Week #33. Week #33. Week #33. That's what I've been telling myself after I accidentally did the tea tasting for week #38 earlier this week! No wonder that tea looked so dark to me ...
Category: Yellow Tea
Purveyor: Upton Tea
Dry leaf appearance: Like more spindly, slightly longer Silver Needles tea leaves, except there were plenty of "double leaf" configurations in this sample.
Wet leaf appearance: Very pretty tea when steeped, I thought! When I poured off the liquid, some of the leaves stuck to the inside wall of the glass teapot and reminded me of mistletoe!
Steeping temperature and time: 1 teaspoon of tea, 175 degrees, 3 minutes.
Scent: The dry tea smelled like a typical green tea. The steeped tea smelled like creamed spinach or asparagus.
Color: Palest yellow.
Flavor: After the other yellow teas I've tried, I was expecting a little more from this one. It was pretty good, and just as flavorful as the others, but I can't say I got anything new out of this one. There was a slight bit of astringency afterward.
Additional notes: Michael Harney says he loves the "spice and apricot flavors" of this tea. I wish I could say the same, but I didn't get that at all. (I cling to a favorite Steph's Cup of Tea quote from earlier this year regarding tea tastings: "Don't ever think you're wrong! If I say a tea tastes like a grape popsicle and you think it tastes like mud, then we're both right!")
Next week's tea: Golden Monkey
I enjoyed this week's review of Huo Shan Huang Ya tea. I'm really becoming curious about yellow tea. You are right about it being very pretty when steeped - nice photos.
ReplyDelete