Thomas Smith

I’m convinced this is the best quality tea Peet’s offers on a regular basis. They do (or used to, anyway) offer a DanCong special for mail orders for a couple weeks around January after they got the tea in. The tea buyer has a strong tendency towards Indian teas, but it’s obvious from talking to him that DanCongs are a special exception for him to the point where he purchases incredibly small production lots of only enough for a dozen or so 1oz tins. Those teas are a massive step above this one, but the standard commercial Phoenix Oolong is good, especially considering the size of the company.
A week ago I stopped into one of Peet’s locations for a pot of this and was smacked with disappointment, even after taking control of the variables, which most of the staff do for you, removing that control from the customer. I’ve certainly felt disappointment with a tea I’ve known to enjoy before, but it’s rare that I’ll be really be affronted with the emotion. Today, I’m taking more control and choking up the last experience to water that’s been reheated too many times and a canister of leaves that’s been exposed to coffee-scented air too often. Fortunately, this time is the best tasting I’ve ever managed to get from this tea.
Considering where this tea stands compared to other Phoenix Oolongs, the amount of excitement/boredom inherent in it, the level of consistency of leaves, and the “volume” of expression it conveys I certainly consider this a “good” tea, but I can’t justify a rating of 60 or higher.

9g with 175ml in a rong tian style zi ni yixing pot. Single rinse immediately poured off. Only did three infusions with 85 degree C water – 30sec, 15 sec, 15 sec.

Leaves range from very long to very small… black and very dark green with a grayish reflection. Dried apricot dominates the dry fragrance. Wet leaves are much lighter, mossy green with yellowish stripes. Wet leaf aroma is a little more herbal-spicy, like basil, with a peach fruit note. There’s also a toasted grain note very similar to plain Cheerios. Liquor doesn’t carry much aroma compared to the wet leaves, but has a distinct toasted honey note. Liquor is pale yet richly hued yellow and clear.

Flavor and mouthfeel is like honey dissolved in water and a light peach accent in the nose. Wheat toast sweet and sour in the aftertaste. Balanced, medium body. Faint cedar woodiness in afteraroma. Really straightforward in expression of sweet, sour, slightly weighty, and crispness. Slight peppery astringency in the aftertaste along the sides of the tongue.
Doesn’t shift a whole lot over three brews.

Not spectacular, but easy drinking, and something I don’t mind having alongside food as I don’t have to worry about delicate complex characteristics I may be missing out on.

I picked this up today at Tillerman Tea in Napa, California’s Oxbow Public Market. This shop very quickly became my favorite retailer to buy from after being introduced to it a couple years ago. While they may not have half the ambiance of larger tea shops (it is a very nice looking stall in a communal market), they more than make up for it with incredible customer service, in-depth knowledge, dedication to freshness, and consistently high quality. I’ve learned plenty from stopping into places such as Imperial Tea Court and Teánce, but this is the only place where I regularly learn something new with every visit and usually get an engaging, friendly discussion along with my fine tea.
This time around, I walked out with a true gem. This is a spring 2010 traditional LiShan rolled oolong by teamaster Chen Huan Tang. Higher oxidation around 30%, compared to contemporary Jade oolongs around 20-25%, and with a lighter, more balanced roast than most “roasted” Taiwanese oolongs. I was surprised to hear this is the highest elevation growing area in Taiwan, around 2,000 meters – placing it near the highest in terms of tea cultivation worldwide.

I can say with confidence that this is the most wonderful Taiwanese rolled oolong I have been acquainted with. Whilst presenting distinctive characteristics and very heavy aroma, it excels in balance. Even the afteraroma that lingers well beyond 15 minutes on the 11th infusion (tried to test on the 10th but – oops – had another cup before it started to diminish) is balanced with an equally lingering, crisp, clean aftertaste. The progression of infusions is both dynamic in flavor yet somehow consistent in cup profile. Every infusion features layers of aromatics, tastes, and tactile impressions that shift throughout each draught with increasing range up to the 6th infusion where it holds through the 10th without diminishing a bit. I can not point to a single “peak infusion” since it is only a character shift with the range of different flavors being maintained until I ran out of water in the first round. I am sort of blown away that the “opening up” of flavor is so gradual and fluid to the high plateau it reaches starting at the 6th brew. I’m used to these rolled oolongs (heck, most oolongs and puerhs in general) presenting in a 1-2-3-4 series of flavor steps followed by a steady decrease… This is more like a smooth ascent up a sloping hillside.

Let’s see… Onward to the notes… Better be a bit more specific than usual per the parameters.
In a small glazed ceramic gaiwan I used 4.02g with 53.12ml-60.35ml water heated to 84 degrees C with progressive infusions continuing down to 75 degrees C or until I ran out of water. First four infusions at 15 seconds, then increased up to 45 seconds through to the 10th-13th infusions and added 5 seconds per infusion from then on. Had to stop at 20th infusion, though there is still a very full flavor. Water temp never exceeded 87 degrees in the kettle and no heat was added once brew temperature was achieved for each round. Water was municipal East Side Petaluma tap water (piped-in Russian River water treated with sodium hydroxide for pH and gaseous chlorine as residual disinfectant, pH 7.8, about 130ppm total hardness), aerated, run through a Brita filter, and aerated again prior to heating in a stainless steel electric kettle. Last thing eaten was a vanilla and fudge drumstick ice cream cone 3 hours earlier. Single rinse with 4 second contact time to open leaves a tad, take in wet leaf aroma, and take a baseline photo.

