Tea Famille Fruitful Autumn Green Tea Review
Autumn is by far my favourite season. The leaves are falling, there’s still a little warmth in the sun, and it’s time to chai chai chai. Except there’s more to this season than spiced black tea. As Tea Famille has proven, some green teas can be perfect for autumn. Their Fruitful Autumn loose leaf tea sample is the perfect example.
In this full review of Tea Famille Fruitful Autumn, I’ll cover what to expect from the flavour and how I brewed it to get the perfect cup. If you’d like to try this tea, check to see the progress on the Tea Famille website or contact them through Instagram.
Tea Famille Fruitful Autumn Tea at a Glance
Izzy's Rating
4.1/5
- Tea: Single origin Zhu Ye Qing (bamboo leaf)
- Flavour: Mellow green tea with slight astringency and notes of daisies, pollen and hay
Zhu Ye Qing is sometimes referred to as the original green tea and I can see why. It’s smooth and mellow, a classic Chinese green tea, but with strong pollen notes. There’s also some astringency to balance out the mellowness. Overall, beautiful.
Full Review – Fruitful Autumn Single Origin
Izzy's Rating
4.1/5
- Type: Whole loose leaf sample
- Tea: Zhu Ye Qing “Bamboo Leaf” green tea
- Origin: China, unknown region
- Flavour Notes: Green, slightly astringent, mellow, daisies, pollen, hay, autumn leaves, wheat harvest
- Aroma: Oak, earth, pollen, sun, dust, grass, stonefruits, mellow, hay, daisies
- Milk or Lemon: Neither
- Where to Buy: Tea Famille
Opening the packet, I really love the shape and style of this tea! Bamboo leaf tea, as Zhu Ye Qing is sometimes known, has a really mellow aroma. Pollen, sun, dust, and grass create the main aroma, but there are notes of wood (oak), earth and stonefruits lingering underneath.
It brews into a pale yellow, crystal clear tea colour with a slight green hint.
Once brewed, the aroma is mellow with notes of hay and daisies. Golden pollen scents swirl around and it’s really delicious. It reminds me of those last days of summer, when the sun is bearing down on us and the air is slightly dusty.
The texture of the tea follows suit – it’s rich and thick with pollen, but also very drying in the aftertaste.
Thankfully, the flavour is so good you’ll be taking a new sip before the dryness kicks in. Its green with light astringency. But it’s not a bad astringency in the slightest. Without that light bitter kick, the mellow hay, pollen, and daisy notes would be overpowering and far too cloying.
I really enjoyed this tea and overall, the flavour notes in each sip and texture of the tea is phenomenal. It’s wonderful how vibrant and complex the flavour from a single origin tea can be.
How to Brew Zhu Ye Qing Fruitful Autumn Green Tea
The instructions from Tea Famille for an Eastern tea method. They recommend pouring in a whole packet of tea (approx. 4g) in a gaiwan or chaiwan, rinsing the leaves, then brewing for 15-40 seconds with 85°C water.
This produces many steeps of tea that you can enjoy over an afternoon.
If you want to brew just one big cup of this tea, then use 2g of leaf and 200ml of 85°C water. I brewed for 2 minutes, but you should start with 1 minute and 30 seconds. Take a sip and see if it’s strong enough for your tastes.
Even brewing in my Western method, you can get at least 3 steeps from the leaves.
Why Tea Famille?
Tea Famille are an incredibly high-quality tea brand serving you with single-origin loose leaf teas. This tea, Fruitful Autumn, is bamboo leaf tea or Zhu Ye Qing and it’s wonderful. Just take a look at the loose leaves here and you’ll see what I mean. The aroma and flavours are always so vibrant and strong.
There’s not much else that we know about Tea Famille, however. The brand never really launched besides a handful on Instagram posts and an incomplete website. However, you can sometimes find their teas on other websites.
As for the bamboo leaf tea, it’s linked to numerous health benefits. It’s supposedly linked to weight loss and can combat atherosclerosis. But like many claims to do with Chinese green tea, they aren’t proven by modern scientific research.
Summary
I highly recommend trying this tea if you get the chance. Tea Famille Fruitful Autumn has a beautiful flavour and has a classic green tea complexity. I hope you can find it available to buy from Tea Famille, but if not, just search for Zhu Ye Qing tea among loose leaf tea traders.
Tea Recommendation
Looking for another tasty green tea? Or perhaps you want to try more single origin teas but aren’t sure where to start. My advice is to check out a subscription box, like Teapro Shades of Green. It contains several green tea samples for you to try, plus helpful info on how to brew them.