first sip of 2011 spring tea

There was 3 inches of snow fall last night. But spring has already come!

Before the winter started, everyone was saying this would be the coldest winter in recent thousand years. I don't know if that turned out true. But it has been a cold winter. This tea, Frosty Spring, was harvested in Yunnan in late January, almost three weeks late than last year.

Overall, I feel this tea is pretty similar to what it was last year. It tastes a little sweeter, maybe because of the colder winter, maybe it's just my thirst for 2011 new tea :D

The tea bowl is made by Petr Novák. It's my recent favorite for green tea.

I also chewed a few leaves. They don't have more flavor than the tea liquor, but are quite palatable. A tea friend (who made the tastiest steamed buns) once told me she likes mixing small amount of spent tea leaves into the vegetables and meat stuffing for steamed buns. I would like to try it someday!