Tea Trekker

Very sweet floral tea, extremely aromatic. I enjoyed this tea and am new to Darjeeling in general so its hard to have a serious opinion about this particular one. But its definitly worth a try

Roasty and malty, to me at least. Reminds me a bit, in a good way, of the Verdant Laoshan Black. And cacao nibs. Did not stand up to more than four steepings.

Strong brew, a little flat or one note. I enojoy the tea but its more of a value everyday tea than something i feel like i’m treating myself with. Ordered 4 oz of this but after the first cup I feel like that may have been an overkill, though at $10 or $2.5/oz its still a bargin.

Very light, pale color with a pleseant and sweet smell. The taste is light, refreshing and subtle. You can taste a little of the the fire or charcoal but its barely noticable. This is extremely smooth and I think should be a great drink for the spring/summer

Yummm, this is an extremely soft and floral tea, not necessarily a morning brew but its so delicate and unique that you just can’t not appreciate this tea. I received this as a free sample from Tea Trekker and was excited to try this. I was not disappointed

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Sipdown, 187. This sample comes to me thanks to Ellen!

I decided a wanted a simple green tea for the late afternoon. I totally winged it with the steeping parameters on this one; since I had slightly more leaf than I would typically use I checked it after 1 minute of steeping, then decided I wanted a little more and added 30 seconds. This was a pleasant green tea. It was slightly nutty by overally pretty green and leafy. Somehow not in quite a cooked greens way, though, more like fresh kale. I didn’t get any sweetness, though I admit I did expect some from the name, but I still definitely enjoyed the cup.

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I saw this on Tea Trekker and had to order it. Especially since I was eyeing this tea and 1 other (a dancong grown ali-shan style!), and the other went out of stock. It was like man, I need to buy this one before it disappears too!
Very nice rich and creamy flavor. Definitely still tastes like dong ding, but with extra depth.

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Sipdown, 177. (I stealth sip-downed another tea by including it with some others in a cold brew). Thanks to Ellen for a sample of this tea!

This is one of those long, wiry teas that makes it impossible to portion out in a teaspoon. I used to fret about them, but now if I make them at work, western style, I just put what “looks right” into my infuser and fly by the seat of my pants. The sample that Ellen sent looked like maybe a bit much for one cup but possibly not enough for cup, so I decided to just put it all in one and only do a 1 minute steep to start. My winging-it was compounded by the fact that Tea Trekker no longer carries this tea and it doesn’t appear on their website, so there aren’t any steeping instructions for it. Nor are there any other notes for it here on Steepster. Nor is there any other tea in the database that seems to be the same type of tea from a different supplier. They describe it (preserved here on Steepster) as a green tea and/or baozhong, so I decided 180°F sounded good.

Seems to have worked out well (for any tea-newbies out there reading this, it took me a long time to become that confident winging it with an unknown tea). The steeped tea smells buttery and a bit chestnutty, and that carries over to the flavor as well. It’s a bit sweet and definitely nutty. I like the heft and body that it has, which definitely reminds me of a baozhong/pouchong over a green tea. As it cools, more floral orchid notes come out, especially in the aftertaste, which is pleasant and slightly unexpected! It’s a tasty tea, and too bad it’s not available anymore!

A solid Yunnan dian hong offering. It doesn’t quite scratch my cocoa-malty Yunnan itch, though.

I originally steeped this at 5 minutes, and didn’t like the results. Far too much flavor to taste. 3 minutes leaves the tea enough room to bloom in the water.

Ya know, it’s just not that special. To me, it’s not worth the premium price it commands. I’m starting to realize that for my regular daily drinking, I’m going to have to find 2 or 3 pretty basic teas (like a basic Keemun, a basic Yunnan golden tip, and a basic Taiwanese oolong), and then have a few over-the-top spectacular ones that I treat myself to once in a while. (See Butiki.) This tea would not fit into any of those categories, so I don’t think I will purchase it again.

I think I severely underleafed this. Tea Trekker states the sample I purchased was 14g, so I thought half the package (7g) would be perfect for 18oz of water. But, on the other hand their steeping instructions call for 2 tbsp for 6oz, and half the package turned out to be not much more than 2 tbsp. So, something is really off…

As I steeped it, it had very little flavor. Liquor was just a cream color.

1tbsp for 18oz

Yeah… It’s still a good Yunnan, but there’s that touch of astringency that I’m not loving. Especially since I now know that astringency is not inevitable (see Butiki Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black). If brewing under 3 minutes at 180 is still coming out too astringent for me, I’ll have to pass on ordering this again.

1 tbsp for 18 oz

Amazing to me how some teas can be astringent when sipped at certain temperatures but not others. This tea has a lovely, smooth, classic Yunnan flavor, but only when it was warm — not too hot, and not too cooled down. Such a beautiful red color in the cup. Since I got my double-walled clear tea glasses the other day, I’m really noticing the color of the liquor more.

Perhaps a little shorter steeping next time, and it will be perfect.

2 tbsp in 24 oz pot

First tea of the morning. I already knew that my stomach is sensitive in the morning, so this morning, after a few sips with no additions, I found it too bitter/astringent and added a splash of soy creamer. After a few more sips, I also had to add a teaspoon of sugar (for whole pot). Then, I found it tasty and smooth.

After a little more, I realized I was starting to feel a little icky, so I started eating some Carr’s wheat crackers (very reminiscent of digestive biscuits). AHA!!! Now the tea was perfect. Amazing how a bite of something every few sips changes everything.

I think I’ve discovered that I simply have to eat something with my morning tea even if it’s just a slice of toast.

The last cup of the pot was like a perfect morning brew. If I eat with the tea, I bet I could decrease or eliminate the cream and sugar too.

OK, so this is another roasted oolong. It is less coffeeish than the Butiki one I had yesterday, but now I’m starting to think I won’t be a fan of roasted oolongs. I’m not sure the smoky, toasted flavor is one I really want in my tea.

It was smooth, non-astringent, and flavorful. But, the flavor was largely the above-mentioned smoky, burnt thing. I was planning a second infusion, but didn’t get there because I just wasn’t in the mood for more of that flavor.

Again, not rating this because I’m working on a firm opinion about this type of tea. So far, I’m feeling it’s not for me.

Really want to find an oolong that’s oxidized as much as this one, but not roasted. Please comment if you know a good one! Then again, maybe that doesn’t exist. I’ll have to do some research into whether all highly oxidized oolongs are also roasted. Hmmm…

1 heaping tablespoon in a 12oz pot

More flavorful and rich than yesterday’s Everest black. Only a very slightly astringent after taste. A tiny bit of sugar knocked that right out without changing the flavor. A very good black tea for my taste.

I feel like I’m starting to hone in on the flavor I’m looking for.

Yummy! I did 3 infusions at the same settings. I used 2 1/2 tbsp for a 12 oz pot which is half of what Tea Trekker recommended. Using the amount they suggested would have used up my whole sample which was supposedly 14 grams!

Very smooth with a classic black tea flavor — somewhat like a Darljeeling if memory serves. A little astringency creeps in as the tea cools down. The third infusion was not too flavorful, so I think two was optimal.

Truly awesome tea – so aromatic and robust. Took a while for me to truly appreciate it =)

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