The Phoenix Collection

A very affordable tea from the phoenix collection and one that I often share with people as an introduction into tea. It has a very nice nose both before and during steeping. Definitely use a low water temperature as it’s a white tea, and I usually do about 30 seconds a steep for this one. The main note that I would describe in this tea is simply “sugar”. play around with the steep times and enjoy introducing your friends who currently like flavoured tea to their first stepping block away from it

Ease flows into a cuppa,
& suddenly…
Whammo

Thank you JC for this sample tea!

I’ve had Tibetan Pu-erh before and thought they were supposed to be pretty much the same.

Evidently NOT!

What I drank before was ‘what the men drink who are herding animals Tibetan Brick Pu-erh’ which was a little on the rough side, although
fun to try.

I’ve been reading a book about the Tea Horse Road in Tibet, and slowly writing a story on my blog about ‘Ritual’.
It’s a story about how tea has become a Ritual in my life, and what that means to me.

The tea I decided to pair with the story is this one, a special Tibetan Pu-erh, because of it’s long and colorful tradition. I also wanted to make some Butter Chai Tea! (Can’t use Yak Butter Chai Tea unfortunately!) And this tea is the one to use.

Butter Chai Tea Recipe
A little milk (1/2 c) and salt (1/4 tsp), some butter (2 TB) and water (5 c) and Tibetan Pu-erh (1TB) and bring to the boil then simmer. (You can make adjustments to suit you.)

A tasty broth to stave off cold when treking through snowy mountain passes, donkeys heavy laden with tea… bound for waiting merchants on the other end of the Tea Horse Road. (OK, I’m a romantic!)

Before making the Butter Chai Tea, I made some regular Tibetan steeped (30 seconds) Pu-erh in my gaiwan.
The flavor was smooth and sweet with a refreshing taste. No extreme earthiness or thick mouth-feel.

The mellow flavor made the Butter Chai Tea light and smooth.

Because the Pu-erh boiled and then sat to simmer (the way it would on an open fire) I wondered how it would taste after a bit.
I waited while it simmered 20 minutes on the stove, poured a mug… and the tea tasted just as good as at the first!

Lovely Mild Puerh

Ritual is a story on my blog www.teaandincense.com

I began drinking tea as a way to be still (quiet) because my mind wandered when I tried to pray. I had difficulty quieting a zooming Silicon Valley mind that had rushed for so many years. Like most people I had worried so much about the past and the future, I didn’t know how to meet with God in the present.

Carefully learning to prepare tea several times a day, I didn’t just drink the tea but thoughtfully looked for all that was good in the experience.

First, I smelled the aroma of the tea liquor. Then I gave full attention to the scent of the tea leaves, observing the color of the dry and wet leaves. Finally, I tasted the tea prepared different ways (plain, with sweetening or milk, and after the second or third steeping ). I learned to use different types of tea equipment and the tea names from a vast array of tea previously unknown to me.

……and so on….

Thank you JC for this generous Sample Sheng!

I took a look at the review by Amy Oh and JC before my own preparation this morning. Amy’s was a 20-30 second steep time and JC’s was short 2 seconds…increasing gradually like Ravel’s Bolero.

I ’m choosing to play a little between the lines.

After one rinse. I steeped an even amount of leaf to water in my Gaiwan (5 grams leaf to 5 oz water) for 12 seconds.
The flavor was savory like artichoke, just short of bitter and thick at the back of the throat.
As I moved back from the glass cup, I noticed a strong wild honey scent and put my nose back to the glass cup.
The scent wasn’t there.
When I went back again to the cup, the honey returned.
I held the cup and moved it around in front of me…the wafting aroma of wild honey magically perfuming the air. Tea magic. Look for this!

My second steep at 10 seconds was dry but had the same big flavor and umami finish.

I lowered the timing down further to 6 seconds and lowered the temperature to 170 degrees. Not so good of an experiment. The tea was too bitter, blech.

Back to boiling water I went, and a 20 second steep (which was where Amy Oh liked it).
Now the flavor was herb butter, savory and sweet. Delicious, rich Umami! Full and substantial with the lingering after the swallow that we wait for…and want for.
(Made me think of having a grilled steak with herb butter. Even the liquor looked like melted golden clarified butter!)

This Sheng is delicious!

Some young Shengs are harsh, too smoky, too one note.
This (don’t kill me JC) is like a good Gyokuro.

Mellow!

Thanks JC

Not a taste note; see previous notes
I usually try to avoid black tea at night, but today I felt like I could stay up a bit longer as long as enjoyed it. I love this one, as I mentioned in the tasting note it has some differences with the standard version, some are subtle but not unnoticeable. And those that are apparent make it that much more worth while (lasting flavor and aftertaste, I’ve come to love this trait in teas).

I’ll enjoy this while I blow some steam playing video games!

