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“Yay, back to tea tasting after a week in Denmark with only coffee available for most of the time. The coffee was not bad but I did miss the good teas. I took some easy to brew teas with me, which...” Read full tasting note
“This is such a light, refreshing tea. Very mild, very light – the brewed color is a light pale wheat color. The brew has a light hint of a tang or tart to it as well. Lovely. I once read a...” Read full tasting note
“Wow. The aroma of the dry leaves, an intensely sweet and grassy smell, was incredible. I opened the package and it wafted instantly to my nose from a foot away. That, I must say, was impressive. I...” Read full tasting note
“Beautiful leaf. A tart, slightly vegetal flavor with a nice mellow finish.” Read full tasting note
Snow Bud Tea is one of the very first spring teas. Small, furled greeny, green buds yield the softest, lightest notes and a sweet, nutty finish.
Canton Tea Co is a London-based tea company trading in high grade, whole leaf Chinese tea. We have exclusive access to some of the best jasmine, white, green, oolong, black and authentic puerh teas available. In our first year, we scooped Six Golds at the 2009 Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards. Our Jasmine Pearls won the top three star gold award, endorsing it as the best available in the UK.
Yay, back to tea tasting after a week in Denmark with only coffee available for most of the time. The coffee was not bad but I did miss the good teas. I took some easy to brew teas with me, which helped but I felt the lack of my water filter, variable temperature kettle, etc! I was able to visit ‘Simply Tea’ in Aarhus where I had a rather nice sheng pu, but overall it really was a coffee-drinking conference. So now I have returned and can control my brewing properly. The first tea I picked out was this Snow Buds that I bought from Canton Tea because I wanted to see how it compared to others that I have had.
The dry leaf is light and grassy, smelling like a sweet summer meadow. It is most aesthetically pleasing to look upon, an olive green leaf with a light white fuzz on the underside. The aroma mellows as the tea brews, developing a nuttier note to it that carries through into the taste. It is light, sweet, slightly nutty and very drinkable. The liquor is a pale straw colour, almost colourless in my cup. The tea resteeps well through the third steeping. I have not tried more. Overall it is an excellent choice for drinking on a hot summer’s day, a bit like today in fact.
This is such a light, refreshing tea. Very mild, very light – the brewed color is a light pale wheat color. The brew has a light hint of a tang or tart to it as well. Lovely.
I once read a Japanese food related comic, that mentioned drinking hot tea on a hot day. I alway thought that was absolutely insane. However, this tea makes me understand this. I could drink this tea on a hot day and be refreshed and happy.
For an everyday drinking tea however, I’d like something with a little more oomph.
(from http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/2436/tea-review-canton-tea-co-snow-buds-xue-ya-2/)
Wow. The aroma of the dry leaves, an intensely sweet and grassy smell, was incredible. I opened the package and it wafted instantly to my nose from a foot away. That, I must say, was impressive. I went ahead and steeped two teaspoons in one cup for a little over 2 minutes.
The aroma of the steeped liquor retains some of the same sweetness, but it is also much more mellow. The flavour suprises me. It comes out much more light and subdued that I had expected. I think that perhaps the second steeping I shall try for three minutes to see how it changes the flavour. There is not much aftertaste, but the small amount that lingers on the tongue is soft, and not overly vegetal at all. Traces of the original aroma of the dry leaves hang for a moment in the throat before they are gone. It is time for the second steeping.
The leaves dance about in the tiny glass pitcher for three minutes more. These leaves are beautiful, tiny buds with the slightest small hairs. The aroma of this second steep seems to be thicker, somehow, yet not stronger. The flavours remain much the same as they were in the first steeping.
While this tea was good, I am left with the impression that my taste buds missed something significant that this tea had to offer. It certainly is a tasty green tea, and I would recommend it for fans of more delicate greens. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would give it an 80/100.
Would you recommend Canton Tea overall? I’ve been very curious about them, I’m just worried about shipping costs to the US.
I am based in the UK, so have only had experience of that service, but it has always been excellent. They have responded well and promptly to queries and sent out the teas very quickly. I have also found that the teas they sell are all pretty good. Overall, I would recommend them to you if the shipping costs are not too great.
I’ve been drinking samples from Roughage of Canton tea’s and they are worth trying if not to expensive to ship.
What! But! That’s here! That’s my city! Why did I not know about this?
