Hi there wonderful readers! Apologies for my recent delay in putting out new reviews- I’ve been in England since January and I’ve been a busy little bee in this wonderfully soggy country! Cat sitting, house renovating, fried bread making, and castle exploring are just a few of the things on my perpetual to-do list since arriving here. 😛 Can’t tell you how much I’ve missed writing reviews and tasting new teas, and I’m so happy that things have finally quieted down to the point where I can settle in and get writing again. That said, today I’m going to be having a look at What-Cha Tea’s Nepal First Flush 2014 Emerald Green Tea! Despite being such a well loved tea company of /r/tea, this is the first time I’ve ever tried What-Cha’s tea for myself! Exciting stuff!

This review will be a bit different to my previous posts- unfortunately I did not think to bring my gongfu-style teapot with me from the States, so I brewed this tea both with a standard Western teapot and Grandpa style in a hotel coffee cup (my tea goes everywhere with me :P) and my observations will be based on those methods.

As I opened the package, I was immediately taken back by the light, airy quality of the leaves- their unprocessed look resembles white tea far more than most greens I’ve seen before. The first time i brewed this tea was in a ~2 cup teapot, steeping 3 heaping teaspoons of leaves for approximately three minutes. The flavor was subtlety fruity and smooth, with very few vegetal or grassy notes- I was reminded of Pai Mu Tan (White Peony) or a similarly sweet white tea. Yum!

Brewing the tea grandpa style for roughly two minutes brought out quite a different flavor profile, to my surprise. The first sip was dominated by nutty and sweet flavors with fruity notes becoming the aftertaste. As the leaves unfurled more fully in the cup after an extra minute on the second steeping, both flavors became stronger but retained their previous prevalence. While using the leaves a third time, I accidentally left them to steep for over ten minutes, though the resulting brew had no bitterness! However, the nutty taste of the tea now easily overpowered any lingering suggestions of fruitiness even as an aftertaste. Subsequent steepings produced the same results.

Simply stated, this tea is a pleasure to drink and can be prepared as simply or as complex as you have the desire for and will still produce delicious results. If more care and precision is taken with its preparation, it is easy to coax out the fruity and slightly floral subtleties of the leaves, but the resulting tea is still a pleasure to drink even the leaves are thrown into a teacup and left to steep. This Emerald Green Tea is a delightful departure from the grassy vegetal taste of many green teas I’ve tried, and its light, sweet flavor along with its forgiving steep time makes it a perfect introduction to greens for a loose-leaf beginner.