Organic Hangzhou Tian Mu Qing Ding Green Tea

I went through quite a bit of this today using both western and short steep methods. I have to say I think I may prefer the western, which resulted in a sweeter, less marine cup, but both were pleasant! I don’t know how this ended up as the last of my free samples from Teavivre; it’s probably my favourite of them all! Both of my parents (including my exclusively Red Rose-drinking father) enjoyed drinking this smooth and vibrant green tea, which is incredibly novel.

Thank you again, Teavivre, for the lovely samples. I can’t believe they’ve lasted this long.

Steep Count: 3

(2017 spring harvest)

Another Spring 2017 green tea sample from Teavivre!

Of all the three greens I have tried so far, I found this one the greenest, least buttery and least sweet. I first steeped some in my Contigo to take to the movies and was surprised the lack of amazingness compared to the others, but thought maybe it was the mug not the tea, so I tried again at home.

It’s still good, but I didn’t get the sweet bready flavour burst with this one. A bit too vegetable like without the butter and sweetness I enjoy.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to try it, because it’s helping me decide which ones to wish list!

This is a solid Chinese green. It’s vegetal and buttery, as you’d expect. It’s also a little more floral than I like, with some notes that remind me of all the things I can’t stand about green oolongs, and for that reason it’s not a total hit with me. But that’s really down to personal preference. Thanks for the sample, Teavivre, and apologies for the belated review!

Why don’t I drink more green tea?
I always love it when I drink it, and I used to drink green tea every day, but I don’t love it the way I love Black/Red Tea. I guess that’s the reason.
Plus I can’t drink green tea on an empty stomach…there’s always that…
But anyway, this is a lovely one, more delicate in appearance than Dragonwell, with a clean vegetal taste, a buttery aroma, and a thickness that builds on the tongue, sip by sip.
Much gratitude to Angel and Teavivre for the sample.

Speaking of Teavivre, I finally got my sipdown extravaganza down to below 200 teas in my cupboard (190, actually), so now I’m allowed to order from one company per month, with wild abandon. This month it was Teavivre, as their black teas have been missing from my cupboard for quite some time, and I’m getting low on black teas anyway!
sipdown – 189

Thank you so much for the sample, Teavivre! I am finally writing a tasting note despite having it before, and I am happy to report that it is my favourite green out of the batch that was sent to me. It is very mellow with a touch of vegetalness. There is gentle buttery note in the background too. Very smooth.

As it’s cooling, the vegetal notes are coming forth a bit more but they aren’t overbearing. They’re along the lines of steamed green beans. I agree with other Steepsterites that it is similar to a Dragon Well, however, it is more mellow, not as buttery, and lacks that sour note that I personally pick up from most Dragon Wells.

I wouldn’t purchase any, but mostly because I tend to reach for roasted green teas whenever I’m in a green tea mood, but it’s nevertheless a tea worth trying out.

Backlog. I tried a number of different spring green teas from Teavivre recently and this was my favorite of the bunch. The pine needle shaped leaves are bright forest green and exude a fresh green and floral aroma. The taste is sweet and crisp like lettuce with a light body. This is a very clean tasting tea with little to no grassiness or heavy vegetal flavor and no bitterness. I didn’t mind getting leaves in my mouth because like the Shi Qian dragon well, the leaves were quite tasty. I think this would be a good choice for people trying green tea for the first time.

Thank you to Teavivre for the sample!

Water: 8oz

Leaves: medium green flat semi-long leave

Measuring Spoon: no

Steep: 3m

Aroma: faint/vegetable

Color: light yellow

Clarity: great

Taste: I decided to have this tea after dinner in which this time i had instant curry over rice. For this as with the previous tea (although not mentioned) i added new steps into the brewing process, i took pictures of the dry leaf, wet leaf & cup to show a more visual aspect in what i do. I also posted it on my instagram in a collage form to make it easier to see all at once. The aroma coming from the dry leaf was faint and difficult to detect. the wet steeped leaf bought out a vegetable aroma. In terms of taste i didn’t notice much although i was able to finish my cup & went back for a second.

*update

I decided to add a measuring spoon section to my reviews instead of always typing out rather or not the leaves fit with in the main review.

My first taste of this year’s crop of this wonderful tea. It has lived up to my expectations!

My first impression of this tea reminds me of a mild dragonwell. It has a very light liquor (almost clear) while somehow still having a full mouth of flavor and a wonderfully pleasant aroma. The taste is very vegetal, and reminds me of cut grass with perhaps a hint of spinach. The taste is light, refreshing, and cooling. It’s a great summertime tea. The taste starts off sweet and ends with a slight astringency in the finish. There is also some undertones of savoriness throughout the cup. Excellent overall.

This is a sample from Christina. Thanks Christina for the sample! I really enjoyed this tea this morning brewed gong fu. I am finding my list I printed out for doing gong fu really isn’t that good. It’s what everyone says. Just go by the feel. Their recommendation for first infusion is about 6-8 sec. That’s way too short for this green tea so I left it until it had a little colour.

This tea reminds me of an Anji Bai Cha. The leaves look the same – long and straight. This tea also borders between a Japanese and Chinese tea. It has that sweet snap pea aroma (smells soooo good) you find in Japanese teas. It’s also in the taste but this brews up very light. A pale pale yellow. The snap pea taste hits the tongue followed by a light buttery/chestnut taste. These are the things I love about Anji Bai Cha only some of the Anji Bai Cha’s I’ve had have been stronger than this tea. This is a very delicate tea and very tasty!

I like this tea, but it’s not a favorite. It’s very savory. It’s not very complex, but is easy to drink and refreshing. I like it more now after it’s been sitting in my cup a while and isn’t warm anymore. I usually like to drink tea between meals (aside from the occasional breakfast tea with toast/muffin/pastry, or plain black served with dessert), but I’m thinking this would be good iced and served with lunch or dinner.