Thursday, May 17, 2012

Tea Review: Organic Anji Bai Cha from ok-best-beauty

Despite its contradictory name, anji bai cha is made with the green tea process, and should be treated as a green tea. It was given the name, anji bai cha, meaning “anji white tea,” because it is picked from the white tea varietal of camellia sinensis and because the tea is a very light, luscious, high-grown green tea. Anji bai cha contains one of the highest levels of the calming amino acid l-theanine of any tea.

I procured this supply of organic anji bai cha from an eBay seller, ok-best-beauty, who shipped it direct to me from China. It was picked in Anji, Zhejiang Province. You can locate this seller's products by restricting your eBay search to items from Seller ID: "ok-best-beauty" when setting your search options. Then go to the seller's eBay store and search for anji bai cha. It is currently for sale at this listing: http://www.ebay.com/itm/2011-Anji-White-Tea-Fresh-Sweet-Organic-Green-Tea-150g-/260768098321.

This is a scrumptious, organic anji bai cha. This tea is picked in the Spring. My purchase was made a year ago, and the tea has been stored since then in small well-sealed portions in the freezer or refrigerator. So, even though it is a year old, it is still quite good. It is so tender and delicious that I always eat the steeped leaves afterwards as I would any nutritious cooked vegetable.

The dry leaf is small, thin and flat, a lovely bright green. The color is a wee bit darker than it was when it was first purchased. The leaves are all very tiny. When you consider that the white tea varietial of camellia sinensis can grow some rather large leaves, you realize how early in Spring the tea must have been picked. The tea liquor is very clear and the green has a slight, sort of neon character which I think comes from the early picking and the high elevation. The photos do not display the radiant color of the liquid tea sufficiently to capture this elusive element.

Using 175F water, I steeped 5 grams of leaf in a 3-ounce glass pot for a total of 8 steeps. Times starting at 1 minute, extending to 3-5 min for the last steeps. That's a yield of over 20 ounces of tea. Sometimes I steep a larger pot and ice it ... so thirst-quenching. My little tea pet is a turtle handmade of clay. She enjoys having water or tea poured over her. Goddess Guan Yin oversees the the proceedings. The bamboo mat lies over a stainless steel tray with a reservoir which catches the spilled fluids. It is a celebration of water and leaves.

The initial steep or two are not my favorite; sometimes I toss them out. This is a “Hong Qing Lu Cha” (baked to dry green tea) and perhaps it is that process which creates the effect that the first couple of steeps are not as luscious as the following ones. At first, I get some astringency that is mild, yet not really pleasant to my palate. This dryness is in sharp contrast to the fresh, cooling slickness of later steeps.

I like the nutty tones of the flavor. Compared to another famously-nutty flat-baked Spring green tea, 'long jing' aka 'lung ching' aka 'dragonwell,' anji bai cha is a less fussy steeper with similar aroma and flavor profile but lighter and jucier. Given a choice between the two, I would usually pick the anji bai cha. I also enjoy the citrus notes, simultaneously tangy and creamy, and the great throat-moistening qualities of the tea. The high levels of l-theanine, a calming amino acid, give it positive marks in the health category.

Historical Note: Anji Bai Cha is the first and the only white tea tree variety that was recorded in the Chinese tea literature of the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD).

No comments:

Post a Comment