Another Black Friday tea!
This was a tea that I bought blind, so to speak – I’d never tried a sample, but instead based my decision to buy on the reviews of others on Steepster and on Teavivre’s website.
When I smelled the leaves, I thought I’d made a good choice. Lovely, buttery, vegetal – just a good, strong, green tea smell.
However, the taste was very unexpected despite my research. If I hadn’t known better, I would have sworn this was a gyokuro tea!
Both this Tian Mu and gyokuro have that same delicate vegetal snap to them, like spinach or kale. I’m surprised by how much I’m liking this, since I’ve thought for a long time that I’m not a gyokuro person. But this is pretty good!
The leaf is very long and fuzzy here, so I made sure to be generous when I was brewing. I steeped it for 2 minutes, which is the max that Teavivre recommends. Even with the generous amount of leaf, the high steeping temperature (~90C), and the longish (to Teavivre) steeping time, the liquor is a jewel-like surprise. The liquor was pale golden upon first sip, and very heavily vegetal.
However, I believe that the full impact of this tea is lost if you drink it during the winter. This tea is so light that it’s perfect for spring mornings. I can’t wait to have this again some time in March or April when you can smell the earth and the sunshine and the dew all together. This will be such a good tea to have in the spring!
