Lai Chau (Vietnam) forest green tea, and Jin Xuan Fujian green

 

Viet Sun Deep Forest left, Moychay Jin Xuan right, in all photos

I'm comparison tasting a Moychay Jin Xuan green tea with a Viet Sun Lai Chau Deep Forest Green tea (the second from spring of 2026, with the first not listing a date, but probably from this year).

This comparison is really throwing the Moychay tea version to the wolves; I already know the Viet Sun tea is exceptional, from trying earlier forms.  It held its own well though.

Moychay sent a number of different samples to try, in part related to me helping with some editing.  It's much appreciated; it will be a great chance to try lots of familiar types, and some new ones.  Most of it is warmer toned versions, lots of black tea, oolongs, some fermented / hei cha range, even some flavored versions.  It makes sense that for a lot of the year in cooler European climate warmer teas would be favored.  Not just now, so much, when lighter teas would go better with a heat wave, but it'll be fall again soon, and spring wasn't so long ago.

This is the last tea I have to try from Viet Sun, from the last order (sent as a sample for review; I'd keep buying sheng and black tea from them, if I had included more than a few versions).  Green tea is more or less my least favorite category, but the exceptions can be nice, like this one.

One additional thing I wanted to mention:  Steve said that their sales were down this year.  It's not hard to guess why (not related to teas being unfavorable; they're good):  the economy can seem uncertain in lots of places now, and inflation already stresses plenty of people's budgets.  I wonder if there aren't other inputs though.

I'm not sure how Moychay's business either expands or flattens out in "the West;" I haven't kept up with hearing about that.  This is all supposed to just be about the teas anyway.

I'm also just coming out of a 6 day long illness, I think in decent shape for tasting.  I'll lose a little intensity and finer flavor sensitivity to this cold, but it's resolved enough that drinking light teas again makes sense.  For those more difficult days it was nice drinking mild black tea, not getting much of the flavor, but appreciating the depth.

the Viet Sun version; I forgot to take a picture of the dry leaves when tasting them

the Moychay tea; the leaves looked even finer in person

Let's check their sales page input for their descriptions, and pricing:

Lai Châu Deep Forest Green Spring 2026 (they're only selling 250 grams for $57.50 now, no other sizes, at 23 cents a gram)

A green tea made from same tea tree varietal as our Lào Cai Deep forest teas but on the Lai Châu side of the mountain range. 

The tea trees in this area are growing to heights of 10+ meters in the deep forest at 2200m+ in elevation. The rich biodiversity and natural growing conditions really make their way into the cup.

This tea brews up slowly into a rich, clear golden soup. The flavor is unique and complex. Reminds me of forest flower honey, herbs, strawberry or raspberry and wild grasses with a lot of umami. There are some similarities to Japanese green teas.

Light astringency and bitterness, thick mouthfeel, long rich huigan and relaxing qi.

Another interesting aspect of this tea is the aging potential. I have tried teas from past years and they get sweeter and richer over time. The honey notes become more prominent as well.

Maybe I was thinking of that other origin area green tea from them...

Green Tea Jin Xuan Lü Cha (they only list a 7 gram size for 2 Euros, 33 cents a gram, with the 50 gram size having been sold for 30 cents a gram, when it was available)

Jin Xuan Green Tea is a high-mountain green tea produced from the Jin Xuan oolong cultivar in Sanming City, Fujian Province. Grown at an average altitude of 1100 meters, the tea is cultivated by a sustainable agriculture enterprise, recognized nationally as a green tea production base.

Harvested by hand in April, the tea is picked as one bud with two leaves. Processing follows a traditional green tea method: sun withering, indoor airing, pan-firing (kill-green), rolling, and drying... 

...Its fragrance is rich and floral, accompanied by a distinct fresh soybean note. The taste is smooth, refreshing, and sweet, making it particularly enjoyable for daily drinking.

It's interesting considering that both are probably relatively safe tea options.  Producers surely aren't pouring fertilizer and pesticide on forest grown teas, and the Jin Xuan is presented as a sustainable production output.

Of course Jin Xuan is #12 in a series of developed cultivars (cross bred plant types) in Taiwan, produced a long time ago there.  Rolled oolongs here in Thailand tend to be Jin Xuan, #17 (Ruan Zhi or Bai Lu; kind of a long story about that naming), or maybe Tie Guan Yin or Qing Xin. 

Review:

Lai Chau, first infusion:  I brewed these quite light to start; I'm not sure why that made sense to me.  Flavor is nice, just light.  There's a freshness and depth to this, with good floral range and mineral base showing through already.  It will work better as a breakdown next round.  

Moychay Jin Xuan:  it's interesting how much umami this expresses.  That might throw off using personal preference as a main marker; I can appreciate how good Japanese teas are, but I like other styles more.  This could possibly be as good as the other tea, just much different in style.  The other tea expressed some umami, but this includes more.  It's a lot better than the Thai versions one might run across here, but that's typically a low bar to clear.  The oolongs are better, and most aren't great.

Brightness and freshness relate to the main range you experience, then floral depth and sweetness enters in, with lots of an umami edge.  It seems this will balance well, and be quite complex, again easier to describe as a breakdown next round.

Lai Chau #2:  lots of intensity; brewing this 6 or so grams for over 10 seconds provides an intense infusion.  Floral range is so sweet, rich, and intense that this tastes like perfume smells.  You get some vegetal range with that, that's hard to describe, maybe along the line of deep forest fern (like the scent; you don't eat those).  After you drink it a strong aftertaste and full feel occurs in the back of your mouth, not just the throat, but the entire rear part.  Mineral stands out in that, not light or warm mineral, but mineral with depth, a range of it.  It's all quite clean.  Maybe a touch of pine bark is there, beyond those described aspects, but that's clean too.

It's complex; it would work to use other descriptions.  There is some umami.  Floral range is complex; there's a lot one could associate with it, probably as a few notes, or a range of them.  One catchy part is rich and deep, like lavender, but there's more to it.  Related to vegetal range sugar snap pea sort of applies.

Jin Xuan:  that umami hits you first, then such a strong floral input that in some teas you'd think this was altered.  But it doesn't work out that flavor-adjusted teas show the added flavor more after the first round; that kind of thing extracts right away.  And I don't think it's even possible to add umami like this.  This tea is clearly natural, it's just distinctive and unique.  

Others could place this in relation to Japanese green tea range better than I can, maybe a specific type of sencha.  It's there, with that umami, and rich floral range expression, good intensity, clean nature, good balance, refinement, etc.  Aftertaste is sweet and umami range combined.  This does hold its own with the other version.  Even for living in a country that produces a lot of Jin Xuan cultivar, and trying plenty from Taiwan (typically oolongs though, in both places) this is probably the best green tea version I've tried from that plant type.  It would be more impressive if that came up more often, but it's still really good.

In trying the last of the other there's a savory note in it too, but it's more a sun-dried tomato oriented aspect, where this is closer to the seaweed umami, it just doesn't really taste like seaweed.

Lai Chau #3:  it falls into a nice balance, with all of those layers and levels combining well.  But it's not really different.  It's nice the way that a savory sun-dried tomato umami depth ties the rest together, and how it all balances.  It's an unusually complex version of green tea.

Jin Xuan:  the proportion of those flavors changed, with umami and a specific floral note really standing out.  It also expresses depth, complexity, and balance, but those two notes stand out more than the rest.

Lai Chau #4:  vegetal range is standing out a little more; in one sense this is already fading, or at least changing, I suppose to be less positive.  It still has lots to offer though.  Perfume-like floral range is pronounced, and lots of aspects combine together.  The feel is still full and rich.

Jin Xuan:  maybe it was already transitioning towards this in the last round, but a savory note tastes a lot like toasted rice, like that flavor aspect in Longjing.  It's interesting, positioned along with a seaweed oriented umami flavor, and a good bit of rich floral range.  That still resembles lavender, to me.

Intensity, depth, and complexity are pronounced in this; it more than holds its own.  But as you go back and taste the other tea after even for giving up a little in intensity and range it's still just as pleasant, for those other flavors combining so well.  Both are holding up well, but then it is only the fourth round.

