Review: Mi Lan Xiang (Phoenix Dan Cong)

I wandered into TheTeaTee determined I didnt need any new tea. I failed. I saw the leaves and aroma of this tea and thought I had to give it a try. 

Mi Lan Xiang [China, green, oolong] *** $$   by TheTeaTee, Lausanne, CH

Other names: 米蘭香,Honey Orchid, Phoenix Dan Cong
Origin: Phoenix Mountains, Guandong province, China

Almost a citrus notes to dry leaves of this tea but it doesn't get picked up once the tea is brewed, as there is definite floral smell to this tea in the cup. I didn't pick up the orchid at first smell but after having seen the translation of its chinese name I would agree its noticeable. 

This is a semi oxidised oolong as evidenced by nature of its leaves and the brownish colour when brewed, although taste-wise I found it an interesting mix of the strongly oxidised oolongs (such as Wu Yi, Dan Cong) and the less oxidised varieties such as Guan Yin. It has a distinctly green oolong after taste, although the first flavours are like typical woody oolongs. 

Very interesting little tea and a good price!

See Also:  Rui Gui, Guan Yin

Review: Lune D'Or by Marraige Freres, Paris

A chance visit to Paris on the eve of the Presidential Election sent me searching for some good tea shops. The French have always favored style over substance, and though the teas at Mariage Freres are excellent, I'm not so much excited by their penchant for giving Chinese tea varietals their own "romantic" names. I like to know what I'm drinking!!!

Lune D'Or Yellow Tea [China, yellow, grassy] *** $$$   by Marraige Freres , Paris, FR

Other names: ??

Like most yellow teas, this is an exceptionally delicate flavored tea which will need a longer drawing time to show a distinct flavor. The wet leaves have a gorgeous bouquet but I found the tea itself wasn't as complex in the drinking as the nose would suggest. Clean, slightly grassy taste, without a hint of bitterness. A soft likeable tea and I wish I knew what type it was....

As the temps are hitting 36C this week, I'm trailing this leaf as a cold tea and seeing how it works.  

Similar Teas: Bai Mu Dan, Yellow Teas

Review: Huo Shan Yellow Bud

Langass Tee is a fantastic tea seller and tea shop, certainly well worth a detour if you happen to be passing by the Swiss capital sometime. That's Bern, not Zurich. Nor Geneva.

I spent some time in Bern last year and had been looking to try a yellow tea....mostly because I didn't know what the term yellow tea means nor how it differs from green tea. It would appear Yellow Tea is all about post production processing, something to do with using a humid cloth which I don't quite understand. I also read that yellow teas were the preserve of Emperors in days gone by.

I wasn't sure about buying a 75g of a tea I had not tried but the shop assistant told me it would drink faster than I expected and she wasn't wrong!

Huo Shan Yellow Bud [china, yellow, grassy] ***** $$$   by Langass Tee, Bern, CH

Other names: 霍山黄芽,Huo Shan Huang Ya, 

First off, the smell this tea is amazing: fresh, buttery, slightly nutty. I could smell it all day long. For me the nutty notes become stronger when the leaves are wet and reminds me of Silver Needle white teas, with a long note of some astringency. In the cup, it turns to a rather sweet nutty very pleasant smell.

The leaves look somewhat like Long Jing leaves but these two teas are quite different. 

I'm someone who likes to steep my teas for quite a short time, most green teas are steeped too long for my taste even in speciality shops to extent when all I can taste is the bitterness. By contrast, this yellow tea needs a good 1m30 to 3min infusion or you risk missing its extremely subtle flavours. 

I find its taste very pleasant but rather difficult to explain, you can certainly taste the tannins but beyond that there's not too much to say apart from a slight bitter notes. Very easy to drink, very easy to like and one of those teas that is very comforting in the feeling it brings after drinking.

Recommended as a gift tea or for anyone who is starting out on the exploration beyond green tea bags. 

Similar Teas: The des Acores, Silver Needle

A sweet comforting little brew

Review: Thé des Açores by Saveurs PimenThe, Switzerland

I was wandering around Lausanne city centre last Saturday, catching the last of the weekly market of local products. I went down a street I knew well and found a tea shop that I didn't know at all. The lady in the tea shop seemed surprised as the shop has been in her family for 3 generations....though it might not help that its easier to see the "Au Cafe do Bresil" sign then a sign of a tea shop.

The window display has the feel of an olde shoppe and the place is small and cluttered, so easy to miss that it is a shop selling loose leaf tea. They do also sell spices, crockery and a good selection of coffee from around the world - Guatemala is particularly smooth if memory serves though I'm not much of a tea drinker.

Thé des Açores [Azores Islands, grassy, green] **** $$   by Saveur PimenThé, Lausanne, CH

Other names: None

So there is tea from the Azores islands of Portugal. Who knew?

The leaves scent reminded me of some of the green teas I'd had in Malawi, and as the lady in the shop mentioned, there was a vague hint of vanilla.

The colour is a dark yellow, the first hint that this was not a typical green tea and in fact the taste was much more reminiscent of white teas to me, very subtle and extremely smooth. Azores green tea is a throughly likable tea and the kind of tea that will get along well with most people. This should make it an excellent gift tea. There is no bitterness at all and no hint of the vanilla comes through in the taste. 

The leaves are good for about 3 brews before it looses flavour, the tea also does well on longer brewing times, and doesn't appear to be very temperature sensitive. This tea is very good for those venturing into green teas for the first time. 

