JK Tea Shop

I love this tea for the big fresh cocoa powder and dark chocolate bark alkalinity that the dry leaf aroma opens with, which then transitions into an herbal, spicy, complex earth tone. First steeps grab onto this and pour on sweetened, aged, cooked, and dried peaches, pears, and golden plums. I wish that it held out a little longer, but compared to many oolongs, it’s very robust. The levels of roast and oxidation on this tea are well balanced to produce a tea that has great fruit character, but adds darker, caramelized and spice-laden complexity for holding the drinker’s attention.

I purchased this exact tea through JAS eTea (and didn’t have to deal with shipping from China).

The aroma on the dry and wet leaves of this tea are incredible. They have the dankest, most aromatic puckery white grape smell. It’s just incredibly pungent, fruity, and floral, backed with some straw and immediately sweet. It’s not the most even pile of buds, there are a few unfolded leaves, stems, and bits of other things.

I hold in my mind a real notion of wildness with this white tea. Something a little rough around the edges, of forest-origin, and maybe a bit unpredictable. The flavors rise from the forest floor in a certainly musky and rich combination of young pu’er like funk and the delightful strawberry flesh that I find many white teas have. It’s got a delightful fermented character to it that lends a bit of fino sherry or white wine flavor, deepening the overall complexity.

I really enjoy the super-high-grade silver needles that are refined, elegant, and perfumed, but I enjoy this too a funky, fermented, puer-like, wild strain silver needle.

Well, now I know where JAS eTea sources their green teas. I bought this exact tea from their online store. It was bit more expensive, but I didn’t have to deal with shipping from China, which I appreciate.

I’ve been shying away from the classic Chinese greens, mostly because they require relatively urgent drinking (compared to pu’er) and I have been focusing on more robust teas lately, especially as autumn has come. However, I wanted to throw something into the mix of my weekly drinking and this fit the bill.

I almost always take my greens with a much shorter steep than recommended, since I think they have such wonderful, light, airy fleeting qualities that can get overrun in two to four minute steeps. This is no exception. Light chestnut sweetness, creamy wheatgrass, and tangy flower blossoms. A delightful green, vegetal, and chlorphyll-laden soup, that reminds me of my early days of exploring Chinese tea.

I’m drinking flowers! This is fairly good…sweet-floral, on the light side. Feminine, I suppose.

This delicious tea has got depths and nuances of flavor and I am reminded of the late, lamented teas from The Simple Leaf. The leaves are very large and long and they brew up to a toasty, nutty taste that evokes strains of chestnut and chocolate.

This wonderful tea arrived in my mailbox yesterday.

The leaves are thin, tiny and curly. Very green with little tiny white hairs.

I brewed this in my gaiwan and used a strainer to pour it from the gaiwan to my teacup, but, I’m happy to report that very few of the leaves (maybe 3?) escaped.

The flavor is very fresh, sweet and fruity. I am really liking this a lot. It is certainly an excellent tea to enjoy with the spicy Szechuan food that I’m eating for dinner. Fire-y hot (and delicious) tamed by the sweet cup of tea. A really lovely culinary experience.

Made a little warmer than usual with a half teaspoon of Amber Agave Nectar, it is a pleasant little afternoon “pick me up”. The dark Agavae had too much of a caramel taste but the Amber is perfect.

Wow! This is a wonderful Da Hong Pao! I bought/tried this one at the same time as Harney and Sons version. Well, when I opened the aluminum package for H&S the fragrance was mild but The JK Tea Shop’s version: the fragrance was overpowering! This Da Hong Pao has subtle toasty flavors, like a smoky caramel. The H&S pales in comparison- perhaps it is not as fresh. This tea is shipped directly from China so perhaps this is the difference…

I love a good Chinese tea in the afternoon. and this one has delightful toasty flavors.

This tea has a wonderful and light toasty flavor!

Finally got this one right. Used 1 tbs for 16 ozs. 3mins steep at under boiling at 200f. Tasted a delightful toasty flavor as my first 3 times for this tea was blah. Can’t wait to try this one again…

Recipe of tasty tastiness:

1. Pour a glass of cold fizzy water.
2. Add a small handful of fresh raspberries.
3. Add a quarter of a spoonful of matcha.
4. Add a quarter of a spoonful of honey.
5. Stir/mash/muddle it all up.
6. Aaaaaaaaah, that’s good.

p.s. Fear not, the adventures of Cait the Cleric will resume soon!

Notes to self: half a spoonful is just a bit too little for my blue mug; 1:1 matcha:honey ratio is decadent and excellent.

My first matcha! I suspect I probably did it all wrong, but I really enjoyed it anyway.

I put a spoonful of this into a bowl, poured it about half full with near-boiling water, and tried to whisk it with a metal cooking whisk. This came out bitter, bitter, bitter, so I added more water and stirred in a half-spoonful of honey, then kept stirring with the spoon because that seemed to be working reasonably well. At these terrifically precise measurements, it tasted great! I know, I know, some of you type-A tea drinkers out there are trying to stop your heads from exploding right now, aren’t you.

I wound up drinking a lot of this with the spoon because I needed to keep stirring, so I just treated it like soup for the first half of the bowl, then picked it up and drank the rest (I really need to find some of those square bowls with the great-for-drinking corners on them like my girlfriend’s roommate has). It was a really thick, interesting texture, and there were a few very small lumps that added to the texture more than anything else.

In conclusion, yay!

This is just a fun tea. And this vendor has a great deal- 16 blooming teas (each one different) for $12. But, as a negative, there is postage from China to US.. Anyway, I randomly picked a tea and voila!, this is the one that turned up!

