Tea Trekker

I think this is best during late may and early june once its getting warmer. makes you want to go watch ships coming in to the bay with a nice salty breeze in the air. It’s a little dry but the sweetness of the fruits adds quite a pleasure. mmmmmm

The name suites it well… a very dry tea but full of interesting flavors that pop out at you. I find it’s the best during rainy march days while reading some fantasy. It makes you excited for spring flowers ad has a strong smell of them too that fills up your room.

Dry copper leaves sprinkled with silver tips give off light muscatel smell. Gaiwan infusion – 1 tbsp in 100 mL. First amber-colored infusion has slight raisin aroma and a smooth mouthfeel. Second infusion gives slight fruity and muscatel taste. Reminds me a little bit of sheng Pu Ehr… Third infusion is thin. Overall smooth and light-tasting muscatel.

This Pre Qing-Ming tea shows beautiful white-hair covered leaves rolled into spirals. Fresh smell. Gaiwan infusion – 1 tbsp in 100 mL. First infusion (2 mins) gives a bright-colored kelpy and smoky soup. Subsequent infusions (1 min, 2 mins and 4 mins) evolve into slight vegetal. No astringency. Spent leaves are plump and beautiful. Unfortunately, the liquor isn’t as fresh and generous.

This is something special. I love a deep, full bodied malty Yunnan. This is not that.

Take the malty earthiness of a typical Yunnan black, mellow it, and layer over it a delecate flowery essence, like a Tieguanyin. This is that tea. It will linger and play across your palate all day. An unexpected treat.

I take the kettle off as it reaches boiling and let it sit for a moment. Not sure if it makes a difference, but it seems appropriate for a tea with such delicate flavors. Steeps between 3 and 4 minutes seems to come out about the same. I didn’t fare as well with a second steep at 5 minutes. It was worth drinking, but not nearly as good as the first steep.

My dad was the one who technically bought it at Tea Trekker (I had to go one last time before graduation) and made it one night – he never tells me what tea he’s making. I was blown away because obviously it’s much better from the black tea and stuff he usually buys from Upton. Awesome roasty tea! I’m sad now that I let my dad have it =p

A most fantastic dan cong, and something new to me. This tea went through a very light roasting without any charcoal roasting. The result is fantastic. No flavor was compromised and instead a lovely, intoxicating floral notes of magnolia exploded through the liquor and the wet leaves. However, while definitely being a huge pro for this tea, it also has the potential to be this tea’s downfall. This dan cong becomes unbelievably astringent. Fast. Oversteep it for a couple seconds and it’s like your eating flowers. And not the ones that you’re supposed to eat. It just becomes really unpalatable. Also, it comes out in the mouthfeel as well. It’s a pretty “chewy” tea and I there is this waxiness throughout every steep (although in varying intensities). Interestingly, though, this transfers over into the aftertaste quite well. It’s pleasantly thick, very floral, with a honey sweetness.

The leaves are also fantastic. They’re massive. Enormous. Probably the largest dried leaves of an oolong that I’ve had. They have great consistency in size, almost no broken pieces, no dust, and very fragrant, with aromas of dried fruits, berries, grasses, and honey. Although of inconsistent coloration dry, when wet, they show an even coloration of amber-brown and army green, nice patterns of bruising, and lovely looking veins glowing from the blades.

As this was from a small sample I received at the Tea Trekker store, I was grateful for the opportunity to try this tea, and it provided an excellent experience, even if it was a bit difficult to get right.

When I first learned about this tea, I was instantly intrigued. I just had to try some. The name and lore behind the tea was so different. So, when I visited Tea Trekker a few weeks ago, this oolong was the first on my list. I’ve had it a few times so far gong fu style, experimenting with the amount of leaves. About 3.5 to 4 grams in a 100ml gaiwan seems to grant the best results.

The leaves give off a scent of fresh hay and minerals, with a very subtle dried fruit aroma when dry, and a fresh and clean organic green scent with hints of flowers and what I finally came to describe as a sweet, mossy smell when wet. First inhaling the dried leaves, I didn’t think I was going to get any floral qualities at all from this tea. I was almost correct. This tea is certainly not like a tieguanyin with its intensely floral qualities, although it does possess some. No, what Mao Xie brings to the cup is something I can only describe as “briney.” Now, I may be getting carried away by the name of “hairy crab,” but I think this is a perfect example of the influence of terroir on taste. Mao Xie is grown on the Fujian Province’s coast throughout a long growing season, which probably has something to do with the slight mineral taste that blends oh so well with the relaxed floral tones and and humble sweetness that sometimes reminds me of saltwater taffy. Whenever I drink this tea, images of the beach and ocean mist always waft through my mind. Upon cooling though, the liquor does assume a thicker, salty/sour taste that can be somewhat unpalatable, but this is probably my only real complaint.

The liquor has a nice golden-green color and a soft, medium body. After a sip, the flavor rolls through the mouth in small, long waves. There isn’t really any “burst” of flavor, but with this tea there doesn’t need to be. It’s strength is that it has depth of flavor (instead of strong flavors) which spreads wide, lingers pleasantly, and fades slowly. Definitely a unique tea.

