Taste profile Nose: Warm, lively fresh aroma with definitive undertone of baked mung bean and a slight tint of nutmeg and fennel seed. Palate: Smooth, yet vibrant infusion of a slightly malty sweet body accented with a slight fruity tang. Finish: Mildly malty aftertaste. Infusion tip Begin by using water at 85°C and a ratio of 1 g to 100 ml water for smaller vessels, half that for infusions larger than 750 ml. Try 4 min initially for smaller pots and at least 6 min for larger ones. Raise the temperature for more sharpness and aroma. Reduce infusion time for even softer body. Increase it for more umami. This tea can be sharper when using higher temperature or higher leaf ratio. 60,000 plucks for 500 grams The infused leaves of a tea reflect a few things about the tea. Leaf size is one aspect of study. From left: Huangshan Maofeng Supreme, Taiping Houkui Traditional, Biluochun Supreme, Longjing Pure It is said that they need sixty thousand plucks to make 500 grams of Biluochun. We have not really counted, but this surely is the tiniest leaf size in our whole collection. What does a small leaf size mean? Other than that the leaves are very young and therefore containing a high density of the potent of all tea polyphenols, it also means a lot more hard work per gram of tea! The photograph above is a non-retouched, single shot of the infused leaves of four green teas. The leaves are put side by side on top of a light box to void background distraction. From left to right: Huangshan Maofeng Supreme, Taiping Houkui Traditional, Biluochun Supreme, Longjing Pure.
