What it tastes like
Delicate and floral, with the muscatel character the hills are known for — a grape-like sweetness in the aroma that no other green tea quite has. Light in the cup and long in the finish, which is why it rewards attention.
Where it earns its place
The tea to carry when the menu needs to demonstrate that it takes tea seriously. Fine dining, hotel tea service, tasting menus and any list where a customer might reasonably ask what the green tea actually is.
What to add
Nothing. This is the one green tea on the list that should be served plain, hot, and in a cup where the aroma has somewhere to go. Sugar or lemon in it is a waste of the leaf.
Getting the water right
Green tea is the one tea a counter can ruin by being efficient. Boiling water strips it — the leaf gives up its bitterness before it gives up its aroma, and what arrives is astringent and flat. The declared 70 to 80 degrees is not fussiness; it is the difference between the cup you paid for and a cup nobody finishes. In practice that means taking the kettle off before it boils, or letting it stand a minute after it does, and steeping for two to three minutes rather than leaving the leaf in while you serve someone else. This is orthodox leaf, so it will also take a second infusion — the first is bright, the second is rounder and softer, and both are worth serving.
Green Tea
