Yunnan "Silver Strands" Green Tea of Simao * Spring 2019

Got this as a sample with my Yunnan Sourcing order. It’s not the type of green tea I would have picked out for myself. Normally, I avoid Yunnan green tea because the assamica cultivar grown there, intended for puerh, is different from the more delicate sinensis cultivar used in normal Chinese green tea. As a result, Yunnan greens tend to be more savory and pungent than their counterparts grown in other parts of China.

This one reminded me more of heicha and sheng than green tea. It starts off like a white tea, with corn silk and hay aromas. The flavor is something like freshly washed linens and has the texture of soft cotton. Sweeter with more hay and white tea florals on resteep. Tastes like sheng but without the bitterness. A little smoke as it settles.

Mind you, this was a year old when I received it so it’s obviously aged and the flavor has changed in the past year. Good for what it is and I prefer to think of it as a white tea instead of green as that’s what it tastes like to me.

I’ll start my review off bluntly, the fragrance is better than the taste. Upon the first steep in the gaiwan, I noticed a scent of sweet grass. Despite this lovely aroma, the bitterness and astringency of the tea really turned me off. It took roughly 4 steeps for me to adjust to its temperment. The lingering aftertaste in the back of my mouth was incredibly dry. This is a pungent and robust green tea of Simao that can be infused many times. I believe my experience with this tea comes down to preference alone; therefore, I cannot give it a bad rating.

Flavors: Artichoke, Asparagus, Butter, Chestnut, Cut grass, Hay, Spices, Spinach, Umami, Vegetal

Heya all. ^^

Almost done with this bag so thought I’d share my thoughts. I bought a lot of raw pu’er in my last YS order so I was happy to see that I got this bag of green tea with it. The twisted dry leaves are thin, frail-looking… Had the aroma of hay and fresh cut grass. I put 8g in 110ml gaiwan, and after the rinse, the expanded wet leaves smelled so good. Vegetal, buttered asparagus and spinach, hay, sweet grass.

So far I’ve done 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 30s infusions but there are many infusions still left based on my past experiences with this tea. The pale liquor has similar aromas to the wet leaves but I also smell steamed artichokes and a slight chestnut aroma.

It is robust as they say and has a nice aftertaste far after you finish the cup. There is a spiciness to it, I can feel it at the tip of my tongue minutes after. I did short infusions throughout because I didn’t want to experience any bitterness nor astringency. I’ve never had this any other way so perhaps on my last 8g, I’ll try it grandpa style or something. Maybe it won’t get bitter. I don’t know.

Recommended to those who like pungent green teas.

Update: Just had it again, the last of it this morning, and it got bitter with a 1-min infusion. I am usually a gaiwan girl so maybe I did something wrong >.<.