661 Tasting Notes
I’ve had this tea since Oct last year and have had it a few times but forgot to add it to my Steepster cupboard. So just leaving a review now.
I don’t think I’ve had a bad tea from this Aliexpress seller. I might have brewed this one a tad weak this morning but the flavours are still coming through. I especially love the unique fruity taste this green has (I am talking about tai ping hou kui in general and not just this tea.). This one is definitely fuity with a mild nutty flavour. A very light tea that’s pretty smooth. Very little astringency.
I brewed this one in my mug this morning instead of using my testtube gaiwan that I usually use. I chipped the edge of the infuser last time I trying to get some leaves out. The glass is so delicate!
Flavors: Fruity, Nutty, Smooth
I was not looking forward to trying this tea. The idea of drinking turmeric and ginger sounds pretty gross to me. However, it’s not quite as bad as I thought it might be. It’s actually drinkable and if someone loves ginger and turmeric they might like this tea. Actually I DO like ginger and turmeric in food, just not my tea. The lemony touch makes it go down a little easier. It’s nice and warming on the throat so not a total waste for a tea.
Flavors: Ginger, Lemon, Spicy
2015 Sheng Olympics
This tea was a bit disappointing. I used about half the sample in my tiny gaiwan at 90C. First couple of infusions were pretty good. It had a full mouth feel and was a bit astringent. There was only a touch of bitterness. A little fruity.
After that the bitterness seemed to get worse with each steep . It was also very dry on the finish of each sip. I tried lowering the temperature of the water but it didn’t seem to help. I only made it to steep 5.Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Fruity
I’ve had this tea for awhile and can’t believe I didn’t leave a review for it. I guess I was too busy trying to sip down all the samples I have!
I brewed this for 1 min at 80C. It’s got a nice rice roasted flavour from the rice. There’s a bit of astringency and slight grassy sweetness from the green. Not bad but definitely not a “supreme” tea as they’ve named it. I still could give this a try at even lower temperatures and see if there’s a difference.
Flavors: Astringent, Roasted, Sweet, Warm Grass
Preparation
Enjoying this one this morning. I’ve had this tea before from Spring 2015. I even have some of the Spring 2015 still in my cupboard. I really liked it then but the dry leaf smells different from the two. Autumn has more of a fruity scent and the Spring has more of a straw scent to it. I will have to brew both up together and see if there’s a big difference. It might also have to do with the Spring one starting to age.
I brewed this at 80C in my tea mug. It’s strange a few reviews say this tea is astringent. I found very little astringency in it. Maybe it had to do with the brewing. It’s a sweet nutty tea with a bit of fruitiness. There’s a bit of green pea in there too. It reminds me a bit of some bi luo chun teas. Think I will try this one at 70 to see if I get more fruity flavour from it.
Flavors: Fruity, Green Beans, Nutty, Sweet
Preparation
Want to correct my note about how the dry leaf for the Spring one smelled. When I opened the bag I got straw. but when I let it sit for awhile , it was more fruity.
I think there might be a confusion, or broad interpretation on the term astringency and how it relates to dryness
Apparently there is four kinds of astringency. hahahaha
http://www.teanerd.com/2007/04/astringency-red-headed-stepchild-of-tea.html
Interesting! Thanks for the link.
interesting read as well, nice responses from others too
This tea was in the YS monthly package for January I think. I am really enjoying white teas lately being brewed at 90C. They are just so good at that temperature.
So this tea has an autumn leaf taste to it. There’s a bit of hay and it’s thick sweet tasting. A bit of fruitiness but not as much as some other white teas I’ve had. Overall, I really liked this one.
Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Hay, Sweet, Thick
Preparation
“Autumn leaf taste”, such a great description! Instantly created the desire to try the tea.
I just was about to review this one as well. at around 70c I got a really nice pear thing going on. I’m sure I reviewed this one before though, hence why I re-upped the tea today – is steepster really eating reviews?
S.A., That’s what I got when I tried it. You might get something different like Rasseru. You never know.
Rasseru, that’s really interesting you got such different notes than me by brewing it at 70C. I loved it at 90C but think I will give it a try at the 70. It appears more of the fruity notes comes out at the lower temperatures.
It was like apple and pears – you know how they are a similar floral nature with a hint of citrus? it was like that. very subtle but thats how they came together for me. Maybe it was the subtlety that created these thoughts.
2016 Sheng Olympics
This tea is from yesterday. I didn’t know which one to choose so I closed my eyes and reached in the bag. Shared this one with Hubby who liked it enough. Neither of us are used to too much caffeine though so I didn’t go too many infusions.
The few infusions I had of this were great. It was smooth , silky, thick , & creamy. Not any fruity or apricot flavour I get from many shengs but I still really liked it. It was the thick creamy taste that I really enjoyed.
This tea had quite a kick to it and both Hubby and I only made it to infusion 5. I feel like a tea this good is just a waste for someone like me. I don’t get many infusions at all from my pu’erh’s and I don’t like leaving the leaves for the next day.
Here’s my pic from yesterday:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BCBZmHINDGG/?taken-by=ubacat
Flavors: Creamy, Smooth, Thick
I didn’t brew this tea exactly the way it’s supposed to be brewed. I left a glowing review on it a year ago but the tea is old now (one year) and I brewed at 80C for 30 sec in a mug instead of doing the lighter temperatures.
It’s still good but not amazing like I tasted before. Like I said this tea is pretty old. Freshness makes a huge difference on the greens. This is the last of this tea.
2016 Sheng Olympics
I had this tea a few days ago already but just getting around to leaving my review now.
It didn’t look like a lot of tea in the package so I dumped the whole thing in my gaiwan and brewed away. 1st and 2nd infusions were great. Very little bitterness & fruity. It had a nice creaminess to it. That was before the leaves unfolded entirely. Next infusion was way too strong for me. Yes, I used too much leaf for me. I like my teas on the lighter side. So I took some out and continued brewing on the rest. I was a bit disappointed. All the next brews kept getting more and more bitter. The creaminess disappeared. As for the fruitiness, I think it was still there but the bitterness was throwing me off. By the way, I brewed this with 90C water. If I had any left of this I might try even lower temperatures. It started out fine but became too bitter and astringent in later steeps.
Flavors: Bitter, Creamy, Fruity