Leaves are glossy, dark green with yellow stems. Dry fragrance is sweet lettuce-leafy with a cream-like tang. 4g covers about half the area of the bottom of my gaiwan. By the 8th infusion the leaves have filled the volume to where the lid rests and by the 20th it is necessary to push the leaves about with the lid to stir as they exceed the water line. Wet leaves carry heavy perfume of many flowers, spices, foliage, and heavy dairy products. Most significant of these are carnation, butter lettuce, basil, thyme, lavender, cinnamon stick, balsa wood, apple peel, freshly washed hair (odd but distinct and pleasant), mulched grasses, brown pear, and churned buttermilk. Leaves take a little while to expend with my short infusions but are almost exclusively intact 3 leaf and a bud sets with deep spinach green leaves up to 8cm long with fresh sea lettuce elasticity and slightly firmer texture closer to nori. Terminal buds are very small and just emerging from the twig. Twigs are olive green after infusing. Liquor is clear, light-yet-saturated Chardonnay-yellow with a couple dust-sized particles with no sieve used. Liquor aroma carries on aromas of leaves but less spice, more cream and chlorophyll-sweet. Very soothing and full aroma – actually has a rich tactile impression in sinuses or mouth when breathed in.

Full, buttery body. Body is equal to or greater than most puerh I’ve had. Leafy-pear sweet, cinnamon stick and pink peppercorn spice, basil and honey-infused cream sour, glutinous umami, faint marble salt note, and the mellow bitterness of marsh grasses. Mouthwatering crispness circles in and out in a perpetual cycle for over 5 minutes after a draught. Heavy nose of tropical flowers and foliage, rice, cream, chives, and squash. Name a type of monocot plant and there’s a similar muted aromatic or flavor characteristic. Cycad or palm fronds most similar to me, but there’s even a bit of pineapple hiding in the aftertaste. Wet terra cotta or baked adobe brick mineral “ting” alternates with rice/grass pollen in crisp flavor that moves about the tongue. Very, very smooth, but a bit of light whole-spice wetted cinnamon and clove astringency begins to appear in near the back of the tongue from the 9th infusion on. Breath is thick, sweet, perfumed, heavy, and refreshing when exhaling immediately after swallowing. This is accompanied with or followed by a sort of pleasant warming rush from the chest cavity to the five radial points (most notably a rush to the head). Sort of forces a “Woah” or “Mmmmm” like how a refreshing cold beverage forces an “Ahhh”. Lingering rice-like sweetness makes the mouth water for the duration of the slowly-receding aftertaste. Very soothing.

I’m really astonished by the lasting quality of the tea and how I can still conjure up over ten distinct flavor characteristics in the 20th infusion. At the 16th brew it tastes like the 6th steep of a “really good” LiShan oolong. The cinnamon note remains mild but increases a bit with each infusion. Definite note of pear but most of the fruit is in the aroma and nose and takes the form of the smell sliced fruits emit from a dehydrator. I’m playing it safe with coolish water and short brew times out of the desire to maintain flavor and really am not worried in the slightest about risk of producing bad flavors by overbrewing. The most significant astringency is still much less than spinach leaves and the bitterness never reaches the level of mineral water. I’m sure I couldn’t produce a bad tasting brew from this without stewing in boiling water at high concentration. It would be a shame to drive off so many lovely florals, though. Orchid, gardenia, tulip, carnation, water lily, wood rose, ginger flower, orange blossom, lavender, and a whole slew of mixed wildflowers pushed off by excessively hot water would be sort of heartbreaking after taking in what this can offer.

There’s two summary metaphors I can think of to embody this tea:
The essence of sitting on a warm, sun-heated deck surrounded by rich, fresh, green, mist-covered fields and fern-filled woodlands in the emerging morning sun of springtime.
Or –
The root personification of “Woah” a la Keanu Reeves.
Take your pick.

Light – but not Jade – oolong awesomeness.

No notes yet.

This is a case where it is perfectly safe and reliable to go by the retailer’s description. Roy really hits the nail on the head with this one.
I’ve gone through a lot of this tea, and wound up having to buy and season a teapot for it. I’m very glad that these old bush WuYi oolongs are potent enough and roasted to a degree where they can actually benefit from some aging. I doubt any would survive in my collection long enough to actually develop, though.

10g with 150ml water in a young zi ni rong tian yixing teapot used for WuYi YanCha. Two quick rinses without filling the pot all the way. Infusions progressed from 15 seconds to 2 minutes with about 5 seconds tacked on for each infusion. Used one kettle of heated water for every three infusions, using fresh water each time, starting with 83 degrees C and ending with 90 degrees C for the 22nd infusion, when I gave up.

Dark, brown leaves with red tinge on the stems. Dry fragrance sharp charcoal and cocoa with antique wood furniture and faint tobacco leaf notes. Wet aroma brings in mineral characteristics – wet gravel, granite, limestone, sandstone, sea spray saltiness – with old windblown tree woodiness. Cypress resin note. Aroma packs a wallop. Perfume lingers in the sinuses with peppery, dried brown kelp, carnation, tulip, grilled squash, and dry grass smells shifting around after sticking my nose in the pot. Leaves are not nearly as intact as many other oolongs – there’s a few entire leaves but most have been ripped/broken some way or other. Color takes on a patchy brown-olive appearance with red striping on veins and twig. Liquor is golden with orange-brown tint… Would look brown in a deep mug. Liquor doesn’t carry the sharp punch I got earlier, but still has the myriad of different aromas plus some. More dried herbs, lupine, succulents, sage, and clay topsoil… Reminds me of the smell of being at the rocky coast on a grassy cliff where a fire had burned not too long ago. Charcoal and light pepper still present.

