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Okay, here is the third and likely final backlogged review for the day. This was yet another mid-late June sipdown. At the time I was working my way through what I had of this tea, it was very likely the first tea from Guizhou province that I had tried. Regardless, I found it to be an extremely pleasant green tea with some interesting herbal undertones.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 176 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 14 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of hay, lemon, seaweed, and malt. After the rinse, I detected a subtle cream aroma. The first infusion then brought out scents of grass and straw. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented delicate notes of hay, lemon, seaweed, grass, straw, and cream that were chased by hints of honey sweetness. The bulk of the subsequent infusions brought out scents of toasted rice and umami along with subtle mintiness and nuttiness on the nose. In the mouth, I detected subtle, belatedly emerging malt notes as well as impressions of chestnut, barley, toasted rice, bamboo, minerals, and lettuce. When I really focused, I could also detect very subtle spinach and mint notes, though the mint presence did eventually strengthen to a limited extent. The later infusions emphasized mineral, grass, seaweed, and spinach notes that were underscored by vague umami. There were also traces of mint and honey on the swallow.

I found this to be a very unique Chinese green tea in the sense that I did not find it to have much in common with many of the other Chinese green teas I had recently consumed. It may have just been me, but this tea’s body and texture coupled with some of its aroma and flavor components reminded me a little of some Japanese green teas. Overall, this was an interesting and very satisfying green tea, one that I am fairly certain fans of subtler, more mellow green teas would enjoy.