Greengold white-green tea

 

I'm trying another Greengold Georgian tea, one labeled as "Greengold white-green" tea this time.  The hybrid style theme sounded interesting, with more detail about it in their related website page:

მწვანე ოქრო /mts’vane okro/, in English meaning “Green Gold”, this is how Georgian ancestors were calling tea. Green Gold product has specific altitude in manufacturing process: tea leaves are plucked in specific area of our plantation and specific time (weather, degree level, moisture level, period of the day), which generates special aroma and taste of this tea.

The liquor has a soft, smooth and medium-thick texture. The moistened leaves have a distinct grapefruit juice odour. The infusion gives frank aromas of herbs, fruits and flowers. Its finish is slightly dry and ticklish. Sweet and refreshing. It gives you the body sensation of an instant heat.

Interpretations of flavor aspects are never completely consistent, between vendor descriptions and reviews, and how different people would identify flavors, but all that is pretty much it.

There would be one objectively more correct interpretation, wouldn't there?  In my opinion not really, but I can relate to the opposing conclusion and opinion, that there is.  Flavor aspects are complex in teas, as the compounds produced in the process leaves would also be.  For sure there is a one to one mapping of some final compounds and flavors to those compounds found in other food items, but in general I would expect a mix to occur, not two or three distinct compounds determining main flavors, or even a half dozen.

As we infuse teas across a number of rounds it's very conventional for people to interpret flavor profiles as shifting quite a bit, as the main effective compounds producing flavors varies.  For sure it was all present initially in the dried leaves, with the same compounds present in all infusions, but those are being extracted at different rates, in different proportions, and it seems likely that we tend to interpret sets of distinct flavor inputs in complex ways.

Review:

#1:  this could definitely pass for green tea; it's fresh, vegetal, sweet, and a bit floral.  I like it, even though green tea isn't a most favorite style range.  When green tea balances well that sometimes-annoying grass and vegetable flavor range can really work, as it does in this.  Longjing works around that by tasting more like nuts or toasted rice.  I can appreciate the umami intensive Japanese green tea styles but they're really not a favorite, so this more standard range I'd like better.  

Or maybe it is a little like white tea, and I've just not sorted that part out, including some less vegetal, sometimes warmer range.  Sweetness and brightness is really pleasant in this.

#2:  there is a distinctive flavor range in this that I'm having trouble making out, something that seems to reoccur in these Georgian teas.  It's along the line of a spice note, or maybe that's not it.  A touch of mint seems closer.  I had eaten a couple of those Girl Scout cookie Thin Mints not so long ago and thought it was just that carrying over in the first round, but I think this does taste minty.  It might be that paired with a savory note, so it's like a touch of mint and a bit of sun-dried tomato combined.  It's quite catchy. 

That sun-dried tomato range trails over into a unique mineral range too, which tastes almost like salt.  By that I mean that somewhat distinct flavors seem to relate to each other (perhaps already clear enough).  The range I'm describing as floral doesn't come across as distinct or pronounced then, because there is a lot of other flavor going on.  

#3:  the balance of these flavors is shifting but the set is the same.  I might be missing a spice related aspect description, in there along with the vegetal range.  It's not simple identifying that vegetal range; it's not far off fresh green bean but that's not it, closer to sugar snap pea or fresh soybean.  If I had to pick one it's sugar snap pea.  Feel is decent in this, not thin, but aftertaste really stands out, trailing on as a strong flavor experience after you swallow.  Length, that's sometimes called.

#4:  the brightness and sweetness fades a little, with depth and warmth picking up.  I'll give this a longer soak and see what I make of that and close taking notes.  

It's possible that this is a tea and tisane blend; one leaf doesn't look all that similar to Camellia Sinensis.  That might explain why the flavor is so distinctive.  Even though there is plenty of complexity, lots of different flavor range, it all integrates, so that it doesn't seem like some sort of blend to me.  Of course it could just be varying "real tea" plants that match together, or an extra herb that somehow does, along with those.

it's clear enough which leaf doesn't match the others

#5:  more of the same, including more transition in the same direction.  That vegetal range is quite different now, more onto a spice range, still including a bit of mint, and considerable sundried tomato savory tone.  I might like it better like this, less like a conventional green tea now.  The brightness and freshness being more intense did work well, with this still kind of bright and fresh.  

