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__Morgana__ drank Hu Shan Yellow Buds by Harney & Sons

2036 tasting notes

Yellow tea!

The last in the H&S Green Tea Sampler.

Steeping for the time and temp in the Harney note, approximately. The Breville doesn’t have settings in 15 second increments, so I’m rounding up.

Beautiful, long fuzzy leaves/buds. They feel soft to the touch and remind me of little caterpillars. They have an interesting, nutty fragrance. It’s sort of reminiscent of some oolongs and some darjeelings, but more delicate.

It’s funny, I don’t know that I would have come up with “spice scented rose”, but wow, it’s there in the aroma. Which is pretty interesting, since the aroma is very very delicate. It’s the kind of thing where if you don’t spend time with it, you could miss it.

Very very pale yellow liquor. Almost clear. The flavor has a spicy lilt to it, which I wasn’t expecting at all. It is like a ginger, like a ginger that almost isn’t there and makes itself known mostly through feel and secondarily through taste. I’m getting some nuttiness on the back end. Very mild nuttiness, like the meat of macademia nuts minus the salt.

This wasn’t love at first sight for me, as I was sort of hoping it would be. But it’s positive enough that I’m willing to go out on a few more dates and see what comes of it.

Preparation

175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 30 sec

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I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes