Dragon Tea House

6g / 200ml glaspot.

Two infusions
1m/2m @ 80C

Nutty flavour. Full flavour, very greenish. :)

Trying my best to have a lazy day as I’m just not feeling tip top today. While packing some tea swaps today I got the craving for some puerh and chose one on my shelf at random. Dragon Tea House have a wide range of pu erh and I make it my mission to try them all.

This puerh cake is dark brown and golden brown in colour with a sweet earthy and floral scent.

Steeping with the following times in my Gongfu Teapot -
5 steeps:30s,1m,2m,3m,4m 100ºC/212ºF

Steep one – 30 seconds – Colour is yellow/green with a thick earthen clay aroma. Flavour is subtle and floral with a hint of sweetness and dryness. Also a little muddy and wooden.

Steep two – 1 minute – Sweeter in flavour and more floral. Also more honeyed and wooden. Lost some of it’s earthy clay taste and is smoothing out very nicely.

Steep three – 2 minutes – Even less earthy and more floral, almost perfumey and musky. Also sort of ricey and gluttonous but mildly.

Steep four – 3 minutes – Light red/brown now in colour. Quite astringent and musky with a dry, floral after taste. Still has some wooden sweetness but not as much in comparison to the first few steeps.

Steep five – 4 minutes – Smoother than the previous steep and once again very mellow overall. All that is really left is a wooden musk and sweet floral hue that become dry in the after taste.

Overall this tea is very pleasant and is suitable for multiple steeps without becoming too harsh and bitter. It’s a very musky puerh but I think it has real charm. Not one of my favourites but definitely something I would be happy to share with friends and family. Plus I have a warm glow after drinking this tea and a bit of a buzz :)

You know those photos of pretty bohemian looking girls walking through cornfields, or poppy fields, or…well, walking through fields. They may possibly have a floppy hat on, invariably a white flowy cotton dress. There is almost certainly a bit of lens flare, and it’s faded so it looks like a photo that got left on a windowsill back in about 1968 and sat there until someone found it yesterday?

This tastes like that.

Thanks to Kittylovestea for swapping with me :)

That’s the last of this tea gone, I remember trading it away but made sure I left myself one teapots worth of tea left and today is the day I drink it. Bi Luo Chun gives me a major caffeine rush and makes me tea drunk.

It has such a beautiful, strong flavour. Like grass, seaweed, cabbage, broccoli and brussle sprouts all rolled into one. Very vegetal and thick with a hint of perfume and flowers but remaining green and grassy fresh.
Delicious!

5g / 200ml glaspot.
1: 1m @ 75C
2: 2m @ 75C

Fresh and light. Relaxing tea, could probably be brewed cold with good result. Will try sometime.
But when it comes to roasted green tea, Bi lou chun is still king for me :)

No notes yet.

Tea of the morning….

I have not had this one in a while. It was buried in the recesses of my stash. I do have to say that I think the flavor has definitely gotten lighter over time.

I guess this should be a PSA: Drink your tea before it loses its flavor!

What I have left is not undrinkable, but the light floral of the jasmine is now so light that it could be mistaken for the sweetening. Fortunately, it is a good tea base and I can still drink it. I have a few other teas that are on the ‘chopping block’ this week. I am so happy to finally be getting the stash into a reasonable state, though I still have too many favorites.

7g / 90ml celadon gaiwan.

Gongfu style.
wash / first 25s then add 10-15s per infusion. When it starts to thin i add some more time.

Thick, creamy with heavy notes of cinnamon. Refreshing with perhaps a hint of astringeny.

My first try with a wuyi oolong.
I must say, Im impressed!
A fair bit smoky, the smell of the dry leaves is heavy and so is the taste. Im looking forward to exploring this tea.

I used a 120ml yixingpot, filled it to 1/4 – 1/3 isch.
Quick wash followed by 25s steep.
Added 15s after that for a couple of more infusions.

I thought to revisite this one a second time. I figured that my palette might have changed or that I might be able to brew this one better the second time around.

On second try I liked the tea even less!! I’ve crashed my rating to the yellow “mweh” smiley and tossed the remaining bag of this tea with the trash.

That’s 4 fish dead and another 1 on the way in the last 3 days :( Everything was going so well and then old age kicks in. Damn you reaper leave my fish alone!

I’m sat here with a large pot of this tea and a large slice of orange cake that was made this morning. I’m trying to calm myself and have a break from singing to my ill fish and try to make her as comfortable as possible. There are some things that you never get used to.

