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I got this sample from Mandala a while back. My tea knowledge is still growing after all this time. I thought all dancong teas were from Phoenix mountain so that’s what I was expecting, Now I see it’s from Wuyi which is also good as I like Wuyi oolongs a lot.

This got steeped up in the yixing this afternoon. It has a bit of roasty quality that reminds me of burnt sugar. For me the predominate note is fruity, peach and nectarine notes. There is a bit of minerality in the finish and it leaves a long sweet aftertaste in your mouth. I accidentally did one steep where I forgot the time and left it steeping too long, then it became sort of bitter and chalky. So.. I wouldn’t recommend doing that but 20-30 seconds seems like a good steeping time for it.

Not destined to be one of my favorite oolongs, but still a solid choice, nice every day drinking tea.

I just got back from hanging out with my sweetie and I feel so sleeeeeepy. It’s been a rainy weekend and I just feel like doing nothing but drinking tea for the next few hours. That might be a bad idea since I already had 3 cups of coffee today but maybe I’ll switch to something green or white soon.

This is an awesome afternoon/dessert tea. One of my favs from Mariage Freres so far. I think they need to create a sampler pack. Is there one? I’ve never seen one. Anyway this is nice, the black tea base is smooth and velvety and leaves a good background for the vanilla and chocolate notes. I prefer this with a bit of sugar. Tasty stuff.

Not feeling so great today for some reason. Just woke up from a nap and it is raining, so I thought some puerh would be nice. These are mini coins about the size of a silver dollar and they have a divider down the middle, which makes them easy to split apart. I used 1/2 a coin in the yixing.

The original packaging looks like it comes in a bamboo tube, which is nice. I should have looked more carefully at the website as the 50g sample is $4.99 but the whole tube of 22 discs is only $7.99! A much better value.

I feel this is a pretty good shu for the price. It is chocolate-y and smooth and I am picking up some camphor notes. The only downside is what I feel is a slight musty smell, which isn’t readily apparent. I wonder if this is due to the bamboo? Overall it’s smooth and fairly tasty. Not the best shu I have had by a ling shot but a good every day type of tea.

I need to do something with my puerh samples soon since they are over running my kitchen!

This is another tea from Yunnan Sourcing Dark Tea of the Month… I am enjoying my club so far!

As the description says, the flavor of it is something between a black tea and an oolong. It is light bodied with a sweet and somewhat flowery base. Aroma of the tea is somewhere between floral and chocolate which is my best guess for how to describe it. The aftertaste is so sweet it seems like it’s sweetened with honey. If you’re a fan of Oriental Beauty tea you should look into it.

This is a good tea but I personally prefer black teas with a bit more heft in them… might be nice as an afternoon tea instead of a morning.

I have been enjoying this tea a lot in the past two days. Somehow I never “got into” dan cong oolongs like some other people have. The good ones are really wonderful though. The leaf itself smells very roasted and flowery. True to the name, the tea liquor is sweet like honey with a flowery aroma. I am breaking in a new yixing just for dan cong oolongs so I will post some pics soon.

This is nice when the steeps are kept fairly short. Some dan congs will turn bitter very quickly. So I recommend doing some experimentation as to your optimal steeping time. This is nice around 30 – 60 seconds of steeping. It works well for me as an afternoon tea.

So far I am quite pleased with all of my Yunnan Sourcing selections from Dark Tea of the Month. I have only one other dan cong oolong, so I was happy to add it to my hoard… err… collection

Didn’t sleep too well last night for some reason, but I am up getting my caffeine injection for the day.

This is another of Yunnan Sourcing tea of the month club, I have the Autumn 2014 version. Beautiful, dark slender leaves that are stick like in shape. I haven’t been a huge fan of all dian hong black teas I’ve tried in the past, but I like this one. It smells like a cup of spicy hot chocolate and tastes malty & sweet. there are some interesting notes in here for sure. Something roasty and something kinds spicy like cinnamon.

A very smooth tea with no astringency or bitterness. I am sipping on it plain but it would also be ok with a splash of milk. Something tells me I will need a LOT of tea to get through this day!

This came as a selection in the last Yunnan Sourcing dark tea order. I’m surprised that I’m the first one to review it.

What a wonderful shu, I love it. I did a quick rinse but from the first steep it is really mellow with chocolate notes. I wonder if there is something about the mushroom name of the tea that lends itself to a mushroom flavor? Because this tastes a lot like Shiitake mushroom to me. It has a sweet flavor with a really creamy aftertaste. I am so glad I got to have this in my selection of the month. I would definitely recommend trying it! Summer yummy.

Here’s a sheng I picked up with my latest Dragon Tea House order.

When I first sipped it, I thought it was a very light tea without a lot of bitterness but I was wrong! The bitterness definitely sneaks up on you so that by the time you’re finished with one cup it’s really strong. Very sour, makes your mouth pucker!

It doesn’t have many sweet, honey like notes to counteract the bitterness. I would say it has some lighter haylike flavors in the first couple of steeps. I am not detecting any smoke in this tea.

3/4 steeps – the tea is still so strong that I had to add some hot water to dilute it. When it’s diluted it’s a lot less strong and I am detecting some sweeter notes coming forth. This is a very potent tea however. Always the risk with young shengs.

5/6 steeps – I am getting the same result. The tea needs to be diluted to make it drinkable. Maybe by around 20 steeps this will start to mellow out more. It’s definitely a potent tea… needs to be aged for about 10 years probably. Not sure how to rate this one for now.

This morning I am drinking a sample here I got from a friend… the 2nd time I’ve had it in the last couple of weeks.

It’s interesting the different type of flavors you get from sheng. Compared to a smoky, sour tea like a Xiaguan, this is much more mellow and more of an every day drinking tea for most people. I’m getting the sweetish/brown sugary notes, with a definite bittersweet flavor in the finish. I’ve tended to like the “Yiwu” shengs I’ve had in the past. I like the more relaxing energy I am getting from this. Not sure how to rate this one right now.

Seriously tempted to buy some but why is TeaUrchin shipping so expensive? $20 flat rate for China Post airmail? Seems like a lot if you are ordering something small.

I am done with this blend for now, it’s been a busy weekend and I might have overdone it on the Super Bowl Snacks! Rooibos is nice and soothing for the tummy. I wouldn’t say there is anything special about this blend as it only contains rooibos and lemongrass. I added some of my own dried ginger to the mix which was a nice compliment. I’m not too sad to it go however…