Flavor is not sweet, but the nose and aftertaste leave an impression on your sinuses and tongue as though you just drank something sweet. Thick body. Sharp peach-pit astringency ripples through from front to back and hangs in the throat, causing a gravelly-like effect when coupled with the flavor, while the forward palate recovers with the mouthwatering effect. Really feels like I just swallowed dry gravel or cocoa powder, hahaha. Grilled veggies and nectar in the nose. Bittersweet chocolate. Caramelized onion fleets through in waves throughout a draught. Slurping really accentuates resinous wood and burned grass notes. I take that back – burned grasslands. The distinctive aroma of scorched rich soil is there in an odly refreshing way. This isn’t smoky, it’s roasty/flamed. Each infusion is different up to the 16th, where median water hyacinth and buttered wheat toast with honey hold on as a base flavor. Interesting flavors that pop out before then include vanilla bean, pie crust, apple peel, toasted sourdough crust, peach skin, dried orange peel, bergamot fruit, kumquat, Buddha’s Hand peel, papaya, yellow peach, apple-pear, soapstone, kale, mustard, cardamom, clove, overcooked grilled zucchini, pumpkin seeds, allspice, white peppercorns, sunflower seeds, broiled aged sheep’s cheese, pistachio, honeysuckle, and sweet potato. Lots of different flavors and each infusion has a different tactile impression ranging from dry to hydrating, thick to medium body, and at times cycling through all in different parts of the mouth simultaneously. Higher leaf concentration really aids in complexity on this tea. Burned wood note is prevalent in earlier infusions. Hotter water puts emphasis on wood notes and crushes the spice and florals.

This may not be a very approachable tea for some folks. The first few infusions are sharp and maybe even too harsh for some if too hot of water and/or too long a steep with no rinse. There is a ton going on and it sort of demands your attention… to the point where if you are drinking alongside delicate foods, it will take your attention from the food. Not something I’d want to brew as a full mug since I would not be able to appreciate the range of flavors produced in successive infusions and when prepared at dilute concentrations of 3g per 150ml or less, the taste is overrun with the woody-peach aroma. Despite these restrictions, I can not justify a score in the 80s. This thing is an exciting enough tea that I can’t sit with a cup of it to study – I wind up studying the tea! Yeah, I’ve tried this and wound up drawing the leaves in the middle of my page of notes. I may not count this among my “favorite” teas that are a bit more comforting and easier to brew or sit back and drink without thought, but this is a terrific tea that redeems the name of Shui Xian from the bulk Chinese Restaurant teabags and iffy “water Immortals” and “Amber Oolongs” that may come from the same varietal but do not hold a candle to this guy. This is probably the second or third most exciting tea I’ve had from Imperial Tea Court, and I buy a lot of tea from them. The most potent oolong I aim to keep in stock.

Used 2g with 60ml water in a small glazed ceramic gaiwan. Single rinse with infusions progressing 15 seconds, 20 seconds, and 30 seconds for 3rd-9th brews with 83 degree C water. 10th-12th infusions I used 86 degree C water for 1 minute.

The leaves are very pretty. Every single leaf has at least a little gold on it and pure golden buds make up the vast majority of the tea. Dry fragrance is kinda dusty and the hairs floating in the air around the tea are apt to make you sneeze. Dried apple and slight wood note. Wet leaves take on a gorgeous chocolate brown color with a yellow reflection. Wet leaf aroma much more dynamic, with cedar, apple, clove, cinnamon, and woodsmoke. Yeah, a bit of cocoa too, but I think I may have been looking for that characteristic subconsciously. Liquor is also gold, though in a deeper cup it looks like it would take on an orange color. I’m surprized by the clarity – I was expecting some haziness from leaf hairs suspended in the infusion, but I guess those that separated didn’t make it through my fine filter (same sieve doesn’t prevent bi luo chun or yin zhen from looking cloudy, though). Liquor aroma carries the notes of the wet leaves very well, but leaves the smoke characteristic behind.

Low end of full body or high end of moderate body. I was expecting to sacrifice some body with the lower temperature, but it’s still pretty thick. Plus side is the lower temp really did promote the expression of orchid and orange blossom floral notes in the nose. Really no hint of these in the liquor aroma, so it’s a pleasant surprise accent. Apple crisp sweetness pervades throughout. Leaves the tongue sweet as well, and the barely-noticeable astringency plays nicely off the lingering, mouthwatering finish. Wheat, barley, cinnamon, clove, raw sugar, baked pear, buckwheat crepe, kumquat, balsa and cedar woods, a bunch of different types of apples and apple-pear, and a touch of port-grape note. Flavor consistency is sort of remarkable… 12 infusions each expressing just varying degrees of the same notes. As it diminishes, there’s a buttermilk quality that comes out, again accented by apples but this time more of an apple strudel with cinnamon. Nice, comforting sweet taste to wrap up with. Though it leaves me with the impression of finishing a very small piece of apple pie with vanilla ice cream and now I want seconds…

Brewed a 13th infusion with 86 degree C water and forgot about it. Came back 9 minutes later for it – still smooth, crisp and tasty, though the water chestnut note I associate with leaves at the end of their run is prominent. Same basic flavor, but less body and spice notes barely noticeable.

Very tasty, soothing, smooth red tea. Prepared with hotter water it gives more pronounced flavors of wood and resin, but with cooler water you’ll be rewarded with lighter, more dynamic flavors and more of a mouthwatering effect.

Reached the last of my small supply of this, so brewing a bit weaker than I normally would and it started losing flavor about a quarter the number of infusions I would get using 8-9g.

5.75g with 225ml in a seasoned squat shi piao style duan ni yixing teapot. Single rinse. Start off using 83 degree C water and a 15, 30, then 45 second steep but moved on to a minute for the 4th-8th infusions and 2 minutes with 87 degree C water for the 9th.

Leaves are in many different sizes and shapes, ranging from broken down bits the size of small Keemun leaves to leaf sets larger than most whole-leaf oolongs. Smells like opening a bag of dry potting soil or an old but well cleaned barn. Wet leaves release the same clay-loam aroma, but also wet river rock crispness, stripped willow bark sweet vegetal aroma, and a bit of oven-dried orange peel woody citrus. Beech wood and unground nutmeg and pepper spice aromas. The leaves look an awful lot like spent leaves of Oriental Beauty Oolong (Dong Feng Mei Ren/Bai Hao Oolong) leaves, but a little darker green. Liquor is clear orange-amber with a reddish tint (infusions beyond the 4th brew are just clear amber, but stay richly hued). Liquor aroma does not convey the soil characteristics and incorporates more of a bisque-fired clay note and crushed walnut meaty nuttiness.

