2023 年 5 月茶俱乐部

Brewing last grams of this tea with GongFuCha style, I really enjoyed this, ordered West Lake LongJing from local online teashop because I like this tea type. Finishing all leftovers from April and May teapal packs, because I will get June and July packs soon, it's already at the post office. Can't wait to taste those.

The first time I tried this tea I thought it was okay, but nothing more than that. This time I decided to try and brew it the way I usually brew Japanese green teas, namely by upping the leaves to water ratio and doing three infusions of 60s, 15s and 70s. It became a much more interesting tea! I quite like it now.

Having a nice time with tea friends West lake Longjing bright and tasty with MyTeaPal friends

Brewing this grandpa style on vacation. Umami, sweetness. Drinking grandpa style on vacation.

Eyes - Dry Leaf: pistachio green blades of tea Nose - Dry Leaf: roast chestnut and macadamia Nose - Wet Leaf: roast chestnut/sesame seeds, white chocolate, and blueberry Eyes - Liquor: pale yellow liquor Mouth - Texture: medium, round, and expansive Mouth - Taste: a leading note of buttered asparagus which morphs into cream then into chestnut, resolving on a soft floral/fruity aroma Mouth - Finish: floral and bright, with a distinct freshness. Blueberry fruitiness develops in the finish as well. Nuttier after the first infusion. Nose - Empty Cup: cream and roasted chestnuts/macadamia nuts Eyes - Wet Leaf: avocado green, plump young leaves and buds. Very tender. Body - Sensation: high and energized, with a cooling sensation that causes relaxation in breathing An exemplary Long Jing from Vincent’s selection. Nutty and floral and creamy in equal capacity, and excellent tea.

Delightful Longjing and almost my favorite. Thick mouthfeel sweet butter, sautéed asparagus, umami. Wet leaves: a citrus floral and chestnut aroma. The nutty aroma does not carry over to the flavor though. In my short history of good longings, this one is just shy of tops for me! Really thick and silky viscosity or mouthfeel (almost luxurious), sweet butter, cream, sautéed asparagus, umami, a dash of salt, and a strong chestnuts and floral citrus aroma. The only thing it didn’t have was a nutty flavor that I was wanting after the lovely aroma. Really exceptional!

A delcious umami sip, more savory over sweet. It manages to be soft in flavor notes but a depth with a long grassy sweet finish. A dryness on tongue & back of throat. Mouth vibrancy. *once I left a little of the infusion brew inside the vessel the flavors became more buttery in the subsequent brews. Outdoor teas session this morning with my first tasting of a 2023 fresh green from the club May teas

0 TDS distilled water with TeaCurious Spring recipe to make 50 TDS water. Great tasting tea with very nice, thick, creamy mouth feel. I think I found a green tea I would be willing to buy. Rating Criteria: 0.5 - bad, flavorless, or worse very astringent, teabag 1.0 - mostly bad, flavorless, most teabag tea 1.5 - not good, but maybe something to like 2.0 - slightly disappointed, not my kind of tea, but still can appreciate it - probably the worst rating I would give a loose leaf tea (at least one that hasn't turned bad) 2.5 - mixed feelings, like it, but there is something off about it I don't like 3.0 - good, I like it but nothing stand out about it or a very good tea with one critique that holds me back - probably the highest I would give a teabag tea 3.5 - very good, a tea that I was very happy to have but content with what I had, wouldn't seek it out for additional purchase 4.0 - great, very happy with the experience, would seek out for purchase, but only occasionally 4.5 - a favorite, one I love and want very often 5.0 - life will be very sad without it, reserved only for my favorites (roasted Tie Guan Yin & Dancong Red), room for more hopefully We finally have a winner! I've never been a fan of green tea, so I've always been afraid to purchase greens for fear I wouldn't like it and it would be a waste. My first time having Dragon Well and I think I've found the green tea for me.

Third tea tasted from this month's tea box. I would say that it's the best one so far. Interesting tea leaves. Taste is light, sweet and vegetal. I used spring water for this tea too. Definitely want to brew this tea again.

Very long, thin green leaves. They turn an even brighter green when wet. The liquid color is a very pale green. The aroma and taste are vegetal and sweet. The texture is very smooth in the mouth, although it's surprisingly scratchy in the throat (at least for me). It is at points astringent. I can tell this is a good green because I actually think it's decent. I'm not a green tea drinker though, so it's still not my favorite.

Cold-Brewing this tea, I put the last 3,3 grams of tea leaves in 350ml french press and added spring bottled water. It's such refreshing and cooling drink, with vegetal, spinach and a bit sweet taste. I would say that I got more different tastes of it when hot-brewing, but like this cold brew anyway

Fourth tea tasted from this month's tea box. I would say that it's the second best tea on the leaderboard so far. Taste is very light, sweet and vegetal. I think that it's more sweet than the previous ones. I used spring water for this tea too. Definitely want to brew this tea again.

