Hi folks, I need your collected wisdom and I hope you can shed some
insight into the 2 questions I have at the moment:

Question #1

I recently enjoyed a very good green tea that tastes floral with a bit
of basil and parsley and other nice aromas. However, I'm not really
sure what kind of tea this is. The sample package merely says "Angel
White", but the leaves are very fresh medium green and rolled
lengthwise thinly. At first, I guessed it might be Anji Baipian. On
second thought, the leaves are too green and long for it to be AJBP.
Though I'm not a big green tea drinker, I found this tea quite charming
and I can see myself drinking it regularly. Do you know what tea this
is by looking at the pictures below?

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j2...njibaipian.jpg
(the file was named Anjibaipian by me, but it might be a misnomer until
someone corrects me).

Question #2

Then there is another sample package labelled "Anji Pai Cha". Now,
this tea has all the classic AJBP look: light greenish-white in color
(jade), leaves are smallish and made of 1-bud-1-leaf or 1-bud-2-leaves
system. I read that AJBP has a higher amino acid level than most other
green teas. My question is how does the increased amount of amino acid
supposed to affect the tea's taste? In other words, what am I supposed
to look for on the palate or nose to detect the amino acid?

Your wisdom is very much appreciated.

~Phyll
--------------------------------------------------
phyllsheng.blogspot.com
www.winexiles.com
contributes at www.tching.com
--------------------------------------------------

"Phyll" > writes:

> [...]
> Question #2
>
> Then there is another sample package labelled "Anji Pai Cha".

Is that Wade-Giles? That is, Anji Bai Cha in Pinyin?

> Now, this tea has all the classic AJBP look: light greenish-white in
> color (jade), leaves are smallish and made of 1-bud-1-leaf or
> 1-bud-2-leaves system. I read that AJBP has a higher amino acid
> level than most other green teas. My question is how does the
> increased amount of amino acid supposed to affect the tea's taste?
> In other words, what am I supposed to look for on the palate or nose
> to detect the amino acid?

I'm guessing that the amino acid in question would be theanine. That
granted, the nose wouldn't be affected, but astringency would be
diminished.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html
recent addition: Yu Rui

Lewis Perin wrote:
> "Phyll" > writes:
>
> > [...]
> > Question #2
> >
> > Then there is another sample package labelled "Anji Pai Cha".
>
> Is that Wade-Giles? That is, Anji Bai Cha in Pinyin?
>
In Wade-Giles it should be Anchi Pai Ch'a.

MarshalN
http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN

Phyll wrote:
> Hi folks, I need your collected wisdom and I hope you can shed some
> insight into the 2 questions I have at the moment:
>
> Question #1
>
> I recently enjoyed a very good green tea that tastes floral with a bit
> of basil and parsley and other nice aromas. However, I'm not really
> sure what kind of tea this is. The sample package merely says "Angel
> White", but the leaves are very fresh medium green and rolled
> lengthwise thinly. At first, I guessed it might be Anji Baipian. On
> second thought, the leaves are too green and long for it to be AJBP.
> Though I'm not a big green tea drinker, I found this tea quite charming
> and I can see myself drinking it regularly. Do you know what tea this
> is by looking at the pictures below?
>
> http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j2...njibaipian.jpg
> (the file was named Anjibaipian by me, but it might be a misnomer until
> someone corrects me).
>
> Question #2
>
> Then there is another sample package labelled "Anji Pai Cha". Now,
> this tea has all the classic AJBP look: light greenish-white in color
> (jade), leaves are smallish and made of 1-bud-1-leaf or 1-bud-2-leaves
> system. I read that AJBP has a higher amino acid level than most other
> green teas. My question is how does the increased amount of amino acid
> supposed to affect the tea's taste? In other words, what am I supposed
> to look for on the palate or nose to detect the amino acid?
>
> Your wisdom is very much appreciated.
>
> ~Phyll
> --------------------------------------------------
> phyllsheng.blogspot.com
> www.winexiles.com
> contributes at www.tching.com
> --------------------------------------------------
Regarding your question, Phyll.... I'm afraid I don't know the answer,
and it seems like nobody on Sanzui knows either. Nobody seems to
recognize it.

Could this be one of those Indian efforts to make green/white tea?