Similar Teas: Bai Mu Dan

Review: HuangShan MaoFeng

Another mystery tea from the stocks brought into the T2000 Chinese shop in Kigali in the run up to Chinese new year. Comes in one of those intriguing boxes where the only thing I can read is the name. Good luck reading their website :)

I vaguely recall having a MaoFeng sometime in Switzerland and not liking it but I find my tastes change from time to time and the other teas I bough were such good quality I thought I'd give it a go.

Huang Shan MaoFeng [China, grassy] *** $$   by  by Tea Tf, CN

Other names: 黄山毛峰,Yellow Mountain Fur Peak

The leaves were short and spiky, somewhat like white tea and there was a fresh, definite chocolate nose to the leaves which was divine. Indeed the "shan" part of the name would suggest that its a young tea, given my very limited knowledge of Chinese*

In the cup the tea was a light green, much like LongJing and the colour stayed pale even with longer brewing. There were grassy fresh tastes again like LongJing but also has a soft milkyness like some of the floral Oolongs. Overall a very likable tea indeed and recommended for it smooth drinking and wonderful colour. 

Similar Teas: Chinese grassy teas such as LongJing, Bancha, oolongs.

* Yes I know Chinese isn't a language, I'm using it here as shorthand for all of the dialects and languages in China!

Review: Moli Maojian

So it turns out Chinese new year was an unexpected boon for me, as the local Chinese mega-store (and in the running for Kigali’s oldest department store) T2000 got a whole bunch of awesome teas that they don’t normally stock.

I took the opportunity to restock on Puerh and Guan Yin and also found two others I didn’t recognize. First up, MoLi Maojian....

 MoLi MaoJian [China, grassy/floral] **** $$   by  by Tea Tf, CN

Other names: 信阳毛尖, Fur Tip

I had a vague recollection of having something with a name like Maojian in Switzerland and not being that impressed, however with the first smell of the tea when I opened the package I knew I was in for a treat.

Fresh, floral notes very reminiscent of Guan Yin and another aroma I could not quite place. In short this tea smells awesome! The freshness carried through to the taste and for the floral notes, it certainly contains some flower looking thing. Ozymandias maybe?

Footnote:

I am an idiot, the flowers in the tea were JASMINE. In my defense I didn't have jasmine tea for a very long time, however its one of the easier flavors to discern. Usually. 

That said, this is a remarkably well put together jasmine tea as the grassy notes from the MaoJian play off well against the Jasmine, which is not overpowering. Note that like most jasmine teas, if you try to reuse the leaves too often all you will taste is jasmine.  

Review: Japanese Bancha by Clement & Pekoe, Ireland

There were plenty of green tea temptations in Clement & Pekoe but there were only so many teas I could actually try as they don't taster menus. There was a wide selection of teas for take away and drinking in the shop, the ones I tried where at decent quality for the price point.

Japanese Bancha [Japan, grassy/floral] **** $$   by Tea Tf, CN

Other names: 番茶, common tea

I agree with the Tea person in Clement & Pekoe that Bancha is much easier to like than Sencha, and this Bancha had an absolutely fantastic smell, beautifully floral with grassy and citrus notes. The taste didn't come off quite that strong but it remains a very pleasant tea, very smooth and with its lively green colour like its neighbour Sencha. I took a bag away with me! 

Similar Teas: Sencha, Chinese grassy teas such as LongJing.

Footnote

On further reading Banchas are later picked Sencha leaves and so are considered lower quality. I think I'll still stick with Bancha over Sencha any day!

Review: Chun Mee by Dogan & Acer

Chun Mee, China [Green, Grassy] * $$ -Dogan and Acer, AT

Other Names: Mai Cha

I picked this up on a trip to Vienna but was never very fond of it, slightly grassy in taste and without much of an aroma, I always feel like its a bit of a “nowhere” tea. I returned to it on three different occasions but it never really clicked. I mean, its a typical green tea but otherwise I cant seem to say much about it.

Similar teas: Xin Yang Mao Jian

Review: LongJing

For some reason, known as the poets tea. For me this wasnt the most accessible tea at first, its grassy and astringent and I found it bitter. After two years of drinking oolongs and Te Guan Yin I revisited it because I found a Japanese [HL] tea I liked. Also due to a shopping error by Alessandra, but in this case it was getting the right tea by accident.

LongJing, China [Green, Grassy] *** $$

Other Names: Dragonswell

Attention: This tea is very sensitive to temperature, make it with boiling water at your peril!

First Brew: Mild taste with noticable grassy aroma

Second Brew: Flavours develop significantly

Similiar teas: Sencha from Japan, grassy chinese teas, Reserve de Sichuan

Review: Sencha Organic Tea by ThéTeeTea, Switzerland

I was told is quite difficult to get organically grown teas from Asia...maybe there's a good business idea there somewhere. I came to this tea via a surprising discovery on TheTeeTea's Symphonie tea, surprising because it turns out their Symphonie mix is a flavoured tea and (worse!) a fruity one. However I liked it enough to seek out the house and try the Sencha which is the base of Symphonie.

The success with Symphonie and Sencha, then led me to re-visit LongJing (Dragonswell), which I found I had now developed a taste for.

Sencha BIO, Japan [Green, Grassy] *** $$$     by TheTeeTea, CH

The leaves smelled grassy and are quite crumbly, especially when compared to LongJing or other chinese greens. 

Attention:This tea is VERY sensitive to water temp, do not use boiling water, make sure to cool to around 80C or the tea will be bitter.

Similar teas: Dragonswell, Reserve de Sichuan