I tried this tea western style and Chinese gong fu style and, as with all green teas, gong fu style brings out the full flavour profile.
Firstly, Western tea. I put 4g tea in 250 ml water at ~95 celsius for 4 minutes to "push" the flavour out. It came out as a little light for me using this method but I expect that due to steeping in this manner but it had a well balanced flavor profile. Biscuit, baked flavour on top of a pleasant tea profile, a little sweet and a pleasant balanced bitter with little or no astringency. The grassy or vegetal notes were subdued by the baked tea quality. This is a good example to highlight the differences in green teas from Japan where grassy flavours are very prominent. Altogether a very good, balanced tea but the stalks confirm the price, fewer stalks makes a better tea but comes with a higher price tag. The leaf size illustrates C. assamica, large leaf, so is less fragrant than a Chinese Mao Feng, but my taste buds prefer this flavour profile. I managed four! steeps so was very happy with this tea. (Makes a higher priced tea better value than a cheaper one cup shot!)
Secondly, Gong fu steep. I put 5g in 100 ml steeping for 20 seconds, This is my preferred method for green teas. This really brings out the flavour and this tea has a prominent biscuit flavour that is not overpowered as in a black tea. I assume this is the kill green stage (Maillard reaction) and I liked it very much, not burnt but very apparent.. No astringency at all even when I tried a 3 minute steep it remained well balanced, not grassy, medium umami (meaty) flavour and not overbitter. I always inspect the steeped leaf. Some very large assamicas, but whole leaves showing care in the plucking- my guess is the plucking went lower than one bud and two leaves but too many stalks to be 5 star For the price I shall be happy to reorder this tea.
A final thought, I have tried this tea a few times since acquiring it and every time it lifts my mood. I am convinced it is high in theanine so another plus point.
Great green tea, definitely not Chinese, so India should up their marketing of green teas, less fragrant than Chinese but very good tea.