MarshalN
http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN

I plugged what I guessed the Chinese characters for 'Angel White' into
Google and TaoBao and didn't come up with anything meaningful. There
was a promising link to Alibaba which had disappeared, something about
Lilacs.

Jim

MarshalN wrote:
> Phyll wrote:
....The Grinch who stole bandwidth...
> Regarding your question, Phyll.... I'm afraid I don't know the answer,
> and it seems like nobody on Sanzui knows either. Nobody seems to
> recognize it.
>
> Could this be one of those Indian efforts to make green/white tea?
>
> MarshalN
> http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN

Actually the picture looks like a lower grade Anji Bai Cha, or one that is
adulterated. The dark green spine in contrast with the pale blades seem to
indicate that, as well as your mention of floral (but not with the touch of
basil & parsley), as well as the rolled shape - Anji Bai Pian is more
straight and needle-like.

What it doesn't look like Anji Bai Cha, is the way the leaves curl; Anji Bai
Cha tends to curl inwards from the edge, in this it looks more like a
regular green tea with shoots.

Anji Bai Cha contends 6.2% amino acids, with 14 types of them, which many
claim is good for the body. The amount of amino acid in a tea leaf will
affect the brew's sweetness, usually the higher the amino acid content, the
sweeter the tea.

Danny


"Phyll" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Hi folks, I need your collected wisdom and I hope you can shed some
> insight into the 2 questions I have at the moment:
>
> Question #1
>
> I recently enjoyed a very good green tea that tastes floral with a bit
> of basil and parsley and other nice aromas. However, I'm not really
> sure what kind of tea this is. The sample package merely says "Angel
> White", but the leaves are very fresh medium green and rolled
> lengthwise thinly. At first, I guessed it might be Anji Baipian. On
> second thought, the leaves are too green and long for it to be AJBP.
> Though I'm not a big green tea drinker, I found this tea quite charming
> and I can see myself drinking it regularly. Do you know what tea this
> is by looking at the pictures below?
>
> http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j2...njibaipian.jpg
> (the file was named Anjibaipian by me, but it might be a misnomer until
> someone corrects me).
>
> Question #2
>
> Then there is another sample package labelled "Anji Pai Cha". Now,
> this tea has all the classic AJBP look: light greenish-white in color
> (jade), leaves are smallish and made of 1-bud-1-leaf or 1-bud-2-leaves
> system. I read that AJBP has a higher amino acid level than most other
> green teas. My question is how does the increased amount of amino acid
> supposed to affect the tea's taste? In other words, what am I supposed
> to look for on the palate or nose to detect the amino acid?
>
> Your wisdom is very much appreciated.
>
> ~Phyll
> --------------------------------------------------
> phyllsheng.blogspot.com
> www.winexiles.com
> contributes at www.tching.com
> --------------------------------------------------
>

Thanks for all the comments so far! It does taste rather sweet in the
mouth with a good aftertaste. I did write a touch of parsley and
basil, but the tea itself is not vegie-tasting. It's more floral and
smooth.

Danny: Adulterated Anji Baicha? In what way can it be adulterated?



