Sixie

Been on a bit of a Japanese green kick and I have tried a handful of senchas, gyokuros and a highly touted shincha over the past few months — I must say Top Leaf is the cream of the crop. For my tastes, and wallet this is the best sencha I have found yet!

Everything about this tea is very well rounded, without a single glaring flaw or characteristic dominating the flavor profile or aroma. Top Leaf brings the entire gambit of Japanese flavors together seamlessly into a full bodied and near perfectly balanced cuppa creamy green greatness: sweet, creamy, savory, nutty, vegetal, mildly oceanic with a forgiving faint citrus-like astringency. Really I can’t emphasize enough how well balanced these elements are in this particular tea, its certainly an accomplishment!

Another high point, Top Leaf is relatively flexible and forgiving with regards to brew temp and time which is not a characteristic shared with many other senchas I have encountered. It brews wonderfully mellow and sweet at gyokuro-like temperatures ~ 120 and can tolerate a full minute of 180 for the savory 2nd steep without getting overly bitter. Anything in-between is great too of course! Really, you have to completely blow it (in sencha standards!) to muck this one up.

Overall a great great sencha and certainly worthy of a spot amongst one of my favorite teas. Its exceptionally well balanced bordering on exquisite! I have gone through 3.5 oz and recently ordered more! In my opinion, you’d be hard pressed to find a better quality japanese green for the price.

This is a very solid example pu-erh and its comparatively easy on the palate. Earthy, full bodied mineral “cave floor” mineral/mushrooms without any gnarly leather notes. Brings a nice Qi to boot and is friendly enough for daily drinking. A good introduction to the world of ripe pu-erh; mellow enough, yet brings a full bodied genuine pu-erh experience.

Break out your windbreakers and fanny packs because this oolong is so good its worth invading Kuwait!

I wasn’t aware that roasted peaches and cream was even a flavor until this wonderful tea delivered some to my taste buds like a SCUD missile… YES! Outstanding and truly something special, the Gulf War-era flavors are robust, savory, sweet and buttery all at once with a thick mouth feel and slight roasty mineral-mint aftertaste. Rating this very highly because of its uniqueness and sheer excellence. Will be buying more 4 $ho!

No notes yet.

Twice now, this tea has made me feel sick after drinking it with an action that feels like acute toxin exposure. I have never had this problem with any other tea or mate, I have the caffeine tolerance of a large crack-fueled Grizzly Bear and I have no known food allergies. I threw the rest in the garbage.

This tea is impressive – its a doppleganger, bringing forth many familiar tastes and combining them into something quite enjoyable. The first few infusions taste like a certain Laoshan Black… hmmmm… So much so that I did a double take to make sure I had put the right tea in my gaiwan. Yep! Not to be overshadowed by the aforementioned steepster juggernaut, this tea can certainly hold its own. The primary flavor is “Roasty” but there is something else there… a fruity/nutty note reminiscent of an assam… and there is a subtle background of roasted florals and buttery grain to remind you of its former, greener oolong days.

Initially I was quite surprised at this oolong. It is quite dark and the flavor profile really falls closer to the true black tea spectrum in my mind. This is not a bad thing, just not what I had expected from an oolong. This tea is capable of multiple infusions, trading the strong roasted taste to more subtle autumn fruits towards the later infusions.

Quite enjoyable in the Gaiwan. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to experience a dark roasted oolong. My only criticism here would be a relatively thin mouthfeel… while hard to put into words, compared to similar tasting teas, this one is lacking a bit in texture.

I’m looking forward to trying the lighter roasted version of this next and will probably end up ordering more of whichever one I like best. So far, the Dark Roast does not disappoint!

Brings the power and tastes like Limoncello! After trying a few other guayusas this one is my favorite. Girlfriend loves it too.

Laoshan Black has really grown on me — its a creeper that has slowly and quietly nudged its way into my heart and into my tummy, owing mostly to its bright and unique complexity paired with an overall comforting drinkability.

This tea offers a departure from many flavor profiles associated with traditional “black teas”. To me, Laoshan Black tastes closer to an oxidized “rock” oolong than it does an assam, keemun, ceylon etc. To my surprise, the initial few steeps brew an uncharacteristically bright yellow cup, which I find quite interesting as well. Flavor wise, there is a kind of malty/nutty/saltiness present that really sets this tea apart in my mind, its quite delicious.

Many people have commented on the chocolate taste this tea has. Now i’m a fairly staunch chocolate extremist; an 80-100% cacao kind of guy (none of that weak sauce milk chocolate) sooooo… my take on what constitutes “chocolate flavor” is probably skewed from the general public. I’ll admit, I didn’t initially taste chocolate until someone mentioned cocoa wheats. Yes… cocoa wheats is definitely the flavor i’m getting here, almost to a tee (okay, okay: tea).

