Life In Teacup

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Recent Tasting Notes

34

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 tsp
Additives: none
Water: 12 ounces
Steep Time: no idea
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: grassy
Steeped Tea Smell: grassy
Flavor: sweet, watery, vegetal, but smooth
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: bitter, vegetal that lingers
Liquor: transparent with a green tint

I got this as part of a sample set from Life in Teacup.

Tried following directions (http://www.lifeinteacup.com/brewing-tea) and waited until most leaves sank. I used boiling water that had sat for a bit.

I really guess I am not too much of a green person :(

Post-Steep Additives: none

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/life-in-teacup-loose-leaf-green-tea-zhu.html

Cofftea

Those steeping parameters aren’t really my cuppa- maybe you could try the standard 160-180 for 1-3 min?

AmazonV

my prior trial was 2 min 165, a little nuttier that time but still tinge bitter at the end

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34

Steep Information:
Amount: 5.1g (it was too hard to spoon measure)
Additives: none
Water: 1 teapot (2c) full filtered boiling, then let sit to 165 degrees
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: grassy
Steeped Tea Smell: grassy
Flavor: watery, vegetal, but smooth, maybe a little nutty?
Body: Light
Aftertaste: bitter, vegetal that lingers
Liquor: transparent with a green tint

I got this as part of a sample set from Life in Teacup.

I failed to follow directions and left the lid on (http://www.lifeinteacup.com/brewing-tea) the water was too cool, and perhaps I should have steeped a bit longer sigh. I am not even sure if i used too little to too many tea leaves.

Overall it was the weakness of the flavor and the bitter aftertaste that are turning me off. At first you sniff and there is the hint of grass. The you sip and you get smooth water…then grass/vegetal…and if you look hard enough this slight nut flavor comes out. Then you swallow, and you get this bitterness coating your tongue. The bitterness fades and you entire tongue seems to have a sheen of vegetation on it, it’s a fuzzy feeling.

Post-Steep Additives: none

My blog with images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/02/life-in-teacup-loose-leaf-green-tea-zhu.html

Preparation
165 °F / 73 °C 2 min, 0 sec
AmazonV

i tried resteeping, hotter water, longer, it tasted a bit stronger but still too acidic, i tossed it, i think i ruined those leaves, i have enough for 1-2 more cups – anyone have any suggestions on how not to ruin them?

takgoti

I’m not particularly familiar with this type of tea, but with chinese greens [this looks like a chinese green to me?] I typically cool the water further and steep shorter to see if that gets rid of any lingering bitterness. I’ve had to go down to 140F before. I’d probably try 155-160 for 1:30, but I’m not positive that will help, unfortunately. Best of luck! Hopefully someone who knows Zhu Ye Qing will drop by!

AmazonV

thanks, i’ll try much cooler water next time, i’ll have to wait until i’m not all hopped up on cold meds so i can taste it though!

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Rated … points, not for the vendor, but for the maker, who manually controlled every single step in the processing of this tea, who also wrote a book about more than 70 varietals of Wuyi Yan Cha. I considered myself very lucky to have got this tea, and feel inadequate about describing it.

It is always hard to describe a good Wuyi Yan Cha. In my experience, a good Wuyi is often intertwining of youth and advanced age. The best tea leaves are from trees of 20 years or older, newer leaves and larger leaves mixed to a ratio that serves for the optimal flavor profile. The newly roasted Wuyi bears “breaths of fire” and should be “rested” for at least a few months before being used. When it rests for a year or more, the “fire” has faded and the taste becomes milder and smoother. At this time, the tea is like a perspicacious, senior man, with essence of age and vitality of youth.

About this specific Wuyi tea – it was made in 2008 and has rested since then in sealed condition. The first a several infusions yields a lighter fruity taste before the typical warm Wuyi flavor reaches your throat. After each sip, there is slight sweetness and fruity aroma lingering around. Within a few infusions, sweet aftertaste appears. One may not even realize existence of this sweet aftertaste, unless taking some plain water and finding the water tastes slightly sweet. Whether or not being consciously realized by drinker, this sweet aftertaste helps add flavor to each next infusion.

I would typically have 12 infusions or more in each tea session (with less leaf used and longer infusions, one may do fewer infusions than this). At the end of the day, I would love to soak the spent leaves in cold water. Then it becomes my first cup of tea the next day.

No matter how many infusions are applied, eventually the spent leaves always look so alive and in shape. I believe it’s a quality from the aged tea tree, young spring leaves, artisan roasting and patient resting all together.

7g leaves in 4oz. water

(I apologize if these notes look wordy. I am taking a writing class and having myself trained into describing every detail with a lot of words…)

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec
Cofftea

“and having myself trained into describing every detail with a lot of words”… That’s not a bad thing! Keep ’em coming!=D

takgoti

This log was awesome. Seriously.

Eric Walter

“intertwining of youth and advanced age” <—- middle aged? love the log.

Gingko (manager of Life in Teacup)

Thanks guys for the encouragement. I will try to write better and use more proper words. About the youth and age, I wasn’t organized enough and forgot to elaborate in writing. What I actually mean is, the leaves are young (grown in the season of harvest) but the tea bush is old. Besides, heavy roasting induces the unique taste of “old bush”, but resting time allows the fire taste to fade so the “old bush” taste will mingle well with the lighter fragrance in the tea.

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The dry tea has gentle yet distinctive floral fragrance, which, in traditional Chinese tea jargon, is specified as orchid fragrance (however I personally have no experience of fragrance from an orchid plant). In the first a few infusions, tea water is light yellow with some green hint. The aroma lingers around the upper palate up into nasal cavity. The aroma is a mixture of early spring flower and grass. Later infusions of this tea yield more intensive yellow color with golden hint. The flavor shifts from upper palate to closer to throat, generate a warm feeling.

This tea caught my attention in a few ways. First, this is a traditional, famous varietal that is rarely seen in market nowadays. It took me some time to find a good product of Bai Ya Qi Lan. Secondly, this tea is made from the same tea cultivar for Wuyi Qi Lan. However, by tasting, it’s almost impossible (100% impossible for me) to tell the two Qi Lan are from one same tea cultivar. In tea world, there are many tea cultivars that display distinctively different characters when grown in different area and processed with different methods. Again this tea demonstrates such diversity.

Comparison with other tea: People who favor green style Tie Guan Yin, Chinese green tea and Taiwan high mountain oolong may like this very well. People who favor Wuyi Qi Lan, it will be interesting to try this tea and compare, but don’t expect this tea to resemble Wuyi Qi Lan in any way :P

5g tea in 4oz. water. 30sec. steep time is for first 3 infusions.

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec

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