Huang Shan Mao Feng Revisited

I ran out of things to drink as more tea orders are waiting for me at university residence. Moving back tomorrow or Sunday, yay! :)

So in my desperation, I tried the Huang Shan Mao Feng again (after 4 chashaku of matcha), except this time, sencha-style.

I quitupled the amount of tea leaves 5 tsps for 1 cup of water, lowered the temperature some more to around 70 degrees Celcius, and steeped for 30-35 seconds each infusion.

First infusion:

Still bad. Gross, yucky, bad, astringent, and the whole 9 yards. Might just have felt like that because I just had yummy koicha, and in contrast it's even more terrible.

Second infusion:

MUCH better than the last time I made it and posted pictures. The flavour is much more fragrant and leafy, very slightly more astringent, but may be because the water temp is still a bit too high. 

Third infusion:

Light, but still packed more punch than the third infusion of last time. No astringency, but not sweet like sencha. The leaves expanded pretty well by this point. Really, pretty good. Actually, I'd say it's better than even the second infusion last time.

Overall, much more fragrant and flavourful, but not comparable to good sencha or higher grade mao fengs.  Not even close.

2008 HuangShan (Yellow Mountain) MaoFeng

This post is about a 2008 Huang Shan (Yellow Mountain, which is actually my home town) Mao Feng that I have stocked at home.  My mom got it on her trip back to China last year. What can I say, my parents aren't very knowledgeable about tea, hence, this:

Can of the 2008 Huang Shan Mao Feng.

There's quite a lot of ugly stems and the leaves are slightly broken up, which makes me sad. :(

Don't take this as that Huang Shan Mao Feng is no good. It really is mostly because much of the best teas in China are exported to have more foreign currency cash flow to China, and it's really hard to find the highest grades of teas from within China. (Pretty sad though, considering my mom's brother is in the tea business)

The tea leaves gives a gentle pine-like aroma, which is common for Mao Fengs from the Huang Shan region.

The first, second, and third infusions of the 2008 Huang Shan Mao Feng, with the brewed leaves on the right. 

First infusion:

Tea: 1.5 tsp

Water: 1 cup

Temp: 85 Degrees Celcius (approx. since I have not yet gotten a thermometer)

Brew Time: 2.5 minutes

Review: A relatively good brew. 85 degrees is slightly too high for the first brew, so even though Mao Fengs are generally very light, this brew was a bit astringent. Not very pleasant aftertaste. However, it did bring out the pine-like  fresh flavour.

Second infusion:

Tea: 1.5 tsp

Water: 1 cup

Temp: 80 Degrees Celcius

Brew Time: 3.25 minutes

Review:  Much better than the first. Cannot taste much astringency. Very aromatic with a cream-like scent. Also leaves a decent aftertaste with no bitterness. This is the best brew out of all three. Even so, the quality of the tea overall does not suit my palate. Maybe the subtlety of these teas are  just very difficult for me to appreciate.

Third infusion:

Tea: 1.5 tsp

Water: 1 cup

Temp: 80 Degrees Celcius

Brew Time: 3.5 minutes

Review:  Too watered down. Much of the flavour and taste is gone, leaving little to ponder on. Again, I blame the quality. :(

Overall, this Mao Feng is not for me. My parents can drink it indescriminatorily with their terrible brewing method (boiling water, leaving it in forever) in the future.