#6:  I let it brew a really long time, forgetting it, and flash-brewed the next round to mix them together.  Vegetal range increased again, into some sort of plant-stem type range, which doesn't mean much in relation to what a more conventional brewing outcome would've been.  It was still nice.

Conclusion:

An interesting and pleasant tea.  Maybe how much I like teas often doesn't come across in reviews, since I focus on identifying aspects and comparing to standard styles more, with the second not as relevant in this.  I never did get far with placing this as somewhere in between white and green tea.  

I liked it.  It was fresh, intense, pleasant, well-balanced, and novel.  I could probably even drink quite a bit of this, as a routine tea selection when I felt like having something approachable, light, and fresh, stepping back from the edge in relation to the normal sheng pu'er intensity.  It matches what I remembered of their teas, that the quality level and pleasant character hold their own with really good teas from anywhere else.  There isn't a single mention of an aspect flaw in this review for a reason.

Of course green and white teas are not completely unrelated categories, but it's odd considering a type to be in between them, instead of one or the other.  White tea is for the most part just dried, not processed in any other way, beyond some potential degree of wilting, allowing fresh leaves to rest.  Green tea is kill-greened, processed by a main heating step, to suspend activity of enzymes that convert compounds into black tea, the process referred to as oxidation.  

Use of pan-frying, steaming, or oven roasting seems to make a difference, probably best optimized by pairing ideal processing with material suited for that particular step.  Oven heating seems to relate most to large-scale production, but I could be clearer on to what extent final outcome results are inferior to using the other processing / heating forms.

  

I could say more, and there is an interesting reference on oxidation / enzymatic browning here, but in general I tend to focus on what teas are like, not speculating about processing or other inputs.

There was an exception in this review; one leaf seemed to not be Camellia Sinensis, and I wondered if this wasn't a tea and tisane blend.  Probably not really intentionally, not created or presented as such, but it does seem like an extra leaf made it in there.  Interesting, right?  That never happens.  This is one potential explanation in their main website page information:

Our tea plants are surrounded by paulownia tomentosa trees.  The trees create the ultimately supportive environment for plantation’s growth.

That's not described as material used in blending, but the look does match that extra leaf (from their site):

On to many more questions, right?  Is that leaf even edible?  What should it taste like, and is it ever used to make a tisane?  Would it be healthy?

This reference is comforting:

Paulownia tomentosa is commonly known as Princess Tree, Empress Tree, Royal Empress Tree, Royal Paulownia, Fox glove tree, Kiri (in Japan), PaoTong (China), and Odong-Namoo (Korea). 

Paulownia plants are well respected in Japan, China and most of East Asia for its tradition, uses and quality of wood. According to traditional literature flowers and leaves are cooked and consumed occasionally for the treatment of fever and pain, and skin ailments [40]... The major polyphenol found in Princess Tree wood is Paulownin which belongs to a class of chemistry called lignan.

Other sources that come up in a Google search describe use of leaves of this type of tree as animal food input, and say that consuming the leaves isn't a health risk for pets, although for some related plant versions you shouldn't eat the flowers.  Brewing a stray leaf should be fine.  

The related Wikipedia page doesn't mention consumption at all, but brings up that it might be seen as an invasive species in some places, probably partly related to it being fast growing, and potentially capable of replacing other tree species.  A photo there makes it even clearer that it probably was a leaf from that tree type:

By Plantman - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=129895550

Maybe it's a theme that they could look into, using those leaves as tisanes.  For sure that would involve lots more review related to EU import, but a related tea and tisane blend might be pleasant and novel.

Great Mississippi Tea Company black and oolong

 

I've written an interview themed post about the Great Mississippi Tea Company teas, talking to Jason McDonald, and we met both Jason and Timmy in an online meetup not so long ago.  It was great trying some of those teas (which they provided; many thanks!), the first of a larger set.  Beyond them expanding tea options made in the US, which would be enough, they also specialize in making novel tea blends, flavored with other natural ingredients, with those and other products described here.  Those might be even more interesting, but it made sense to start with the plain teas.

