING this tea.
In the website description of this tea, Mandala Tea compares it to a LongJing (aka Dragon Well). And while I do enjoy a good Dragon Well Tea and can see where Mandala Tea is coming from with such a comparison, I have to say that I prefer this Ding Gu Da Fang to most Dragon Well teas that I’ve tried. It is lighter, sweeter and smoother than a typical LongJing.
There is such a charming nutty tone to this tea. It is light and crisp and reminds me of the snap (or crunch) you’d experience when biting into a cashew. It has a creamy smooth flavor that reminds me of the mild, creamy taste of a delicious roasted nut. The texture is light and clean, with a very mild astringency at the tail of the sip.
The sweetness and smoothness of this tea reminds me a bit of a yellow tea, so I have categorized this as both a green tea and a yellow tea, because even though it is a green tea, it has so many characteristics that remind me of a yellow tea. This is an extraordinary tea; I highly recommend it.
2011 Pre-Qingming Huang Shan Mao Feng (Yellow Mountain Peak) Semi-wild from Life in Teacup
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Life in Teacup
Tea Description:
This top quality Huang Shan Mao Feng was harvested from abandoned tea fields in Yellow Mountain. The fields are isolated from mobile roads. Therefore, only simple manual management is possible. The tea didn’t have any pesticide or artificially synthesized fertilizer. Although it’s not certified organic, it’s organic tea by the real sense.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a very refreshing green tea.
The dry leaves are very beautiful, long and withered with a beautiful variety of hues of green starting from a very pale, almost yellow green to a bright, deep green that reminds me of the colors of the Pacific Northwest in the late spring. Very vibrant and beautiful.
The flavor is remarkable as well. The sip begins with a delicious sweetness that has a savory side to it as well as the sweet, remind me a bit of the sweet taste of green beans. As the sip continues, I notice that the savory tone develops slightly as the sweet subsides. This is the kind of flavor I think of when someone uses the term Umami.
Toward the tail of the sip, there is a fair amount of astringency that is clean and dry, leaving only a hint of the sweet, savory tastes that the palate enjoyed throughout the sip. With this aftertaste, the palate is almost begging for another sip. This is the kind of tea that is difficult to put down once I’ve started drinking it; and makes me long for more once the cup is empty.
A wonderful tea experience is in store for those who seek the “Semi-wild” side of this Huang Shan Mao Feng!
Yellow Spirit from East Pacific Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yellow
Where to Buy: East Pacific Tea Co.
Product Description:
Yellow tea is one of the rarest types of tea to touch the earth. Halfway between white and green, this tea provides the best of both worlds: high in antioxidants and rich in flavor.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yellow tea is my favorite tea, so I am always excited when the opportunity presents itself to try one that I’ve not yet tasted. This is a fantastic yellow with its delicate, creamy taste and a hint of nutty flavor in the background.
It has a silky mouthfeel to it, but I notice that it is not as prominent a mouthfeel as I’ve come to expect from a yellow tea, and there is a hint of tangy astringency that was also quite unexpected. Neither of these things are bad or render this beautiful yellow tea “off” in any way, it just makes it a little different than the rest.
The tea is sweet with brown sugar-ish kind of notes – it is very pleasant and ties in well with the aforementioned nutty tones of this tea. There is a vegetative note that arrives about mid-sip, and it is reminiscent of steamed bitter greens with a touch of butter.
It’s quite a delicious tea, sweet yet savory, and an absolute pleasure to sip.
Huo Shan Yellow Sprouting Tea from Mark T. Wendell
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yellow
Where to Buy: Mark T. Wendell
Product Description:
This rare yellow tea from China’s Anhui province is comprised of beautiful hand-crafted leaves and downy silver buds. This tea is notable for its rich, full and smooth tasting floral infusion. When brewed, our Yellow Sprouting produces a naturally sweet and refreshingly clean tasting cup of tea.
Taster’s Review:
This Yellow tea is one of the newest additions to the Mark T. Wendell collection of teas. And you know I’m excited about it; yellow Tea is my favorite!
There is just something about yellow tea that no other tea type can seem to duplicate. It has similarities of white tea, green tea and Oolong tea, but, it isn’t quite like any of them … if that makes sense. It has some of the delicate qualities of a white tea (and sometimes a green tea, depending upon the green), it has some of the light vegetative qualities of some green teas, and then it has a similar mouthfeel and smoothness of an Oolong.
This Huo Shan tastes incredibly fresh, and the sprouting buds are tiny. Very young leaves. After infusing, I ate a few of the leaves, and they are very tender to the tooth, and so sweet and gentle tasting.
The light colored liquor is sweet and possesses a grassy taste. It is sweet and refreshing. The mouthfeel is very soft and silky. And it is absolutely incredible.
If you haven’t yet tried yellow tea, you really should. And this Huo Shan Yellow Sprouting Tea is a good place to start!
Huang Shan Yun Wu (Yellow Mountain Cloud) from Life in Teacup
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Life in Teacup
Product Description:
Production Year: 2011
Production Season: Spring
Production Region: Anhui Province, Yellow Mountain
Style: Chao Qing (stir-fry to kill enzyme)Small amount of leaves of this tea end up a lot when brewed in hot water. Therefore, use less than normal amount of leaves.
Taster’s Review:
This is a fantastic green tea, one that I’d recommend to someone who is just starting out with green tea because it is not too overly grassy tasting (which can be somewhat off-putting to someone who is new green tea). It is pleasant and mild, and yet so rich in flavor.
The sip begins with a pleasant savory flavor that tastes vaguely of stewed vegetables. It is a vegetative taste, but, it is quite unlike the vegetative flavor that I often encounter with green tea. This is a unique kind of flavor that is quite rich … like vegetable broth. The texture of the tea further emphasizes the brothy quality of this tea.
Quickly the sip transitions to a sweeter flavor: a honey-esque sweetness where I can almost taste the floral nectar. It doesn’t have a strong and distinct floral taste, however, there are hints of floral notes that seem to dance around in the background, enticing me to take another sip so that I might pinpoint exactly what I taste. Sweet and incredibly pleasant. There is also a hint of spicy taste, similar to fresh ginger that lies beneath the surface, and peeks out every now and again to keep me intrigued.
A wonderfully contemplative tea, this Yellow Mountain Cloud!