Quick Notes – This is a ‘Standard’ or ‘Traditional’ version of the material used. I have logged the ‘High Grade’ and bought this for comparison for myself, learn more about differences material used make.

Dry – Sweet, woody/earthy
Wet – Sweet, creamy, malty, earthy/woody.
Liquor – Clear Burgundy-Red.

Gong fu in Yixing Gaiwan 6-7g/5oz

1st 45secs – Sweet, earthy and woody up front. As it washes down, it has a spiciness together with woody notes that resemble black pepper corn. The aftertaste is sweet and woody, slightly refreshing.

2nd 22secs – Sweet, smooth, earthy/woody with leather hints and spicy up front. As it goes down, it is more spicy resembling pepper corn with woody notes that become sweeter. The aftertaste is sweet, leathery and refreshing.

3rd 22secs – Sweet, smooth, woody/leathery and spicy up front. As it washes down it is slightly creamy but is mostly smooth with wood and leather notes. The aftertaste is sweet, woody/leathery, smooth and refreshing.

4th 30secs – Sweet, smooth, woody/leathery and faded spicy notes up front. As it washes down, it is cleaner and resembles pepper win woodiness and slight spicy notes. The aftertaste is sweet, woody and refreshing.

5th 42secs – Sweet, woody/leathery and spicy up front. As it washes down, it becomes sweeter and woody with spicy notes. The aftertaste is sweet, woody and refreshing.

6th 1min – Sweet, woody/leathery and cleaner up front. As it washes down, it is cleaner but still has woody and spicy hints. The aftertaste is sweet and slightly woody and more refreshing.

Final Notes
This is a more ‘standard’ or ‘traditiona’ Heicha grade brick. The material is coarser, and somewhat uneven in distribution. The high grade is a small leaf, buds and smaller leaf piece distribution, while this one is a more twiggy, stems, larger leaf and smaller leaf and leaf pieces (maybe a few buds). The difference, thickness. This one is a lot cleaner, it has some thickness but I’d say is a medium bodied while the high grade is a Full bodied creamy one. Doesn’t mean bad, its great aged puerh, same process just different materials = different results. I love the high grade over this one but I’d still stock up on this one.

Dry – Sweet, Chocolaty, nutty, faint fruity-complexity
Wet – Chocolaty, creamy, honey, thick and a hidden fruitiness.
Liquor – Bright Golden/Mustard

Gong Fu in Yixing Gaiwan 5-6g/5oz

1st 1sec – Smooth, creamy and sweet up front. As it washes down, it has a more apparent creaminess with a deep chocolate note and honey sweetness with a woody/nutty background. The aftertaste is sweet, thick and chocolaty.

2nd 1sec – Smooth, creamy, sweet and tart with chocolaty notes up front. As it washes down, it is smooth and creamy with apparent chocolate notes and fruity complexity in the background. The aftertaste is sweet and tarty with chocolate notes.

3rd 2secs – Sweet, smooth, slightly tarty with chocolate notes up front. As it washes down it becomes creamy, chocolaty, with tarty fruit notes. The aftertaste is thick, sweet and chocolaty.

4th 4secs – Sweet, smooth, creamy and chocolaty with tart notes. As it washes down, it is creamy, chocolaty with tart fruity notes. The aftertaste is thick, creamy, chocolaty.

5th 7secs – Sweet, tarty and smooth up front. As it washes down, it is slightly cleaner but turns creamy and chocolaty with fruity tart notes. The aftertaste is sweet, tart-fruitiness and thickness.

6th 12secs – Sweet, smooth and tarty up front. As it washes down, it is smooth and creamy with mostly tarty fruitiness that feels almost wine-like. The aftertaste is thick but cleaner than previously with faint chocolate notes.

Final Notes – I loved this one, there are subtly and no so subtle differences between the standard grade and this Special Grade. This one has a deeper and more lasting chocolate note, while the standard version is a sweeter chocolate that fades faster. This one offers a higher complexity that is better balanced; the fruity-tarty notes are present the entire time becoming more apparent during the last steeps but never having a pungency or overpowering presence.

I took some of this sample from JC over to the guys at Happy Lucky’s during the Denver/Ravens playoff gametime last week when I knew the shop would be quiet and we could drink tea samples.

We drank a lot of tea, especially Preston who is newer at tea and trying EVERYTHING to the point that we just watch him get a little tea drunk and smile.

This tea was his ephipany. He loved it!

I wrote about the event on my blog www.teaandincense.com

Quick Notes From what I’ve gathered, ‘Golden Sail’ USED to be a great Puerh Brand. As the Guangdong Tea Import and Export Co. went to the what I call ‘the dark side’ of quantity over Quality production, this is no longer a ‘good’ Puerh Brand(opinions, you choose what you like). Apparently, 2006 and earlier are the last ‘good’ batch, sad to see Puerh go bad. To the tea.

Dry – Sweet, fruity, floral.
Wet – Honey, fruity,tobaccoy,smoky,bitter-floral.
Liquor – Deep Golden.

