Claudius contemplates a duel.
Name: Jade Sword Green Tea / Mao Jian
Brand: Canton Tea Co
Type: Green tea
Form: Loose leaf
Review: A very pretty tea, Jade Sword is made up of thin, twisted, pine green leaves scattered with silvery tips. The nose is slightly buttery and sweet. Once added to a warmed teapot, the nose became richer and nuttier, reminding me hazelnuts.
Once infused to a very pale yellow-gold, this medium bodied tea has a decidedly creamy quality. It is sweet and nutty and slightly herbal. Despite its creamy body, it is also light on the palate, making it a fine choice for sipping, but I wouldn’t recommend serving it with food.
What I really like about this tea is its staying power. I don’t normally get a lot of good steeps from green teas, but this one is good for about four. As the steeps progress, the sweet nuttiness dissipates while an interesting minerality appears. Quite refreshing on a hot day.
Recommended.
Preparation Tips: I first prepared this in a gaiwan, which was fine, but found that my little 100ml glass teapot produced a better tea. Keep those steeps short (45 seconds at the most). The tea loses its creamy quality and can become slightly bitter if left to steep too long.
Sample Provided by Retailer?: Yes
Affiliate Links in this Post?: No
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I also find that green teas tend not to be as good for multiple infusions as oolongs. However, some of them surprise me. Some of them make sense, like this Thailand bold leaf green tea from Upton Tea–very large leaves, and it’s outstanding for many infusions. But others of them catch me off guard, like Upton’s chun mee dao ming. I’ve also found that sencha can surprise me…it’s finely broken and kinda flaky so I would think it would lose its flavor quickly, but when I’ve bought high-end sencha, it has tended to hold its flavor through 3 or more infusions.
I remember adding this particular tea to our database, and I wanted to try it. I have yet to try any Mao Jian tea. It’s subtle, but the names Mao Jian (meaning fur tip) and Mao Feng (meaning fur peak) sound so similar; I’d be curious to see if they are at all similar or not really. The leaf certainly looks different.