Tea Appreciation Tip
Dragon Well Green Tea
Authentic pre-rain Dragon Well green tea presents the following characteristics. All of our photos are taken by Mantra Tea with our own tea products. 100% real photos! |
SMELL
There are 3 ways to appreciate tea incense. Put tea leaves in a hot water rinsed tea pot and cover the lid. After a while the remained heat brings out the smell of dried leaves. Take a sniff of the dried leaves. After the tea was brewed and poured into a cup and sniffed the brewed tea liquid, and lastly, after several brewings the spent tea leaves were also sniffed. The dried leaves have a smell of inviting fresh grass, perhaps a reminiscent of green seaweed with toasty caramel aroma. The brewed tea liquid and leaves smell like freshly cut grass and a brisk hint of mung bean and lime. |
TASTE
This green tea has a fine grass and mung bean note with full mellow sweet aftertaste transitioned from a licorice-like flavor at the first sip. It is smooth and gentle to savor your taste buds. AUTHENTICATION! Dragon Well green tea harvested in spring before Qing Ming Festival is of the best quality; fall and winter tea is the less superior than spring harvest; summer Dragon Well tea is of the low quality. From views of shape, high quality Dragon Well tea produces tender, whole leaves that are uniform in appearance, mostly one or two leaves with one tea bud; low quality Dragon Well tea is mixed with tea stalks in majority. Before infusion, higher quality Longjing tea has a very tight, flat shape and light green color. After steeping, low quality varieties may vary in color from bluish to deep green ; instead, high quality Long Jing tea shows bright clean light yellow liquid with pale green. Taste of supreme Long Jing tea has classical mung bean flavor, which is fresh and mellow, not stale chestnut flavor. |
Bi Luo Chun green tea
Authentic pre-rain Bi Luo Chun green tea presents the following characteristics. All of our photos are taken by Mantra Tea with our own tea products. 100% real photos! Vertical Divider
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SEE
Bi Luo Chun is renown for its tender buds covered with white down, tightly-rolled and slightly curled green leaves, refreshing natural taste and smell. Look at the dried leaves in the product photo album, you can see huge proportion of San Xia Bi Luo Chun is with white downy buds, which represent high quality, because tea buds release distinct aroma and Theanine, a substance that creates sweet and rounded flavor. After brewing it, check out the leaves. They are plucked in forms of one tea bud with one or two leaves. Plucking Bi Luo Chun requires intensive labor and skillful processing experience to keep the tea buds and leaves intact. |
SMELL
There are 3 ways to appreciate tea incense. Put tea leaves in a hot water rinsed tea pot and cover the lid. After a while the remained heat brings out the smell of dried leaves. Take a sniff of the dried leaves. After the tea was brewed and poured into a cup and sniffed the brewed tea liquid, and lastly, after several brewings the spent tea leaves were also sniffed. The dried leaves has a smell of refreshiing raw grass after the rain. The brewed tea liquid and leaves smell lightly raw grass and vegetal scent combined with wild floral and sugary smell. |
TASTE
This green tea steeps up with surprising body, yet is smooth and refreshing. You'll find its distinct aftertaste of sweetness and slight earthiness spread over your palate. Authentication Bi Luo Chun harvested in spring is of the top quality; Bi Luo Chun harvested in fall and winter is the less superior, and summer Bi Luo Chun is of low quality. Good quality of Bi Luo Chun shows its natural emerald green leaves tightly-rolled into curled shapes with obvious tea buds covered with white down, mostly in length of 1.5 cm. There are various sources of Bi Luo Chun in the market. To ensure product safety, Mantra Tea encourages consumers to learn tips to tell artificial dyed Bi Luo Chun from natural one. 1. Deeper green color does not mean better quality of Bi Luo Chun. Tea without artificial pigment shows natural and bright green; instead, tea with artificial dye shows color of dark black and dull green. 2. Downs of artificial dyed Bi Luo Chun are green, not white. 3. Color of artificial dyed Bi Luo Chun infusion is dark yellow, not clear light green with slight yellow hue. |
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Wen Shan Bao Zhong Oolong
Authentic Wen Shan Baozhong Oolong presents the following characteristics. All of our photos are taken by Mantra Tea with our own tea products. 100% real photos! |
SEE
Twisted, tight, and curled shape till the end of tea leaves. The tea has dark green luster dotted with a few white spots. After brewing it, check out the leaves. Since the tea is lightly withered, the leaves are soft. They are plucked in forms of two matured leaves and some with tea buds. The color of brewed leaves is overall emarald green with red color along the edge of the leaves, a sign of good quality of lightly oxidized teas without over oxidization. The color of tea liquor is glowing vibrant greenish yellow. |
SMELL
There are 3 ways to appreciate tea incense. Put tea leaves in a hot water rinsed tea pot and cover the lid. After a while the remained heat brings out the smell of dried leaves. Take a sniff of the dried leaves. After the tea was brewed and poured into a cup and sniffed the brewed tea liquid, and lastly, after several brewings the spent tea leaves were also sniffed. The smell of the dry leaves is very sweet with honey undertone and distinctly fruity aroma. After brewing it, you would be amazed by its pronounced floral fragrance much like wild ginger lilly. |