They both brewed a couple more really nice infusions, and weren't dead even after that, but I stopped taking notes there.

Conclusions:

I'm surprised that I liked the Moychay Jin Xuan as much as I did, and that it represented that high a quality level.  It's one of the better green teas I've tried in a long time, and even people accustomed to better Japanese green tea would probably love it, and also be surprised by it.  The dominant umami transitioning to other range made it better for me; the other floral tones and additional complexity worked well.  I didn't expect all of that.

But then the Viet Sun deep forest green tea was as good as I remember, very distinctive and pleasant.  I suppose due to me liking the flavor aspect range better I did like it better than the other version, but it might work to objectively say that the Jin Xuan version is slightly better quality tea.  It was more refined, with both being quite complex, and a little more distinctive in style.

Related to value both are kind of equivalent.  The Vietnamese version is selling for 23 cents a gram (at higher volume; equating volume would level out the difference), and the Chinese Jin Xuan for 30, but one already went through import to Europe, which adds cost, and potential value, for people paying different import taxes depending on origin there.  Tea as good as either would still be a decent value if selling for more; these were both exceptional.

So the only catch is that I'm a sheng pu'er drinker, and that I like black tea and varying oolong types best as fall-backs.  I like novel and pleasant hei cha versions more than green tea, which I can still appreciate, but I just never end up buying it.  I had routinely made an exception for Longjing, for years, but now I just stick to those others, and buy mostly sheng, and some black tea.

For people who really do like green tea, and want to explore what these two vendors sell, these are both good options.

Marmalade grows up fast

Wanmu Tea Garden (Xinyang, Henan producer) Dong Fang Mei Ren

 

first and second samples

third sample

I'm trying three more versions of another type of tea from the Wanmu Tea Garden (small factory producer), a Xinyang, Henan (China) tea producer.  There is a little more background on them from trying two yellow tea versions, that were exceptional, but I've still not turned up more depth of background.  Their website mentions a more history than that blog post, but nothing on this tea type.

These are presented as versions of Dong Fang Mei Ren, more commonly known in Western tea circles as either Oriental Beauty or Eastern / Asian Beauty (renaming around "oriental" moving to seem negative).  The other sample I have yet to try is described as an award winning black tea; it is probably a more standard offering type from them.  They would sell a tea like this, but may well be working out processing details, or which inputs make the best version of it.  

The review part goes into issues of it being true to type, and why to some extent that may not apply.  Some tea types are source-area limited, as pu'er is (from Yunnan), or Japanese tea versions (sencha, gyokuro, matcha, and others).  Teas like Wuyishan area oolongs or Longjing green tea could potentially be made from material from other places, but those are source limited too, so only versions from the original area would be authentic.  

It's my understanding that Dong Fang Mei Ren / Oriental Beauty is a style, relating to plant type, location input, and processed form, but that it's not tied to one origin area, beyond originating in Taiwan.  Good versions are made outside of Taiwan, in Thailand and Vietnam, produced by copying those three main inputs as closely as possible.  Those use plant types from Taiwan, which should also relate to using bug-bitten material.  

These teas are made using local plant types, so they won't be as similar.  I didn't know that when trying the first two samples, and had talked to my Wanmu contact prior to trying the third, to cover that by then.  So the goal, for them, might be to produce the best quality, most pleasant tea possible, using comparable but different inputs, that won't necessarily match the original aspect range closely.  Oxidation level is one main related concern, which I go into more in these notes.

Review:

#1, first infusion:  this looks a little lighter than the other, more golden and less towards golden-amber; it's surely less oxidized.  It will be interesting to see how that works out.

Flavor is interesting; very complex, covering more ground than is typical for just about any tea version or type.  It includes warm, rich, sweet tones and also some greener, lighter, more vegetal range.  It's a little early to say that's going to amount to a flaw or limitation but that's a natural early impression.  

The warm and rich flavors present are right for Dong Fang Mei Ren, which I still think of as Oriental Beauty.  There's honey sweetness and a citrus note, not extending into warm cinnamon type spice much, but it's complex in different directions, potentially including that.  Sure, I think it's there.  The vegetal note is along the line of green wood.  As a primary flavor input that wouldn't be good at all, but it balances better than it sounds in this.  

The feel has a bit of a related edge, almost implying bitterness is also present in the flavor.  It's in that space where feel and taste seem to overlap, astringency and bitterness.

#2:  interesting, also quite different.  I was expecting at least one of these to completely match the standard DFMR / OB flavor profile, but neither really do.  This is warmer and richer, and that part works.  Sweetness is ok; it would seem sweeter if there were more of an associated fruit note, which doesn't stand out, but there's some to make it balance.  There's a wood range flavor that's completely different than the mild green wood in the other, in this case more along the line of cured oak.  Someone might interpret that associated dry feel as linking with sourness, versus bitterness.  That's not how DFMR / OB goes.

I really thought that I'd be discussing how these fall well within standard DFMR range, describing how fruit in one compares to more cinnamon in the other, or something such.  Instead this might be about how they vary from that range.  These were presented as experimental tea versions, not a finished product that they've been producing for awhile.  That impression came from those yellow teas being absolutely spot-on for character, and very pleasant in aspect range.  Even great related to flavor complexity, cleanness, depth, and balance.  These two versions could be interpreted as showing flaws as much as promise, and falling much further from trueness to type.

Maybe that could relate to using a very different plant type material than what DFMR / OB is usually made from?  I don't know that part.  Of course processing also comes into play, and growing conditions inputs.  I'll try a lighter version of both; that may help them stand out more positively.

This makes me wonder what the third sample is like.  I won't know until I try it.

#1, second infusion:  it balances better.  Honey sweetness stands out as a dominant flavor this round, which is typically pleasant, in a lot of mixed flavor contexts.  This tastes a lot more like a good Jin Jun Mei I just tried at a favorite Chinatown shop recently than one would imagine it could.  I wonder if they could make something similar?

Fruit drops back, maybe extending into dried fruit more, maybe apricot.  The wood tone does soften, and for the most part transitions out.  It's not exactly type-typical for OB (I'll start writing the shorter form), but it's as close as these have been, and it's quite pleasant.  Feel is full, without much astringency, beyond that fullness.  You probably wouldn't think of green wood, or even vegetal range, when trying this, for this infusion.

#2:  this is better as well.  That wood tone has softened, with more complexity entering in.  Astringency hangs in there more, in that different form, but it decreases, with broader positive flavors making it balance better.  It is a lot closer to cinnamon spice; that's one decent interpretation for a main flavor input.  A good bit of wood offsets how one experiences that.  

It seems like oxidation level for both of these might be a little low, maybe less so for the second one, but possibly even for it.  Then maybe the material isn't as suited for this tea type, or at least it might not be able to duplicate how Taiwanese oolong material ends up in that form.  Looking up standard online references don't mention the plant type used, or at least the first two didn't, so I asked Google's AI to fill that in:

Oriental Beauty tea is made from a specific cultivar of the Camellia sinensis plant, but its unique flavor comes from being bitten by the tea green leafhopper. The insect bites damage the leaves, causing the plant to produce a special chemical reaction that creates a natural honey-like aroma and sweet taste. The tea is a type of oolong tea that requires this specific, pesticide-free process to achieve its distinct qualities. 

Plant: The base is the Camellia sinensis tea plant, with a cultivar often used being Chin-shin Dah-pang, notes Nih.

Insect: The tea green leafhopper (Jacobiasca formosana) bites the leaves, stems, and buds.

Flavor development: The insect bites trigger a defense response in the plant, leading to the production of chemicals like diol, which are converted into compounds like hotrienol during processing.

Pesticide-free: This process is only possible on tea plants that have not been sprayed with pesticides.

It's usually bug-bitten, as this covers.  I thought that Qing Xin / Chin Shin would've been a common plant type used, but one from Thailand I reviewed not long ago used a #17 variant, with good outcome.  Here's that review; it was from Tea Side (a Thai vendor selling Thai teas online), and that was the Ruan Zhi / Bai Lu cultivar, however one names that.

