Mei Leaf

7th Tea rate

SEASON: Spring 2016 (March 20th)
CULTIVAR: Xiao Ye
ORIGIN: Zhejiang, China
PICKING: Bud and 2 leaves
ELEVATION: 600m

Brewed Western Style 3gr in 300ml @ 80degrees c for 2 minutes then 60 second increments.

1st Steep

Pale green tea.
Aroma is light kale.
Taste is light kale, quite nutty with a little wood.

2nd Steep

Slightly darker green
Aroma has more of an hazelnut touch to it.
Taste is a little more rounded with the same flavours as the first Steep.

3rd steep.

It’s all starting to lose its vibrancy.

Rate No. 4

Harvest: Spring
Origin: Anxi County, Fujian, China
Type: Blended Oolong
Approximate Altitude: 700m

Brewed western style 4gr in 300ml @95 degrees c for two minutes with 30 sec increments.

1st Steep brews a clear tea with a hint of green.
Aroma of green grass and some vegetal notes.
Taste is sweet, asparagus, some cabbage and faint liquorice.

2nd and 3rd steeps are more green in colour. The taste and aroma doesn’t change too much.

4th and 5th Steep are more yellow in colour. Aroma is more muted. The taste however is still holding up. Maybe a little less intense, but still good to drink.

Nice sweet flavoured tea.

Rate no.3

Harvest: Spring
Origin: Taimu Mountain, Fujian, China
Type: Scented Green
Approximate Altitude: 1100m

3gr in 300ml of water at 80 degrees c. Steeped for 2mins and then two further steeps +30 seconds each steep.

1st steep.

Yellow tea with a green tint.
Aroma of jasmine flowers, very floral with light green leaf.
Taste is sweet, floral and light green leaf with very little astringency. Nicely balanced in its flavours.

2nd steep.

More green in the colour this time.
Aroma is not as strong on the jasmine front, more green leaf.
Taste is more of a warm floral taste, some hints of licorice and spice. More green forward this time.

3rd steep.
Back to being more yellow again.
Aroma is less floral again.
Taste is light floral notes, green with some vegetal notes. A bit more diluted than the previous steeps.

Overall good.

Excellent great tea. Beautiful toasted nut and fresh grass aroma. This was the tea I used as my introduction to gong fu style brewing and is still my favourite green tea as well as one of my top 5 teas in general. I brew it at a low temperature.

Rate no. 1
My first loose tea on this new journey.

Harvest: Spring
Origin: Yunnan, China
Type: Ripened Pu Erh
Approximate Altitude: 2600m

Dark chestnut tea. Aroma is earthy and wood. Taste is earth, dry leaf, a bit of leather, some light pepper and green grass on the back of the tongue. On the second steep the taste was more dry leaf and less Earth with a nice warm tingling on the tongue. By the third steep all the flavours mellowed out and toned down.

First thing I noticed when warming up the leaf is a beautiful sweet baked cake aroma. The first, second and third steep is a naturally sweet grassy tone; and once it hit the back of the throat it has a great lingering sweetness that will stay with you through the whole tea session. Steep four through eight has a slightly burnt sugar/toffee and more of a grassy tone to it. Beautiful tea that you will not regret trying!

I could start a religion to this tea. Specifically, the second steeping of this tea. So far, I’ve only been brewing it western style but I’m excited to try a gongfu session with it now that I’ve bought some more. This is a really delicious tea with a really amazing, lingering mouthfeel. It’s very velvety, warm, and just takes over your whole mouth.

The tea is naturally sweet with just a touch of ginseng (it’s worth noting that it was roasted with ginseng, and doesn’t have actual ginseng in it). I don’t really taste fruit in this, but everything else described by the company is present. It’s really one of my favorite teas through all its infusions, and even retains its nuances when cold. (If I get through three or fewer infusions in a night, I usually throw some hot water in with the leaves and pop the whole thing into the fridge for an indefinite amount of time).

Beautiful astringency with fresh grassy notes and nutty, toasted finish. If brewed with colloer water it really brings out the umami and freshness of the leaf. A beautiful example of Long Jing.