Loose Leaf Green Tea Recommendations?
Hiya, I'm new to the group and new to tea.
A friend gifted me with a variety of loose-leaf teas and accessories, complete with instructions hoping to convert me--and succeeded. She loves Black Tea, so that was mostly what she gifted me with, and she's a good resource about how various Blacks taste--but she has stayed away from Greens, so there I have no one to advise me. There was a sample of Hojicha from Adagio she gave me I loved, and from another sample I discovered I don't like Gunpower Tea (too smokey/flinty). So when I ran out of non-Black Teas, I made my first order ever of teas from TeaSource, which is where my friend got most of the teas she gifted me with. I loved most of what I ordered, the White Peony, the Oolongs (especially Big Red Robe), and the Hojicha (though I prefer Adagio's) But I hated the vegetal taste of the Sencha and the Dragonwell. Drinking spinach-water not my thing. So much so I'm thinking either of throwing the rest in the trash or mailing them to a tea-loving friend.
My experience makes me wary of ordering more Green teas and throwing money away on teas I'm going to hate. So here's my question. Can someone tell me which teas are vegetal in taste I should stay away from (or smokey like Gunpowder). From what I've read, Gyokuro should definitely be off my list. What Green Teas might I like? I'm only interested in unflavored teas and don't want to mess with powders or cakes or blends. Below is a list of the unflavored Green Teas available at the moment from TeaSource I haven't tried I'm particularly curious about.
Clouds and Mist Green Tea (Organic and Supreme Grade)
China Dark Green Needles (Hunan)
Green Dragon Pearl
Green Jade Sprout (Cui Ya)
Huang Shan Mao Feng
Pi Lo Chun (New Lot and Imperial)
Precious Eyebrows (China Moon Palace or Chun Mee)
China TeaSource Green (Hunan mao jian style)
Darjeeling Green (Giddapahar Estate)
A friend gifted me with a variety of loose-leaf teas and accessories, complete with instructions hoping to convert me--and succeeded. She loves Black Tea, so that was mostly what she gifted me with, and she's a good resource about how various Blacks taste--but she has stayed away from Greens, so there I have no one to advise me. There was a sample of Hojicha from Adagio she gave me I loved, and from another sample I discovered I don't like Gunpower Tea (too smokey/flinty). So when I ran out of non-Black Teas, I made my first order ever of teas from TeaSource, which is where my friend got most of the teas she gifted me with. I loved most of what I ordered, the White Peony, the Oolongs (especially Big Red Robe), and the Hojicha (though I prefer Adagio's) But I hated the vegetal taste of the Sencha and the Dragonwell. Drinking spinach-water not my thing. So much so I'm thinking either of throwing the rest in the trash or mailing them to a tea-loving friend.
My experience makes me wary of ordering more Green teas and throwing money away on teas I'm going to hate. So here's my question. Can someone tell me which teas are vegetal in taste I should stay away from (or smokey like Gunpowder). From what I've read, Gyokuro should definitely be off my list. What Green Teas might I like? I'm only interested in unflavored teas and don't want to mess with powders or cakes or blends. Below is a list of the unflavored Green Teas available at the moment from TeaSource I haven't tried I'm particularly curious about.
Clouds and Mist Green Tea (Organic and Supreme Grade)
China Dark Green Needles (Hunan)
Green Dragon Pearl
Green Jade Sprout (Cui Ya)
Huang Shan Mao Feng
Pi Lo Chun (New Lot and Imperial)
Precious Eyebrows (China Moon Palace or Chun Mee)
China TeaSource Green (Hunan mao jian style)
Darjeeling Green (Giddapahar Estate)