Shandong Rizhao Green Tea

Drowning myself 6-26-15 #7

This was part of a swap and once I saw Aliexpress on it I was quite excited. I’ve bought one item on Aliexpress so far and it was good, so getting something different was great. Thiis is one interesting green tea. A short brew seems to have pulled out some nice flavor that doesn’t compare well with other green teas that I’ve had so I find this to be an enjoyable tea that doesn’t have a bitterness or anything I can point out to make me not want to finish my cup.

Actually this tea review is for this one and Royal Tea Bay – Rizhao. I’ve got RTB -Rizhao in Sept and was not that enthused with it. Since I didn’t have any Rizhao tea around to compare it with, I thought it was possible my taste changed. So I ordered my favourite Rizhao from the Aliexpress seller Han Xiang Ecological Tea.

In comparison of the two teas dry, they both smelled good from the bag. Pretty similar – a nice fresh green scent. Both teas had the same twisted shape but this tea from RTB had bigger leaves. Brewed both up with 8oz , 80C, 1 min.
The both brewed a similar bright yellow colour but the tea from HXET was a lighter brigher yellow. The tea from RTB was a little bit murkier, not so clear. When I took a taste of the HXET it was still as good as it’s been in past years: butter, spinach, nutty, creamy, sweet. So good. Then I took a taste of the RTB tea. It tasted completely flat. No taste at all. I let my palate clear a bit and tried this tea again. After waiting a few minutes and taking a sip , it was a bit better but was a plain green with none of the underlying creamy, spinach taste the other one has. It was non astringent with a very faint nutty flavour to it. When I would take a sip of the tea from HXET it had so much flavour it just overshadowed the RTB tea so much , I couldn’t taste it at all.

This tea from HXET has always been really good and this harvest is still holding true.

I enjoyed comparing the two and think I will do a comparison of the HXET Rizhao with some Laoshan Greens I have. They are all grown in about the same area and I think they are all very similar.

Having a cup of this while trying to unwind my from a stressful day at work. Most of my stress, however, I will admit, I cause myself.

The brewed aroma of this tea reminded of me of buttery beans and peas. The taste is just like the aroma – sweet and creamy beans. I do pick up some the nuttiness that Cameron B referred to, but for me it’s not so prominent.

Slight bitterness in the second brew, but I lost rack of time…I really should get a timer of some sort, or watch the clock better. Despite the slight bitterness, it’s still very tasty and it makes happy drinking it.

Thanks for the sample Cameron B!

My very last tea to try from Han Xiang Ecological Tea via AliExpress. This one was actually a freebie sample that they included with my order, thanks! Visually, the leaves are thin and wiry, and curled into little loops. The color is a medium green/yellow with some grey. Dry scent is deliciously creamy and nutty with mild spinach scent. I find that this tea looks and smells like Laoshan Green to me, which is a good thing! I steeped about 1.5 tsp of leaf for 1 minute at 175 degrees.

Brewed aroma is luscious creamy, sweet spinach with so much nutty scent. Yum! I love how this tea is so nutty, it’s almost a genmaicha! There’s a nice bite from the vegetal side, and it’s balanced wonderfully by the creamy and nutty aspects of the tea. It almost tastes as if soy milk has been added. Delicious, and quite similar to Laoshan Green! :D