I think they sent some of these too

These are the first teas I've ever tried from the US.  That's strange, since I've lived in Hawaii, but I was only into tisanes then.  A local "uncle" has sent tisanes from Hawaii a few times, so in the broadest sense I have tried tea from there, but in general I only use the concept in the narrower sense.

Let's check in on their descriptions of these, starting with the black tea:

Black tea is the most popular type of tea among Americans. This particular black tea is lightly oxidized to allow for its more delicate flavors to come to the forefront of the tea... This has flavor notes of sweet potatoes, molasses, malt, and stone fruit. 

I did say a lot about the low oxidation level but didn't duplicate any of those descriptions.  Alternate interpretations of the same flavors is a normal theme in vendor description, review, and online discussion.  Using a different brewing approach changes a lot, and even changing the version of water used can shift aspects.  I didn't brew this Western style; that will cause essentially the same flavors to come across much differently.  If I get around to it I'll mention how that works after trying it later. 

There is no description of this newer Empress Oolong version on that sales website, but they do describe it in a Facebook post introducing the type:

This tea is a lightly oxidized oolong using older leaves to give it a rich mouth feel and a floral aroma. It is similar to Taiwanese High Elevation Oolongs...  This tea has flavor notes of floral (jasmine and lilac), sweet green (watercress or green beans), and mineral with a buttery after taste.

I'm not great with identifying floral flavors, even jasmine, which is quite common here, but the rest matches what I describe following.

Review:

Black Magnolia:  interesting, quite pleasant.  It seems a bit atypical for black tea range in general, which is usually a bad thing, but this aspects set seems to really work out.  One might move right to a guess that oxidation level is a bit low, even just based on color, and that's one main variable, but it seems like a few inputs cause this to seem different.  

Since the first infusion is light (my typical approach) it's too early for a developed flavor list, which never is going to do it justice later either.  There's an unusual depth to this, and smoothness, and flavor range across a mild root spice range.  The normal astringency, sweetness, and higher end flavor notes are fairly mild.  It swaps out warm depth for those edgy, sweeter, and sharper tones, which per an early take is going to be pleasant and reasonably well balanced.  One wood tone range aspect (or maybe spice) seems a little odd at this stage, which may turn out to be a flaw, but it's also not unusual for some early aspects to drop out over the first infusion or two, so it might be a non-issue.

Empress Oolong:  it's odd how the one characteristic note in Taiwanese oolong is actually the first and main thing you notice in this.  I'm not saying that it's completely type-typical in relation to those, but it shares some of the main aspect range, which is a part that's quite positive.  That main flavor aspect is hard to specify; creaminess and underlying mineral compliment and probably help define it, but they aren't it.  It's closest to floral range but really not that.  

I suppose for it being hard to describe floral kind of works.  It's that but a little towards a new car smell, not like plastic, but aromatic and distinctive in a similar way.  From there one would next evaluate the whole flavor profile, overall balance, how an extra warm tone factors in, and if there are any flaws or limitations.  I'll get to all that.

Black Magnolia, second infusion:  oxidation level definitely was a part of it; this isn't relatively fully oxidized black tea.  That's fine, of course, that level normally varies in black teas.  This is at a lower edge for being in the category but that's fine too.  

I'm not noticing any flaws in this related to flavor aspects; it did clean up.  The depth is really nice, smoothness, richness, and flavor complexity.  One could easily miss the edge usually present in black teas, a bit more astringency, higher sweetness level, sharper or more pronounced higher end flavors, but it's good as it is.  Warm wood and spice tones give it a good complexity, and it balances.  Sweetness level is fine, it just comes across differently, that milder form, which integrates with richness.  Feel thickness and aftertaste are fine, not limitations.

From there developing a clearer flavor list would fill in description.  But that's the part that no two people would ever identify in exactly the same terms.  For someone else root spice could be wrong, and this could clearly be mainly almond flavored instead.  Or listing both would make sense.  A rich flavor out towards sweet potato or yam is hard to identify, integrated with the rest.  I'll give it a slightly longer steep and try a clearer list next time.  I think I'm noticing a touch of cinnamon; I'll see if that develops.

