I couldn't recall having sampled any green teas from Sichuan before; so when I saw three offered for sale by Holy Mountain Trading Company, I decided to give them a try. I bought the Sichuan Snow Buds Green, the Bamboo Tips Green, and the Mt. Emei Green Mao Feng. The Snow Buds and Bamboo Tips Green are rather similar in appearance, consisting entirely of small buds, with the Bamboo Tips Green being somewhat greener in appearance than the Snow Buds, which are a dull silver-gray-green. The Mt. Emei Green Mao Feng is twisted, longer leaves. There are similarities in flavor and aroma among all these teas. The first thing I noticed was the aroma of the two bud-leaf teas when opening the packages, which reminded me of dried grass.. like the frostbitten weeds after the first frost in autumn. When brewed, the Snow Buds and Green Bamboo Tips have decided similarities in flavor, with the Snow Buds being a bit more complex and flowery. Both need a relatively long steep to release the flavor from the buds, and both of these teas are gentle and mildly sweet. Lovers of white teas would probably enjoy them quite a bit and would especially enjoy the similarity in flavor of the Snow Buds to the famous Silver Needle tea from Fujian. The Mt. Emei Green Mao Feng as expected seems to be the richer, bolder-flavored version of the other two. If I had to choose among all of them, I'd probably choose this one, just because I enjoy richer-flavored green teas. All three teas afford about 4 - 5 infusions. Overall I'd call them decent and interesting. I'm still sold on the Japanese greens as my daily green-tea choice, but for something different, especially if you like white teas, these might be worth considering.
N.