In looking up that reference I ran across lots I've written about lots of OB versions, from different places, made from different cultivars (plant types).  It would work to scan through another dozen posts here to get a feel for different range.  I won't go into what it means here here, but this covers lots of local Taiwanese cultivars / plant types:

this TRES / TTES content is off that agency site now, I think, so attribution would require some extra steps finding it on the wayback machine

#1, third infusion:  it's even better; this is evolving to taste a bit like bees' wax, not just honey.  That's really like Jin Jun Mei then (Fujian black tea from the Wuyishan area).  It's odd that it's so close, for being less oxidized (seemingly).  Kittichai, the Jip Eu Chinatown shop owner, just mentioned that good Jin Jun Mei should be a little less oxidized; it may relate to that, that the black tea style is also like that.

For flavor list this also includes a bit of citrus and dried fruit, and limited warm tone range, some mineral.  Feel is quite pleasant.  The vegetal edge is diminished, but I suppose a little is still there.  It's not that close to type-typical original OB but it's good.

#2:  warmer toned, which one would expect to match OB better, but that one wood flavor aspect and slightly dryer feel really throws that off.  It's also pretty good, but I suppose I like the first more.  It balances better, for the green wood and astringency generally dropping out.  This does include some fruit, but it's harder to appreciate as separate from a cured wood flavor range.  I tend to describe warm toned dried fruit as like tamarind, as a default, and it's not so far from that, just probably not so close either.  It probably works better to say it includes some dried Chinese date, jujube, and then a warm mineral tone that seems to link is really something else.

It's pleasant, but if this is an experimental tea it may not be quite there yet.  It's not balanced and pleasant enough.

Second review, the third type:

first infusion:  again a bit more vegetal than DFMR / OB tends to be.  The flavors are nice, bright, clean, and complex, but the range is completely different than that standard oolong type.  Some sort of warm tones are there, in the background, but this is mostly floral with some green wood sort of vegetal range, so completely different.  Maybe there's a touch of citrus fruit; I'll check again next round.

#2:  this tea is interesting for balancing between two different things.  On the one hand the astringency and vegetal range (mostly flavor related, not feel) ties to a lighter themed tea, not really a standard type that's easy to reference, but along the lines of green or light oolong.  Since it's a non-standard form it might come across as less approachable or positive, just due to being unfamiliar.  

Then on the other side it also balances well, and is clean and complex, so it has a range of positive character going for it.  It just doesn't completely "make sense," related to falling outside of expectations.  Not just for DFMR / OB, but related to the entire range of standard tea types.  In a sense it tastes like an adjusted version of a green tea, not an oolong.

Setting all that aside the actual aspects are pleasant.  It includes some kind of non-descript fruit and floral range, and that doesn't really oppose the vegetal range (towards "green").  That last aspect is closest to green wood, but it might be even closer to a somewhat unfamiliar vegetable type.  Bitterness is really moderate, but present, but the flavor isn't so far off bitter gourd.  If that's unfamiliar I suppose it's a little towards okra?

In talking to Gisele about these, that tea contact, who works for them, she said that it probably wouldn't match normal DFMR / OB character for using a different, local plant type, and for growing conditions being different.  And of course processing steps wouldn't be a complete match; this isn't oxidized as much.  She said that her understanding is the range for OB is 60 to 85% oxidation level, and I suppose that kind of works, even though that kind of designation is problematic.  80 to 85 might be more normal, probably even overlapping with the lower end range of black tea (Shai Hong, often more lightly oxidized Dian Hong, as a sun-dried variation).

#3:  a little more spice emerges, and the tone warms; this creeps a little closer to standard OB range.  Deeper fruit tones seem to pick up, replacing brighter range that had seemed split between floral tones and fruit earlier on.  It's dried fruit, along the line of dried apricot.  This may well be my favorite of these three versions, but the "#1" version was pretty good too.  The third, the second I tried, had a bit of warm cured wood flavor, and dryness of feel, that threw it off a bit, to me.

It's odd judging these based on my judgment.  I love Oriental Beauty, so that should work, but I don't love green tea range as much as all other tea types.  If it's especially vegetal, like Japanese green teas tasting like seaweed, that's not so pleasant, per my preference.  This vegetal range matches with other green tea range, I guess.  I suppose it should match with Xinyang Maojian, the main type they make in this area.

#4:  a hint of citrus picks up, maybe along the line of tangerine peel.  This is the best that it's been.  If tones were a good bit warmer, if this had been more oxidized, it might actually come closer to normal OB range.  It's still good, it's just a different kind of tea.  I'm not sure that vegetal edge would ever completely drop out, but more oxidation may transition it quite a bit.  Just a guess; I really wouldn't know.

Brightness is good, how clean this is in effect, and intensity and complexity.  Sweetness level is good.  Feel is fuller and richer than it sounds, given how one might expect astringency to pair with some bitterness and vegetal flavor range.  There is some astringency, but it's limited.  It's not full, round, and smooth as light oolongs tend to be, but there is some fullness to it.

A green tea drinker who also likes light oolong might absolutely love this.  But it's hard for me to see it from that kind of perspective.  

I completely "get" Dan Cong, and the clean nature, intensity, and refinement match for this, but the flavor profile is completely different (from that oolong type).  And the feel.  There is a characteristic astringency edge to lower quality Dan Cong that partly matches part of this better than the smooth, rich, full, approachable nature of higher quality Dan Cong versions.  I've always wondered what that's about.  Does it relate to using more whole leaf, to growing tea at higher altitude, to getting processing steps just right?  Maybe all of those, or maybe it's something else.

#5:  hanging in there; this is still the best it's been, which is quite pleasant.  Again I think this is my favorite of the three versions.  To review the flavor list, which I keep mentioning in relation to what changes, in order of intensity, this is balanced between expressing dried apricot, a bit of citrus, cinnamon, and a vegetal range note, now in between a wood tone and some type of gourd.  If it's easier to relate to that last vegetal aspect isn't far off the small eggplant version Thais often use, which is almost nothing like the purple eggplant used in the US.

It's good.  It's not very close to standard Taiwanese OB, but still pleasant.  Thai versions of OB (I've probably reviewed a half dozen here) are much closer to that, but it's not a fair comparison, since they've imported those Taiwanese oolong related plant types, and are trying to replicate the growing conditions and processing steps.  Same for Vietnamese versions.  This is something else, that has to be judged as something different.  The more you expect it to be "type-typical" the worse it comes out in judgment.  Judged as a varied form of OB that leans a little towards green tea two of these versions would seem exceptional.

Trying three grades of Huangshan Maofeng (green tea)

I'm reviewing half of a green tea sampler set from ITea World, three grades of Maofeng green tea.  It's represented as tying to a plucking standard and quality level:

6 Flavors Superior Green Tea Leaf Grade Collection Includes Longjing And Huangshan Maofeng 87G For Morning  ($36.90)

Introducing our Green Tea Leaf Grade Collection, a specially curated collection designed to help you discover how the picking grade of green tea leaves affects its flavor, aroma, and overall tea-drinking experience. This set includes two renowned Chinese green teas—Dragon Well (Longjing) and Huangshan Maofeng—both made from traditional heirloom varietals. The only difference? The picking grade of the leaves. You’ll be able to taste three distinct grades:

One bud, one leaf

One bud, two leaves

One bud, three leaves

Each tea is handpicked and processed by the same experienced tea master to ensure consistency in craftsmanship. By tasting the subtle variations from these different leaf grades, you'll develop a deeper understanding of green tea and find the perfect grade for your personal preferences.

I'll have to see how that bud theme works out for the Longjing; it usually just looks like small leaves.

In terms of value this seems fine; maybe 40 cents a gram for pretty good green tea.  It would be more in the Spring, and maybe it would make more sense to buy it then, even paying more, but for trying something novel (for people not already exposed to this range) they could catch back up on appreciating the fresh edge and intensity more later.

I wasn't keeping track of how many sample sets they've expanded to sell now.  It's a lot.  They're quite a bit better for this latest round of different sets than earlier on; the Dan Cong alone changes everything.  They cost more too; that's how it goes with higher quality, higher demand tea types.  Those earlier basic sets were great for just getting people started on basic oolongs and black teas, and such, but now these take another step.  An aged tea set has been pretty good, better than I expected, and another Longjing set was about as good as 8 or 9 month old versions were going to be.  Good Dan Cong is on another level, to me, and somehow theirs were way better than versions most often are.

