Everyday Green Tea

I bought this from Rainbow Grocery co-op in San Francisco, and like The Phoenix Collection Yunnan black tea I bought there, this Everyday Green Tea does not having a matching name in the Tealist: http://thephoenixcollection.com/order/tealist.pdf

This is a long and thin, green-grey rolled leaf almost needle-like in appearance except for a few clumps of leaf that got rolled into a ball shape. The dry leaf is pretty aromatic with green bean, apricot, straw and chestnut notes and a light layer of smoke. I steeped 3g western style in 8oz of 175F water for two infusions. The brewed tea is that yellow-gold-brown that reminds me of cheap green tea bags and carries the same aromas as the dry leaf. In the mouth, the tea is rich and hearty with some astringency and with the same flavors as the aroma plus a hint of roasted corn. There is substantial bitterness to the brew that, if one is not careful with steeping times, can really overtake the sip. Somewhat surprisingly this tea has quite a strong aftertaste of apricot butter.

This definitely seems like an everyday, affordable green tea, but I must warn you, it’s not a delicate first-pluck-of-the-spring flavor. It’s a tea that seems appropriate for an autumn morning as the sun’s rays relieve the stiffness of last night’s frost or perhaps as a late afternoon tea in the summer.