Reviewer: Teuvo
✓ 63 teas reviewed
✓ 25 of Green Tea
✓ 50 of Pure Tea (Camellia sinensis)
✓ 9 of Unami
✓ 3 from Anhui, China
✓ 25 from China
Review of Cui Ya
November 24th, 2018
| Aroma | Flavor | Value | Total |
| 8 of 10 | 4 of 5 | 3 of 5 | 67 of 100 |
| Excellent | Good | Reasonable |
The first time I made this tea, I didn't get much flavour out of it, so this time I used more leaves than I usually do for green tea - at least, I tried to. The leaves are large and twisted into irregular shapes, so it's not very dense. I think I could have used even more.
The liquor is rather light but it's a really lovely jewel green, it reminds me of high-quality light oolongs.
The main impression I have is that it reminds me of longjing, but there's something else too that I have a hard time grasping. I want to say it's fruitier, but I also suspect that I might come back to this review later and wonder what made me say so. For now, though, I'd say that there's just a hint of apricot jam or dried apricot.
It's a really nice tea, it's just a shame that Unami doesn't let you buy less than 80 grams of it. This way you do end up spending a fair amount of money if you buy it. It's worth its price per gram, but I'd really prefer to be able to buy it in a smaller amount.
EDIT: In hindsight, as I'm drinking another cup, I'm wondering if I mightn't have classified it as longjing. The leaves don't quite have that classical dragonwell shape, but it tastes so much like it that I feel like it might be justifiably classified as that style.
