Review: Narien Teas Zhejiang Mao Feng

Jun 28

Review: Narien Teas Zhejiang Mao Feng

Troy’s Teaview Snapshot

"A great review, about a great daily drinker, in which I sneak in some general nerdery."

Troy’s Teaview:	8/10
Other Teaviews:	Steven gave it 7/10
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I type this with my vintage, in fact lets go with Classic, Model M keyboard slowly dripping hot tea down my leg. I sit before two screens, both pointed at GNU Screen sessions on two different computers, one running Ubuntu, one running OpenSolaris, there is a third windows machine, but its not attached on the KVM switch at the moment.

Between the keyboard in my lap, and the monitor on the desk, lies a cast iron teapot (enameled) and a little blue Japanese teacup. I tell you all this, partially to make myself seem more awesome, partially to give a little press to a few Free Software projects I happen to enjoy, and partially to let everyone know what a strange little duck I am for not composing this on the website like normal people.

The leaves smell richly of asparagus and grilled vegetables, the leaves look crisp in their little plastic bag staring hopefully back at me. The leaves are tightly twisted, with dappled greens ranging from very dark, to nearly pastel. Rolling is an important, beautiful, and yet often overlooked aspect of tea Craftsmanship. Overlooked by tea drinkers that is, tea professionals understand the importance of it. Rolling gives a tea, not just its physical character, but also a degree of resilience during shipping, a clear indicator of when the leaves have fully steeped. Good rolling also protects the delicate hairs and other vegetable brick-a-brack that imparts some of the rich flavour of a tea from the trials and tribulations of storage and shipping.

While I attended to work related concerns, the tea was given its chance to relax in the warm black pot. After about 3 or 5 minutes in the pot the leaves had attained the look of fresh steamed vegetables, light green and bursting with the aromas of Broccoli, asparagus, and artichokes. Good green and white tea (and sometimes Y, er I mean Oolong) should always look as if it was never dry at all when you pull it from the pot. Its a good indicator of quality, and a cheap magic trick for the kids.

Despite the aroma of the leaves, the taste wasn't overly vegetable. The liqueur was light, and clear, and the flavour was crisp and grassy. Grassy is a descriptor more often used with Japanese teas, but it really works here. It wasn't an off-putting grassy, not a bitter grassy, more a rich clean grassy that smothers the tongue, but leaves the mouth feeling clean when its passed. The taste is much more appreciable hot than cold, and I can't imagine this being a good Iced Tea, although I also cant imagine it as a horrible one, but maybe I'm just not that imaginative.

I give this tea three thumbs up, two flying monkeys, a small army of marmosets, and the entire pot of Leprechaun gold. I would give it the princess.. but she's in another castle. This is definitely a keeper, its something light and smooth that you can drink throughout the day, though it is lacking in the complexity you might prefer from time to time.

Find this and many other top-quality teas at Narien Teas, Inc..