This tea is currently for sale on their website. They also teach a class every year about how to make yellow tea (and how to do it following FDA guidelines). It’s a fascinating science packed class that any tea nerd who loves and wants to understand yellow tea should take. I really enjoyed it and will be taking more of their classes.
Now onto the review:
Mississippi Sunshine- The Great Mississippi Tea Company
(yellow tea)
Dry tea:
Appearance: Visually interesting. It almost looks like brush from a forest floor. The leaves are not dried in an even method, but it looks like whole leaves.
Smell: Light fresh fruitiness, almost a mix of oatmilk and fresh nectarines. Very floral.
Wet tea:
Appearance: Deep army/olive and blackish green with an undertone of brown. Long twisted whole leaves.
Smell: Pungent, medjool dates, sweet, really interesting and complex. Hard to unpack. Wet dried roses.
HOT TEA: Chinese prep
Gaiwan: 5.20g 120ml
Infusion 1: 175°F 10s
Appearance: clear golden yellow
Smell: Sweet, fruity, medjool dates, hints of tamarind, light brown sugar like dried figs
Taste: Fresh figs, undergrowth, almost mossy, sweet, fruity, a little pungent, almost a dark earthy fruitiness. A bit complicated to unpack, but very interesting.
Infusion 2: 175°F 15s
Appearance: dark gold, clear
Smell: Nectarines, sweet, deeply fruity, dark stone fruits
Taste: lightly vegetal like fresh figs, light sharpness, vague fruitiness, almost tangy. Lighter and less complex.
Infusion 3: 175°F 20s
Appearance: dark gold, clear
Smell: Sweet, fruity, lightly tangy, tamarind
Taste: A little sharp, fresh figs, pungent, vaguely vegetal, almost mossy, not really fruity
Infusion 4: 175°F 25s
Appearance: dark gold, amber, clear
Smell: lightly fruity, sweet, indistinct dried fruit
Taste: Vegetal, vegetable water, vague fruitiness
HOT TEA: Western Prep
2.41g 120ml
Infusion 1: 175°F 3 min
Appearance: bright amber gold, clear
Smell: Pungent, sweet, medjool dates, almost earthy, fruity
Taste: Pungent, savory, lightly sweet, tangy, light animal notes, wet hay, light musk /muscatel
There’s a lot to unpack.
Infusion 2: 175°F 4 min
Appearance: amber gold, clear
Smell: Sweet, fruity, muscatel, medjool dates
Taste: Sweet, indistinct fruitiness, vague earthiness, light muscatel/ muskiness, not as complex, vague aftertaste
It heavily degraded in complexity on steep #2 with the western method.
It degrades heavily on infusion #3 for gongfu method.
ICED TEA
2x 1L infusions in an electric kettle w/ infuser basket using 6.15g
Infusion 1: 3 minutes 175°F 1L
Infusion 2: 4 minutes 175°F 1L
Pour both in a pitcher and stick it in the fridge until it is cold.
Appearance: bright amber golden yellow, clear
Smell: pungent, tropical fruits, bright fruity notes, hint of melon, hint of cut hay
Taste: Pungent, a little tangy, fruity, fresh figs, sweet but not overly sweet, almost savory, floral, wet dried rose buds
Food pairings
W/ breaded chicken and sauce:
The plain chicken and tea don’t really blend or clash.
The bbq sauce and the tea don’t really have an effect on each other. It’s a lot like drinking tastier water.
The sweet chili sauce is a GREAT match. The tea offers a refreshing palate cleanse. Its mild sweetness matches tones with the sauce enough to blend, but the difference in sweetness is enough to accent the sauce’s sugary nature. The tea is also hydrating and refreshing in a way that is more satisfying than water after the spiciness of the sauce.
Video of wet leaves:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CU8dEUghKvf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Flavors: Brown Sugar, Dates, Dried Fruit, Earth, Fig, Floral, Hay, Moss, Muscatel, Oats, Rose, Savory, Stonefruit, Sweet, Tropical