samarkand wrote:
> Actually the picture looks like a lower grade Anji Bai Cha, or one that is
> adulterated. The dark green spine in contrast with the pale blades seem to
> indicate that, as well as your mention of floral (but not with the touch of
> basil & parsley), as well as the rolled shape - Anji Bai Pian is more
> straight and needle-like.
>
> What it doesn't look like Anji Bai Cha, is the way the leaves curl; Anji Bai
> Cha tends to curl inwards from the edge, in this it looks more like a
> regular green tea with shoots.
>
> Anji Bai Cha contends 6.2% amino acids, with 14 types of them, which many
> claim is good for the body. The amount of amino acid in a tea leaf will
> affect the brew's sweetness, usually the higher the amino acid content, the
> sweeter the tea.
>
> Danny
>
>
> "Phyll" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> > Hi folks, I need your collected wisdom and I hope you can shed some
> > insight into the 2 questions I have at the moment:
> >
> > Question #1
> >
> > I recently enjoyed a very good green tea that tastes floral with a bit
> > of basil and parsley and other nice aromas. However, I'm not really
> > sure what kind of tea this is. The sample package merely says "Angel
> > White", but the leaves are very fresh medium green and rolled
> > lengthwise thinly. At first, I guessed it might be Anji Baipian. On
> > second thought, the leaves are too green and long for it to be AJBP.
> > Though I'm not a big green tea drinker, I found this tea quite charming
> > and I can see myself drinking it regularly. Do you know what tea this
> > is by looking at the pictures below?
> >
> > http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j2...njibaipian.jpg
> > (the file was named Anjibaipian by me, but it might be a misnomer until
> > someone corrects me).
> >
> > Question #2
> >
> > Then there is another sample package labelled "Anji Pai Cha". Now,
> > this tea has all the classic AJBP look: light greenish-white in color
> > (jade), leaves are smallish and made of 1-bud-1-leaf or 1-bud-2-leaves
> > system. I read that AJBP has a higher amino acid level than most other
> > green teas. My question is how does the increased amount of amino acid
> > supposed to affect the tea's taste? In other words, what am I supposed
> > to look for on the palate or nose to detect the amino acid?
> >
> > Your wisdom is very much appreciated.
> >
> > ~Phyll
> > --------------------------------------------------
> > phyllsheng.blogspot.com
> > www.winexiles.com
> > contributes at www.tching.com
> > --------------------------------------------------
> >

Phyll wrote:
> Thanks for all the comments so far! It does taste rather sweet in the
> mouth with a good aftertaste. I did write a touch of parsley and
> basil, but the tea itself is not vegie-tasting. It's more floral and
> smooth.
>
> Danny: Adulterated Anji Baicha? In what way can it be adulterated?
>

What colour is the brew?

MarshalN
http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN

"Phyll" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Thanks for all the comments so far! It does taste rather sweet in the
> mouth with a good aftertaste. I did write a touch of parsley and
> basil, but the tea itself is not vegie-tasting. It's more floral and
> smooth.
>
> Danny: Adulterated Anji Baicha? In what way can it be adulterated?
>
>
>
Mixing the leaves with older. lower quality ones. Your picture has shoots,
and larger leaves, which should not be the case in either Anji Bai Cha or
Bai Pian. It might even be adulterated with other leaves...Anji Bai Pian is
a roast-fried green tea that uses several varietals of tea from the Zhejiang
region within and outside of Anji county, but the better quality ones are
processed as per varietal...

Danny

"MarshalN" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>

>>
>
> What colour is the brew?
>
Anji Bai Cha - pale green that's leaning more to yellow

Anji Bai Pian - light green

Danny

I would have to say that it's "pale green that's leaning more to
yellow" when served in a white porcelain cup. So the Anji Bai Cha is a
white tea, while Anji Baipian is processed as a green tea?


samarkand wrote:
> "MarshalN" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> >
>
> >>
> >
> > What colour is the brew?
> >
> Anji Bai Cha - pale green that's leaning more to yellow
>
> Anji Bai Pian - light green
>
> Danny

Anji Bai Cha is a unique varietal found in Anji county. Because of the low
temperature in spring, the shoots are pale green, but as the temperature
rises in the latre days of spring the shoots will grow and turn a richer
green.

The best Anji Bai Cha is picked during the pale green stage, and processed
as a green tea.

Anji Bai Cha is, technically, a roast fried green tea.

Anji Bai Pian is also a green tea, but it is processed from other tea
plants.

Danny

"Phyll" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I would have to say that it's "pale green that's leaning more to
> yellow" when served in a white porcelain cup. So the Anji Bai Cha is a
> white tea, while Anji Baipian is processed as a green tea?
>
>
> samarkand wrote:
>> "MarshalN" > wrote in message
>> ups.com...
>> >
>>
>> >>
>> >
>> > What colour is the brew?
>> >
>> Anji Bai Cha - pale green that's leaning more to yellow
>>
>> Anji Bai Pian - light green
>>
>> Danny
>

Phyll wrote:
> Hi folks, I need your collected wisdom and I hope you can shed some
> insight into the 2 questions I have at the moment:
>
> Question #1

To be perfectly honest, that tea looks like a grade of Zhu Ye Qing
which is a green that comes from Emei mountain in Sichuan.

