Taiping Houkui Superior

Tea type
Green Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Caramel, Grass, Nuts, Roasted, Seaweed, Sweet, Tangy, Umami, Vegetal, Butter, Celery, Maple, Flowers
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by nannuoshan
Average preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 15 sec 2 g 81 oz / 2393 ml

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3 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Today I’m sampling Taiping Houkui and Taiping Houkui Superior next to each other. The difference between these two teas is that the regular one is processed partially by machine and the superior is...” Read full tasting note
    85
  • “Happy Year of the Goat! I got my Nannuoshan samples today, and immediately drank both of my Taipings side-by-side to compare them. So I measured out 3g and got to it! Appearance: Smaller than the...” Read full tasting note
    86
  • “I usually buy from reliable sources (Teavivre, YS and the likes). I recently noticed a couple of nannuoshan’s black tea reviews, with pretty high score. So I thought giving it a try. I’m fond of...” Read full tasting note
    93

From Nannuoshan

The taste is clean, smooth, pungent green but not grassy. A liquor with a stimulating silky texture.
This Taiping Houkui is completely made by hand.

TASTE: Clean, smooth, pungent

http://www.nannuoshan.org/collections/green/products/taiping-houkui-superior

About Nannuoshan View company

Company description not available.

3 Tasting Notes

85
894 tasting notes

Today I’m sampling Taiping Houkui and Taiping Houkui Superior next to each other. The difference between these two teas is that the regular one is processed partially by machine and the superior is entirely hand processed. There’s also a fairly significant difference in the price, to account for the amount of extra labour that goes into hand processing.

I believe this is my first time having Taiping Houkui.

The dry leaf varies in colour from medium to dark green. While it is quite flat, it is not perfectly flat or uniform. There are some large pieces in my sample, but also quite a few broken bits. The smell is rich, with strong umami and seaweed qualities, and just a touch of roasted character. I am reminded a lot of a good quality sencha. Compared to the standard version, the leaf is less uniform in shape, size and colour. This smells slightly sweeter and richer.

I steeped 1g of leaf in 50ml of 80C water, three times, for 60 , 60 and 90 seconds.

Steeped the leaf smells sweet and umami with no grassiness. The variable sizes of leaf and leaf fragments make for a less visually stunning steeping experience than the standard version.

The soup is pale yellow green, and very clear. It is slightly paler than the standard version. Smell is mild, slightly tangy and vegetal, but present.

The flavour is complex. Notes of seaweed, umami, and nuts, with both sweetness and a vegetal tang. There is a hint of caramel in the cheeks. The flavour is pungent but more delicate than regular. The body is quite light, and one of the most noticeable differences between these teas.

After the first steep these teas diverge quite a lot. The second steep is more bold than first – tangier, more vegetal and pungent. Also sweeter, with more distinct caramel. The finish is nice and tangy. The third steep is less sweet and less tangy than the first two. It has a mellow vegetal, grassy flavour. Toward the end of the sip there’s a bit of roastiness that comes out. Compared to the standard, more umami and nuttiness remain in the third steep.

I feel that if I were so inclined, I feel that I could get another steep out of these.

Both of these are excellent teas. I am reminded in many ways of sencha. While they are very similar at first, and I’m not sure I would notice the difference if I had not had these side by side, the differences show in later steeps. I enjoyed the Superior slightly more, although I’m not sure the difference in the tea is big enough for me to personally justify the price difference. However, supporting the art of handcrafting might be.

Samples provided by Nannuoshan.

Flavors: Caramel, Grass, Nuts, Roasted, Seaweed, Sweet, Tangy, Umami, Vegetal

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 0 sec 1 g 2 OZ / 50 ML

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86
296 tasting notes

Happy Year of the Goat! I got my Nannuoshan samples today, and immediately drank both of my Taipings side-by-side to compare them. So I measured out 3g and got to it!

Appearance: Smaller than the other Taiping. The leaves are darker, a rich forest green. I can see the artisanship by the slight wrinkles at the edge of the leaf.

Dry Leaf Aroma: Freshly washed celery, savoy cabbage
Wet Leaf Aroma: later steepings produce a maple sugar-like sweetness. Buttered Spinach
Liquor Colour: Soft but bright spring green

Steep #1: 150ml, 60sec, 80C. Thick and intensely smooth mouthfeel. No astringency.
Steep #2: 150ml, 60sec, 80C. Slightly sweeter than the last. Smells and tastes like mirepoix sautéd in butter, minus the onions.
Steep #3: 150ml, 1min 30sec, 80C. Still fresh, but lighter in flavor.

The bottom line: This tea earns it’s Superior title with it’s smooth and rich mouthfeel. I like to think of this comparison as a competition of man vs. machine. Once again, man wins!
https://instagram.com/thelast_dodo/p/zTrhwWqH4m/

https://instagram.com/thelast_dodo/p/zTsl0CKH54/

https://instagram.com/thelast_dodo/p/zTr9KyKH5M/

Flavors: Butter, Celery, Maple

Preparation
3 g 5 OZ / 150 ML

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93
7 tasting notes

I usually buy from reliable sources (Teavivre, YS and the likes). I recently noticed a couple of nannuoshan’s black tea reviews, with pretty high score. So I thought giving it a try. I’m fond of green teas, so I ordered three samples of them that I got together with the Yixing Hong Cha (that I already reviewed).
The fist of the green tea I tried is the Taiping houkui superior, because I’ve never seen leaves like that, long and flat, with a light texture on them. Moreover the smell is delicate, sweet and very inviting! The the taste changes with each brew: first is a bit grassy, then it becomes more sweet and floral.
I definitely like it and I think I will treat myself to a 50g box to put under the Christmas tree :-)

Flavors: Flowers, Grass, Sweet

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML

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