Rich body. Not super thick, but feels kind of “sticky” – the lower end of chewy full body. Light acidity and faint astringency along margins. Similar tactile impression to whole/4% milk. Mouthwatering with balanced umami, sweet, light sour, and faint bitterness. Usually I shy away from mentioning sour or bitter when talking about a tea I love, but these qualities are present to varying degrees in most teas whether we decide to call attention to them or not and here they really help tie the flavor and tactile impression together in a rich flavor. Most puerh I drink may have some complexity in the aroma and provides a good base flavor, but this guy actually moves through a good range of progressive tastes as well. Base is a vegetal-wood flavor – again, reminding me of stripped willow bark or the smell of sapling trees. Moist leaf litter, but no mustiness. Paprika, almond, terra cotta, mild unground peppercorns, apricot, bittersweet chocolate peanut shell, old redwood planks, cattail, a touch of prune and chipotle all move through in the flavor and nose. It is much more like a rush of people getting on a train than a dance in terms of flavor progression – the flavors present, then merge and change instead of flitting in and out as they tend to in more delicate teas. The body really does seem a conduit for the flavors. When slurped, more of the apricot and wet wood-cocoa character is present (and a sort of legume/cooked beans flavor not noticable in the draught) but the many other flavors are relegated to aftertaste. Aftertaste is crisp, slightly corn-and-rice sweet, and mouthwatering.

Lasts much shorter than the 20+ infusions I got off this using 12g in the same amount of water, but first 6 infusions are really good and disappear altogether too quickly.

Really yummy tea at a steal for the price. That said, I would not want to drink this every day. While it could hold its own against food, I feel I need to drink this on its own to give it the attention it deserves. Livelier than you may expect a tea with this level of body.

I’ve had this tea many times and the honey fragrance has always been there but never really stood out to me over other characteristics. This time, I used more leaf and was rewarded with more honey in not just the fragrance, but in the aroma, nose, afteraroma, and flavor as well.

8g with 150ml water in a zi ni rong tian yixing teapot dedicated to Phoenix Oolongs. Single rinse with immediate pour – 10 second contact time. Multiple infusions in rapid succession using 85 degree C water.

Beautiful long, dark, twisted leaves with stripes of yellow, mossy green, deep red-violet, gold, and dark sienna on an umber brown background. Average length is over an inch in twisted, dry form. Fragrance is toasty, sharply nutty (pecans, filberts, and chopped almonds), and while not sweet smelling it leaves a sweet impression within the sinuses. Wet leaves are much lighter green like iris leaves with olive leaf dark patches, though the light yellow stripes are retained. More clove and honey in wet leaf aroma with antique wood cupboard sharp, slightly musty note and a hint of tobacco leaves. Clear, yellow liquor has mild but thick, soothing sweet aroma – more nectar-like than honey… Ripe nectarine or honeysuckle and a baked bread aroma like ripping open a fresh wheat roll. Tropical flower aromas flit in and out as well. Very much like the aroma of a greenhouse.

Smooth up front with a bit of astringency in the throat as the flavor recedes. Honey on wheat toast aroma. Lightly sweet and mouthwatering. Myriad of fleeting flavor notes pop in and out with each sip. Peach pit tang is dominant and potent when slurped yet mixed evenly in a balanced, delicate flavor melange when taken as a draught. Ginger-like umami. Really warming from the head all the way through the belly. Spice notes include practically every spice I have in my cupboard and every herb I’ve grown but clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, star anise, thyme, and basil are the first to really make an impression. Ginger flower, sorrel, rosemary, orchid, chocolate-mint flower, and amaryllis florals present in nose and many reappear for aftertaste. Gives my breath a sweet and vaporous feel for a long time. While not an actual flavor or aroma, the combinations of tastes, sensations, and aromas produce an effect reminiscent of honey in warm cream. Makes me think of buttered cinnamon French toast with agave nectar or lavender honey drizzled over it. Roughly 2-3 minutes after drinking, a second (or is it third or fourth?) aftertaste comes out of nowhere with more of those wheat toast and crystallized honey flavors.
Seeeerious lasting capability. I’m falling asleep before the tea is and really running out of capacity in my stomach. Not declining at the 12th infusion, where I typically start wrapping this up at when I use just a little more than half this strength.

Mild in flavor but rich in expression and a sort of thick-air quality emanates from this tea (even greater in the mouth and when swallowing). Many different flavors and aromas. Not the most complex, but more so than the vast majority of teas out there. It seems to take a slight step down in intensity and expression compared to some other Phoenix Oolongs as a tradeoff for comforting feeling. This is one of those teas that can produce a bit of a “tea drunk” feeling and sure helps promote the idea of curling up and falling asleep… Toasty, warm and sweet… Definitely a comforter.

4.5g with 115ml water in a seasoned squat shi piao ZiNi yixing teapot. Single rinse went a little longer than intended – 20 seconds.

Not many “big leaves” left in this little tin since I’ve gotten to the bottom. These seem to be graded for size and what I’m reviewing here are mostly broken pieces of the leaves (no bits as small as a BOP grade, but only a few the size of OP or longer). Originally the tin was populated with leaves about on par with average WuYi oolong leaf length… Having had puerh with leaves nearly as long as my hand’s width or longer it’s hard to consider this “big leaf” but it is certainly longer than most loose shou puerh and longer than the standard loose leaf puerh offered by this company. Dry fragrance kind of dusty-earthy like old unswept wood floor with some water damage. Wet aroma much sweeter and woodier. I sort of laughed when I read the note the company claims of citrus, but it actually is there in a dried orange peal kind of aroma. Color is deep amber-brown with good clarity.