In my experience, the first one to two steeps, be it gaiwan (~20 seconds) or brew cup (~1 minute) tend to be the best. I do not prefer to rinse this tea, rather i’m “all in”. Later steepings see the tincture move from bright yellow to an increasingly mellow brown and at this point the tea loses some of its unique salty/nutty/cocoa flavor and settles into a more traditional semi-sweet pleasant maltiness. Brews are fairly consistent with regard to body however the intensity of the “cocoa wheats” chocolate flavor can be a bit finicky, dependent on temperature, brew time and sadly, freshness.

Overall excellent tea. Unique, pleasing, comforting and a capable daily drinker with enough complexity to keep things interesting. I will be ordering more.

Not too hot on this one, glad I got it on sale at Tea Dystopia, I mean Vana… Teavana. Yeah. Because the sales staff just radiate happiness… I digress.

This tea smelled really nice (like honey) and the dry leaves look to be of good quality – long jet black twisted needles – but no matter how I brew this tea it turns out less than my expectations. I even gaiwaned it a few times to make sure I wasn’t missing anything… No fireworks here. Fairly generic black tea with a mild honey-like sweetness and tannin astringency. The flavors and body are’t particularly strong and any attempt to beef up the steep time is met with increasingly astringent bitterness, much like an old ex-girlfriend of mine. Hmmm…

Maybe Keemuns aren’t my thing or maybe I’ve been spoiled by really nice teas. Strong possibility there. I often wonder if I am biased, but when really thinking about it, really run the situation through my head, I am confident in a blind taste test of black teas, Teavana’s Keemun would fail to impress beyond “meh”.

Not bad, not good but certainly over priced for what you get. Dedicated to ice tea blends until its gone.

Assam has always been my favorite black tea and this one is astoundingly good. I was quite surprised at the natural sweetness of this tea, almost like maraschino cherries and a bit of sweet almond. Multiple infusions in my trusty gaiwan revealed sweet malty Assam goodness with little to no bitter notes or astringency, even at 3+ minute brew times with freshly boiled water. Remarkable! This tea is so very solid and consistent, it embodies everything I love about strong bodied black teas without any of the negatives and its fairly priced for the high level of quality. A luxurious daily drinker for sure!

This is very very good black tea, I have encountered maybe one or two other black that I could “rate” higher. Easy 95 here, will be buying more of this!

Had a bromantic date with my gaiwan and some pu’er this morning.

Quick rinse ~ 3 seconds

1st – 20 seconds
Liquid is medium brown and maintaining transparency, this steep is a bit unruly and surly. Maybe I should have let this brew a bit longer, or rinsed it for longer, not sure. Flavor is leathery with some smoke but tastes unstable with a strange salty note.

2nd – 30 seconds
Characteristic of most pressed pu’ers, the color is pure used motor oil, completely opaque! Love it. Mouth feel is silky and the flavors have seemed to stabilize with prominent leather, earth, rocky minerals and cold campfire. That weird unpleasant salty note has disappeared. This is a very good steep and the cold campfire smokiness paired with the mineral rock notes has triggered a nostalgic memory from a whitewater rafting rip many years ago. Enjoyable!

3rd – 45 seconds
The cake has completely broken up. Still opaque and silky, the flavor has edged off just a nudge but it now feels completely mature. This is my favorite steep. All the previous flavors are still present but with a more earthy tone creeping in. This tea would pair nicely with some bbq pork…

4th – 60 seconds
There is light at the end of the tunnel, I am starting to see the bottom of my 2 ounce cup! The flavors are beginning to lighten up as well, but an earthy and smokey taste lingers. Pleasing.

5th – 90 seconds
Back to transparency, noticeably thin with a smokey after taste that reminds me of a watered down lapsang souchong. Still drinkable but I’m going to call it here.

Overall an enjoyable cuppa, and similar to a few other pressed ripe pu’ers I have tried. While its a great representation of the class, this tea doesn’t really blow me away, or bring anything terribly unusual to the table. Aside from the surly first steep – which i’m sure there is a way around – this tea offers a solid and pleasing cup of pressed ripe pu’er.

I don’t feel comfortable rating this tea quite yet until I give it a few more tastings.

This tea appears to be a very high quality Gyokuro. Color is deep green, leaves are mostly full, flattened needles, there is some breakage, but that is no doubt due to the extremely fragile almost crystalline nature of the gyokuro needles, and not an actual knock on the quality of the tea itself. The color of the brew is spot on classic gyokuro, just a beautiful light green, almost highlighter green, its quite amazing.

Flavors on this are as follows:

Uni (sea urchin)
Rocky seaweed
Edamame/Snow peas
Sweet
Grain

Thick mouth feel with lingering subtle sweetness.

I found this tea to be quite enjoyable. It does tend to have a shellfish (or as many other describe, seaweed) flavor profile that is very prevalent in the first brew, but mellows out later. Personally I like it quite a bit and tend to handle these types of flavors like a boss, but I could see how it might not suite some folks. The likening to the taste of uni is quite remarkable, owing no doubt to the high theanine content – a mark of a high quality and properly grown gyokuro. There is almost no astringency at all, especially brewed at low temperatures.