Western vendors offer sample sets too, but they don't push into the range as far, or take up the same developed forms.  Most will offer one or two sets, so that you don't need to buy whole cakes of sheng or 50 grams of each type, and can go back and order more of what you like.  Yunnan Sourcing might sell 20 different sample sets, across a lot of types range, and maybe even more, but these are packaged in a novel way, set up to try each sample individually.  Does it make a difference?  Maybe not, usually.  But it's ideal for sharing them, or traveling with them, or not getting to some for a few months.

Review:

Level 4, 2 or 3 leaves:  fresh, bright, and vegetal, with pleasant sweetness and overall balance.  I don't want to overdo it with stating and re-stating that this must have been fresher when first produced, in April of 2024.  It's still good, this just wouldn't work for everyone into green tea.  The vegetal part tastes a little like green bean.  At least it's a relatively fresh version of green bean, not like well-steamed or canned forms.  Still, it tastes like green bean.

Level 2, 1 bud and 2 leaves:  slightly brighter and fresher, with a touch of nutty range.  This is more what I like best in green tea.  It's still vegetal, not that far off green bean, but it leans a little more towards sugar snap pea instead.  Feel might be slightly thicker; I'll have to focus on that as I go to tell better.

Premier, 1 bud and 1 leaf:  the flavor profile of this is different, with more separation from the other two than the first from the second.  There's a savory note in this.  That often reminds me of sun-dried tomato; maybe it's a little like that.  It doesn't necessarily seem fresher and brighter than the others.  The extra flavor range gives it more depth, but it's in a heavier and warmer tone.  

I don't necessarily like this more than the second version, where it did map like that in the middle round; it seemed better than the first.  It's just different.  There is different vegetal range beyond that savory note, that's hard to identify.  It's more like fresh soybean; back to coupling with some savory range.  It doesn't really express the nutty aspect in the second.

I hadn't mentioned brewing approach.  This proportion is moderate, for me, at maybe 5 grams per these 100 ml gaiwans (that probably fill to 90 at the most), so I used 20 or so seconds for the first round.  I'll bump that a little, on to 30.  Of course I didn't weigh or time any of that; I'm philosophically opposed to such things.  It's just to pass on an idea of it.

Level 4, #2:  a little grassiness is picking up, a fairly standard theme across a lot of green tea experience.  I wouldn't say that I hate that, I also just don't like it.  Flavors are generally clean, and decently fresh, but that grass flavor pulls it towards a steamed spinach effect.  I eat steamed spinach, to be clear; I like it.  And some seaweed, but this doesn't go there.  It expresses some umami but not enough that it stands out.  Feel is fine, but not full or rich, just present enough to support the experience.  It's not bad, it's just also not great.

Level 2:  this changed a good bit.  Nutty flavor range is replaced by a much greater depth.  It's a little towards the sun-dried tomato in the next version, just not a direct match.  Some degree of nutty flavor is still present.  I like the balance of this more, how it all comes together.  Feel is a little fuller than the first version.  Vegetal range is still in between fresh green bean and sugar snap pea, spanning both.  To me that's pleasant, but it would just depend on preference.  Someone else might interpret this as including kale as well, which I would take to be a more negative assessment (unless they love kale?).  

Being brewed stronger probably shifted how the flavors come across.  It's normal for some of that to happen across most tea types.

Premium:  steamed soybean is a much stronger flavor input now.  I actually like those, so this kind of works for me.  I'd probably rather experience Longjing of this quality level, but I already reviewed a set of those, and there are three more in this set.  I doubt that I'll be able to identify differences between the earlier one and that one, trying the teas weeks apart.  

When you taste in comparison like this the other teas tend to set a benchmark level, not an earlier experience, or all earlier experiences.  With enough tasting exposure you could place it against another range easier.  For me I would have better luck with that for other tea types, for sheng pu'er, black teas, and a range of oolongs.

Sweetness is pretty good in this, and thickness is fine, with a touch more aftertaste experience carrying over.  Some of that could serve as subtle quality markers.  That's more or less a working concept that I made up, one that helps me place what I'm experiencing.  The aspects that tend to identify tea quality the most don't necessarily directly overlap with those that make the experience most pleasant.  But then people could value different parts, or different aspects within a range, so that's subjective, and variable.

For green tea freshness would be a main concern, and these all are giving up a bit for being 9 or 10 months old.  From there distinctive flavor range would identify them as fully type-typical, kind of related to a quality issue, but different.  For green teas intensity, rich feel, sweetness level, and clean effect (like "refinement," an emergent property based on different aspects) would all identify quality.  Aftertaste expression kind of links with intensity, but it's something else as well.

To me this tasting a lot like cooked soybean and then sun-dried tomato and green bean beyond that is not an unusual theme (although I'm definitely no Maofeng expert), but back to preference it's also not completely positive.  The tea is good, but again I'd rather drink Longjing.  I'll brew these lighter next time, for more like 15 to 20 seconds, just to check on the difference that makes.

Level 4, #3:  lighter doesn't work as well for this; the sweetness seems to back off, and it comes across more like water vegetables were steamed in.  It's still ok, in one sense, but not as pleasant as the first two rounds.

Level 2:  again lower intensity isn't better for this, but to me the style and character hold up much better at this lower infusion strength.  Some intensity of flavor carries over better, even though it's also light.  The nutty aspect still stands out, in a nice way.  Vegetal range works well as a background input, not too focused on any one cooked vegetable theme.  I suppose sugar snap peas stand out most.  Grassiness doesn't enter in much.

Premier:  cooked soybean is now coupled with more cooked vegetables; this is a bit like a much stronger version of broth than the first was.  Warmth, depth, and some umami range stand out.  The Level 2 version covers brightness and freshness better, at this stage.

Nine cups of these teas is so much.  I'm curious about what one more strong round would be like, but it's getting to be a lot.  I'll take a break, and I may get back to that, or may not.  I would expect it will be more of that I've been describing, without much of a development or twist.

Fourth round, combined notes:  after a short break I did go there.  I do like these better brewed a bit longer, and they're holding up to this many rounds well.  None of the three are improving, or evolving in interesting and positive ways, more just hanging in there.  The descriptions from earlier rounds still apply.

Conclusions:

It's interesting liking the character of the Level 2 version the most, that flavor profile.  The Premier version is definitely a little more intense, with quite a bit more umami experience, but I don't like the taste of cooked soybeans with a little sundried tomato more than nuttiness with some brighter vegetal background.  The Level 4 version, the first, is more grassy, with more standard vegetable range.

I'm not sure this divide relates mostly to a plucking standard (what the material is made from).  They didn't confirm that plant types were identical, although they might be quite similar, or the same, and there's nothing in here about microclimate / terroir, them being from slightly different places.  Even being located on two different sides of the same hill could change things, a little, or broader inputs like elevation can.  Of course I'm not going to speculate about specifics.  They said that the same producer made them, implying that all other conditions were held to be as similar as possible, but who knows.

All in all this was an interesting experience.  It's hard to place in relation to Maofeng I've tried in the past; it's been awhile, and I've drank a good bit more Longjing, and not very much of that compared to sheng pu'er.  For a green tea drinker I think this would be all the nicer.

But then there's the freshness edge sub-theme; these must have had a little more of a fresh pop when first produced.  They're not settling into warmer, murkier flavors, necessarily, but it's quite possible that the comments here about cooked vegetables would've been about brighter or more floral range aspects when these were brand new.  I think exploring green tea right before the Spring harvest season is a little odd, but it could still make sense.  You would need to place it for what it is, considering that as one input.

It might be interesting for them to bundle left-over 2024 versions along with new 2025 teas.  I'm speculating about aging transition inputs, but in direct comparison you could try to sort that out, beyond different versions just varying for different reasons.  Aged green tea isn't a common thing, but to me transitions across different time-frames are interesting.  Black tea settles more over the first few months than people might expect, for example, and of course sheng pu'er does a lot more.

