Day two without a working tea kettle, still mostly sane…how did I function without one? Only a few more days until things go back to normal, though watching Espeon’s frantic running around, normal is a stretch. Luckily my cold thing seems to have been very short lived, I joked to my mom that I was so angry that I was getting sick that my rage burned the virus out of my body. Who needs positive thinking when you have Hulk level anger? I am a very silly person.
Today’s tea has the distinct honor of being a tea I have never heard of Jiang Xian Ti Kui from Life In Teacup! You guys know me, I love to do lots of research on tea, so when I run into one I am not familiar with it is super exciting. This green tea is Life In Teacup’s “Green Tea of the Year” an awesome project to bring rarely seen Chinese green teas to a wider audience. I really suggest giving the website a look to see the beautiful photos of the plantation where this tea grows in Anhui Province. The aroma of the dry leaf is very fresh smelling, blending notes of roasted sesame and peanuts with green bean and spinach. There is a tiny hint of sauteed mushrooms at the finish, giving the tea a hint of savory.
Steeping time! The aroma of the now soggy leaves is still very fresh, I am really enjoying the freshness of the aroma, very evocative of nature. It starts out with fresh vegetation, green veggies, and green beans. At the finish there are notes of sharp freshly broken stems and peanuts. The first steep’s liquid is a tasty smelling mix of sauteed vegetables and sesame seeds, this fades to a gentle floral note, like spring flowers being carried in on a warm breeze.
The first steep’s mouthfeel is quite smooth, it was the first thing I noticed, after my initial enjoyment of the mouthfeel I noticed the freshness of the taste, it seems to be a theme with this tea. There are starting notes of green beans and sesame seeds, this build to a honey sweetness that gets stronger until it is almost cookie like in its sweetness.
The aroma of the second steep is nutty and green, like verdant nature and sesame seeds. There is a hint of broken stems giving it a touch of sharpness, along with a tiny hint of bamboo. The taste of this steep is still very sweet, almost a touch fruity, this transitions into nutty sesame seeds and green beans with a sweet finish of sugar cane and bamboo.
For the third steep is mostly green, with notes of sauteed spinach and a green beans. There is also a hint of saltiness which I find intriguing. This time around the taste is less sweet, in fact other than a bit of honey sweetness at the front there is no sweetness. The taste is mostly sauteed spinach, green bean, and sesame seeds, there is a slight kale bitter green at the finish. I really enjoyed how this tea balanced its sweetness and its green notes, plus it is a tea I have never heard of which makes it extra awesome. I recommend giving it a try, it is both very tasty and it is ‘out of the norm’ so you will get hipster points (if you are into that) and you will expand your tea knowledge.
For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/09/life-in-teacup-jing-xian-ti-kui-tea.html
Flavors: Bamboo, Green, Green Beans, Stems, Sugarcane