Body is comparable to sugarwater. Pretty full and tacky but not heavy enough for me to consider chewy or really rich when comparing to other dark teas. Smooth with a bit of a blood orange crispness. Juicy mouthfeel. I agree on the citrus quality, but it is citrus oil not citrus juice. Really, if there is a fruit in the taste it is grape but that is under the base flavor of dried vines and wet wood. The woody notes here are like standing dead wood – an old tree or vines that have finally bitten the dust after many years and are left standing in a woodland. There is a clay slurry effect in swallowing, like the body thickens as it goes down to the back of the mouth. As it cools more sweet and vegetal qualities come out… I’m picking up a bit of green apple peel snappy faint acidity and astringency in the fourth infusion. Sort of a copper metal sweetness throughout but most obvious in aftertaste. Afteraroma and nose remain true to the flavor but carries a faint bit of wet ash, producing a light rubbertree sap note in the nose.

Drinking exclusively the larger leaves carry pretty much the same flavors and aromas I’ve written here, but body is reduced. I’m surprised I’m getting the same number of infusions (11) out of the broken leaves as the more intact ones before the flavor starts going.

Calming and soothing tea. Not too exciting, but unoffensive. Pretty darn approachable for an inexpensive loose puerh, but it isn’t hard to find better ones for slightly cheaper. Good for drinking after a meal.

This is my favorite tea alongside some FengHuang DanCongs and I intend to always have it on hand. My little round ZhuNi pot is used for only TGYs that are really similar in both roast and oxidation to this one. I actually have a travel tin about the size and shape of a hip flask I keep in my coat with this in it.
This time around I used 5g with a descending curve on water volume (leaves steadily displace more and more through progressive infusions) starting at 125ml and down to 100ml by the 10th infusion. I kept the steep time at 30 seconds for the first 6 infusions with 83 degree C water and bumping up to 45 seconds for 7th-10th infusions. Gave a single rinse with about 15 second contact time, though first retained brew might as well have been another rinse.

Leaves are shiny dark green and mossy brown with pale yellow-green stems tinges with gold and thin reddish stripes on stems, veins, and leaf margins. Fragrance is toasty hay with a “ripe” non-fruit fruity quality like smelling cooking zucchini. When placed in my heated teapot this does take on the light fruit smell of an uncut plum or nectarine. Wet aroma always reminds me of the smell of the hills in my hometown come October… Warm air mixing with a faint hint of coming crispness rolling off sunbaked, clay-heavy hillsides covered in a thick layer of dry annual grasses plus the smell of drying vineyards, just-ready to harvest cornrows, rushes and faint note from the first pumpkins being broken from their vines. Liquor is pale yellow and transparent. Aroma coming off the tea is more muted and mellow green toastiness. Orchid, lilac, dried lily/orchid leaves and palm fronds, sun-heated schist, a bit of wet moss and clay, and blackberry brambles. There is an always-surprising accuracy to the similarity of the liquor aroma and the smell of blooming Juncus and Carex wetland grasses in a drying spring-fed shallow freshwater marsh. It’s this unique floral-vegetal-toasty-pollen-milky-cottony-heady-lighty buttered and faint grassy menthol characteristic that really hits you hiking into upland marsh in Mediterranean climates. Yes, I once brought everything needed to brew this tea out to where I was doing a vegetative survey just to make sure I wasn’t off my rocker about this all-too-precise similarity.

Mild flavor and mellow, balanced body that builds a little in 3rd-5th infusions. Most of what this tea is about is in the aroma, but the light flavor balances it out. Taste is crisp with a slight acidity like the light sour taste you get from milk or cream. Yellow bell pepper sweetness. Not much of a savory quality, but just enough to be noticed (you get much more when brewing longer). Warm sourdough bread and a bit of cheese in aftertaste. Very smooth and soothing. Warms the belly. Palm/coconut husk in the afteraroma.
Again – not very fruity at all, but if you search for it, you’ll inevitably combine the floral aromatics with the crisp flavor to make something plum skin or peach-like. Really, this is more about creaminess and dried grasses with monocot flowers.

Very pleasant, easy drinking tea. Flavor shifts a bit between floral, vegetal, buttery, mineral, and woody depending on how it’s brewed so it keeps interesting and makes it fun to screw with brewing parameters. I love this tea. Not the most Jaw-dropping tea in the world, but really tasty. One of those teas that makes it really pleasant to stick your nose in the cup after finishing and will leave you absentmindedly reaching for your cup over and over again to find it empty. “Oh, there isn’t any more :(” pops into my head a bunch. Guess that’s why I motor through it so fast.

10 hours into drinking this tea, I refresh a second time for a 11th-13th infusions, which I pour together in one cup.
Longer steep and hotter water, I’ve robbed this of most of its complexity and wonder but it still tastes good. Bronze/brass notes and simpler profile centering on dried iris floral/herbaceous characteristics. Like the basic “wulong” shui xian you get in Chinese restaurants, but cleaner aroma.

I got one of these 100g mini-beengs in 2007, bought ten more at the beginning of 2009 and have been drinking them up and gave a few away as gifts. I’m down to 2 and 3/4 cakes left and will miss ‘em when they’re gone as they are great for drinking with meals (especially oily/greasy stuff like a lot of Chinese food). Tons of oompf for such a tiny package – little beengcha, little leaves, big flavor. Mellowed a bit since the first taste I had, but age has had little effect thus far and I doubt the tea will survive to a point where it’s effect is really significant.

10g with 225ml water in a seasoned “shi piao” Yuan Kuang Lao ZiNi yixing teapot. Double rinse to break up very tight compaction. 1st infusion 20 seconds; 2nd infusion 25 seconds; 3rd-6th infusions 30 seconds each.

Leaves are tightly compacted but not as absurdly tight as an iron-cake and it is possible to break of chunks using just fingers. There’s a lot of buds but grading ripe puerh is tricky – while graded piles are segregated in wo dui prep, most is done on the basis of size after being broken down in active fermentation so these fairly uniform leaf bits contain buds, rolled bits of young leaves, and thin broken twigs of the sort that connect 2 leaf and a bud sets. Still, the cakes are pretty equally brown and gold with a reddish reflection. Embedded paper has started taking on some tea oils but still an overall matte appearance. Not much dry fragrance beyond dry clay-rich loam. Same note dominates in heady wet aroma but with warm moist leaf litter base. Coppery sweetness in aroma like candied pecans/walnuts. Did I mention clay? Always reminds me of sculpting in the same room as an operating kiln. Liquor is dark red with clear transparency but the color makes it nearly impossible to see through the tea without back-lighting.