Comparing Longjing varietals

 

I'm reviewing an ITea World Longjing sample set this time.  I guess I'll be reviewing different parts of their sets for another month, since I'm far from finishing an aged tea set and Dan Cong set.  Two friends have passed on some other aged teas to try, so that will be a running sub-theme for awhile.

Longjing was one of the first teas I got into when first exploring better tea.  A visit to China was a pivotal step in getting further into tea, and hanging out in a shop in a Shenzhen market was a key step there, as was a Gongfu brewing demonstration at the company we visited, Huawei.

I didn't try Longjing there though.  In talking to a local Huawei sales guy I asked what else to check out in Bangkok, and where, and he said Longjing in Chinatown shops sounded about right.  If he would've mentioned Wuyi Yancha that would have covered a lot of the next two years of exploration.  I went and bought some, and kept buying it, every other spring for awhile, even though I've always liked oolong and black tea more than green.  

There's just something about Longjing.  Of course there's also something about buying it and drinking it in the Spring, which I get around to covering in this.

So here we are, finally learning and exploring Longjing plant types, which is still a brand new subject to me.  ITea World describes it this way:

Longjing Green Tea Varietal Collection 45G ($25 for 45 grams)

This collection offers a unique opportunity to explore the subtle differences in flavor, aroma, and texture created by three distinct tea tree varietals, all using the same harvesting grade: one bud and two leaves. You’ll experience Longjing (Dragon Well) green tea made from three renowned tea tree varietals: Wu Niu Zao, Longjing #43, and the heritage Longjing Qunti. 

Though harvested and processed in the same way, each tea reflects its unique tree’s characteristics. This collection allows tea lovers to discover their preferred varietal of this classic green tea.

Review: 

Wunio Zao Longjing:  it's so nice to be trying good Longjing again.  At first I'll just be caught up in that, but the minor differences will also stand out soon enough.  There's a typical standard flavor range this definitely expresses, often described as nutty, perhaps better captured as tasting like toasted rice.  Then there's a hard to describe vegetal aspect, and some mineral to the experience; it's complex.

Longjing 43:  very similar, but different at the same time.  I'll do a little more tasting back and forth between these is normal for me for these, more direct comparison.  This includes a little more intensity than the first, more of a green edge, with the first softer and a little more towards floral.  That might sound like the first would be more pleasant then, but the opposite kind of works, at this stage.  That typical Longjing flavor set hitting a little harder is what it's all about.  

I don't mind that it's a touch more vegetal; that works with the rest.  It works to say that vegetal range is centered on a sort of fresh green bean flavor.  It also seems nutty, and the flavor isn't so simple that you can say those two descriptions capture it all.  There's a lot to it.

Qunti Tea tree:  much more floral; much richer.  Really the 43 version stands out as most familiar, but both of these others work quite well.  Intensity is really something for this version, equal to the second, but across a perfume-like floral range.  Feel is extra rich as well.  Sweetness might even bump a little in comparison with the 43 version, and aftertaste expression.  

In one sense this is clearly the best of the three.  It includes a touch of vegetal range, again like green bean, maybe a little towards sugar snap pea instead, but the floral range seems to stand out a lot more.  A distinctive nutty or toasted rice note isn't standing out in all of these as much as it sometimes does.

The second, the 43 version, is really catchy to me too though, for being more what I expected.  You get attached to a certain profile and then others could still be more interesting, and better in different senses, but it would be hard for them to match that association input.

The first seems a little diminished in terms of intensity compared to the other two.

To be clear I think these all probably had a little more to offer back closer to production time last spring.  They're quite pleasant, and of good quality, but intensity and freshness would drop off a little over this long.  I won't be mentioning heavy vegetal tones creeping in, I don't think, or anything like that, so they definitely didn't "go off," but that extra bit of bright intensity is a part of it.

Wuniu Zao #2:  I brewed these a little faster, to see how they would work out on the light side, maybe for 30 seconds, but this is using a lower proportion than I ever tend to brewing Gongfu style.

Green bean comes out a lot more in this round; floral range backs off.  It doesn't work as well as all three had last round, since when I was talking about vegetal notes it was within the context of very bright, floral, or along the lines of nutty or toasted rice contexts.  This is still pleasant, but it has shifted back more into the range of a normal green tea experience.

43:  cleaner, brighter, with more sweetness, a bit of integrated floral range, somewhat nutty effect, and more mineral undertone.  Fresh green bean or sugar snap pea stands out more, but it's brighter in this.  

This is more the Longjing experience that I remember.  To be clear I may have typically not been drinking really good Longjing.  Peter of Trident Cafe shared some teas once and I think that was completely centered on ideal range, roughly as good as the type ever gets.  That's kind of their theme, extensively curating and filtering sources and versions, so what you get in the end is kind of ideal.  These also work as a benchmark for a pretty good quality range, but I'm talking about trying a version that's relatively ideal.

Qunti:  this shifted to more vegetal range too.  As with the first version that impacted the experience, more so than the #43 version.  Maybe all three will be better brewed stronger, back to a more typical infusion strength.

Third infusion:  this matches results in the first round better than the second.  The first was quite pleasant, the Wuniu Zao version, just lacking some intensity and positive complexity in relation to the other two.  The #43 version was most familiar from past experience, with much more intensity, and more mineral base, with more of that green bean / snap pea sort of vegetal range.  It included some nuttiness / toasted rice effect, and was clean and pleasant.  The Qunti version was a bit more floral, with good depth, maybe a little sweeter and creamier in feel.

Conclusion:

All of these were nice.  All of them matched well with very positive past Longjing experience, just giving up a bit in terms of a very fresh edge that comes along with drinking Longjing in the Spring.  I think that's a main point related to this experience:  does it even make sense to be trying Longjing versions in January or February?  Not really, according to traditional Chinese tea appreciation perspective.  I think these hold up quite well, and retain most of the same character and aspects, but that one input is very prized, a type of freshness effect that's hard to describe.  It matches closest to intensity, related to the concept bundles I typically describe teas in relation to, but it's not really just that.

I know a way to explain it, or at least try to in a different way.  When Peter of Trident Cafe sent a Longjing version to try, some years ago, prior to Covid, opening the bag was enough to assure that the flavor profile exactly matched my expectations for an optimal experience, or even exceeded them.  You could tell exactly what you were going to taste, from the intense aroma of the dried leaf.  These had a pleasant dry tea aroma, but it wasn't anything like that.  It covered some similar range, for all three, but it was much more subdued, and in a warmer and different form.  It wasn't incredibly bright and fresh.

These teas would be great for someone to get a feel for Longjing range, but they'd need to have that exact experience to really capture the essence of it.  Most vendors wouldn't sell anything like that tea, to be clear, although most would claim to.  A few random trials of sourcing might miss the mark by a lot.  But you would need to be doing this kind of search in the Spring, per traditional understanding, and my own take.  

Then in a sense this leads me back to a consideration of value.  If these are moderately priced, relatively speaking, this would be a great way to do an intro prior to taking up that quest.  If they cost anywhere near $1 a gram--kind of a higher quality, higher demand norm--it would be giving up too much to have such well-rested versions provide the experience.  If someone wasn't emphasizing value in relation to their tea experience, if an extra $50 here or there made no difference, then it wouldn't matter again.  There would still be another step to be taken, but these make for a positive and informative tea experience, for a moderate expense range.  

If I really am brewing 3 grams each, per their recommended range--and maybe it's 4; it's hard to say--then these would brew 15 infusion sequences in total, or maybe only a dozen.  Even at a considerable $1 a gram pricing that's $3 per individual tea based session, or put another way I would be trying $9 worth of tea just now.  To me that's a lot, but it's not for everyone.

In looking at the pricing when doing the editing these cost $25, just over half that hypothetical consideration rate.  Around 50 cents a gram is pretty good for teas this good.  It's customary for Chinese people, and Chinese tea enthusiasts in Bangkok, to drink green tea in the Spring, so there's also that.  I think these are fine for exploring this type range now, but if someone loved them it would be essential to get back to another trial in the Spring, tracking when versions come out, and trying one very fresh.  

