Review: Teaflection’s Chinese Hyson Green Tea

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The Subject: Chinese Hyson Green Tea from Teaflection.com. (See Tea Time with A.C. Cargill for more information on this company.)

Rating:

Water temperature: 160° F / 65˚ C

Steeping time: 1.5 minutes (see comments)

Tea type: Green
Scents, flavorings, etc.: N/A
Aroma, dry: Fresh, planty-sweet
Aroma in the cup, plain: Grassy, planty-sweet
Taste, plain: See comments
Aroma in the cup, enhanced: N/A
Taste, enhanced: N/A

2nd Infusion: See comments

Chilled: N/A

Comments:
In trying this tea, hubby and I were part of a “teachable moment,” that is, we learned something new and want to pass it along.

The package had no steeping instructions, nor were there any on the Teaflection.com site. However, since we have tried a number of green teas, we went by general guidelines we have followed for those. Unfortunately, one sip of the resulting infusion liquid told us that we had erred. No doubt the water had been overheated and we definitely had oversteeped. Thank goodness the vendor had sent us enough for a 2nd go-round with a fresh batch of the tea leaves.

Here’s the blow-by-blow of what we did for each steeping session and the results:

Session 1 – 1st Infusion
Heated water to about 80˚ C
Steeped tea for 2 minutes
Tea liquid was slightly cloudy, a pale orange, and strong-tasting with a bit of an edge

Session 1 – 2nd Infusion
Heated water to about 70˚ C
Steeped tea for 1.5 minutes
Tea liquid was still slightly cloudy, a paler orange, and smoother-tasting

Session 2 – 1st Infusion
Heated water to about 65˚ C
Steeped tea for 1.5 minutes
Tea liquid was pale green, light-tasting, delicate, smooth, slightly grassy, much more what we expected

Session 2 – 2nd Infusion
Heated water to about 65˚ C
Steeped tea for 1.5 minutes
Tea liquid was about the same as the first

#1 is the Session 1 – 1st Infusion.
#2 is the Session 2 – 1st Infusion.

You can try the tea either way, depending on if you want a stronger taste or a more delicate one.

We love that this is a loose broken leaf tea with good sized pieces. They sent along a tiny tea ball, but we just couldn’t bear to confine those tea leaves in it. The pieces expand quite a bit in the water. Letting them float loose in the teapot assures a good steep.

See Teaflection’s description of this tea.

I think hubby and I are gonna go shopping for gaiwans to enjoy the rest of this tea. Shh! don't tell the Little Yellow Teapot we said that!

Disclaimer: This tea was provided by the company named. However, the rating of the tea and any opinions concerning it are always strictly objective.