Man, if only this tea tasted as good as it looks. The beautiful long green blades of this Tai Ping Hou Kui are quite a sight to see but the flavor is just sorta meh.
I grandpa steeped about 3 or 4 leaves which is 1.5g in an 8oz glass using 180 F water. The smell of the leaves is briny like kelp and seaweed salad, and slightly marine. I won’t lie it’s a litte off-putting. Thankfully, the smell doesn’t make it into the taste. The liquor is almost colorless and has a very subtle, barely there flavor. There are some vegetal and light grass notes that appear after it steeps for a while but the taste isn’t really distinctive and almost feels like you’re drinking hot water. When it does finally develop some flavor, astringency appears shortly thereafter.
Honestly, I’m kind of annoyed by super delicate green teas such as this one. Huang Shan Mao Feng is another famous tea with a similar flavor. They might be better suited for occasional green tea drinkers who don’t like grassiness but I find them really bland.
I did have a Tai Ping Hou Kui from Teavivre last year that was decent so I’m sure there are better versions of this tea. This is my first time trying it from Yunnan Sourcing and unfortunately this one just doesn’t do it for me.
Flavors: Green Beans, Salty, Seaweed
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That leaf is gorgeous though!
No doubt about that. This one easily wins the green tea beauty contest.
Sometimes I like those ultra-lightly-flavoured teas. But astringency coming before there’s really even any flavour? Not appealing.
Maybe it’s just the 2019 cultivar. I really liked the 2018 one and found it was pretty similar to Teavivre’s Tai Ping Hou Kui. I brew mine in a glass flute brewer and use about 15 leaves/ brew 1 min first infusion. Can’t remember other infusions but it was always fruity & sweet.
It kinda looks like kelp too. I feel ya on being annoyed at dainty greens. I will say that I’ve had some excellent huangshan maofeng while living in China—it was super fresh and textured, but the stuff that makes it out of the country is a bit meh.
@Ubacat, whoa 15 leaves sounds hardcore…those leaves can fairly large. I will gradually increase my leaf quantity and see what happens…sometimes you need more leaf with these delicate teas.
@tanluwils I’m pretty sure the Chinese are drinking higher quality tea overall than we are. I’ve heard the better teas get snapped up in China before they can leave the country.
The leaves look large but they are very light in weight and light in taste. I need that many leaves to get a full fruity taste. I like my teas light too , so trust me, It won’t be too strong. Actually, I think my first brew was somewhere between 30 sec and 1 min. Can’t remember now. I ran out of it a few months ago…..
Thanks for the tips, I’ll give that a try.
That leaf is gorgeous though!
No doubt about that. This one easily wins the green tea beauty contest.
Sometimes I like those ultra-lightly-flavoured teas. But astringency coming before there’s really even any flavour? Not appealing.
Maybe it’s just the 2019 cultivar. I really liked the 2018 one and found it was pretty similar to Teavivre’s Tai Ping Hou Kui. I brew mine in a glass flute brewer and use about 15 leaves/ brew 1 min first infusion. Can’t remember other infusions but it was always fruity & sweet.
It kinda looks like kelp too. I feel ya on being annoyed at dainty greens. I will say that I’ve had some excellent huangshan maofeng while living in China—it was super fresh and textured, but the stuff that makes it out of the country is a bit meh.
@Ubacat, whoa 15 leaves sounds hardcore…those leaves can fairly large. I will gradually increase my leaf quantity and see what happens…sometimes you need more leaf with these delicate teas.
@tanluwils I’m pretty sure the Chinese are drinking higher quality tea overall than we are. I’ve heard the better teas get snapped up in China before they can leave the country.
The leaves look large but they are very light in weight and light in taste. I need that many leaves to get a full fruity taste. I like my teas light too , so trust me, It won’t be too strong. Actually, I think my first brew was somewhere between 30 sec and 1 min. Can’t remember now. I ran out of it a few months ago…..
Thanks for the tips, I’ll give that a try.