It's not just about the positive freshness aspect; that experience matches with the feel of Spring.  It's like waiting for the fall or winter to get back into masala chai, if that makes sense, or drinking spiced wine or hot buttered rum on a cold winter day.  

Hakusei white sencha

 

I recently did a three sample green tea comparison that didn't seem to make that much sense going in, comparing Chinese, Vietnamese, and Japanese versions.  It was what it was; I expected the Japanese sencha version to be different from the others, and it was.  In a sense it was much higher quality tea, an exceptional version even for that type range, but then also just different in character.  

Liking green tea the least of any broad category makes it tricky spelling out just how good or how desirable any versions are.  I can appreciate higher quality levels, and distinctive aspects, and can describe what I see as conventional aspect range and quality markers for different types, but personal preference stops working as a main yardstick.

I'm reviewing another even more unique sencha sample passed on for review by Peter, the owner of Tea Mania.  We've met in the past, with him visiting Thailand regularly, and having lived here at one point, and we met again here not long ago when he visited.  I bought tea from Tea Mania several times; their earlier Lucky Bee Yiwu cakes were always exceptional, and an unusually good value (and surely still are; they didn't discontinue the line).  Now they've moved into selling plenty of Japanese tea range, and gushu versions of sheng pu'er, and some other types.

I'm not sure what to expect of this.  Surely it's not white tea in the sense of a Bai Mu Dan I just wrote about.  Peter covers what it is in the website product description:

White Sencha Hakusei

Discover the unique white Sencha Hakusei, carefully harvested in the picturesque village of Hoshino in Yame, renowned for its idyllic tea gardens and crystal-clear starry nights. This tea is the result of a natural mutation that turns the leaves a delicate yellowish-white – a fascinating characteristic that makes it a true albino tea and is therefore also called golden Sencha. This special coloration is accompanied by an exceptionally high amino acid content, giving the tea a rich and deep flavor profile.

Albino tea

Tea Master Akihito Takaki recognized the uniqueness of this mutation and created his own cultivar by collecting seeds from these plants, aptly naming it Hakusei – “White Star”. This name not only reflects the color of the leaves but also pays homage to Hoshino, meaning “Star Field”, where the night sky reveals its breathtaking beauty.

In Yame, a region known for its mountain valleys, Sencha cultivation is a rarity. The lower temperatures in these valleys lead to a delayed harvest, about a month later than in lower and flatter growing areas. However, these climatic conditions endow Sencha Hakusei with an extraordinary depth and complexity of flavor. White Sencha Hakusei is thus not only a testament to Master Takaki’s innovative tea artistry but also an expression of the unique landscape and clear skies of Hoshino – a true treasure for tea enthusiasts who appreciate the extraordinary.

A bit poetic but all that kind of works in relation to how unique the experience is.  It's funny how it's a polar opposite to that Bai Mu Dan experience.

There is little to be said about value; this sells for $23 for 50 grams, so essentially 50 cents a gram (46).  It's probably accurate that no other teas are like this, and sencha in a comparable quality range might normally cost more.  It's not really aggressive pricing, if anything on the low side.  But then the experience wouldn't appeal to everyone, so it's back to that theme, how preference factors in.

It's funny considering that the Bai Mu Dan sample sold for 60 cents a gram, more per weight than this tea.  I try to keep things positive here, and let the readers read between the lines, but this is much better tea than that version.  If someone hates sencha they wouldn't like it, but it's clearly a couple of levels higher as tea quality and distinctiveness goes, at the other end of the scale.  

Related to my own personal preference I'd be just as happy drinking a fairly rustic and basic Dian Hong black tea, and I mostly drink sheng pu'er now, but it should be easy for most readers to place what that really means, how type and aspect range preferences work out.  Sometimes novel experiences can transcend that range of inputs, and to some extent that occurred while trying this tea version.

Review:

#1:  that's interesting.  You expect a blast of umami and seaweed, and it's there, but there is a lot more going on.  The umami range in this tastes a good bit like fresh soybean, which of course matches that Japanese food theme.  Sweetness is nice.  It has a depth to it.  Even the highest grade sencha leans so far into those couple of notes that the intensity can end up seeming like a drawback, as if it's too much.  The extra complexity in this works in a different way.

Mind you it tastes like seaweed too, and someone well off the Japanese tea and food preference range just wouldn't like it.  At least for me it seems to have a good bit of depth and complexity; it seems to balance in a nicer way.  From a Chinese tea drinker perspective; it's hard to know what that's really worth.  There is even warmer tone included, I guess matching some of the barley tea theme.  A lot of Japanese food and drink range combines together in this.  It goes without saying that it's clean in effect, intense, and refined; of course it would be, given those flavor aspect descriptions.

#2:  Intensity dials way up, and it was already intense.  Vegetal range shifts; this tastes more like split pea soup this round.  It's funny how a salt oriented mineral note matches with that.  This is nothing like any tea I've ever tried before; that's interesting and pleasant.  And again to me this is a lot more interesting than a tea version dialing up umami and seaweed to a level of 11 on a scale of 10.

It makes me wonder how many other people would try this and be captivated by it, or pleasantly surprised, or wouldn't like it.  I suppose people inclined towards Japanese green tea would judge it more favorably; it's not so unusual that it falls outside that general theme range.  Maybe it wouldn't challenge what they've already experienced as much as that comes across for me.

There is nothing remotely like any other white tea experience going on with this; that's not a surprise, given that it's presented as a variation of sencha.  Of course it's an unusual green tea form.

#3:  it's settling back more towards standard green tea range (high end Japanese sencha, to be clear); umami and seaweed pick up.  It sort of works better like this, balancing a lot of unusual, refined, and intense flavor inputs, now centered more on standard range.  It's quite complex.  

The savory note keeps shifting, including different range.  It tastes a little like fresh potato juice this round.  Why would anyone know what that tastes like?  When you cook potato it's normal to taste a little of it raw; it's like that, vegetal in a very unusual way, with mineral only leaning towards salt, but much more intense.

#4:  intensity dials back a bit; it might be better for that.  Of course I'm brewing this quite quickly, using unusually cool water, so it shouldn't necessarily be off the scale intense, but it kind of is.  This is an unusual presentation of tea leaf, shredded in a unique form, that's definitely an unusual mix of colors.

Umami and some seaweed stand out now, with unusually complex other vegetal range.  It's along the line of fresh soybean, but also close to sugar snap pea; that second may make for the more natural interpretation.  

So much umami!  I know I said that it's nice that this is dialed back a bit, not only straight umami and seaweed, but it's still awfully intense, and four rounds is a lot of it.  I've just experienced a month's worth of umami exposure in not so many minutes.  Maybe another round will be enough, and if I don't say anything about later transitions I can live with that.

#5:  mineral picks up a little; that's nice.  I bet this will keep changing, and that it would be quite interesting brewed in different ways, coming across quite differently.  For sure this has amazing potential as an ice brewed version, the approach where you just put a little over very fresh and clean ice cubes and then drink it later as melting ice brews it.

For anyone remotely on the Japanese green tea page this is interesting and worth trying out.  I still don't think I'd buy this; it's too far from what I like most.  But it has been awhile since I've had a completely unique, previously unknown tea experience, and this is that.

It's interesting in relation to trying a pressed version of Bai Mu Dan yesterday, an aged tea, 9 years old.  The contrast there is that it was exactly like what I'd experienced from Shou Mei and Gong Dao Bei before, with so little variation off that standard range that it was a struggle to identify any atypical distinctions (still nice though, for someone into that experience).  It's for the best that I didn't try these two white teas together.  After trying sencha along with Chinese and Vietnamese green teas a week or so ago I had enough of the radical contrast theme, which of course doesn't shed much light on anything.

This tea was pleasant, and definitely intense, refined, novel, and distinctive; a very interesting experience.  I'm sure that my brewing approach and perspective in relation to personal preferences didn't do this tea justice, that for many it would shift from quite novel, high in quality, refined, and distinctive on to absolutely fantastic.  Surely it's casting pearls before swine for me to taste and write about Japanese teas.  So it goes.

