This tea has been on my shelf nonstop since I first tried it nine years ago. If anyone were to ask me what my favorite green tea is, I could answer without even considering it for a moment – Huang Shan Mao Feng! I have had this one and one from Harney and Sons and both were excellent.
It looks like I haven’t posted a note on it in about eight years. I have been trying so hard to sip down all my older greens and I have neglected it! I knew there was a fresh sample of this that came with my Christmas gift from Superanna, my eldest daughter, so I made it to go with my homemade miso soup today!
It has been so long since I had it that my first reaction was confusion. I had already eaten some of the miso soup and took a sip of tea and was shocked at how floral and strong it tasted. Did I accidentally make jasmine tea? Did I not rinse the pot after making jasmine tea?
Nope, it was just tasting that floral to me!
The soup was rich and full bodied with wakame seaweed and fresh green onion tops and peas and corn. But the tea cut right through and lit up my mouth with fresh, bright flavor and floral sweetness. Many teas would have disappeared under the food flavors.
But what a changeling! The food is all gone and I still have quite a bit of this big pot to go!
Now the tea could not be mistaken for jasmine. It has good body, slight briskness, fresh green taste, and the floral aspect is milder and is found in the lingering aftertaste along with minerality. This isn’t a second steep, still the first, but just so different when not paired with food.
A delightful tea and one I will continue to keep stocked.
Both the tea and the miso soup sound delicious!
I am new to miso soup but I am loving it!