Heavy, heavy body. Mouthwatering tacky quality similar to currants/prunes but there really isn’t a fruit note except maybe a fleeting hint of prune in the aftertaste. Flavor hits at the back, near the throat first and then you notice the flavor in the rest of your mouth. This is all about the moist earth flavors. Sweetness is pleasantly metallic. Like the comforting sweet smell of bronze antiques or lightly rusted cast iron. Mmm, boy it’s rich. Lots of woody tastes – less acidic than orchid bark, but moist chopped hardwood bark a definite. Aroma suggests resin and pepper but these are not really present in neither flavor nor nose. Long finish of unglazed clay wares. For all its earthy characters, it is not dirty. These are humus and refined base soil material notes, not dust or dung. I’ve seen some people call the barnyard smell of wet-storage puerh as “pu-erh like” (or “poo-air” like the common mispronunciation of the tea category); this does not have that off-characteristic. Puerh ought to have a clarity despite its earthen qualities in shous or aged shengs. Sure, this is a wo dui processed tea and has an old building character to it, but no farm animals here and the mustiness is kept to the wet leaves. Rich, potent, and smoooooth with long lasting but clear finish.

I love this tea and it is a staple for drinking with food. So why the rating? The rating reflects the reality check of the real level of this tea – it is not a superb, must-try tea. It tastes really good and makes a good gift for folks who actually drink good tea, but it can not compare to a well-aged cake or many teas that cost 10 times as much. There is a huge presence of flavor and you can pick out all kinds of tastes if you try – ranging from toasted white oak, teak, dried bullrush, and water lily – but the complexity is not something that you really jump at and in six infusions prepared gong fu cha, there really is not much shift in flavor. On the plus side, it it reliable and can cut through the impacts of drinking alongside a meal, but monodirectional flavor doesn’t earn a high score in my book. You don’t reach for a $100 bottle of wine to drink with every meal, however much you may enjoy it; same goes for this good everyday tea.
I’d still recommend this to friends, but I can’t find any more to buy.

Refreshed for an 8th-10th infusion.
Still has a great mix of aromas that continue to shift around. Smell of a warm willow-covered sandbar on a riverbend. Redwood rich spices… clove, cinnamon, and bits of roasted ginger and tannin. Earthenware fresh from a kiln. Bouquet of flowers. I’m getting definitive Cymbidium Orchid aroma. Astringency plays off mild acidity nicely – crisp and mouthwatering in the back lower corners of the mouth sort of near where my tonsils once were. Makes my breath sweet like fresh toasted seeded crackerbread. Bit of black plum pit juicy tang in aftertaste.

7g with 175ml water in a zi ni rong tian yixing teapot dedicated to Phoenix Oolongs. Single rinse with immediate pour – 10 second contact time. Multiple infusions in rapid succession using 85 degree C water. Takes 10 seconds to pour from the pot, so settled infusion is only 0-10 seconds for first seven brews.

Leaves twisted and fairly intact, though they don’t look too handsome. Toasty and floral dry fragrance mostly unnoticeable until placed in warmed pot. Wet aroma is like walking into a greenhouse. Not the heady meshed, buttery florals of Taiwan oolongs – here they are distinct, crisp flower and greenery aromatics of such a multitude that it is really difficult to parse them out. Definitely orchid, carnation, and lily. Also some hyacinth, tulip, African violet, and just a touch of star jasmine. Greenery aromatics of wetland grasses, oak trees, ferns, and duckweed. There’s also a good amount of wet lava rock, clove, allspice, and yellow peach in there. Base aroma is toasty and sweet with a warm adobe brick mineral accent. Liquor carries more of the toasty notes than florals. Color is clear light yellow.

First three infusions are smooth, crisp, clean, and lean toward toasty dried grasses and hops aromas and flavors. The florals are there, but are sort of a hushed persistent chatter in the background. For the fourth infusion the florals let go of their restraint and come forward full force. Carnation is the most present in the cup, but lily takes over for the nose and afteraroma. Roasted chestnut, toasted poppyseed and crispy noodle characteristics come through in the sixth and seventh infusions and warm cut willow and cattail herbaceous notes mix with gentle spiciness similar to grains of paradise mixed with paprika and roasted chipotle. Bewitching balance of sweet, spice, herbal-bitter, mineral, and nectarine-astringent. Aroma is shifting and complex but nose, afteraroma and sweet aftertaste more heady than the draught. By the seventh infusion I’m really reminded of the smell and taste of the air while hiking through freshwater marsh on a mildly warm late summer evening.
Tea has much more to offer, but I’m being lulled to sleep by its comforting melody of aromas and flavors. I’ll have to refresh these leaves in a couple hours.

Yum yum, tasty toasty aromatic inviting smooth sensualness…

Lately I’ve been drinking a bunch of tea that is seriously outside my budget. Most is $1 per gram or more with 25g being the typical minimum I can buy. I just did two comparative tastings of Long Jings with the highest quality I can find for lineups of six, all brand new fresh crop (first tasting was one week after harvest) and all superbly crafted from the same general locality.
Today I decided to give another taste to the Long Jing sold at the coffee shop I work at to bring me back to reality. We have terrific coffee, but pretty much all the tea is the very antithesis of our coffees’ freshness and quality. Gah, I regret my choice.

I used about 5g with 200ml water in an infuser basket set inside a small latte mug. Our water dispenses at 88 degrees C so I hit it with cold water to buffer the tea first.