Comparing green teas from Vietnam, China, and Japan

 

This is all a bit much.  A recent comparison of three different sheng versions also was, but to me the results were interesting, and they helped place some general themes that were playing out.  I'm trying something even less narrow and reasonable in range this time, trying three different green teas together.

Why is this a problem?  For one reason because I'm just getting over a flu.  Yesterday was one of few days I skipped drinking tea, and while sick for a few days before that I would sometimes split drinking a version over two days (twice).

For more standard reasons because of the range of styles and aspects.  Of course the Japanese tea (a sencha) is going to cover mostly umami and vegetal flavors, including seaweed, and the other two won't.  Both of the others are "wild origin" green versions, so trying them together would make more sense.  

But I wanted to check on to what extent this broad-scope approach could provide input about the entire range.  Is there more to it about Japanese green differences than just that flavor range?  Does some particular rough edge or off flavors identify a lower quality level for either of the others?  Did a factor like limited oxidation input seem to come up for any?  Probably more than I addressed, actually; this doesn't speculate about that.  Is this a hit or a miss for another ITea World version?  Most of theirs have been pretty decent, but some less so than others.

I'll add information about the teas after tasting, during editing, the usual process.

Viet Sun Lai Châu Deep Forest Green Spring 2024 ($23 for 100 grams)

The tea trees in this area are growing to heights of 10+ meters in the deep forest at 2200m+ in elevation. The rich biodiversity and natural growing conditions really make their way into the cup.

This tea brews up slowly into a rich, clear golden soup. The flavor is unique and complex. Reminds me of forest flower honey, herbs, strawberry or raspberry and wild grasses with a lot of umami. There are some similarities to Japanese green teas.

Just a touch of astringency, no bitterness, thick mouthfeel, rich huigan and relaxing qi... 

Another interesting aspect of this tea is the aging potential. I have tried teas from past years and they get sweeter and richer over time. The honey notes become more prominent as well.

ITea World Chinese Shan Ye Wild Green Tea ($25 for 40 grams)

There is no text description, so this picture will do.  

Related to value this already looks pretty bad for the ITea World product comparison, since I'll jump ahead and say that I liked the Viet Sun version better, and this costs slightly more for 40 grams of it than 100 grams of the Vietnamese version.  It is very novel in style, and supply and demand factors can be complicated, but that's a pretty one-sided comparison.  

It expressed one very minor flaw early in rounds, which I'll get around to explaining, and people could see that differently, perhaps as not a flaw at all.  It would be possible to see a limitation in intensity, present in the Viet Sun version, as a significant flaw instead, which I sort of didn't, since it's so easy to correct for that with brewing approach.

That vendor asked me to mention a "summer sale," which normally I don't do, but it seems like a nice balancing point to saying this particular tea isn't worth it.  There are details on their website.  The strength of this vendor has been offering pretty decent sample sets, at good value, with a relatively low free shipping threshold, if I remember right.  I wouldn't buy a lot of any of their teas without exploring them through samples first, but some are pretty good, novel and a good value.  Some basics match conventional styles well, this particular tea just isn't shooting for that.

This is probably a good vendor option for first exploring medium quality teas, or for a gift related to the same purpose.  Later on if someone is seeking out even higher quality, or best of best value, then often two different other kinds of vendors cover those better.  Or Viet Sun and Tea Mania are pretty solid across a broad range; it doesn't have to just be one part of that.

Tea Mania HANDPICKED HONYAMA SENCHA  ($32 for 50 grams)

 

Honyama (also known as Tamakawa) is considered by connoisseurs of Japanese Sencha teas as one of the top growing areas. In Honyama, where the Abe River springs, are ideal conditions for top quality tea. The nights are clear and cool and the morning misty. The narrow valleys also ensure natural shading of the tea fields. So it is not surprising that the tea leaves in this area are about one month later ready for harvest compared to tea from the low-lying areas near Shizuoka city.

The tea leaves for this handpicked Honyama Sencha where manually harvested by Mr. Shoten’s family. Therefore, the leaves are longer and more intact compared to does harvest by machines. Also, the stems get less damaged as they are picked at the plant’s natural breaking point. Thus, the tea leaves get less oxidized and taste even more refreshing.

It’s said that tea from Honyama was Shogun Tokugawa’s favorite tea. After tasting this tea we strongly believe this lore.

To me a lot of story line in marketing content is often a red flag; I'd rather buy the tea itself than the story.  For sure this is great quality Japanese green tea though, and it would mean a lot more to people on that page than it does to me (the tea quality; the story could go either way).  

People on that page would be better at brewing them than I am too; I really botched that in this tasting.  I got some sense of the tea but didn't experience it in optimum form.  Doing a lot of things at one time can be tricky, and I was already hazy as could be for only being most of the way recovered from a flu.

This cost $64 for 100 grams instead of $23 for the Viet Sun version; is it that much better?  That's kind of not even the right question, I don't think.  It's a completely different style of tea.  I wouldn't be the one to know but at a guess this is still probably pretty decent value, because it's not an ordinary range green tea version, it's a distinctive, good quality Japanese green tea.  I don't really love that but I get it; it's an in-demand style range.

Review:

Viet Sun Lai Chau Deep Forest Green, 2024:  it's interesting how some of the flavor range is still evolving and some stands out so much right away.  There's plenty of umami in this; that won't be a complete difference.  I'm a little concerned that the lack of sweetness and missing part of a normal flavor profile may relate to my palate.  These findings will be of limited value if I'm missing part of a sense of taste, which really could be the case.  I stopped being quite sick a few days ago but this illness just won't end.

ITea World Shan Ye Wild Green Tea:  vegetal range is so strong in this, maybe mostly centered on green beans, but also including a green vegetable range along the line of kale.  It wouldn't be surprising if this is a close match for a leafy vegetable I'm not familiar with.  From there a really strong mineral layer stands out, so strong that it might extend to taste a little like tobacco, or even a hint of ash.  It's not positive.  

The darker color leaf and liquid suggests this may have oxidized a little, but who knows.  It definitely includes quite a bit of bud content, the only version of the three to do so.  I'll need to keep brewing times limited for this to be approachable.

Tea Mania Honyama Sencha (Yabukita plant type):  that's too strong to drink.  All three were brewed for the same time, with one light, one a bit strong, and this one undrinkable.  Apparently there's a learning curve for Japanese green tea I need to go back through; it's been a number of years.  I can try to dilute it a little to get a sense of it but essentially it's better luck next round.  I used half as much leaf for this version as the other two, by appearance, recognizing that it would be a lot more dense, but I missed getting that right by a lot.

Even diluted there's not much to add; it's promising, but not ok to drink in this form.  This probably won't stand up to brewing using water this hot either, which is far too hot for normal green tea, unless someone is on the page of brewing them around 90 C or so.  I'll drop the temperature for all three, and will stick with flash infusions for this.

Using hot water can be ok for some green tea types (not full boiling point, maybe, but not so far off that); it just depends.  Preference factors in too, but also some won't extract objectionable range compounds and aspects all that fast, so you can carry on using fast infusion times to limit that.  Typically Japanese green teas aren't regarded as suitable for this approach.  Peter of Tea Mania sent two versions of sencha, or maybe the other was "white sencha," whatever that would be; maybe I'll get back to trying this again with approach dialed in.  After botching it a few more rounds here though, even after adjustments.

Viet Sun #2:  not intense enough; this needed to brew longer.  It's odd that the other two are way too strong, with the sencha at what looks to be a higher proportion, then this is still too light.  I'll do more of a flavor list next round.  What comes across is pleasant; light floral range, decent sweetness, no overpowering umami, astringency, or pronounced vegetal range.

ITea World Shan Ye:  that one mineral note leans more towards ash; that's a little off-putting.  The rest is nice, pleasant and interesting.  These are a bit light to base a developed opinion on but without that one note they seem kind of equivalent, and with it considered the Vietnamese tea is better.

Tea Mania sencha:  drinkable; at least it's that close to optimally brewed.  There's the intense, pronounced umami that people seek out.  It tastes like seaweed, with some floral range entering in beyond that.  I think this is a range of tea that you have to acclimate to like, or it would be like that for most.  I've drank some sencha, some hundreds of grams worth, but nothing like most of the rest of the tea types I prefer more, kgs of pu'er, oolong of different types, and black teas.