This is a delicious oolong but I think I still like Tea Trekker’s Tieguanyin (Anxi Monkey-Picked) the best.

I received my Tea Trekker order this morning! I have been looking forward to trying a Dan Cong black tea for about a month, and finally broke down and bought some(if I weren’t a tea ‘addict’ I would say I already have enough tea and did not need more…oh well) I really enjoy this tea, it takes what I love about Dan Cong oolong and adds another dimension in the richness of the taste! I taste fruit, not the light fruity taste of oolong, but a rich juiciness that is something I have yet to find in other black teas. As for now I will cut my tasting notes short, for I do not have the power of taste description like many on steepster have :(
On a side note, I stopped smoking cigarettes right before new years, and it is amazing how much better I can smell and taste! So it’s will be an ongoing process, but I will try to train my taste buds so I can correctly describe what I taste!

Brewing method: 7g of tea for 7 oz of water in a small teavana perfect tea maker. 1 quick rinse, 6 sec first and second steep, 10 sec third +3-5 sec each extra steep. I had 7 steepings before I stopped…not the leafs fault, lol couldn’t take any more liquid :(

Backlogging

Experience buying from Tea Trekker http://steepster.com/places/2820-tea-trekker-online-northampton-massachusetts

During the spring of 2011 I ordered eight teas from Tea Trekker: three 2010 green teas, one 2011 green tea, one 2010 yellow tea, and three black teas (with one free 2011 green tea sample thrown in). I finished all of the green and yellow teas by the end of 2011.

This was my very first fresh spring green tea, and so merits a more in-depth review than the others.

I like artichokes, and I remember that this tasted like artichokes. I couldn’t believe tea could taste like artichokes and that it could actually taste good. For months I had been reading about how fresh green teas can taste like all kinds of different green vegetables (spinach, green beans, collard greens, etc). So when I tasted artichokes in this tea, it was all I could talk about (I bet it may have been a little annoying to hear me go on and on about it). I brewed this up for a friend later that summer, one who never had a fresh spring green tea before (that I am aware of), and he was about as impressed as I was that it tasted like artichokes. On a side note: the flavor of Life in Teacup’s Frosty Spring Yunnan Roast Green somewhat reminds me of the flavor of this tea.

My old notes say it had good flavor through three steepings (and some on the forth and a little on the fifth). I go on-and-on in my notes about the quality of this leaf (being the first spring green I’d ever seen): fresh, bright-looking, army-green-colored leaves (medium-to-small sized), with plenty of bud-sets. It’s kind of funny reading my notes, as it’s like listening to a little kid describing how great his first new spangled thing a-ma-bob is, the one that just came in the mail that day, the one he’s been waiting for for weeks (anyone seen, A Christmas Story?). Anyway, this tea’s what got me loving Tea Trekker, and fresh green teas, and it got me to see that I didn’t have to pay lots for a good quality green tea (it was $15 / 4 OZ). Fresh green tea ROCKS!

Backlogging

Experience buying from Tea Trekker http://steepster.com/places/2820-tea-trekker-online-northampton-massachusetts

Tea Leaf: The leaf is CTC, but still quality.

This was my first exposure to a quality, loose-leaf Ceylon, and my wife and I have both enjoyed this tea (I also showcased it at least once and got a good response). I found scant notes on this tea (from an old notebook I just remembered I used to keep notes in), and it looks like it had good flavor through three steepings, and still a little on the fifth. Evidently, it was also good iced. Impressive!

(I still have some of this, so I may update this review at a later time).

Experience buying from Tea Trekker http://steepster.com/places/2820-tea-trekker-online-northampton-massachusetts

I liked this tea, too. : )

Backlogging. I’m tired of wanting to do these reviews and still not doing them (because I don’t have much to say about them, and the tea is long done been drunk up). So I am going to knock a bunch of ‘em out by keepin’ ’em simple.

Experience buying from Tea Trekker http://steepster.com/places/2820-tea-trekker-online-northampton-massachusetts

I liked this tea. Can’t get any simpler than that, now can ya!?

In my limited experience with Darjeeling’s, I really like this one. It has a nice, almost flowery after taste, while still maintaining the “Darjeeling Flavor” that I have noticed in all Darjeelings.

A great lightly oxidized oolong from a new region to me. The sweet flavor and large uncurling leaves make this great for sharing with friends who might be new to tea. The best part was I received this as a free sample, Tea trekker is great about that.

Advertised as one of “Bob’s favorites” I can definitely see why. It’s a great everyday black tea that you really can’t get sick of.

Brewed at just about 200 degrees the tea gave off a great aroma and turned the water to a chocolate brown color. The flavor was exactly as described with a biscuity richness and it really was pleasure to drink.

I am often shocked how closely Mary Lou and Bob’s descriptions match the tea they are talking about, their evaluation of flavors is incredible and they often notice subtleties in flavor that a novice would have to really look for when tasting the tea.

I had a 2010 Before the Rain sample. The tea is similar to Adagio’s Anji Duet but lacking in flavor in comparison. It is mild, refreshing, not too grassy but feels watered down. Probably would not repurchase.

Delicious dragonwell. I would order more but they’re out of this season’s supply. Cant wait to try next years.