TOUCH
Since the tea is lightly withered, the leaves are soft. They are plucked in forms of two matured leaves and some with tea buds. The color of brewed leaves is overall emarald green with red color along the edge of the leaves, a sign of good quality of lightly oxidized teas without over oxidization. |
TASTE
Wen Shan Baozhong keeps green tea's freshness and adds round sweet note. The most impressive is its heavenly floral aroma which lingers on your taste buds and uplifts to olfactory bulb, incredibly matching with the succulent tea liquor. Authentication Wenshan Baozhong harvested in spring(mid April-early May) is of the top quality; harvests in fall (late August - mid September) and winter (late October-mid November) are less superior than spring harvests. Summer harvests are of the least quality. Judge good quality of Wenshan Pouchong from appearance: Tightly twisted into curled shape to the end of leaves with dark green color and a few with white dots; from aroma: elegant natural floral fragrance; from infusion: tea liquor is glowing golden yellow with a hue of light green; from taste: round, smooth, fresh, and sweet. |
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Oriental Beauty Oolong Tea
Authentic high quality of Oriental Beauty Oolong presents the following characteristics. All of our photos are taken by Mantra Tea with our own tea products. 100% real photos! |
SEE
Oriental Beauty is renowned for its white downy young tea buds and 5 beautiful colors- white, dark red, brown, dark green, and dark yellow. Tea leaves are softly rolled into curl shape. They are plucked in forms of one tea bud with one or two leaves. The color of leaves is overall dark brownish red, representing good oxidation process. The color of tea liquor is glowing orange red, like amber. |
SMELL
There are 3 ways to appreciate tea incense. Put tea leaves in a hot water rinsed tea pot and cover the lid. After a while the remained heat brings out the smell of dried leaves. Take a sniff of the dried leaves. After the tea was brewed and poured into a cup and sniffed the brewed tea liquid, and lastly, after several brewings the spent tea leaves were also sniffed. At the moment you brew this lovely Oriental Beauty tea in your teapot, a delicate aroma is surrounding you. You will find a distinctive fragrance of honey, ripe fruit ( a mix of orange and apple), and flower. The romantic warm and sweet scent seemly creates an ambience of strolling in an orchard. |
TASTE
Rich and smooth sweetness without adding any sweetener or milk. Authentication Oriental Beauty harvested in early summer is of the top quality; harvests in October and November are less superior than early summer tea but also good quality. The tea has to be plucked during the first 7 days after the tea shoots bud- usually around 10 days before or after Dragon Boat Festival. Only tea bud with one or two leave sets are plucked and each farmer in average can only pick 1-1.5 kilogram raw teas everyday, so the harvest is little. In addition, the origin of producing Oriental Beauty is an indicator of quality. Oriental Beauty is invented from Formosa. Tao Yuan, Xin Zhu county and Miao Li are where the best tea tree variety for Oriental Beauty is planted and processed in a long history. Other countries might copy the method to make Oriental Beauty, but it is hardly possible to copy the authentic flavor because Oriental Beauty is made with tea leaves without any pesticide and the unique Formosa hopper which makes the tea smell aromatic is not the same in other places. Mantra Tea Top Grade Oriental Beauty harvested in early summer from an award-winning tea farm in Miao Li meets all the criteria an authentic Oriental Beauty tea should have. It is worth trying! |
Red Oolong Tea
Authentic high quality of Red Oolong presents the following characteristics. All of our photos are taken by Mantra Tea with our own tea products. 100% real photos! Vertical Divider
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SMELL
There are 3 ways to appreciate tea incense. Put tea leaves in a hot water rinsed tea pot and cover the lid. After a while the remained heat brings out the smell of dried leaves. Take a sniff of the dried leaves. After the tea was brewed and poured into a cup and sniffed the brewed tea liquid, and lastly, after several brewings the spent tea leaves were also sniffed. The Red Oolong in hot rinsed teapot fills a unique fruity sweetness in the air. At the moment you brew this lovely Red Oolong tea in your teapot, you will find a delicate grapefruit and citrus fragrance. The roasted warm and fruity sweetness are perfect complex. An excellent tea pairs with a piece of fresh fruit pie! |
TOUCH
After brewing it, check out the leaves. Since the tea is partly withered, the leaves are a little stiff. TASTE
This heavily oxidized Red Oolong tastes incredibly full and smooth. It delivers a natural unique and smooth sweetness- no need to add any sweetener or milk. Red Oolong is especially suitable for cold brewing. Authentication Red Oolong harvested in spring(mid April-early May) is of the top quality; harvests in fall (late August - mid September) and winter (late October-mid November) are less superior than spring harvests. Judge good quality of Red Oolong from appearance: Tightly twisted into semi-ball shapes with a few tea stalks out. The leaves color is dark brownish red with luster. From aroma: ripe fruity fragrance without over toasted smell; from infusion: tea liquor color is glowing orange red like amber; from taste: smooth and mellow sweet, no astringency left. Mantra Tea organic Red Oolong is grown in a pure land in the east coast of Taiwan and made by a first prize-winning tea farmer. |