Makaibari Grand Reserve Darjeeling First Flush SFTGFOP1 2011

Makaibari Grand Reserve Darjeeling First Flush SFTGFOP1 2011

Type; Black, India, Darjeeling, First Flush, Makaibari

Price; £ 13.00 for 50 grams from Pekoe Tea.

http://www.pekoetea.co.uk/

Review; Oh Darjeelings where to begin again. For those loyal readers that remember my passion, Darjeelings are crème a la crème in my eyes. And sadly this one disappoints. And doesn’t just disappoint on one degree but so very many. First Flushes are my favourite, (see post on Marybong which still remains one of my favourites to date) and yet this first flush lacks that distinctive pepperyness that I so crave. Bland. The flavour that does come through gives hints of vanilla, and maybe green apples, but hard to detect. For being a tea from the Rajah Collection that "is selected by Rajah, the estate owner as the best of the first flush season” just makes it even sadder. High promises leave broken hearts and in this case a broken taste.

The blame? Not Pekoe tea where this tea was purchased. This is the 3^rd strike of Makibari in my opinion; I have tried a 2010 First Flush “Grand Cru”, and their second flush, and none of them compare to some of the better known estates.

Makibari prides themselves on being one of the first “biodynamic” estates, and even going as far as to write a propaganda book titled “The Rajah of Darjeeling Organic Tea”. Sadly I can say I bought this book, and it was one of the biggest wastes of money. Full of bull and other crap little info was actually provided about the estate. Written from the perspective of a hippy about nature, it covers little of the realities of a tea plantation while painting a fairy land for people to dream of that “mystic India”.

So Makibari, I look forward to trying your 2012 pickings, but know that you are one of the bottom rungs on the ladder. Manjhee Valley which isn’t even a Darjeeling gives better muscatel tones than you.

Don't enjoy!

-Tea Fan

White Monkey, Chinese Green

White Monkey
Type; Green, China, Fujian, Tai-Mi

Price; £ 4.50 for 50 grams from Anteaques.

http://anteaques.co.uk/greentea/whitemonkey

"Harvested from the Tai-Mi mountain in the Fujian province of China, this green tea has a large number of white tips. The fine white downy hairs on these curved and tangled leaves give the tea its unusual name. It is a superb and delicate green tea with the soft texture of white teas and a grassy and slightly sweet taste.
For this tea, only the tip buds and one leaf are picked during early Spring. The leaves are then gently withered and shaped by hand to preserve the white down. If you enjoy both white and green teas, this is an fantastic amalgam with a sweet silky taste."

Review; At a recent tasting I went to, White Monkey was the favourite chosen by the tasters. It has a unique characteristic of the Chinese green teas, mixed with the silky smooth texture associated with a white tea, that lets it sit on the tongue and dance. I find the leaves to be some of the most beautiful of all, trypanosomes curled around each other. Due to the high number of white hairs on the leaves I find one can actually brew this for longer than one would normally brew a green (I usually brew a green for around 2-3 minutes), as it has such a sweetness to it that follows through with savory chestnuts. Honestly I don’t make this up and dare any and all readers to give this tea a try. To me this is one of the highlights of Chinese green teas.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan

Sencha, Fuji,

Sencha (Fuji)
Type; Green, Japan
Price; £ 3.60 for 50 grams from Anteaques.

http://anteaques.co.uk/greentea/senchafuji

"This is a very high quality large leaf Japanese sencha. It has a wonderful crystalline green colour and a superb flavour that eclipses those of other green teas.
Like all traditional senchas, the freshly picked tea leaves are lightly steamed to prevent them oxidising and turning black. This distinguishes them from most of the Chinese green teas, which are usually pan fried to prevent the oxidation. The steaming process gives the sencha a more intense, distinctive, flavour."

Review; It seems only fitting to write a review for Sencha after the review of Dragon Well last week. As I have mentioned before there is a distinctive difference between Chinese and Japanese teas and that is the nature in which they are dried. Japanese teas being steam-dried gives a stronger freshly cut grass, or seaweed taste. As Japanese Tea Master Mio Shapley said, “only with Matcha does one drink tea, all other teas are but the essence of tea”.

Wiser words have not been said in my opinion and holds true with Sencha. This essence of tea, one can taste the chlorophyll on ones tongue. Senchas like Dragon Wells, and like Darjeelings, have famous regions, and estates that they can come from, though often times this element is missed in the west. A statistic I once read stated that roughly 80% of all Japanese teas stay in Japan for consumption. I find Sencha to be one of the best teas to drink for studying for exams, especially if over-brewed.

Interesting things can be observed when it comes to comparing Japanese and Chinese green teas and where they are pre-dominantly consumed. Chinese teas have a trump in Europe while Japanese green teas are trump in North America and Australia/New Zealand.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan

Dragon Well, Longjing

Dragon Well
Type; Green, China

Price; £ 4.50 for 50 grams from Anteaques.

http://anteaques.co.uk/greentea/dragonwell

"Dragon well is a renowned green tea with distinguishing broad and flat leaves. With its gentle sweet fragrance, delicate, clean, chestnut-like taste and cloudless jade green colour, it is an extraordinary and unique green tea.
Although first documented during the Tang dynasty (610-907), it was in the 17th century when Dragon Well (龍井茶) was given the status of Imperial Tea by the Chinese Qing dynasty emperor Kangxi. The highest grade tea was reserved solely for the Imperial household."

Review; While we’re on the subject of classics, Dragon Well is perhaps the most well known Chinese green tea. And there is certainly diversity to it. Without knowing much about whether this is pre-rain or what grade, lets dive in. Dragon Well is easy to distinguish in the leaves, broad flat leaves that have been pressed flat, yielding a beautiful aroma. The taste follows and magnifies this aroma with the tell tale chestnut taste coming through. Dragon Well is to China what Sencha is to Japan, in that both have surprisingly levels of grades, and can leave an beginner drinking a misnomer. China has a particular problem with its quality not always matching, so as I’ve done before, I urge caution when buying Chinese teas, and to never buy online unless you are buying from a vendor that knows what he is selling. As I briefly mentioned name branding is prominent in the tea world, and if one can sell a knock-off Dragon Well, it’s a considerable amount of more money. Perhaps this is why the distinctive leaf shape and character is important to examine before hand.

The nicest component of a Dragon Well, its sweetness. No sugar need be added, and hopefully I don’t need to mention that no milk should be added (it is a green tea…). This Dragon Well was purchased from Anteaques, however almost any good tea shop will carry this tea. A following review will probably be done in Pekoe with a pre-rain Dragon Well as well as their house Dragon Well.

Oh and please never brew a green tea at boiling water.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan