Yesterday a order from Jing Tea Shop arrived which contained a large amount of different tea's as I wished to try a bit of everything.
I'm breaking out of a comfort zone, and while I have been told how to brew Chinese green tea's I am not fully aware of the subtleties which may produce an exceptional cup. Although Upon the arrival of the package I did quickly whip some of this up to take with me to class, as a glass brew in a thermos. I thought it passed that test quite well actually, and hope to test it under more strict structure.
So I am drinking this out of a gaiwan, and after preheating the gaiwan and adding the leaf, I found the smell to be extraordinarily sweet, with a slight grassy aroma.
Its taste is slightly bitter like spinach, but rather full and welcome. I think everyday describes this correctly, its is a means to drinking tea, and to practice making tea, but it is nothing exceptional. Though I must say it certainly is a bargain for its quality compared to what you can find in the Western Hemisphere, for around the same price including shipping.
Though I'm not sure how to describe this, it almost reminds me as though I'm inhaling a fog or mist in a heavily wooded area during spring. Just an overwhelming sense of vegetation comes to mind when drinking this.
By far the biggest downside to this tea, is any infusion beyond the first is seriously lacking substance. Even with leaving a root at the bottom of the gaiwan.
4 comments:
Howdy! From my experience with "everyday" quality Long Jings they are all fine for what they are. I think what they are lacking is richness. Grade AAA Long Jing (as you know) can be well... just too expensive and though I do ocassionally allow myself the luxury most of the time I think, for this amount of money I could be getting a couple of good quality shengs or whatever. Like you, Ive never found an everyday Long Jing that could stand up to a second infusion, they just dont have it in em. The pics you posted look nice though, at least some leaf and bud sets are evident, most of the time it,s all leaf. The inclusion or exclusion of the bud is one of the factors that sets the price. Jings has some great value teas that you would be hard pressed to find the same quality at a similar price here in the states. Enjoying your blog, keep up the great posts.
I didn't know any green tea was good for a second infusion. I thought that was generally done for Oolong and Pu-erh but not for green or black. And I guess I never knew about what was done with white tea. --Spirituality of Tea
Jason,
I've searched for information on aging oolongs, and there seems to be so many conflicting views. A few clear things though, first you want to limit the amount of moisture the leaves are exposed to or else they may become very sour. And Secondly, you want to limit their exposure to outside air.
While I am unsure about those Wuyi cakes you have mentioned, I may think of giving one a try as the Brick from the Tea Gallery was quite a surprise, and possibly slightly stronger initially for all the broken fragments of leaves you get from breaking it up.
But To me it has been recommended to have Jars with a good seal that can hold 3-5 pounds of the desired tea. Which is the biggest hold up, as I am unsure where to find such jars, and even then I would need to buy those jars and then that amount of tea also, it sounds like quite an expensive endeavor.
As for aging it in the package it came in, the potential downside is at some point you might want to give them a slight roast as in a few minutes at a very low temperature in an oven, to try and remove any excess moisture the leaves may have been aquiring. But It would be worth a shot to see if there are any significant aging effects from leaving a foil pouch unopened for 5 years or so.
With second infusions on green tea, they are possible, but hard to achive a good one, I'm not sure if ever have. Part of it requires if you are using a gaiwan to leave whats called a root, I find that the larger root I leave the better chance I have of getting a good second infusion. Of course that is if you are drinking from the gaiwan.
Adam:
I've put away some Wuyi in a closet. It was never opened in those foil pouches. I figure I could store it for about 5 years and then open it and see how it is. That's a pretty long time. I'll have to do it without any re-roasting. I actually made a mistake buying the Wuyi tea because now I'm switching mostly to Pu-erh and I just don't want to drink it all but am eager to drink Pu-erh as my everyday tea instead. So I figure if I can give it a try at aging I'll likely want the stuff years from now. --Spirituality of Tea
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