Boston Tea Finest Grade Loose Moroccan Mint Green Tea, Bulk, Resealable Pouch, 8 Ounce Bag

I have been living in Shanghai for over four years now, so I have a pretty good idea of what good tea tastes like. And this is not even close to good tasting tea. I drink only the best quality Long Jing Green Tea and I drink about 1.5 liters per day. But I admit that my Chinese green tea is much more expensive than this tea..I like my tea cold and with a little sugar. I brew my own tea in China at 180 degrees F, not hotter and not cooler. I put the tea in the microwave oven in a glass container with plastic wrap over the top of the pitcher. The plastic wrap helps maintain the heat for longer after the peak temperature has been reached. I let it brew for probably an hour until it cools down to a slightly warm temperature. I pour in one-third a cup of sugar and mix it while the tea is warm. I brew the tea leaves two times with half of the 1.5 liter bottle of water each time. Then I mix the tea together and refrigerate it for at least 24 hours, preferably 48 hours. I have found the refrigeration cycle makes the tea mellower and not bitter. Even my 56 year old Chinese fiancée says my tea brewing method tastes better than she has ever tasted in her life. I know that refrigeration is contrary to what a lot of people think is best. But I learned this technique when I was a teenager working in a Baptist Encampment in Texas during the summer. A cook taught me that putting the huge vat of tea into a cooler for a day makes tea more mellow tasting and less bitter. And I always got great compliments way back then from the hundreds of people who drank my tea. Of course, this was just ordinary tea, not green tea. But it works the same way with green tea.The tea leaves in this tea do not look the same as what I buy in China, and the taste is quite different -- definitely bitterer. The Numi Tea sold here on Amazon is whole leaf and looks a lot better than these tea leaves. These tea leaves are a mix of whole leaf and confetti chopped up leaves. The taste is about the same as Numi Tea, but I will purchase the Numi brand going forward because it is 100% whole leaf and not dusty.I have read that the best leaves are the newly formed leaves picked from of the top of the tea tree. I have visited tea tree farms in China. Tea trees will grow into a real tree unless they are pruned to remain like a waist high tree shrub. I suspect this particular brand of tea leaves may have come from the older more mature lower branches of the tea tree. But I have no way of knowing if that is true or not. I just know it doesn't taste nearly as good as the tea leaves I purchase in China. And to be fair, the price I pay in China is considerably more than this price on Amazon.

Pros:Large leaves/pieces of leaves.The tea is green.Low price.Low levels of dust.Tea is sealed in a foil-lined, heavy, paper bag, good for keeping oxidizing UV rays out.Cons:The tea is too dark, even for a pan-fried, Chinese, green tea. Almost oolong colored.It's bitter.There are stems as well as leaves.I bought this tea for its leaf size, price, and catechin content. I'm pleased with this tea on at least the first two accounts. My glass infuser kept on getting clogged with the cheap Sencha I was using; no inconvenience now. As for the taste--this tea does not taste like Dragonwell, which I'd describe as slightly nutty flavored. I got a superb, whole-leaf Dragonwell at Whole Foods; the only problem was that for 2 oz. the cost was about the same as for these 8 oz.I drink green tea for the catechin content, so I was somewhat concerned to see the tea coming out darker than expected after steeping. If this is from fermentation and oxidation, then more of the catechins would have degraded than would have otherwise happened. It was also bitter, which might be good if the bitterness was from a higher catechin content, but it could also be from more caffeine. I don't want more caffeine. And I know how to prepare this tea, and have successfully done so many times before with other brands.I would definitely consider buying this, but just be aware that "Finest Grade" may be hyperbole.-------------Update:After drinking this tea daily (~ 2 rounded tsp., 5 infusions--it still has flavor), I started getting chronic headaches. A dull pain in the left side of my head at multiple times during the day. My armpits started to feel tender as well (which made me worry about my lymph nodes). But what finally made me suspect the tea was my blueberry plant. For around a year I have been using my leftover tea leaves to fertilize/mulch my plant. Using the old sencha, as well as the Whole Foods dragonwell, I used to drink, the plant was healthy and made a large number of respectably-sized berries. After adding my leftover Boston Tea, my 2+ year old plant has died. Almost immediately (roughly two days) after adding the leaves to the soil, the blueberry plant leaves started to wilt and turn brown, then they shed. Then the green part of the stems began to brown and dry. My plant survived one month without watering, left in the dark in my bathtub, when I had to leave on a month-long trip and did not have anyone to plant-sit.I don't know if the tea was contaminated with pesticides or heavy metals or some other toxins, but I suspect so. I AM NOT BUYING FROM BOSTON TEA EVER AGAIN! If my hardy blueberry plant died after I had infused the leaves in water five times, how much toxin(s) did I ingest?

One of the main things that worried me before i bought my first batch of loose leaf tea was that i didn't know the taste of the tea before i bought it. This dragonwell tea is the same tea i get served when i eat dim sum back in Hawaii. It's a really light and slightly sweet tea with a mild smell. It's perfect for me because i end up drink multiple cups of tea a day and the mild taste and smell makes it possible to drink often without getting sick of it. Everyone complains and debates about the quality of the tea. Okay for a few bucks for half a pound which will last forever you know you're not getting the finest quality tea. Get that in your head before you buy this. I did and was pleasantly surprised after the first few cups.Bottom line: If you want a light green tea that you can drink multiple times a day at a low cost this will be perfect for you.

I've had better dragonwell tea, but it cost a lot more than this one. What this one lacks in character it makes up for in price. It still has the characteristic earthy flavor and umami mouthfeel, but just not as prominent. The leaf style is a little more broken than others I've tried. Still, all-in-all, I got my money's worth and would recommend it to someone who wants a classic Chinese green tea without floral or grassy notes.

So this is the 3rd loose leaf tea I have tried. This taste as good as a more pricier one that I have had at a popular organic grocery store. Like most other lose leaf tea, it's still a bit pricey at $2/oz but hey when you want tea that tastes like tea, this is the best bang for your money.