Brew this one low low temperature, close to body temperature for 90-120 seconds and you will be amazed at how well it turns out. Good for about 3 steeps before it starts to lose the the magic.

I purchased 5 oz. of this tea because it was on sale after the holidays and it smelled like raspberries. Who could pass up a delicious smelling and cheap oolong at the mall? Not this guy!

My version did not have any actual dried raspberries in it (as some have seen) but retained a pleasing raspberry aroma. I was told by an imposing swarm of hawkish Teavana sales staff this was a “natural” flavor and no raspberries or artificial flavor were added to the tea. I think they were confused by this tea as well.

I’ve had a lot of Six Summits to get through so heres the bottom line. The raspberry flavor lasts fleetingly for the first steep. Okay. So its flavored oolong… I wish Teavana would just flat out call it “RASPBERRY FLAVORED oolong” and not skirt around the issue here. Beyond the raspberry flavor (which is enjoyable, adulterant or not) lies a fairly tame oolong: slightly floral, mild vegetal musk, not unpleasant just thin and somewhat unremarkable compared with the rest of the field. Multiple infusions don’t bring out a whole lot more from this tea, I never felt compelled to go beyond 3 or 4.

Overall, the raspberry and mild oolong character lends itself well to blending with other teas – hot or iced – which is always a plus and cannot be said of every oolong. I’m glad I purchased this tea on sale, its tasty, but pretty thin once the novelty of raspberry wears off. Aside for blending, my remaining Six Summits has taken a back shelf to some of the more complex and full bodied oolongs out there.

No notes yet.

Tasty, well rounded and smooth but somewhat thin and one-dimensional, especially for the price. My scouter shows these dragon ballz lack a sufficient power level to reach super saiyan. Would rate higher if they didn’t drop a spirit bomb on my wallet.

Every time I drink this tea I can’t help but imagine two wooden ships blowing each other to smithereens with cannon fire. Gunpowder. Yes!

As someone who prefers more full bodied greens I have gone through a lot of this, and it remains a favorite every day cuppa. Malty fried vegetables with a hint of smoke, and just the right amount of bitterness for a green – comforting and invigorating at the same time. Most enjoyable, fairly low maintenance and consistently good.

This tea is wild alright – visually It looks like someone raked their tea lawn and put the leaves in a bag. The leaves themselves are actually purple too. How cool is that?

The sparse nature of the wild “lawn clipping” style leaves and deceptively faint aroma of the dry leaf brews a shockingly full bodied cup of tea with a range of taste somewhere between dry, herbaceous chinese green and smokey ripe pu’er. Its quite remarkable, this tea borrows from both sides of the spectrum while standing distinctly on its own. This was my first ever Mao Cha style tea… up to this point I have never tasted anything quite like it.

The energy of Wild Monk is penetrating, as is the flavor if left to brew for too long. I would suggest shorter steepings around a minute. The first few brews tend to be dominated by hay and a well balanced meditative smokiness while the later brews bring a bit of citrus and sweet shellfish to the mix.

Main notes to my palate are:

Hay
Smoke
Malty/Citrus
Shellfish (mild)
Sweet (mild)

While not a daily drinker for me, it is an enjoyable cup of tea and its nice to know I have it when i’m in the mood for something off the path of conventional flavors. Overall i’m rating this tea highly because it is so unique, wonderfully complex and for lack of a a more tactful word, powerful.

Exceptional! This tea is madness and makes me want to hoard it like a crazy person. Since I have purchased Mandala’s Milk Oolong, I have had no less than 4 cups a day, every day… sometimes more. I think about this tea when I’m not near it. I bring it to and from work in my best air-tight container and coddle it as if contained within lie the answers to mankind’s deepest questions… I think I have a problem.

While not my first foray into the world of oolongs, this was my first experience with a milk oolong and I cannot believe how good this tea is. This hurts my manhood to say, but the aroma and taste is pure butter cream frosting with sweet magical notes of milky carmel taffy and a subtle hint of buttered popcorn. Underlying all this buttery goodness is an exceptionally well balanced oolong base with sweet musky vegetal and floral notes that deliver consistent greatness for a seemingly endless amount of steeps. The first time I brewed this tea, I could smell it on myself for a good 30 minutes after I had finished.

The mouth feel is just perfect and somehow not unlike milk, triggered no doubt by a bit of synesthesia. It almost reminds me of sneaking a bowl of some super awesome sugary kid’s cereal at a friends house that I was otherwise forbidden to have as a young child. Yes, this tea elicits an emotive response.

I will generally do a hybrid (read: less-skilled) gong fu style in a brew cup starting with 30 second infusions and adding roughly 15 seconds. I have yet to reach the end of this tea with up to 8 infusions, which for me is a lot as I tend to prefer longer brew times.

As of right now, this is the best tea I have ever tasted. Easy 100, I cannot stop drinking it! Don’t order too much because I’ll probably panic when the supply gets low.