I’ve been on a bit of a yellow tea kick lately. It’s usually less astringent than green tea, and hopefully keeps better for longer. Mo Gan Huang Ya is new to me, as I’ve previously only tried yellow teas from Huo Shan. I followed the vendor’s instructions and steeped 5 g of leaf in 120 ml of water at 185F for 30, 45, 45, 60, 75, 90, 105, 120, 150, 180, and 240 seconds. I also bowl steeped about 3 g of tea in 250 ml of 185F water starting at 3 minutes, then refilling the vessel as necessary.
The dry aroma is of nuts, hay, grass, and florals. The first steep has notes of hazelnuts, corn, butter, and grass. The second steep is a bit astringent, suggesting that I shouldn’t have extended the steeping time so long. Hazelnuts, grass, and tannins are the main flavours. The next couple steeps have a thicker body and lots of hazelnuts, butter, grass, and spring flowers, though also some astringency. Further rounds lean toward kale and grass and are quite a bit more astringent.
Grampa steeped, this tea starts off with buttery hazelnuts, grass, hay, and kale. The middle steeps are nutty, buttery, and grassy, with some corn and melon notes. The final steeps have notes of lettuce, kale, and minerals, but never get overly bitter.
This is a nice yellow tea whose differences from Huo Shan Huang Ya are quite subtle. As usual with green and yellow teas, grandpa steeping produces better, less astringent results at the expense of some complexity.
Flavors: Astringent, Butter, Floral, Grass, Hay, Hazelnut, Kale, Lettuce, Melon, Mineral, Nutty, Sweet Corn, Vegetal