0 TDS distilled water with TeaCurious Spring recipe to make 50 TDS water. Liked the subtle floral notes, would have liked more of it. Good, but green tea still isn't my thing. Rating Criteria: 0.5 - bad, flavorless, or worse very astringent, teabag 1.0 - mostly bad, flavorless, most teabag tea 1.5 - not good, but maybe something to like 2.0 - slightly disappointed, not my kind of tea, but still can appreciate it - probably the worst rating I would give a loose leaf tea (at least one that hasn't turned bad) 2.5 - mixed feelings, like it, but there is something off about it I don't like 3.0 - good, I like it but nothing stand out about it or a very good tea with one critique that holds me back - probably the highest I would give a teabag tea 3.5 - very good, a tea that I was very happy to have but content with what I had, wouldn't seek it out for additional purchase 4.0 - great, very happy with the experience, would seek out for purchase, but only occasionally 4.5 - a favorite, one I love and want very often 5.0 - life will be very sad without it, reserved only for my favorites (roasted Tie Guan Yin & Dancong Red), room for more hopefully Spring is here with fresh greens. Good, but still not changing my mind - green is still my least favorite tea type. Hopefully one of the other teas this month will excite me more.

This is an incredibly long lasting tea and the first green tea my mom has really liked! It has some super unique flavors. I'm not sure if it's from how I stored it, but multiple steeps were like popcorn! It finally reached the familiar nuts in the later steeps. It was very fresh tasting and often very smooth in the mouth.

Cold-Brewing this tea as promised, I put the last 2 grams of tea leaves in 350ml french press and added exactly 240ml spring bottled water. It's refreshing and cooling but I think this tea tastes better when hot brewed as you can get many different tastes of infusions. In this coldbrew I can't taste nuts for example, only vegetal and grassy taste with a bit astringency.

Today brewing this tea again, I have only about 2 grams of it left in the bag. I will probably cold-brew this same tea in the afternoon and tell you if it tastes better hot or cold brewed, stay stunned guys 😉. Using spring water with not much Calcium and TDS. It is vegetal, grassy and a bit sweet. Later I can taste some nuts in it, maybe peanuts or almonds. I wouldn't mind brewing this like every 2 or 4 weeks (although West Lake Longjing seems better to me), but I'm running out of it

This tea is not for me, it’s by far the worst green tea I’ve ever tasted. What’s up with the mild flavour?? Where’s the grass, the umami?? I like my green teas to be tasty, this one does not deliver at all.

Mineral, delicate, better at lower temps Nice green experience with the my tea club people on Saturday. Always a joy!

0 TDS distilled water with TeaCurious Spring recipe to make 50 TDS water. Not a big fan of this one, but still somewhat enjoyable. I'm curious to try Autumn recipe water to see if I can bring out more of the nutty flavor which I enjoyed. Rating Criteria: 0.5 - bad, flavorless, or worse very astringent, teabag 1.0 - mostly bad, flavorless, most teabag tea 1.5 - not good, but maybe something to like 2.0 - slightly disappointed, not my kind of tea, but still can appreciate it - probably the worst rating I would give a loose leaf tea (at least one that hasn't turned bad) 2.5 - mixed feelings, like it, but there is something off about it I don't like 3.0 - good, I like it but nothing stand out about it or a very good tea with one critique that holds me back - probably the highest I would give a teabag tea 3.5 - very good, a tea that I was very happy to have but content with what I had, wouldn't seek it out for additional purchase 4.0 - great, very happy with the experience, would seek out for purchase, but only occasionally 4.5 - a favorite, one I love and want very often 5.0 - life will be very sad without it, reserved only for my favorites (roasted Tie Guan Yin & Dancong Red), room for more hopefully Still liking Mengding Eco Green the best from this month, but curious to see if this one improves by changing the water recipe next session. I like the nutty flavor but want to bring it out more.

Like the long jing, I can tell this is good quality green tea because it's actually decent to me! There's almost no bitterness. This is also much more pleasant in my throat. All in all, this is one of the best green teas I've had. Accordingly, I'm giving this a 4 despite it not being a type of tea I'd seek out myself.

Cold-Brewing Yunwu Tribute Tea, I put 3,10g of tea leaves in 350ml french press and added spring bottled water. Really refreshing drink with almost any bitterness and astringency, it tastes vegetal and grassy.

My mom and I had very different experiences with this tea. We both got nuttiness, but I got much more sweet, vegetal, and bitter notes as well. Thankfully, she still agreed with me that it was the best green tea she's had, she just found it boring for being so consistent. The higher temperature helped overall.

