30 January, 2008

2007 Yongxi Finetip

Many thanks to CB for this most unusual green tea, sold by The Whole Leaf where it goes for about $7/oz. I've been meaning to post this review for just under two months, and a steady stream of tea reviews landing in my inbox from CB herself prompted me into action!

It comes in a charming little black zip-lock bag, decorated with lovely Chinese art. It's easy to go overboard and get vulgar with the Chinese art and crazy amount of seals/calligraphy, but this is nicely understated. I appreciate the effort on their part. You can catch a glimpse of it in the background...

The leaves are very curious indeed, being tight, green snails that are very glossy, as if made from wax. Don't they look charming? They are similarly glossy to the touch. The aroma is fresh, classical lucha.

While there is a certain zesty energy on the tongue, the flavour is standard grassiness.

The wet leaves are charming, being entire tip systems, elegant and curled.

This tea is quite a looker, if not one to absorb you in its flavour.

2 comments:

speakfreely said...

Lessee, my own notes read:
Water off the boil. Light yellow/green soup. Very smooth, unctuous mouthcoat. Aroma like longjing. Ok, but nothing I'd go out of my way for.

Hey, we agree! It sure is pretty, though.

Hobbes said...

What a turn-up for the books, a CB/DC agreement on tea - they don't come around too often... :)

I remember this tea being really much better when it was first out of the packet way back when you kindly sent it, last year. These notes were from December, despite storage in the ziplock bag, it seems to have deteriorated.

I've not got much green tea left at the moment! I find I don't drink it too often (apart from in my office, where my mind is on other things), so I won't be buying too much of the 2008 greens, I think.


Toodlepip,

Hobbes