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

Margaret's Hope 2nd Flush SFTGFOP

Margaret’s Hope
Type; Black, India, Darjeeling, SFTGFOP, 2^nd Flush

Price; £ 2.60 for 50 grams from Anteaques.

http://anteaques.co.uk/blacktea/margaretshope

“The teas of the Darjeeling region are often known as the "champagne of teas". They are prized for their lighter tastes and fruity aromas. The Margaret's Hope Estate is over 140 years old and produces some of the most popular Darjeeling teas. This tea is picked in early June (2nd flush) and has all the wonderful Darjeeling flavours.

Classified as "Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe" (or FTGFOP), this tea is a top grade Orange Pekoe or large leaf tea. Like many other estates in Darjeeling, Margaret's Hope's tea bushes grow slowly due to the high altitude. This plays a large part in producing the tea's characteristic and highly prized taste.”

Review; Ah Darjeelings. One of my true loves. The observant reader will probably have noted that I have an obsession with Darjeelings. Those that know me in real life know that I will do almost anything to get my hands on a delicious first flush. The Margaret’s Hope is a second flush, and will probably receive more of a scathing review than the previous two other Darjeelings reviewed.

Margaret’s Hope has a name for itself. Name-branding isn’t unique to clothing, and occurs very frequently in the tea world. Lets face it, this tea blog is about name-brands. Margaret’s Hope due to recent acquisitions of nearby tea-estates is now one of the largest tea estate in the Darjeeling region of India. And for such a surprisingly large area, it is blended (all teas are blended in the estates) consistent. 2^nd Flush, strong muscatel notes on the nose, but surprisingly little flavour to compare with the taste. A beautiful tea in its own, but branding itself as the “Champagne of teas” I would not say is truthful.

Really one cup or so of Margaret’s Hope will due it justice. A bit of a plane jane if you will in that no complex taste really develops, nowhere to go after that initial first sip. And don’t add milk or sugar! It’s a Darjeeling! Not an Assam or some Tetley tea bag for pete’s sake. I have now tasted the Margaret’s Hope for four years and as I said above, it is consistent. There is little variability in it unlike other Darjeelings (I’m looking at you Goomtee, oh you were so delicious last year…and surprisingly disappointing this year).

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan

Blue Lady

Blue Lady
Type; Scented, Scented Black, Sri Lanka, Ceylon FOP

Price; £ 1.90 for 50 grams from Anteaques.

http://anteaques.co.uk/scentedtea/bluelady

"Our version of the classic Edinburgh Blue Lady tea. Exotic fruit flavours burst from this rich Ceylon tea. It is blended with blue corn flowers and yellow sunflowers for a striking appearance.

Passion flavours are the predominant fruit taste in this tea. Together with the natural citrus of the high grade Ceylon (FOP) this creates a natural fruity blend."

Review; Blue Lady was and is a classic when it comes to scented teas. Or at least due to a bias of where I have lived is such. Blue Lady first blended in Edinburgh Scotland, swept through the UK 60 odd years ago in a hay day. Much of that faded in the present days but it seems to be making a comeback with no surprise.

With a mild Ceylon base, Blue Lady can also be scented with grapefruit. The blend from Anteaques is made with passionfruit giving a more exotic taste to this class. Cornflowers, safflowers and sunflowers also scent and flavour this tea making it surprisingly fruity and floral yet not over-done. I would not add milk or sugar to this tea as either would destroy this beautiful palate.

What little astringency is in the tea is quickly over-powered by the added scents, making this tea in my opinion perfect for afternoon.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan

Golden Monkey

Golden Monkey
Type; Black, China, Fujian *Edit 4/2/12

Price; £ 2.00 for 100 grams from Better Beverage Company.

http://www.betterbeverage.co.uk/

Review; Surprisingly this tea is rather nice. What got me to buy it was the large quantities of tips that are distinctive in this black tea. Chinese black teas have this nice malty, caramel sweetness to them that is often missing in other blacks. For value, I find this tea hard to beat. Don’t get me wrong though, Better Beverage should be embarrassed about some of the teas they are selling. The Darjeeling? I doubt it. Also much of their tea is stored next to coffee, which may be why the black teas I’ve tried from there are much better than the greens. Better beverage like Anteaques sells tea, not packaging, however with less of a finesse and care than Anteaques does.

This Fujian black *edit 4/2/12 is a wonderful example of what can be had from black teas in this region. Described by a friend of mine as the aroma one gets when one walks into a clean stable, there is a horse musk in the air. Good colour in the brew, rich amber, that one should be mindful of not to let over-brew.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan

Formosa (Oolong) ((Teaism))

Formosa
Type; Oolong, Taiwan, Un-roasted
Price; £ 9.50 for 50 grams from Teaism.

https://teaism.com/TeaShop/ProductDetails4-75.html

Review; “Formosa” from Teaism, is suppose to be a Dong Ding, or a Milky Oolong, but is impossible to tell due to the lack of flavour. Honestly considering where this tea came from, I have to say this might have possibly been the biggest disappointment in teas I’ve had for a very long time. “This top-quality Formosa oolong has large wiry leaves. Use 2 tsp per 8 ounces of 190 filtered or bottled water. Steep 5-6 minutes. You can infuse several times”. No no no.

“Top-quality”? BS. No que no batman an oolong has large wiry leaves, kinda part of the definition of oolong tea leaves. Infuse several times? Nope hard pressed for the first. I’ve decided to do an experiment where I’m going to let it brew over night and see if more flavour magically appears. Oh, update, looking at the website, spring 2010. Right…might have gone stale except that this tea was purchased November 2011.

Don’t Enjoy!

-Tea Fan

As my flat mate said, “If Tetley made an oolong”

Xin Yang Mao Jian

Xin Yang Mao Jian

Type; Green, China

Price; £ 9.00 for 100 grams from Pekoe Tea.

http://www.pekoetea.co.uk/?pagename=Xin%20Yang%20Mao%20Jian

Review; When it comes to green teas, there are two main schools of thought, pan dried and steam-dry. These two schools represent the Chinese and Japanese ways of tea with Chinese teas being made predominately in the pan dried fashion resulting in the tell tale style undertones of chestnut, and the Japanese resulting in a crisp fresh green of freshly cut grass.

While this tea continues the Chinese traditional method of pan drying it is certainly one of the more unique teas. Relying on a Wikipedia article until my new book arrives, Xin Yang Mao Jian is suppose to be one of the top 10 teas of China. And this I can easily believe, crisp and fresh, little astringency. The light amber hue, tickling the tongue, Xin Yiang teas are wonderfully full of flavour. However despite being a Chinese green, my first thought would not be that of chestnuts, its…hard to explain. While that may seem like a lame response especially for a blogger review, if I try to explain it; sounds more like “the essence of the tea”. And by the “essence of the tea” I don’t mean the freshness or the greenness I associate with the essence of Japanese green teas, but just a slight curl at the edge of the tongue as it sits in ones mouth. Second brew still brings out many flavours, this is a superior tea.

Pekoe tea does a wonderful job of packaging their teas, and it does show. This tea was actually purchased months ago, however is still incredibly fresh. Vacuum sealed in plastic/metal packets this does add to the cost.

Enjoy!

-Tea Fan (changing from Tea Fanatic to Fan, as I’d like to be less of a fanatic this year)