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I don’t even know what to call this tea besides probably the best green tea I’ve ever had. Shang graciously shared this with me today when I stopped by the store. It was a green from a friend of his so he isn’t selling it unfortunately. There isn’t enough to sell! It is from a farm that has been abandoned and let grow wild for the past 15 years. So a Chinese Wild High Mountain Green, I guess it would be. :)

It is a high mountain green made from all buds. The tiny little needles standing upright on the bottom of the pot were simply gorgeous. The scent of the dry leaves was heavy and like inhaling a basket of freshly picked vegetables. Amazingly enough, this was prepared with boiling water. In previous experience of greens, if someone had made it with boiling water I’d have expected bitter and undrinkable tea. Not so with this one.

The steeped tea was like a thick broth, savory and sweet with heavy notes of artichoke and asparagus and just… green. If color has a taste, this is what green tastes like. I felt like I’d eaten a plate of things that were really, really good for me.

The 2nd steep was sweeter even still. The 3rd is getting a little bitter after sitting grandpa style in a takeout cup for over an hour but no where near being unpleasant. The flavors are a little fainter and the brothy notes not quite as strong but it’s still a superb green tea.

It’s a good thing there isn’t enough of this to sell. As rare as it is, it would be really expensive but I’d still have to have some. Maybe I could rent out my cats. :)