The flavor is pleasant, mild, smooth w/a hint of jasmine (but barely jasmine)…

This tea came directly from China and was certainly worth the wait. As an added bonus, they do sell samples.

The leaves are whole, and golden with a malty aroma. They are similar to the picture on the website. When brewed, the tea has no astringency. In fact, it had a subtle sweetness and honey flavor (and I did not add sugar, which is my usual habit). The peppery and maybe malty flavor that is typical of a yunnan was not present. This is not a bold tea so certainly this would not be an AM beverage but it is a nice relaxing afternoon treat. I am thinking I like this black tea (well how can I resist a tea that is naturally sweet…)

Backlogging from this morning.

My blend attempt at breakfast was an utter failure so I decided to try this instead. The liquor was quite a bright green which I was rather surprised at and as I waited for it to cool a bit I caught an aroma of asparagus coming from the cup.

Intrigued, I took a sip…yep asparagus. Lightly grilled or pan-seared asparagus. It would go great with some terriyaki-marinated chicken, rice, and grilled veggies (tomato, bell pepper and zucchini) I think. Not a good morning tea but the more I sipped the more it grew on me.

My second sample from JK Tea Shop!

This one smells fabulous, all toasty and rich, but I have yet to make the taste live up to that. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice tea, but it smells like it could be so much better! The first time I definitely used too little leaf — I was expecting it to unroll the way ball oolong does, but the twisty leaves here didn’t expand as dramatically. (They’re lovely, though! Again, sorry for the lack of photos this time.) For my second tasting I used a lot more and got a much bolder taste, but still not quite what I was expecting from the scent. Next time I think I’ll try a longer steeping time. Fortunately this “sampler” is quite generous and I have a lot of tea to experiment with!

I was another lucky recipient of a sample of this, though it has taken me until now to taste it. Sigh.

The flowers are so pretty! Small, with big yellow centers. Some of the flowers are pretty much only the centers as the petals have disconnected from them. The scent, as Cait said is odd. It’s extremely pungent and a little disturbing. Pollen, mixed with… salted wax? Sap-filled plastic? Fortunately it smooths out quite a bit after steeping and becomes much more green and plant like, almost bready.

It steeps to a light yellow/green, not too far removed from clear. The flavor is gentle, floral and sweet with a hint of chlorophylly bitterness. It suggests nectar and pollen, and something a tiny bit like cauliflower. I suppose the nectar and pollen part aren’t surprising given that it is made of flowers.

I also think this may be a taste you either love right away or you gradually acquire. It may be that I am in the acquiring stage, or I may not be able to get past the smell of the dry flowers.

Though I’m not sure this is for me, I appreciate getting the chance to try it. Thanks, JK Tea Shop.

After being previously introduced to Da Hong Pao thanks to JK Tea Shop’s sample, I made it a point to get a new Yixing pot (as per JK’s suggestion) before trying the next sample since I’m assuming it’s a higher grade of Da Hong Pao, as its listed price is almost double the one I tried previously. Suffice to say, this tea was absolutely worth the wait!

After seasoning my Yixing pot last night, I was ready to give this tea a shot. The dry leaves have a strong sweet smell, that comes out even more after washing the leaves.

I steeped the first cup for 15 seconds, and the tea came out looking clear, golden-brown. The scent was smoky-sweet, and the first taste note I got from the tea was a light sweetness followed by smoky toasted notes in the middle. But the kicker for me is the wonderful, lingering sweet after taste that I can only describe as “honey-dipped pear”! :D

I steeped the second cup for about 25 seconds, and there was more of a smoky/toasted flavor to it, so I could taste less of the sweetness from the tea itself. Although after I left the tea to cool for a bit, I could taste more fruity sweetness from the tea, and even more of that lingering after taste with each sip.

Interestingly, the leaves seemed to have a slightly grassy scent after the second steep. I gave it about 35 seconds for the third steep, but strangely the smoky/toasted flavor and aroma was all but gone for this cup, making the sweet flavor more noticeable but still lighter than previous steeps. Each sip still brought back that caramel, honey-dipped after taste.

For my fourth and fifth steep, I gave it about 50 seconds and 1 minute respectively. The flavor and aroma from the tea was lighter with each successive cup, but it still had that great after taste!

I think one of the reasons I enjoyed this tea as much as I did was because I had each of the steeps successively with only a few minutes in between each cup, while not eating or drinking anything else in between. I think this helped maintain that after taste, which pretty much lingered in my mouth the whole time.

All in all, I have to say this is bar none, my favorite Wulong tea so far, and I am now fully converted to Da Hong Pao wulongs :D

P.S. – Given how sweet this tea is, I think it’s not exactly suitable for dessert. My guess is this food would go better with spicier dishes. I strangely want to try pairing this tea with some Xinjiang food (northwest China; Muslim region). Particularly lamb skewers spiced with cumin and chili! (Yang Rou Chuan – 羊肉串) :P~

P.P.S – Thanks JK for the tip on using a Yixing pot! ;)

Recipe for a tasty working-late tea

Start with: one mug
Add: a bit of Tea Farm Oolong Rose (http://steepster.com/teas/the-tea-farm/12471-oolong-rose-tea)
Add: a bit more of Art of Tea Velvet Tea (http://steepster.com/teas/art-of-tea/2887-velvet-tea)
Toss in: three flowers of JK Tea Shop Wild Purple Chrysanthemum (http://steepster.com/teas/jk-tea-shop/11241-wild-purple-chrysanthemum-flower-tea)
Fill with: boiling water
Steep: until the water cools enough to drink and most of the tea is at the bottom of the mug

Sip, occasionally straining rooibos from your teeth, until the chocolate/rose/chrysanthemum/rooibos savory combination puts you at your ease despite the spreadsheets still open.