Thankfully back to nuttier notes! This tea also shifts around in the balance of flavors between steeps, making it more fun and interesting to keep pushing. I'll never be primarily a green tea drinker, but I am glad these teas showed me greens can be good!

0 TDS distilled water with TeaCurious Spring recipe to make 50 TDS water. Nice tea. Liked the nutty notes, but they fell off pretty quickly. Strongest umami notes of all the teas for this month. Rating Criteria: 0.5 - bad, flavorless, or worse very astringent, teabag 1.0 - mostly bad, flavorless, most teabag tea 1.5 - not good, but maybe something to like 2.0 - slightly disappointed, not my kind of tea, but still can appreciate it - probably the worst rating I would give a loose leaf tea (at least one that hasn't turned bad) 2.5 - mixed feelings, like it, but there is something off about it I don't like 3.0 - good, I like it but nothing stand out about it or a very good tea with one critique that holds me back - probably the highest I would give a teabag tea 3.5 - very good, a tea that I was very happy to have but content with what I had, wouldn't seek it out for additional purchase 4.0 - great, very happy with the experience, would seek out for purchase, but only occasionally 4.5 - a favorite, one I love and want very often 5.0 - life will be very sad without it, reserved only for my favorites (roasted Tie Guan Yin & Dancong Red), room for more hopefully Last tea to try for the month. It was nice- liked the nutty notes, but they got overpowered with the vegetal and umami notes. The Longjing was the favorite for this month and the only one challenging my negative opinion of green tea.

Second tea tasted from this month's pack. I use spring water to brew tea for first time (cleaned electric kettle yesterday because we have hard water and limescale was in the kettle). The taste of tea is light, a bit grassy and vegetal. I can taste and smell the freshness in it. I like it more than the tea brewed yesterday, not sure if it's because I used spring water or this tea tastes better to me.

I’m glad I doubled the amount of suggested leaves, or I’m pretty sure this tea would have left me with a bad impression. As such, I liked it more than I expected. The mineral taste of this tea is not something I would actively look for, but it’s interesting enough that I will enjoy finishing this sample.

The dry leaves are thin, green, and surprisingly curly. They get yellow when wet. The liquid is consistently a light green. The taste is mostly spinach with some sweetness. Of the greens, this is my least favorite so far. It's like what I usually expect from greens: vegetal and not much else. At least the aftertaste is very sweet.

The last one tea tasted from this month's tea box. Taste is fresh, sweet, spinach and vegetal. I used spring water for this tea too. Definitely want to brew this tea again too. As for me, this month's tea leaderboard: 1. West Lake Longjing 2. Huangshan Maofeng 3./4. Yunwu Tribute Tea, Mengding Eco Green 4./5. Menghau First Spring

Eyes - Dry Leaf: leaves and fuzzy buds of varying green hues Nose - Dry Leaf: roast nuts, cream, fruits, and a distinct florality. Light, sweet leafy greens. Nose - Wet Leaf: roast nuts or a sweet, marzipan-like aroma, lemon rind, and fresh greens. Sweet florals. Eyes - Liquor: pale, almost clear liquor Mouth - Texture: medium-to-full bodied, round, and soft Mouth - Taste: sweet cream, marzipan, and bright greens (cucumber or zucchini?) leading to a soft lemon/lemon zest and floral finish. Mouth - Finish: floral, lemony, and brightly aromatic. Juicy, with a cucumber freshness. Easy breathing. Eyes - Wet Leaf: bright green, medium-sized young leaves and buds Body - Sensation: easy breathing and relaxed yet attentive and alert Very sweet, confectionery forward tea!

0 TDS distilled water with TeaCurious Spring recipe to make 50 TDS water. This was a very nice tea. Great mouth feel and the flavor wasn't as strong as other green teas (which I like). Subtle but very nice vegetal sweetness and slightly nutty. Rating Criteria: 0.5 - bad, flavorless, or worse very astringent, teabag 1.0 - mostly bad, flavorless, most teabag tea 1.5 - not good, but maybe something to like 2.0 - slightly disappointed, not my kind of tea, but still can appreciate it - probably the worst rating I would give a loose leaf tea (at least one that hasn't turned bad) 2.5 - mixed feelings, like it, but there is something off about it I don't like 3.0 - good, I like it but nothing stand out about it or a very good tea with one critique that holds me back - probably the highest I would give a teabag tea 3.5 - very good, a tea that I was very happy to have but content with what I had, wouldn't seek it out for additional purchase 4.0 - great, very happy with the experience, would seek out for purchase, but only occasionally 4.5 - a favorite, one I love and want very often 5.0 - life will be very sad without it, reserved only for my favorites (roasted Tie Guan Yin & Dancong Red), room for more hopefully Liking this green much more than the Huangshan Maofang from yesterday. Still not sold on green tea, but I could drink this one more regularly.