Sun Dried Jingshan Green

Lewis & Clark Traveling Teabox – Tea #16
Oh here is a lovely green tea – the leaves are coiled and dark green. The scent promises sweetness. The flavor is light, sweet, creamed corn, smooth yet starchy with a brightness that can only remind me of sunshine. There is something special here anyway. The second steep (to be fair the leaves had been sitting overnight), the tea somehow seemed much more like vegetables…. a salad of all the greenest vegetables! Maybe I love tea because the leaves absorb the sun… I know I need that in the winter in whatever form… it’s already almost the end of September!
Steep #1 // 1 tsp // 30 min after boiling // 2 min
Steep #2 // 30 min after boiling // 2-3 min

Lewis & Clarke TTB

I’m on a mission to try all of these Verdant teas, since they were so generous with their samples! The leaves of this tea look pretty much identical to Laoshan Green, slender medium-sized leaves that are slightly curled into loops and grey-green in color. Dry scent is sweet and a little bit floral with some musty hay notes. I was unsure on the steeping parameters so I only let it go for one minute at 175 degrees. I see now that others here on Steepster steeped it for longer.

Brewed, it also smells similar to Laoshan Green – sweet, creamy, and mildly vegetal. The taste is also somewhat similar for me, the chief component is a mild vegetal flavor combined with a lovely creamy mouthfeel and some sweetness. The only difference I can think of is that this one has a touch of grassiness? And there’s definitely a lightly fruity aftertaste with a hint of floral. Another lovely green tea from Verdant! :)

This was from boychik

I liked it so much better when I had it before. Not sure what it was, if it was the tea or me or just who knows what.

Ah well.

http://instagram.com/p/wZKQ2zAyWH/

This was another tea set out for free samples at verdant and was served iced. This tea is incredibly fruity! It tasted almost like a fruit juice, lychee I think with a hint of citrus. I really liked the taste of this tea and it was very refreshing, but I couldn’t get past the smell of the tea. It smelled like overripe fruit with a hint of decay. My friend Sarah loved it though, so it must just be me.

Backlog from this afternoon:

The leaves in this are so fluffy that I really need to be more generous with them when I measure them out for my pot. This is a decent green, but nothing special to me – there’s not a lot of flavour in them. The wet leaves smell lovely and sweet, but I wish that aroma translated into the brew.

I might just give what I have remaining of this to a friend. I liked the Autumn Harvest Laoshan from Verdant much better, because at least that had some taste going for it. Bumping the rating a bit lower accordingly.

For whatever reason, this wants to take over the spot in my green tea collection reserved for Bi Luo. I just don’t need both, and I think I like this better than any Bi Luo I’ve had. It’s sweet and precious and delicate and borders on very light oolonginess (the highest praise, in my book). This is love.

Love this tea!

First steep was grassy & vegetal, and with further steeping the tea opened up with floral and citrus flavours.

Overall a really nice green tea.

This tea had a very unique flavor in the dry leaves. I couldn’t quite pin it down. Maybe a light apple aroma. I just tried the first steep brewing gongfu style (3 seconds on the first steep) and I was surprised by a pleasant vanilla flavor with a light caramel sweetness. It also tasted pleasantly grassy.

It has a medium to light body. Very unique for a green tea and certainly worth trying.