"Mydnight" > writes:

> Phyll wrote:
> > Hi folks, I need your collected wisdom and I hope you can shed some
> > insight into the 2 questions I have at the moment:
> >
> > Question #1
>
> To be perfectly honest, that tea looks like a grade of Zhu Ye Qing
> which is a green that comes from Emei mountain in Sichuan.
>

"To be perfectly honest"? That sounds as if you think there's
something wrong with Zhu Ye Qing. Or am I reading too much into your
words?

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html
recent addition: Shui Lu

> > To be perfectly honest, that tea looks like a grade of Zhu Ye Qing
> > which is a green that comes from Emei mountain in Sichuan.

Doesn't it look a bit too "leafy" for it to be zhuyeqing?


Lewis Perin wrote:
> "Mydnight" > writes:
>
> > Phyll wrote:
> > > Hi folks, I need your collected wisdom and I hope you can shed some
> > > insight into the 2 questions I have at the moment:
> > >
> > > Question #1
> >
> > To be perfectly honest, that tea looks like a grade of Zhu Ye Qing
> > which is a green that comes from Emei mountain in Sichuan.
> >
>
> "To be perfectly honest"? That sounds as if you think there's
> something wrong with Zhu Ye Qing. Or am I reading too much into your
> words?
>
> /Lew
> ---
> Lew Perin /
> http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html
> recent addition: Shui Lu

> > "To be perfectly honest"? That sounds as if you think there's
> > something wrong with Zhu Ye Qing. Or am I reading too much into your
> > words?
> >


Nothing wrong with zhuyeqing at all. It's a nice green that has long
needles; so not leafy at all. I love the astringency of it.

I have only had a couple of zhuyeqing from different sources in the
past, but both times they looked bud-y (click link below for pic) and
not as leavy as the tea in question above. So somehow I'm still not
convinced that it's zhuyeqing.

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j2.../Zhuyeqing.jpg

Mydnight wrote:
> > > "To be perfectly honest"? That sounds as if you think there's
> > > something wrong with Zhu Ye Qing. Or am I reading too much into your
> > > words?
> > >
>
>
> Nothing wrong with zhuyeqing at all. It's a nice green that has long
> needles; so not leafy at all. I love the astringency of it.

Phyll wrote:
> I have only had a couple of zhuyeqing from different sources in the
> past, but both times they looked bud-y (click link below for pic) and
> not as leavy as the tea in question above. So somehow I'm still not
> convinced that it's zhuyeqing.

Your tea in this picture looks like qieshe (sparrow's tongue). It's
actually pretty difficult to distinguish between the two because most
of the green tea in Sichuan looks like that. The Zhuyeqing that I
often drank when I lived in Sichuan always had the needle like look
that the first picture you posted does. I've also had a grade of Anji
white tea that looked like the qieshe photo that you just posted.

I've actually recently been told by a tea professor that lives in
Guangzhou that many tea vendors, especially those in Zhejiang, come to
Sichuan to buy tea. Apparently, the farmers in Zhejiang now ask such a
high price for their stuff that it is causing the pricing for the tea
after being made. The factories cannot make as much profit anymore.
The plantation that my friend helped to create from the ground up gets
orders from Hangzhou every year...

Ever drink Sichuan Longjing...well, maybe you have and didn't know it.

"Mydnight" > writes:

> Phyll wrote:
> > I have only had a couple of zhuyeqing from different sources in the
> > past, but both times they looked bud-y (click link below for pic) and
> > not as leavy as the tea in question above. So somehow I'm still not
> > convinced that it's zhuyeqing.
>
> Your tea in this picture looks like qieshe (sparrow's tongue).

Forgive the pedantry, but I think you mean queshe.

> [...]
> I've actually recently been told by a tea professor that lives in
> Guangzhou that many tea vendors, especially those in Zhejiang, come
> to Sichuan to buy tea. Apparently, the farmers in Zhejiang now ask
> such a high price for their stuff that it is causing the pricing for
> the tea after being made. The factories cannot make as much profit
> anymore. The plantation that my friend helped to create from the
> ground up gets orders from Hangzhou every year...
>
> Ever drink Sichuan Longjing...well, maybe you have and didn't know it.

Well, why not? Tea goes back a long, long way in Sichuan, and if they
can grow Long Jing good enough to "pass", why shouldn't they? On the
other hand, it *is* nice to know where the tea you drink comes from,
if only to have the hope you can find something like it again if you
like it.

