Anji Bai Cha Green Tea of Zhejiang

Am running a little tea demo course and ordered teas from YS due to a very limited budget and bc I didn’t want to gamble with Verdant again lol. Anyway, have 6 teas, which I ran through today with a friend (more beginner to tea) over the course of 4 hours, and so these are quick impressions and transcribed from notes, and are somewhat haphazardly done.

2.5g, brewed in a chahai, 170mL water, steeps of 1 min. @190f, then 1 min. 30s @203f, then 1 min. at 212f

1st. green, light, pleasant. slight umami & floral. Not too exciting, I only thought slightly sweet after, my friend said it was pretty sweet.

2nd. a slight bitter creeps in. Less umami and floral, a darker spiced aspect. Slightly drying at end, lighter sweetness than before.

3rd. drier spiced edge. It’s not quite sharp, but that’s the best I can phrase it. underlying steamed veggie water sense of late green steepings, but that could be from careless brewing and emptying chahai of water completely both times before since I wasn’t sure it could handle continued steeping.

0.30c/g. Not bad, but wouldn’t repurchase. Friend enjoyed it much more than I did, but my expectations for average greens are less realistic after drinking the excellent ones from other sources.

This is another one of those teas I pretty much only bought because the leaves looked pretty and bright green in the pictures. Matcha and jasmine greens used to be the only green teas I drank regularly but I’m starting to really like these more delicate greens. I have the spring 2019 harvest.

2020 harvest. 1.8g / 13oz @ 185 F.

Last year’s Anji Bai Cha was a tea that was so good I used to dream about it. This year’s harvest is good but not as nuanced. It’s got that crisp freshness of romaine lettuce combined with a green pea sweetness, a lima bean like vegetal flavor with a slight peppery hint. Less grassy and more delicate than typical green teas. However, I do miss the subtleties of last year’s tea. Still an enjoyable tea though and a good one for throwing in thermos or brewing grandpa style which is how I like to brew it.

Instagram shot: https://www.instagram.com/p/CBD0TvkgGAf/

This is the first Anji Bia Cha I get a chance to properly try. I just had one sample from Tao Tea Leaf before. The price is relatively low, so I am not expecting a top grade, but I am definitely excited to try it.

Overall, I would say it’s quite delicious and distinctive profile. A lot of its fresh vegetal qualities will probably fade over time, so I will try to finish it asap. I had two sessions with it so far, one with 140ml pot and one with a 60ml gaiwan, even though I used the same amount of leaf in each – 4g. The flavours were definitely stronger and more tasty in the latter, but I think the lighter body of the former allowed for more subtle notes to shine.

The aromas of the dry leaves are very green and somewhat light, reminiscent of asparagus, chestnut, grass, nettle and thistles. In the wet leaves I can also smell some lemongrass. The taste is very vegetal with decent umami and sweetness. There are notes of spinach, lemon balm, cream, carambola, bok choy and courgette. I really like the aftertaste, which is long and sweet and exudes a cooling sensation in the throat. It reminds me of a mix if fresh herbs and sautéed greens. Mouthfeel is velvety and buttery with light to medium body. The cha qi is nice too, very relaxing. It reminds me of japanese greens, but seems to have less caffeine.