The things people would center in on as most desirable in this style and type range wouldn't be completely familiar to me; I'd be guessing.  Of course pronounced umami is part of that, and other flavor complexity, aftertaste experience, mineral layer input, and so on.  But I mean that often very limited parts of an aspect set can work as quality markers, as identifiers between good and very good versions, with typical flaws as the opposite side of those considerations.  

When I scan through sencha reviews in a place My Japanese Green Tea blog I can't help but think "what's all this, brother?"  Or at least that's it framed within one of Keoni's favorite meme forms.

Vietnamese #3:  it was extra messing around but I brewed this using much hotter water than the other two.  Not for too long, but enough that it seemed it would extract well.  This is pleasant but still subtle.  That's interesting; for other tea types that could come up, and could be normal, but a subtle version of green tea is odd.  I had tried the 2023 version and don't remember that as part of the experience.

The aspects that are there are quite positive; this is my favorite of the three.  You would just need to push this a little harder to get intensity back into a normal range, using slightly hotter water, or longer infusion time.  Aspect set would vary depending on which approach you took.  Again there is some floral range to this, and limited vegetal scope, but I suppose some.  It's near a neutral sugar-snap pea input, versus green beans or seaweed, much heavier and more dominant range.  Sweetness is pretty good, and tone is light.  I don't mean intensity, I mean brightness versus warmth of flavors; it's "bright."  

If I just liked green tea more I'd really like this more.  As it is I could still drink a good bit of it.

Chinese Shan Ye:  I never will have any idea why there's an ashy sort of limited intensity edge to this.  It also includes a malty sort of character; that part is nice, and unique.  Tone is much warmer than for the first.  Feel is thicker; there's more to it on that one level.  Floral range is less bright and sweet than for the Vietnamese version, I guess in a wildflower sort of range, but possibly more complex, with more happening along that line.  Vegetal range is more towards cured hay, tying in with or just being an alternative interpretation of what I've described as malty (Ovaltine malty, not like Assam).

With the absolute slightest change of that one flavor note not being present this would come across much differently.  It's barely perceptible now anyway, having faded over the rounds, but at least related to how I see teas there are some flavor inputs that can disproportionately shift a general impression.  A hint of cacao or cherry in a black tea can change everything, and a touch of tartness can cause an opposite less favorable impression.  In green teas a little extra kale flavor can really throw things off, and a bright floral note can shift it all the other way.  That smoke could be ok if it wasn't as close to ash range.  It's all but gone anyway in this round, and should be clear in the next.

Sencha:  it's interesting trying a much stronger tea in this version.  This proportion is wrong; this should be made from half as much leaf.  But it's brewed fast using quite cool water, so it's still not optimum but it's fine.  Everything it expresses is intense:  umami, some seaweed, floral range, sweetness, and now an increased mineral layer.  As a sheng drinker I should see that as somewhat positive; why shouldn't it be intense?  And I do, but the umami takes some getting used to.  

20 years ago I really couldn't relate to seaweed much at all (beyond eating a good bit of sushi eons ago, but I'll leave that part out), and gradually over the years it just kept coming up living in Bangkok.  My wife ate mostly Japanese food when pregnant with Keoni, 16 years ago.  She said the he was "ordering it," essentially.  That was right after spending two years in Hawaii, and people love it there too.  

But half the time I have ramen I hand over the pressed square of it to Kalani, who loves it, even though that form is mild and pleasant.  This is a level more intense, for seaweed related flavor input, but it's still ok.  I suppose it's still odd to me that people choose to have this experience, that they pay extra for it being so pronounced.  Then again the sheng pu'er I drink often tastes like taking an aspirin, and that took me a half dozen years of routine exposure to prefer.

Viet Sun Vietnamese #4:  this should be enough notes, and plenty of tea.  I've thrown out the last of most rounds, to keep this manageable, but I've also drank most of 9 small cups of tea so far.  

Bright floral, good sweetness, limited and pleasant vegetal range, again like sugar snap pea.  There's probably more going on with this related to round-to-round transition that I'm missing; brewing approach has been a little rough.  Feel could be thicker and richer but it's fine like this to me; there's no need for all the parts to be intense.  Someone looking for "quality markers" might see it as falling short but to me the balance works.  Intensity is a little limited, but it's easy to adjust brewing to dial that up.  Not much comes across as a flaw in this, to me, although again limited intensity could be seen that way.  And it's distinctive enough, even if the other two are more novel, looked at one way.  It's my favorite of the three.

ITea World Shan Ye:  that warm rich tone comes across more like toasted rice than cured hay or malt, this round.  That's familiar ground, closer to Longjing style.  If all the earlier infusions had been more similar to this one, varying some but not so different, this would've been better.  Again it's probably possible to dial in more optimum results by tweaking brewing.  For good Longjing you don't need to do that, of course; you can brew it at full boiling point, or much cooler, and not letting it get too strong is about the only limitation to work around.  

That one minor aspect really threw off the first few rounds, for me.  This is still pretty good though, and brewed Western style after a quick rinse it may have been much better.

Tea Mania sencha:  as described in the last two rounds again.  Even though Longjing is my favorite green tea type, and I've just described the Shan Ye version of settling near that typical character, I can still see the appeal in this.  It's clearly better tea, in a few senses.  It's more intense and complex, and a bit sweeter, with no significant flaws.  Even the strong umami and seaweed flavor I don't hate.  I suppose floral range has drawn closer to seaweed, so now it balances both.  If you aren't accustomed to that flavor then even at a lower level it really stands out.  I've eaten ramen with seaweed a few times in the past month, mostly going off miso soup lately, but I definitely don't seek out that range of experience (the seaweed part).

It's odd drinking and reviewing a sencha and going on and on about placing umami and seaweed flavor.  Surely most people know what they're getting into, and are there for that.

This is probably complete heresy but to me sencha works better with food than drank alone.  That reminds me of a critique of a whiskey version saying that's it's ok but it's better mixed with Coke.  Surely the quality level is so good in this version that plenty of people would appreciate it in a completely different way than I can.

Conclusions:

To me really late rounds transitions aren't much of the main story but a couple were interesting.  The ITea World tea tasted a good bit like fennel seed in the last couple of rounds, beyond those.  The sencha picked up an unusual vegetal character, which reminded me of the taste when you bite a watermelon seed.  Then the Viet Sun tea stayed pretty much the same.

I'm not sure how well that post worked related to judging teas across the main criteria I often use:  related to writing out an aspects set, in comparison with my own personal preference, as being true to type for a known version, or placed in relation to some objective quality level.  

The Vietnamese tea represented a standard, general wild-origin green tea type well enough, but there isn't a narrow character range expectation for that.  The Japanese green tea was probably the only one that could be judged against pre-determined type expectations, but I don't have the proper background to dial that in to finer level comparison.  It seemed really good quality to me, but then I don't love sencha.

The Chinese green tea was perhaps the most novel, and it was one very minor flaw away from being much better than I judged it to be.  If it had only had a hint of smoke included instead of what came across as a touch of ash flavor.  I suspect plenty of local producer teas can pick up just a little smoke flavor from incidental contact in being around the processing environment, where fire is used for heating.  It had been a lot more common for sheng pu'er versions in the past.  I have no idea why that inclusion took an unconventional form this time.

It's always interesting reviewing green teas, as my least favorite main category version.  I don't like any of these quite as much as Hinyang Maojian and Himjian versions I tried not so long ago; those were something else.  But then I wouldn't buy those to drink either, pretty much no matter what they cost.  Somehow I crave some good Longjing once in awhile and that's about it.

On a personal note suffering is what I've been up to, with that flu not the worst of it.  I wasn't on this flight; the rest of my family is back in Honolulu again.  I'll visit before too long, and until then some cats and I hold down the fort in Bangkok.

Eye, my wife, had a uniquely rough week.  She went through a flu too, and an injury related to slipping and falling that last week (hence the extra equipment).  She's tough as nails though; she was more concerned about the kids playing too many video games than the beating life had put on her just then.