"Has the mild nutty flavor you'd expect, but none of the sweetness you usually find in a Mao Feng." David’s Teaview: 7/10 Other Teaviews: Shane gave it 5/10, Cindy gave it 4/10 Your Reviews: Add your review »

Finding good-tasting green tea would seem to be getting easier these days. After all, the American public is finally beginning to wake up to the advantages of tea over coffee—the health benefits and less caffeine among them. And both Chinese and Japanese greens are getting easier to find locally and on the web. Yet, virtually everyone I talk to about green tea says that they have a hard time finding one that they like. The reason for this, primarily, I have found, is that green tea has a very short shelf life, and most folks tend to buy their tea at the supermarket or other local shops. While buying locally often works all right when buying black teas, it usually works less well for greens, since the distribution channels take time for the tea to get on the shelf and it often is sitting there for some time before being purchased. While I have found some tolerable green tea on the shelf, most of it is mediocre at best and often poor, producing pale (not green) liquor and lacking in taste and smell.

But this review is not about a store-bought green, this is about one bought from an online dealer. Being bought through web channels often yields a better result. This one is a Chinese Mao Feng green tea, referred to as Dragon Pearl Green by the purveyor, Dragon Pearl. This was my first experience with this vendors’ teas. They offer one choice each in the following categories: green, white, oolong, black, and jasmine, and they offer a 60-day money back guarantee.

Although this tea doesn’t disappoint entirely, it doesn’t live up to the best Mao Feng I have sampled. On the totally positive side, this tea is organic. We have all heard about the pollution and heavy use of pesticides in China. This tea comes from an organic tea farm “from the Fujian mountains”. While it has the mild nuttiness which is likeable about good Mao Feng, this sample lacked the sweetness to balance it. Whether this is due to this particular batch, or due to a lack of freshness issue, I cannot tell. But usually the fresh scent of a good green is indicative of the freshness of the taste as well, and this sample was lacking a bit upon taking a first “whiff”. So, I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt in this case and encourage you to order your own sample to try, which will likely be fresher than mine. Be careful with brewing time with this tea, as it seems to like a very short steeping—about a minute for me.

— To purchase Dragon Pearl Green, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular blend, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.

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