/Lew
---
Lew Perin /
http://www.panix.com/~perin/babelcarp.html

> Forgive the pedantry, but I think you mean queshe.

Sorry, typo. That darn u is right beside the i.


> Well, why not? Tea goes back a long, long way in Sichuan, and if they
> can grow Long Jing good enough to "pass", why shouldn't they? On the
> other hand, it *is* nice to know where the tea you drink comes from,
> if only to have the hope you can find something like it again if you
> like it.

Well, it's not them growing longjing per say at all, it's the folks
over in Sichuan growing decent quality CHEAPER tea that can be used to
make longjing. It's an economic thing. The farmers in Longjing
village jack up the prices too much for the factories to make a profit.

I"m drinking some awesome green now called "gao shan xue ya" (high
mountain snow stems?) that is grown on a mountain near Jiu Zhai Gou.
My professor friend helped plant and supervise the trees there some
years ago and now they yield some excellent green. It's only picked
once a year a bit before the qing ming festival...so I have a while to
wait for the next batch. It also looks like que she but a bit more
hearty because it was grown at a high elevation.

It can only be bought through a private channel of "sichuan people"
that they consider me a member of because I lived there before.

> I"m drinking some awesome green now called "gao shan xue ya" (high
> mountain snow stems?) that is grown on a mountain near Jiu Zhai Gou.

Mydnight, I recently had a tea named Zhen Pin Lu Xue Ya and I'm
wondering if it might be the same varietal as the "gao shan xue ya"
that you were drinking when you wrote the post above. The pictures of
the tea I tried is below.

http://tinyurl.com/ygfo4o

By the way, thank you everyone for your help! The provider of the tea
in my very first post above told me that it's Anji Baicha, albeit a
slightly lower grade one.

Mydnight wrote:
> > Forgive the pedantry, but I think you mean queshe.
>
> Sorry, typo. That darn u is right beside the i.
>
>
> > Well, why not? Tea goes back a long, long way in Sichuan, and if they
> > can grow Long Jing good enough to "pass", why shouldn't they? On the
> > other hand, it *is* nice to know where the tea you drink comes from,
> > if only to have the hope you can find something like it again if you
> > like it.
>
> Well, it's not them growing longjing per say at all, it's the folks
> over in Sichuan growing decent quality CHEAPER tea that can be used to
> make longjing. It's an economic thing. The farmers in Longjing
> village jack up the prices too much for the factories to make a profit.
>
> I"m drinking some awesome green now called "gao shan xue ya" (high
> mountain snow stems?) that is grown on a mountain near Jiu Zhai Gou.
> My professor friend helped plant and supervise the trees there some
> years ago and now they yield some excellent green. It's only picked
> once a year a bit before the qing ming festival...so I have a while to
> wait for the next batch. It also looks like que she but a bit more
> hearty because it was grown at a high elevation.
>
> It can only be bought through a private channel of "sichuan people"
> that they consider me a member of because I lived there before.

Phyll wrote:
> > I"m drinking some awesome green now called "gao shan xue ya" (high
> > mountain snow stems?) that is grown on a mountain near Jiu Zhai Gou.
>
> Mydnight, I recently had a tea named Zhen Pin Lu Xue Ya and I'm
> wondering if it might be the same varietal as the "gao shan xue ya"
> that you were drinking when you wrote the post above. The pictures of
> the tea I tried is below.

Yes indeed, the tea does look like that except no brown or broken
parts. The tea I am drinking comes from a very specific place, and the
person I got it from knows each step of it's processing as well as
where it was planted; he helped with that.

I love the clean flavor.

Phyll wrote:
> > I"m drinking some awesome green now called "gao shan xue ya" (high
> > mountain snow stems?) that is grown on a mountain near Jiu Zhai Gou.
>
> Mydnight, I recently had a tea named Zhen Pin Lu Xue Ya and I'm
> wondering if it might be the same varietal as the "gao shan xue ya"
> that you were drinking when you wrote the post above. The pictures of
> the tea I tried is below.

Yes indeed, the tea does look like that except no brown or broken
parts. The tea I am drinking comes from a very specific place, and the
person I got it from knows each step of it's processing as well as
where it was planted; he helped with that.

I love the clean flavor.