Empress oolong:  it's funny experiencing that Taiwanese oolong flavor in this.  If I were judging this as a high altitude Taiwanese oolong I would say that underlying mineral should be a little more pronounced, creaminess and fullness should be slightly higher, and that floral range flavor edge should pop just a little more, with more intensity.  That it's really in the range to be criticized exactly as a Taiwanese oolong is cool.  Some of the variations could relate to a balance that's not diminished, to an aspects set that overlaps but works in a slightly different way, so let's look at it through that lens instead.

This adds a smooth wood-tone layer to all that, which diminishes those specific notes' intensity.  Whenever I mention wood it seems like an insult to the tea, but wood really covers a lot of range, of types, bark versus aged or fresh wood, sweet versus warm and rich, clean or else musty, like aged sawdust (which would be a flaw), and so on.  Someone could easily "see" that same aspect as herbal in nature, more like chamomile, or similar to a root spice or nut (Brazil nut, versus almond in the first black tea version).  The floral range here is really covering a lot of scope.  One part more similar to Taiwanese tea is brighter, sweeter, and a little more forward, with a part overlapping with this range more like chrysanthemum, much deeper and more neutral.  Complex floral and clean root spice / nut / light wood tone is nice.

Black magnolia, third infusion:  this keeps improving, adding intensity and range.  Some of that could relate to variations in infusion time but I think it's also transitioning nicely.  That cinnamon spice note did increase again.  One could easily interpret part of the range of this as cocoa, I just wouldn't tend to, since I'm accustomed to some versions of black teas really including a cacao / chocolate blast, and this is subtle.  There's more I'm just not placing.

This is really a lot like I expected the oolong to be, to be honest.  From there other range is what I'd already mentioned, mild tones that could be interpreted differently, as almond, root vegetable, or even root spice, a warmer tisane range (not very descriptive, that part; maybe like chamomile), or even wood.  Just a touch more astringency and that sweeter and sharper black tea edge might help this a lot, but it's nice as it is.

Empress oolong:  not varying.  If anything this shifted closer to standard Taiwanese light oolong range.   There is actually a range related to those, with factors like growing elevation, plant type, and degree of oxidation making a big difference.  It would be cool if I could pin that down, for example saying this tastes like Qing Xin from a certain area and elevation, with a light but notable oxidation input.  Someone more focused on Taiwanese oolongs really could; I drank more of that range 5 years ago.  I just never really moved on to become a sub-type expert, gaining enough exposure to a high quality range and repetition to learn patterns.  I suppose that I have drank more oolong versions from Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia than most, but that doesn't clarify simple cause and effect sequences at all.

Fourth infusion, black tea:  cinnamon is getting even more pronounced in this black tea version; I bet it will be better and better as it's stretched for more rounds, brewed a bit longer.  this isn't necessarily even beyond a halfway point yet, but I'll stop making notes in order to go do things, the weekend routine.  Usually the stronger astringency edge that comes out from that isn't positive, but in this case it has been so mild I think it will be.  This being more subtle than black teas typically are could come across as a lack of intensity, but it does have a depth to it.  Probably adjusting brewing process and infusion strength would help it come across even better.

oolong:  more of the same, not really evolving, which is fine.  A trace more green wood edge might be picking up.  Floral range probably is shifting slightly round to round, but this description of that has been so vague it doesn't do it justice.  I'm noticing more rose petal range than I think it had before.

Conclusions:

Both are good tea, both distinctive and pleasant.  I really expected more flaws; maybe I was being pessimistic.  I suppose someone could experience all of this black tea character as a flaw if they don't love the range and balance, but really it's not that, just how it is.  For it being uncharacteristically low in astringency level I thought it worked.  It's really not my place to judge style choices or make suggestions but just a bit more of that--astringency edge, and related sharper flavor intensity--might have been good.

It was surprising that the black tea wasn't really in the range of a true black tea, probably most related to the low oxidation level, but the oolong had matched the main flavor aspect in Taiwanese oolong, which would seem to be a lot more challenging.  Both were good, the main thing.  

All in all quite pleasant and a great start.  It will be interesting trying others.

a school cooking assignment

Keo and the cats