Leaves are dried moss color. Muted green with brownish tinge. Smells like spent autumn leaves raked off the front lawn and tossed in a heap. Underlying aroma suggests it was stored next to something peach-scented about a year ago. Not much aroma – pretty good example of stale tea. Wet aroma has toasted rice sweet note I associate with under-assertive puerh mao cha that may not age too well. I happen to really like young mao cha, so this is a pleasant characteristic for me… when it isn’t a green tea. Most of the aroma is quick to leave the cup and never return. Liquor is pale yellow and a little hazy.

Sigh, yeah, I actually tasted this the same day I finished off one of the great WuYi YanChas I was holding onto. I’m sorry, mouth.
Flavor… where is the flavor… oh, wait, I didn’t eat yet today, that’s not the taste of indigestion, that’s the feeble aftertaste of the tea. But where’s the foreflavor? sip guh, there it is. Old hay. Some clay-heavy wet soil. Sort of a musty hint. Strange how much this makes me think of the smell of a cow pasture on a drizzly day. Like I kneeled over and drank some of the rainwater collected in a hoofprint. Hmm, what else? Old uncooked green beans wrapped in a wet paper bag…
There is a pleasant old leather note in the nose and a mineral sweetness, but these are – again – positive attributes I like in puerh, not a green tea.
On the real plus side, the tea is way too stale for any of these characteristics to actually be overtly noticeable.

All in all, I reeeeeeally hope we change our Long Jing soon. We buy from this vendor because it’s all organic and fair trade – doesn’t mean fresh or good by any stretch of the imagination. Sungarden doesn’t make their list of teas available to the public unless you request a catalog and I say don’t bother. Their Jasmine Pearls (and supposedly their second flush Darjeeling too) are worlds better, and at least acceptable as a tea I’d want to drink.

To be clear on the rating – this is still better than a lot of bags in the supermarket, so I can’t justify below a 5.

4g with 150ml water in a young zi ni rong tian yixing teapot used for WuYi YanCha.

This is the last of my supply of this tea, so I used slightly lower strength and longer steep despite relatively large percentage of broken leaves. Dry fragrance like lightly caramelized sugar or muted cotton candy with almond and faint apricot. Wet aroma more spicy with clove and wet rock notes. Liquor pale yellow (like many green teas) and crystal clear.

Slick mouthfeel with moderate body and back of throat light astringency that climbs slowly to the tip of the tongue similar to mineral water effect. Mouthwatering and light hard candy sweetness. Mild but incredibly pervasive toasty note penetrates with warming effect throughout chest cavity and comes out with sweet exhalation. Candied walnuts, white peach and white nectarine. I can’t get over the way it makes my tongue taste sweet – it’s so long lasting for such a mellow infusion. Fleeting afteraroma of sedges and iris come in and out for over ten minutes after drinking.

When prepared stronger (7g with 140ml at 90 degrees C), the mineral note comes across as a gravel-like taste and aggressive back-of-throat astringency that just kind of sits back there like you swallowed something rough. More toasted oak and peach pit flavor supersedes the candy tastes but still sweet.

7g in 200ml seasoned duan ni squat shi piao yixing teapot.

Leaves are a work of art. Even when broken apart, they have great luster and preserve their shape well. If I didn’t worry about aromatic taints and light corruption, I’d have this out on display it is so pretty. Leaves smell pretty green – basically fresh mao cha. A touch of gravelly loam and seven grain bread. Wet aroma liberates some more nectar-like qualities and sandy clay aroma (not just the smell of the teapot). Reminds me of the smell of fresh mulch. Not a ton going on, but pleasant.

Mellow, balanced young sheng puerh. Liquor appearance and body very similar to 1 part honey diluted in 3 parts hot water. Smooth. Really smooth for how young it is. Sweetness is about on par with infused Chamomile. Lack of bitterness or assertive qualities has me feeling this may not age particularly well but it is very pleasant drinking for a cake that ought to be “too young to drink.” Very soft.

Nice drinking tea if you’re a fan of relatively fresh mao cha or Yunnan greens.

3g in 155ml water heated to 90 degrees C, brewed in a glazed ceramic gaiwan.

Pretty leaves with a large percentage unbroken. Brazilnut, untoasted hazelnut, macadamia, toasted sesame, grapes, and dried oak leaf dry fragrance. Wet leaf aroma more of an orchid bark and moss with a dry Chardonnay grape expression. Liquor color ocher to light red orange with great clarity in a shallow white cup.

Nice, hefty Darjeeling with distinctive characteristics that can cut through even scenting. Muscat grape note is much more obvious than many Darjeelings claiming to tout the characteristic and it sails nicely with the honey wheat toast sweetness and light woody notes. There’s sesame, malt, adobe clay, and orchid in the aroma as well… And a bit of currant and juniper or pinyon-like resin that comes out of there in the background. A real joy to just sit back and take the aroma in off this one. Good body, balanced astringency. Sweet, juicy, and crisp. The muscat grape is actually present in the flavor, not just the aroma. Toasty taste with just a hint of citrus blossom.

I generally dislike scenting, but I like using this as a base for home made Earl Grey since it can cut through the aroma of diced and dried bergamot peel and the aromas naturally compliment one another.

Brewed 5g in 165ml water at 75 degrees C in a glazed ceramic gaiwan. Got two nearly identical infusions using the same parameters one after another.

Tons of down. Shredded green wood dry fragrance with a note of macadamia. Typical chlorophyll sweetness but more toastiness than I’m used to. Wet aroma brings in more hay and nuts and adds a light carnation note. Liquor is a hazy pale yellow with plenty of suspended hairs despite running through a very vine mesh strainer. Liquor blends the dry fragrance and wet aroma smells neatly. The floral-nut-toasty-hay mix produces an odd muted Jolly Rancher quality as an underlying aroma tint.

