Wild Snow Sprout Tea
This tea has been retired/discontinued.
98
Percentile
3 ratings |
|
Commercial Description
Wild Snow Sprout has a rich honey-like flavor and floral, fruity finish. The special processing method allows the tea to be brewed up to 12 times.
Brewing Instructions: (from Wild Tea Qi)
Water: 194-212°F
Leaves: 1 teaspoon or 2-3 grams per 4 ounces
Infusion Time: 5 seconds; each cup use longer and longer brewing times.
Ratings & Reviews
Page 1 of 1 page with 3 reviews
87 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 4/5Amanda (338 reviews) on Jul. 11th, 2013
When I first opened the package I thought, is this a fermented tea? It had the rich earthy aroma of a Pu Erh and the smokiness of a mild Lapsang Souchong with just a hint of that 'Asian Market' smell that you get with Pu Erhs. It is delightful and unfamiliar, certainly a new aroma from a green tea.
Once the leaves have been brewed their aroma changes drastically to mildly smoked chestnuts with hints of the vegetal green you expect from a green tea.
The flavor of the tea is very mild and it feels like it cleanses my palate. The flavor is evocative of distant campfires and summer evenings on a lake.
Each infusion brings out something a little different. Sometimes you get more of the vegetal green, other times a grassy green.
Truly a delightful and complex tea.
93 Aroma: 10/10 Flavor: 4/5 Value: 5/5homais (21 reviews) on Dec. 5th, 2012
This tea was surprising, and delicious.
The biggest surprise was unusual aroma, and the disconnect between that aroma and the taste. I should say: for me, the smell of tea is a thing to savor, as much a part of the experience as drinking it. Unless you buy something after drinking a sample, the smell is probably your first exposure, your first hint of what it might be. Sometimes I go into tea shops and just smell things.
This tea had a completely unexpected, intoxicating smell. It was intensely smoky. Like, new age healing ceremony smoky. It wasn't what I've come to expect from green tea at all. I thought it was like Lapsang Souchong, but more herbal.
I only had one small sample to play with, so I steeped it Gong Fu style according to the directions on the packet - relatively large amounts of leaf, relatively small amounts of water, and very short steep times.
The taste wasn't anywhere near as smoky as the aroma would imply. It was balanced and floral. The description said it tasted of honey, which I would not say, though I did taste some sweetness in it. Each steeping brought out something different - perhaps an effect of the tea's considerable complexity, or in variations in duration and water temperature from steeping to steeping. Or both.
The description claims that you can steep it up to 12 times, and perhaps this is true; I gave up after 9. However, throughout all nine steepings, the tea remained complex, balanced and tasty - sometimes floral, sometimes herbal, sometimes a little bit grassy, and never overly strong on any one dimension.
For my personal tastes, this tea was very good and obviously of high quality - though not among the very best I have ever encountered in terms of pure taste - but even more than good, it was interesting. For me, where it really shines is as a comprehensive sensual experience: the smell, the surprising taste, the multiple infusions, the variations from cup to cup. It was an experience I found myself paying more conscious attention to than I usually manage, and it rewarded that attention.
87 Aroma: 8/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 5/5Alex Zorach (1448 reviews) on Nov. 29th, 2012
This tea is completely unlike anything else I've tried. It has a lot going on in the aroma, and almost defies description.
I notice a smoky quality, almost like a hint of that campfire smoke of Lapsang souchong, paired with a hint of camphor, like in raw Pu-erh. But upon drinking, it is more floral and honey-like, and like described by Wild Tea Qi, it does have a fruity finish.
Later infusions have tones of nutmeg and other spice, and almost resemble aged Pu-erh a bit.
Flavor is exceptionally smooth in all infusions. Naturally quite sweet, and full-bodied without being noticeably astringent.
Wild Tea Qi recommends exceptionally short steeping times. I liked a bolder flavor, so I used longer steeping times. The leaf persists quite well through many infusions, although not as much as the company claims (12 infusions must require a lot of leaf per water, and very brief steepings, and I did not have enough leaf in the sample to try this).
Oddly, I find this tea tastes best at room temperature. But I recommend brewing with boiling water, except on the first infusion (this brings out a bit too much of the vegetal tones).
I think the price on this is very good for any green tea of this quality.
Page 1 of 1 page with 3 reviews
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