The last time we went to Seattle I brought home a bunch of teas from The Perennial Tea Room. Most of them made their way to my office, and I worked my way through them over the months. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me to record my experiences.
So this time, I'm going to talk about the two teas I bought during our trip for Renee's 14th birthday. I'll keep it short, as I'm at work, but I can always come back and add new notes later (yeah, right).
The first tea was recommended by a lean, grey-haired woman who obviously loved her product. I suspect that she was fully infused when I asked her about the Chinese green teas, as she charged in and opened about six different jars. I ended up purchasing her favorite, the Taiping Hou Kui. The envelope contains the additional caption: Great Green Monkey King - Anhui China Green. At $6.25/oz., it seems rather dear (try this one at $11/oz.!), but you can make a cup with a single teaspoon, so it should go a long way. The website says you can resteep leaves up to three times, but I only have the one steeper, and I like to alternate flavors, so I'll take the wasteful route and steep once.
The leaves themselves are long and thin, and have the expected green tea aroma, but with a flowery accent. The taste is very mild. Could I distinguish it from any other green tea? I think so. Would I buy it again? At the rate that I drink tea, and with all the varieties that are out there, I think I might get to it again when I hit 80. But it is definitely as good a green tea as any I've had.
While you can steep the tea up to three times, the flavor profile does change with each subsequent brewing, so if you're in love with the "first brew flavor", then I recommend not brewing it more than once. If you're curious by the fact that the flavor changes in each subsequent brew, then... there ya go =)
ReplyDeleteIt was funny, I recently gave a friend samples of various green teas. She wanted to try some before buying and her jaw dropped when she saw just how many I gave her. Yes, I've turned into a tea snob, but it's a healthy habit at least.
Whoa, long time no hear!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tea input.