Hello and good day. I’m excited about having my first green tea of 2019. Spring is here in this region of the states. I welcomed its arrival by prepping the garden which had fallen victim to snails, Bermuda grass, Himalayan blackberry, English ivy and baby palm trees. Mowed the grass, weed whacked and set to work digging up all the bristly ox tongue before it bolts and flowers. I also spent Friday cutting down 8 trees on a friend’s property for a nice sum of cash which bought me a new mattress and the leftovers of which will feed my recent puerh buying habit. I haven’t been drinking much tea this past week because I’ve been so damn busy.
I tried this a few days ago using Brenden’s parameters Western style, with 1T, 8oz, 180F and 3 steeps at 2/3/5 min. The tea was ok. It didn’t really awaken the crisp, spring green desire within me, being rather vegetal and muddled in flavor. I tend to like my green teas light and gentle, so I will have to play around with amounts and temperatures Western style.
This morning, though, I opted to brew the leaves gongfu and am much happier with the result. 6g, 150mL, 175F, 8 or 9 short steeps. The dry leaf smells soft, sweet, floral and young grass. Rinsed, I picked up on white chocolate, steamed veg and spinach and soft florals. The liquor is a crystal clear very light green-yellow without much aroma. The taste is crisp and light with fresh grass, minerals (salty), and florals with a light stonefruit-osmanthus aftertaste. In the mouth, the tea is thick and glassy early on moving quickly to a light body with soft astringency. The flavor ends more vegetal, perhaps green bean with a hint of oat creaminess. I thought maybe the tea got a little fruitier in the late steeps, but it was just the aftertaste that lingered.
Overall, brewed gongfu, it’s a very mineral yet delicate, light and crisp green tea that embodies what I’m looking for in the first days of spring. I imagine I’ll finish this bag today since the weather will be warm and sunny. A few more cloudy and rainy days are on the horizon.
