49 Tasting Notes
A fine balance between fruit and herb is achieved in this tea. The scent is of orange, lemon, and of course, lavender and sage. What a wonderful, innovative, invention for a tisane! The only reason for the lower rating is because I only got one full flavor steeping out of it.
This tea blends well with other Teavana teas, especially the Yin Zhen pearls, Spice of Life, and Azteca Fire.
This is a wonderful everyday green tea. The leaves are handpicked, and they have retained their wholeness until they reach the cup. It is not every day that we find a tea this cheap, and still be able to appreciate mostly whole leaves at the bottom of the gaiwan. The aroma is complex, the flavor is nutty and vegetal, and you can get at least five steepings out of this cheap cheap tea! I highly recommend this to any Chinese tea drinker.
Preparation
I haven’t tried this tea since 2010, when the Seven Cups store in Denver was still open. It has a wonderfully, complex, malty flavor. My dad was drinking it, so I only had a taste, but it left a lasting mark upon my memory. Unfortunately, Seven Cups no longer sells this tea, so I’ll have to go with the next best thing. I miss it greatly.
This is definitely one of the best green teas that I have ever tried. The prominent flavor is a sweetness from the unusually high concentration of amino acids. Below this are hints of rose petals, cantaloupe, and button mushroom. It yields a full flavor in a gaiwan for at least three steepings. I am currently finishing my 2011 stock, a gift from my dad, and I am avidly awaiting the 2012 crop, which should be in the next week (April 15 or so).
A truly outstanding green tea. If it wasn’t for the price, I would be drinking it every day!
This tea never gets bitter. A sign of a good quality white scented tea. What I do: I simply put the pearls in a cup and drink, blowing away any leaves on the surface. It is not quite as good as their other jasmine teas, especially the silver dragon pearls and snow drop jasmine, but it has a stronger flavor than both of these, which satisfies my taste. The jasmine aroma is not overpowering, and the flavor of the tea comes through nicely, even after five steepings. For the price, I have to give this scented tea a good rating.
This is by far my favorite green tea, other than Seven Cups’ Shi Feng Long Jing, which is a bit out of my price range to have on a daily basis. Da Fo Long Jing has evenly shaped dry tea leaves, indicating the masterful processing that it went through. The wet leaves reveal very few broken leaves with a picking standard of one bud to two young tender leaves. I have let the first steeping sit for as long as ten minutes, and it did not even get bitter! I could drink this tea straight out of the glass with the leaves steeping right in there and not have a problem. The flavor is intensely nutty and sweet, and the leaves yield at least five good steepings. This tea is truly the work of a master
I have recently tried the 2011 crop of this tea, and it is simply amazing. I have never tried a better rock wulong. The first steeping at boiling for thirty seconds yields a dark auburn brew that simply GLOWS. The aroma is reminiscent of dark chocolate and roasted hazelnuts or almonds. The flavor of the first steeping was very strong, almost bitter, but that is to be expected from a truly good rock oolong that has gone through several stages of roasting to get its unique flavor. The fourth steeping was the best, giving me the best balance between the roasty and fruity notes.
Oh my goodness. At this price, I never would have thought that this tea would be as good at is it really is. The brew never goes bitter, a true testament to its quality. It lasts for at least five steepings of full flavor. Yet another testament. It does not have the delicate nuances of the finer green teas. But that cannot be expected from an everyday green tea. Bravo, Seven Cups for finding and promoting this wonderful, cheap tea!