Ok wow… I dug through my cupboard and found a TON of flowering teas! This being one of them. I was undecided between Teavana’s strawberry misaki or Dragon Tea House’s Love Game. Ultimately I chose Love Game. This is a very pretty flower. I think I brewed this too long because it was fairly astringent. However, I wanted to see the whole flower bloom and unfurl. I love watching it slowly take shape from a small 1 inch ball with tied 1/3 up to this beautiful array. There is something peaceful about it. I think I could have gotten away with 2 steeps or more since I only had a little 4 oz pot. This is a really delicate flower. It is a nice green tea with beautiful flowers!

A few years ago I had dinner at a very reputable chinese restaurant where I ordered “a green tea” and had my first Dragon Well tea. Ever since I’ve been wanting to revisit this tea, but I was always hesitant about how/where to get a good quality.

When I stumbeled on Dragon Tea House I decided to give it a try and I must say I’m not disappointed. This tea is exactly as I remember it. IMO this is the epitome of a green tea: somewhat grassy, fresh, light and with a slightly sweet aftertaste.

Will definitely be restocking this!

EDIT: In the 2nd steep – which is even better – the sweetness increases and becomes more nutty in character.

I don’t know what to make of this tea. Has flavour been added or not? I tend to agree with twinofmunin: how could it not be flavoured with such a strong scent and taste?

I ordered this tea in the hope that it could be an alternative for my much more expensive milky oolong from Theodor. Unfortunatly this is not it.

What I don’t like about this oolong is the very caramelized scent. It reminds me of hard/kristalized caramel candy. You know the type you nearly break your teeth on when trying to chew it and when you’ve finally crunched it, makes your teeth stick seriously together. Theodore’s version has a more vegetal note, which makes it more balanced and natural to the palette.

Although it certainly isn’t bad, I won’t be buying it again. It just doesn’t hold up to the Theodor Milky Oolong.

Steep 1 – 15 seconds

Golden red brown in colour with a rich, sweet, malty scent. The first thing that strikes me is the smoothness that comes packed with a sweet malty mist of flavour. It’s mellow yet rich and very clean tasting. A touch of sweetness lay amongst the malt.

Steep 2 – 25 seconds

Maltier in flavour with a much richer and velvety after taste. The sweetness is better blended and does not stand out as much as the previous steep. It also remains fresh, misty and mellow.

Steep 3 – 40 seconds

There is a slight roasted flavour that mixed with the sweet and fruity malt not only makes it smell like malt loaf but also taste like it. Still remains rich, smooth and consistent to the previous steeps. When I say fruity I mean fermented like currants and raisins.

Steep 4 – 1 minute 10 seconds

Toning down now in it’s rich flavour. The sweetness is once again in front of the malt rather than being paired with it equally in the previous steep. Very light, a little smoky and still very smooth.

Steep 5 – 1 minute 30 seconds

Golden brown in colour. Not much left now beyond a dark fruity sweetness with only a slight malt touch. Perhaps also a slight floral touch is present now too mixed in with the fruit. Even though it’s very subtle it’s still a nice steep and very worth drinking.

For more information and pictures please view my blog.
http://kittylovestea.teatra.de/2013/02/07/premium-dian-hong-a-true-birthday-treat/

言巴相差 in YiXing GaiWan, 1st at 30sec I’m tasting a very vegetal and fresh gua, little bit of green tea taste showing up already. 2nd 1:00 my favorite steep so far lots of freshness and extreme melon even melon seeds taste, freshly roasted cha ye dan.
3rd 50 secs it’s lively I think I have both the pan fried and the melon in perfect harmony, i’d save some room for desert by drinking this leaf and I might just have one more desert, namely this liu an melon slice.

This is a brand new experience for me as I have never had the pleasure of drinking Lan Gui Ren before. I really don’t know what to expect at all but thought it would be fun to find out.

Upon opening this vacuum sealed package I pulled a face as I was asking myself “What the hell is this?”. The tea itself looks like my cats catnip biscuits. They are dark green, small and rolled into odd ball shapes. They really do look like a cross between a cat biscuit and some sort of health snack. These strange little tea pieces smell floral but also astringent and sharp. It’s an interesting smell, it must be the ginseng.

By look and smell I would never guess this was an Oolong. I’m brewing this gongfu style starting with 1 minute for first two steeps (as recommended) and by an additional minute each subsequent steep.

Steep 1 – 1 minute
The tea is yellow in colour with a roasted scent much associated with Oolong. Yum, it tastes like roasted rice cakes with spinach which sounds like an odd combination but it’s very nice. It has that slight sweetness and after taste similar to watermelon but not as fruity or fresh.

SIDE NOTE – Amazing sweet after taste that lingers in my mouth beautifully.

