Educational TTB 2

From the Butiki TTB2.

Prepared with the gong-fu method. One rinse. First infusion was ten seconds. I unintentionally let the water get too hot in the saucepan so I timed the second infusion for ten seconds as well. I then added five seconds to the subsequent infusions.

This is my first GABA oolong, and my first-ever oolong from Taiwan. The dry leaf consists of rolled brown leaves, which have a floral and toasty aroma. They look a little like raisins after the second steep. When I rinsed the leaves only once, already there was a strong aroma of cooked plantains and apricot jam. I’m taking pleasure in the aroma the most – I just can’t stopping smelling the leaves, they’re so sweet and fruity! The liquor is clear and light-bodied and the color of pale yellow, like white grape juice. As the leaves continue to unfurl with each steeping, the flavor strengthens. At first it’s light-bodied and somewhat sweet, and tastes of starfruit. Then the sweetness deepens and the flavor becomes full-bodied. I can now taste the apricot, which is a little tart.

From the Butiki TTB2.

A nice gyokuro. Bright green liquor. Sea-weed aroma. Medium-bodied, a little thick. Vegetal and buttery with just a bit of citrus.

To my surprise the surgery didn’t even last an hour. It went very well, no complications. Mom’s resting now. I’m exhausted from the stress and waking up early X_X Thank you all for your well-wishes!

Kenyan whites are really different! I like them. Malty and somewhat lemony. Savory yet sweet. Something about it reminds me of a mild darjeeling. Good stuff :)

From the Butiki TTB2.

It’s actually purple! My brain thought I was going to drink lavender tea instead. The liquor is full-bodied and clear, and at first savory. After some time, when the liquor cools, the fruit really comes through and leaves sweet aftertaste. I brewed two cups but didn’t get the same effect for the second (besides the aftertaste). Once at five or six minutes might have been enough – I still need to get a hold of my personal taste for this kind of tea.

I do recommend this one for those who are curious. It’s delicious, but it’s not something I’d want to drink often, mainly because, I suppose, I still taste the weirdness underneath the fruit. It was a change from what I usually have. I’m glad Stacey convinced me to give it a go.

Well, this is better than Puerh #2 but nowhere near as good as Puerh #7. It is a rather bold sheng, with a tiny bit of smoke in the first steep, slightly bitter and astringent with some faint fruity notes. Drinkable but not something I’d seek out again by a long shot :)

Blissing out on green teas today. This is another tasty one from the box!!!

I’ve never met a gyokuro I didn’t like, and this is no exception :)

Sweet and green and slightly astringent. Now just waiting to see if the theanine kicks in!

From the Butiki TTB2.

Dry leaf consists of short, twisty dark leaves and has an aroma of hickory and tobacco. The liquor is clear, full-bodied, flavorful, and savory. I’m not sure what else I can detect since this is the only (non-flavored) purple tea I’ve ever had. It’s different and strange. I don’t think it’s something I’d enjoy on any occasion.

From the Butiki TTB2.

Very much like the first Kenya orthodox black and presents nothing unique: full-bodied, bold, malty.

From the Butiki TTB2.

Thought a white tea from Kenya would interesting to try. I don’t drink white tea often enough. The dry leaf is pretty – slightly twisted, hairy, many leaves golden amongst a few dark brown – and has the aroma of lemons. The liquor is pale, light in flavor, medium-bodied, and sweet.

I used a half a teaspoon (wish I could somehow input that). No rating because of my inexperience, but I do think it tastes alright.

From the Butiki TTB2.

Brewed with .5 tsp and 4oz. Similar to Orthodox Black 2 (see tasting note), but a little sweet and honey-like.

From the Butiki TTB2.

Much better quality. Definitely doesn’t need milk and/or sugar. Golden liquor. Full-bodied, bold, a little malty, astringent.

From the Butiki Educational TTB 2

I decided to break-in (yeah, poor choice of words haha) my new gaiwan with this one. I just had to try because Stephanie loved it. Since I’m not sheng pu’erh savvy, I was a little worried that I wouldn’t like it as much or be able to discern the flavor well.

OH MY GOODNESS is this even pu’erh?? The other few shengs I’ve had tasted a lot more like green tea and were a little bitter and astringement. I smelled the leaves as soon as I poured the first infusion and was hit with fruitiness: strawberries and cranberries. The liquor has the fruity and mineral qualities of a Wuyi oolong – it’s so delicious! It’s also clear and sparkling and has a beautiful pale yellow tint.

Blown away by a sheng – that’s a first for me.

From the Butiki Educational Traveling Tea Box 2.

The label doesn’t say CTC but I thought I should add it to the database. I was surprised to see that green tea could be processed this way like black tea. Considering it’s CTC, I didn’t think the quality would be great but was curious to see how it would taste. I used about half a teaspoon (not a full one like it says below) of these dark green pellets and then let them steep for one minute. To my surprise the flavor was far too light (come on, it’s CTC), so I increased the steeping time.

The dark yellow liquor doesn’t look appealing. The flavor was even less appealing. It tasted like any other poor quality green tea. I wasn’t expecting greatness from a CTC green tea, but it was still interesting to test out. The yellow emoticon fits my reaction perfectly. (I wonder if this tea were processed from the Assamica bush.)

Today is my birthday – 24! My mom was supposed to go to the optometrist’s to get new glasses but she moved the appointment next week. I’m hoping that all of us (my immediate family) go to restaurant. I don’t want to leave her home and bring her food. She’s now seeing the doctor about the swelling, probably caused by the cast being too tight.

I said somewhere in a thread that my Verdant gaiwan broke. She offered to buy me a new one for birthday/graduation present: http://www.amazon.com/Blossom-Chinese-Traditional-Teaware-Comprised/dp/B0054FB9LK/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1399646410&sr=8-9&keywords=gaiwan

My first Nilgiri! Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be anything special. It could be my palate or the tea’s age. The dry leaf smells slightly muscatel, but that’s about as interesting as it gets. The liquor is full-bodied but light in flavor, which is malty with a hint of smoke.

Backlogging here…

Whatever this one was, I LOVE IT! It is definitely a raw/sheng puerh. SUPER fruity. Apricot/stone fruit mostly. Wonderful!

Oof…this sheng is not for me! BLEH! I might have to dump it out :(

From the Butiki Educational Traveling Tea Box Number 2.

Tastes like typical Kenyan orthodox black tea. Medium-bodied, malty. Lovely golden liquor. Milk and sugar are an unneeded – for me, a good indication of its quality.