Anyway, I hope you found it well. I should like some thoughts from you about the Simply Tea place. My boss and I have talked about it some, but didn’t really like the way it looked from the outside. We thought it looked very tiny and cramped in there, so we’ve stuck to our usual place which have lots of atmosphere but probably lower quality selections (some of their teas really have been hit and miss there, but they do excellent cake). The husband and I were given a gift card for our wedding which we thought we might spend at Simply Teas. What did you think of the place?
Angrboda, you are in Aarhus? Noooooooo!!!!!!! I thought you were in Copenhagen for some reason. No idea why. Ah well, there is a good chance I shall be back in Aarhus in the future, so perhaps you and your husband can show me the tea houses of Aarhus then, not that I had much time for sight-seeing this time. The saga conference was an all-day thing every day for the week.
Anyway, I found Simply Tea to be quite pleasant. It was quiet, the location was not particularly appealing on that side of the river and the shop is quite small inside. We sat outside which was very pleasant. The staff were impressed that I ordered a sheng pu and seemed very helpful and happy to chat about tea. I imagine it could be very crowded if there were a lot of customers. I’m not sure quite how busy they get. I would suggest trying it and seeing what you think. I enjoyed the tea, so I would happily go back again, although if it were busy it might get a bit much for me. I don’t like crowds.
Well since a fifth of the population are in Copenhagen + surrounding area, I would call it a qualified guess. :) Also the Danish companies I tend to order from are all situated in Copenhagen which might also have thrown you. But yeah, we live in a village about 30 minutes outside of the city proper, so if you come back one day, I would enjoy a meet up and a nice cup.
That sounds pretty good. When I wnet past there it seemed like a pretty discreet sort of location, which is good for me, because I don’t care for large crowds either. It’s totally stressful for me. I’ll see about getting us organised soon then and get our gift card used. :) The fact that they even have ANY pu-erh at all and even know what a sheng one is sounds like they’re more serious about the tea aspect than the cafe that the boss and I go to for our ‘afternoon meetings’ (in which we gossip and nom cake). That place have a wide selection but the emphasis is really on the cafe aspect there.
Yes, they seemed keen on the tea aspect. Apparently the owner goes over to China to buy tea.
I ordered a 2007 sheng that was on the menu, but they came back with a different 2008 sheng in a basket, telling me that the other was no longer in stock. I was impressed with the fact that they showed me what they did have so that I could get a good smell of it before ordering. They made it English style rather than gong fu, but it was still good. Since you have a gift card, it will not really cost you much to try them anyway, so you will not lose out by doing so. I hope you enjoy it.
I think the fact that I had not seen you mention Aarhus, while you had mentioned Copenhagen threw me. I prefer Aarhus. The Viking stuff is better there, especially out at Moesgaard! I shall remember to email you in good time next time I am at the university.
I was just looking at their site now. They do tastings and everything! I’ll have to suggest that to the boss some time. She’s not really as into tea as either of us here on Steepster, but she does appreciate a better quality than your average supermarket brand. :)
Apparently they do afternoon tea as well. Perhaps then I can finally get that ticked off my list! O.o
Moesgaard is nice. :) We spent a whole day there once, first on the exhibition and then walking in the surrounding area. There’s this particular path which takes you through forest where different parts of the forest has been planted with the sorts of trees and plants that would have been there during different eras of the stone age and such. I quite enjoyed that. My icon here is from a photo the husband took for me of their stave church replica. :)
Have fun with your afternoon tea. :-)
I did wonder if your icon came from a stave church. The stave church replica at Moesgaard is nice. My PhD supervisor was responsible for carving an obscene runic inscription in it, with permission of the museum of course.
What, like viking age graphiti? I didn’t know they did that! O.o
Yes, like Viking Age graffiti. The Vikings and medieval Scandinavians loved to write graffiti on things. There are some excellent examples from stave churches in Norway. Some are obscene and many are not, but they tell a story of everyday Norwegians.
Well, that makes sense really. People have always done that, and there are many examples of it ancient Rome. Still though. It strikes me as such a modern thing to do. :)
People were people, even back then! :-)
Ah small world Steepster. I feel like a mum watching people meet up. Indigobloom and Kiteena in Canada, Alex and I in Boulder and Jason and I in Fort Collins, You guys maybe in Aarhus! (I’m sure there are others who meet up too). And why not! Tea and hospitality go hand in hand.