Steep 2 – 1 minute
A second steep has increased the toastedness but it seems to dissolve quickly until all you can taste is a floral sweetness that starts to taste like hard boiled sweets. My mind is completely blown by this tea … it’s amazing and I’m only two steeps in! Sweet rice cakey goodness.

Steep 3 – 2 minutes
Golden brown now in colour. The sweetness is blending in a little bit more now and it tastes more like your average sweet Oolong.

I think this is amazing. I love it. Finishing my review early because my Chinese food is here (beancurd in black bean sauce). Double yum!

I’m in the mood for something light and floral and I couldn’t think of anything more perfect than jasmine pearls. I usually go for Teavivre’s ‘Superfine Jasmine Downy Dragon Pearls Green Tea’ but today I thought I would try this brand.

What surprised me first of all was that this brands ‘pearl jasmine’ came seal packed like many Oolongs do to ensure freshness. When I opened the sealed pack I could see small dark green with silver striped balls with a beautiful sweet jasmine scent. One thing I did notice is that there is no fuzziness at all which I have noted comes with the fresher and higher quality pearls.

I am brewing with three steeps: 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes. I used 7g of pearls in my gongfu with 80°C water.

The tea once steeped for 1 minute is light yellow and remains fresh, mellow, floral and sweet. Just as jasmine pearl tea should be. It’s very light with only a hint of jasmine and it’s a very pleasant first steep. It’s the sort of tea I could drink every day. :)

My second steep now. The pearls have now unravelled. The tea is still yellow in colour but the jasmine scent is stronger. It’s a little stronger, sweeter and more floral now. Much more preferable to the first steep. It’s still light but now it’s more like a green tea as it has some depth instead of very little.

My third steep. Everything (colour, scent and taste) has weakened slightly and resembles the first steep again.

Overall it’s a nice jasmine pearl tea but at the best steep it was the same quality as what you would expect. Meaning it’s suitable for every day drinking but not for those special occasions. Still it is what it’s called and nothing more and I do love jasmine pearls … if this is the lesser grade then I cannot wait to try their higher grades. :)

So I wanted to post this just so that anyone looking for a nice tea table would check out Dragon Tea House!
They have a HUGE selection and I am IN LOVE with mine – I got this one here.
Here is a full detailed review on it with my personal photos
http://sororiteasisters.com/2012/12/29/large-grape-sandalwood-tea-table/

It’s been a good day so far today. I managed to have a decent nights sleep for a change, I got my ninth tattoo (http://twitter.yfrog.com/obtdwcvj) and my ill fish seems to be feeling a little better.

While I’m playing Resonance Of Fate with my husband tonight after such a good day I decided to make a gongfu of this pu erh.

The pu erh is mostly loose leaf with the occasional chunk that has been broken from the original cake. It’s a medley of browns and smells a little floral and earthy. Once rinsed it picks up sweet floral tones.

Once brewed the liquid is cloudy burnt orange in colour and it smells a little astringent and perfumey.

So the tea is in my gongfu starting with a 1 minute steep and increasing each steep by an additional minute. Here we go.

It’s very earthy and deep with a bitter floral perfume effect. I’m actually thinking that I may have brewed this one a little too strong (though I used the same amount as I would with any other pu erh which is a rough estimate weight of two tiny sample cakes so what…about 7-10g).

Tea halved now for the second steep, lets see if that reduces the bitterness. The colour is now a cloudy yellow colour which to be frank looks like very unhealthy urine. Does anyone know why some pu erh is cloudy?

Much better strength now, it’s floral and earthy still but with a sweet fruity note and while being astringent has no bitterness. It’s still perfumey though which is a little hit or miss at times and honestly I’m not digging it at the moment. I was hoping it would be a little more floral or earthy and less perfumey.

Overall it’s not what I was quite looking for in a raw pu erh but it has it’s charm and I’m thankful to have tried it. Don’t think I would buy it again though.

I’m having another night of playing an RPG game with my husband and since it will be a long night there is nothing better than re steeping a gongfu of pu erh.

Dragon Tea House have a lot of strange and unique pu erh and I thought the same of this one. I have not known any pu erh to be formed in this long shape before inside the bamboo. It reached my curious meter so I bought it and it arrived a few months ago but I have a craving for raw pu erh tonight.

I open the packet and observed it’s wonderful shape and colour. It looks amazing! http://tinypic.com/r/2ez4bvp/6

Starting with 1 minute infusion it said that this can be steeped over 10 times. I only put around two small cakes worth of pu erh into the gongfu to try it’s strength.

First of all since this is raw the pu erh soup is yellowy green with a floral and astringent smell. Almost perfumey.
Then I taste, and taste, and taste some more. It’s very floral but light and fresh with a touch of sweetness. Each steep seems to be increasing it’s strength but it remains nicely balanced. It also darkens in colour becoming more of a very light amber.