Flavor is a bit more “frank” a version of Bi Luo Chun than some of the finer, daintier ones out there. Most body I’ve had on this type of tea and it lasts multiple infusions quite well, but more of a tendency towards astringency. Base aroma is similar to uncut late-season grassy field with a mildly sweet, savory, and roasty oat flour and rye note. Sort of soapy. Not a ton of dimension (especially in comparison when tasted alongside other Bi Luo Chuns) but heftier than usual and probably a better “drinking” tea because of it.

This is probably the closest I’ve tasted to an “everyday green” quality from a Dong Ting Bi Luo Chun. Still more refined than mimicry BLC from other regions, though.

Mouthwatering, savory muted vegetal wash with a faintly smoky, sweet sea lettuce aftertaste. The aroma is a delicate yet captivating blend of orchid, grassy knoll at the peak of growth, iris, fresh cornbread, lightly steamed cauliflower, watermelon skin, and coconut husk. Light flavor, but shifting in profile – undeniably green with fresh hay-like qualities but floral and sweet. There’s a non-fruity fruit characteristic I liken to the feeling of stir frying squash and breathing in the surrounding steam… sort of a vaporous “ripeness” you get while exhaling some oolongs. Great body is also more comparable to oolongs than greens. Refreshing and sumptuous, this tea sort of makes you forget hunger and can supplant an afternoon meal, though it somehow accompanies food well without being lost (feels like a waste of a fine tea to drink it alongside something that will change its flavor, though).

Very forgiving to brew. I typically will infuse 4g per 165ml for 2-3 minutes in 75-80 degree C water, but can brew continuously with 3g per 500ml at 70-75 degrees C and be constantly refreshed for over 15 minutes as you drink from the infusing liquor.

Expect something smokier/meatier than a green tea when drinking this and do not be surprised that the aftertaste is more substantial than the flavor.

Used 5g in 155ml water in a covered glazed ceramic gaiwan with a single quick rinse. First infusion 1 minute with 85 degree C water followed by a 2 minute 30 second infusion with the same water slightly cooled.

Dry fragrance very similar to dried apricots. Toasty, sweet, fruity (the apricots, but also longan, lychee, kumquat, currant, and dried pomello rind), cinnamon, pink peppercorns, whole cardamom, and cedar wood. Wet aroma of the leaves more damp wood, wet granite, pear, and plum sauce. Liquor is a clear, reddish copper color and carries a heady aroma of the spices and longan/kumquat fruity notes.

Only real difference in infusions is increased body and headiness of aroma in longer brew. Slick, smooth, full mouthfeel. Long lingering cupric aftertaste with ripe fruit medley. Mineral, sweet crispness lends mouthwatering effect. Slight astringency in the very back of the throat. In tasting, it is vaporous with the aromas blending easily to the flavor and to the nose and afteraroma – practically seamless transition but lighter up front and richer toward end. Taken as a draught, there is more of a plum skin, copper metal sweetness, ripe pear underlying perfume, and overall juiciness you don’t quite get in sipping/slurping.

When brewed longer, this has a striking similarity to brandy or heavier scotch in color, aroma, and body.

Rich and sumptuous while remaining clean, this tea balances the line between oolongs and reds very well and would happily satisfy folks of either preference. Despite its weight, I would never consider besmirching this tea with additions – it is really pointless and adding anything more than the smallest bit of sugar or honey would tear it to shreds.

Prepared 10g in a seasoned 200ml duan ni squat shi piao style Yixing teapot. Rinsed twice to open up and remove small amount of broken down tea dust (rinses immediately poured off – about 10 second contact time). I progressed each infusion by about 5 seconds, starting at 15 seconds and finishing at 2 minutes and 45 seconds on the 28th infusion. Heated enough water for three infusions each with a downshift of 10 degrees C at most. Climbed from 80 degrees to just before a boil for the 13th infusion onward.

Leaves are clearly broken down and fairly oily – pretty luster. Coppery deep brown color with hints of silver and far-muted green tinted brown. A couple golden stripes here and there. While there are a lot of intact leaves, there is also heavier presence of twig and what looks like much older leaves mixed in than most of the new puerhs I get. In a warmed pot, the dry fragrance is a dry but cool oak woodland leaf litter mustiness with a faint mineral and black pepper spicy tinge. Hint of ripe red grape skins in there and crisp sweetness. Wet aroma musty and heady with just a hint of an aged port aroma… maybe a bit of clove and brandy. Liquor color is a gorgeous clear deep red with gold tint to the margins. Liquor aroma transmits mostly sweet mineral aromas with that crisp, toasty dried oak leaf and bark aroma as a base. Reminds me of the smell of canoeing down a clean stretch of creek on a cooler summer day with the smell of river rocks, willows, driftwood, sand and just a bit of algae mixing in a warming, relaxing medley.

All infusions shared a base of sweet toasted malt, slight tanginess of mineral clay and tannic dried leaves, incredible smooth and thick mouthfeel, and sweet woodsy lingering yet clean-feeling aftertaste with an evaporative orchid-floral effect. First six infusions were markedly different in prime attribute expression. 1st – mineral clay; 2nd – smooth cabernet sauvignon (ripe red fruit); 3rd – old vine zinfendel (peppery and plum); 4th – sweet toasted grains and dry eucalyptus wood; 5th – home baked wheat bread just out of the oven drizzled with honey (camphor afteraroma); 6th – hummus on toasted grain cracker with a touch of ripe plum and pear and very thin slice of 1-2 year old creamy cheddar cheese. Fruits gave way to a bit of moist leaf litter and bark aromas in later infusions, but the floral and sweet, toasty afteraroma and taste kept going. While the telltale water chestnut crispness started advancing through the 18th-28th infusions, I gave up long before the tea did. Dunno how many infusions I could’ve gotten out of this guy… The next morning I re-rinsed and brewed two pots with the old leaves 4-5 minutes with near-boiling water and it still tasted sweet, clean and mouthwatering but most of the unique flavor characteristics were gone.

Used this as the representative of an aged sheng puerh for my Ten Famous Teas of China tasting, and I feel bad for the folks who had to leave before we started brewing this beauty.