For only $4.99 for 50g it makes this pu erh cheap and tasty, a winning combination for me. I will definitely be placing an order for more of this.

It’s getting pretty cold here in the UK so I have an excuse to make various cups of warming tea throughout the day. After my recent black tea cravings I have decided to take a break and have some green tea, I need something warm yet light to fulfil my current needs.

The tea is made with whole leaves that have been rolled and have taken on various thin and squiggly shapes. The leaves themselves are a mixture of dark green and pale green and they smell thickly vegetal (similar to broccoli or seaweed).

Brewing advice on the pack states one teaspoon of leaves into a cup with 80 degree water for 2-3 minutes. Also suitable for up to 3 steeps.

Once steeped the tea soup is pale yellow in colour with a crisp and toasty smell (similar to some Oolongs).

The flavour is interesting, it reminds me of an Indian green rather than Chinese green as it’s heavy and extremely vegetal. Perhaps also similar to a Mao Feng. It has the same taste as cooked broccoli or cabbage but it’s a little sweeter and crisper.

The toasted flavour becomes stronger and it is very similar to some Oolongs I have had before. Also becomes slightly bitter as it cools but in a perfumey sort of way.

Overall it’s a nice alternative green tea to what I would usually have and I have just started to feel the caffeine kick in with a WHOOOOOOOSH!!!

I have a couple of different gaiwans around now. The one I use most often actually has fairly thick clay walls and a glazed interior. I love it because it holds heat in relatively well, and that heat is pretty important to bringing out some of the flavors in many of the teas I drink. But I also have a couple of very thin-walled porcelain gaiwans, elaborately decorated with pretty images. But I rarely use them, because they let heat escape so quickly that they’re better suited to the more delicate teas with low brew temperatures.

Usually I pick the tea out first, then select the appropriate brewing vessel, but today I just really wanted to use my little bird-and-flower printed gaiwan covered in mysterious Chinese characters that I imagine translate to, “Aiko, you drink too much tea.” So that narrowed my selection a lot, and I eventually settled on this Chinese green with cute mythology. I love teas with stories behind them.

I have a weird love/hate relationship with Chinese greens. I love their range of flavors, but on occasion, certain kinds make me sick to my stomach, for no known reason. It doesn’t seem to be a pesticide or quality thing, because I’ve had the same reaction to organic and high-quality tea in the past. Perhaps it is a matter of processing or something. But the strange reaction seems to be exclusive to Chinese greens— I’ve never had it happen with other teas.

Luckily, this tea does not make me sick. It has a very light, crisp flavor, of snow peas, I think. It’s a little one-note, but it’s a pleasant note. The leaves are of widely varying quality— some are tiny buds, some are broken pieces of older leaves. Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be much longevity in this tea; only five or so gongfu steepings in, it is little more than slightly astringent water. Oh well. It was very nice while it lasted.

(What is with my tea reviews lately; they’re like three paragraphs of backstory and then one regarding the actual tea)

You know if there’s something weird, I’m gonna want to try it. And this is definitly weird. Yak butter tea does contain black tea, and it also contains butter, but this product is a powder in foil pouches. It stirs up easily, the powder smells good, like butter, like a good milk oolong. Once reconstituded, it doesn’t taste as much like tea as like butter. However, it does not have an oily sheen to it, I wonder how they did that? It has the color of mocha. I can taste the salt too. The smell is not off-putting, I kinda like the smell. The flavor is like salty butter, but not as thick as you would hope for with such a rich fragrance, and I’m left with the idea that it would be great as an ingredient, maybe mixed with Chai.

As I stirred, I briefly hoped it would be like hot buttered rum batter, and indeed, with the addition of cinnamon and clove, it might actually work for that. Another sip, and I am reminded of macaroni and cheese, just fleetingly… or is it more like buttered noodles?

It is a high calorie drink. I can’t imagine making this again as a tea, but I could see using this as an emergency high calorie ration, or for someone who has had the flu and hasn’t eaten much in a while. Or, as I said, maybe with the addition of other ingredients, to make a hearty holiday type drink. Like anyone needs more calories at the holidays…. hmmmm.yeah.or maybe not.

Well, it is better than I thought it would be, more butter than tea, not totally repugnant by any means. I keep comming back to spices, I seem to want to add spices. oh well. If you like drinking butter, then you’ll probably love it. I definitly don’t hate it. And now I can say I’ve tried it.

ADDED: OK, drink it while hot, because it’s kinda yucky once it cools off. Also, just for reference, I ordered this from Dragon Tea House (ebay) paid 9/7/2012 and received from China 22 days later 9/29/2012.