Gong Fu in Yixing Gaiwan – 6-7gm/4.5oz

1st 12secs – Smoky, savory floral notes with hints of tobacco and smoke up front. As it washes down the smoky and floral bitter notes turn sweeter but retain some of the tobacco notes. The aftertaste is sweet with tobacco hints.

2nd 12 secs – Tobacco, smoky, floral-bitterness that turn sweeter as it goes down; but once again, retaining the the tobacco notes while the smokiness subsides. The aftertaste is slightly sweet, tobbacoy and bitter that slowly becomes sweeter and refreshing over time.

3rd 10secs – Tobacco, smoke, floral-bitterness up front. As it washes down, it retains its tobacco and floral-bitter notes but slowly becomes sweeter (hinting honey) with floral notes and refreshing. The aftertaste is tobaccoy and bittersweet that slowly turns sweeter.

4th 10secs – Strong tobacco notes, smoky, floral-bitterness up front. As it goes down, it retains the tobacco notes but slowly becomes sweet and floral. The after taste is bitter-sweet floral with tobaccoy notes, it slowly becomes sweeter and refreshing, as well as lasting in the mouth and throat.

5th 12secs – Strong Tobacco notes, smoky, floral-bitterness up front. As it washes down, it is tobaccoy, floral-bittersweet that turns sweeter while maintaining its tobacco notes. The aftertaste is bittersweet, slightly floral with tobacco notes; as time goes by it becomes sweeter and refreshing, very lasting in the mouth.

Final Notes
I was able to do nine good steeps this way with very similar notes, the ninth being a bit ‘cleaner’ but still had some bitter-to-sweet changes. I did another session (a while ago) with shorter steeps and less leaf 3-4gm, it works amazingly if you like to have some hints of tobacco/bitterness with out it being in the front and body (mostly sweet).

I liked it this way better, It has a strong mouth feel that is not unpleasant and it slowly and somehow ‘cumulatively’ gets sweeter in the aftertaste.

Dry – Honey, Chocolate, Walnuts, Orchid/Plum
Wet – Chocolate, Honey, Orchid, slightly nutty.
Liquor – Reddish Gold / Bronze

Gong Fu Style in Yixing Gaiwan — 5g/4.5oz

1st 2secs – Thick and creamy up front with plum/orchid taste that is immediately overtaken by chocolate taste with honey sweetness and walnut notes. There’s a refreshing ‘juicy’ hint of plum and honey that turns chocolaty at the end.

2nd 2secs – Strong chocolate taste, honey with very present plum/orchid notes. As it washes down, the creamy chocolate notes become more apparent with nutty hits that resemble walnut and lasts in the mouth. The aftertaste is joint of slight chocolaty notes and apparent plum/orchid notes.

3rd 3secs – Chocolate, creamy, honey and plum/orchid notes up front. As it washes down, it is creamy with nuttiness but then turns juicier with plum/orchid notes. The aftertaste is sweet, creamy but has orchid/plum notes that linger.

4th 6secs – Chocolate, plummy/orchid notes and honey up front. As it washes down, it is slightly creamy with chocolaty-nutty notes, but slightly juicier with the plum/orchid notes. The aftertaste is creamy, but has strong/dominant plum/orchid notes that linger.

5th 10secs – Chocolate, creamy, honey and plum/orchid up front. As it washes down, it is slightly creamy with honey and chocolate notes that turn juicy again. The aftertaste is sweet, chocolaty and plummy.

6th 20secs -Honey, slight chocolate notes and plum/orchid notes up front. As it washes down, it is smooth chocolaty and then juicy with the plummy/orchid notes. The aftertaste is sweet, faded chocolate and plummy/orchid.

Final Notes
I did eight good steeps this way. When preparing it western cup style I prefer to do three steeps: 45secs, 1min 20secs and 2mins. I loved this tea, the Walnut/nuttiness of the dry leaf is amazing. I love chocolate and walnuts together so I love the smell.

It isn’t as chocolaty as expected but still very good. I went with ‘walnut’ because it reminds me of scent when I crack the shell and the the ‘prize’ out. I wanted to try it as a base for a blend, :/ didn’t work out as expected. Great tea on its own anyway!

Thank you JC for this sample tea!

I’m a little late with my review today…had a ‘Senior Moment’ and ran out of gas in town. Too bad that the spot was in front of my favorite Tea House and it was closed for inventory. UGH!

This inconvenience just made getting home to tea all the more welcome!

Ever since I read JC’s review of Thousand Tael Tea with the little yellow flowers in it, I’ve wanted to try some.
He had graciously offered to send some to me…and what a wonderful addition to my New Years this is!

When you first read about the little organisms called flowers, you might feel ‘creeped out’ about them. I mean, what are they?! These little dots that are called ‘flowers’ are organisms that change the picked green tea leaves into drinkable tea.
The color changes, the health benefits found in tea are due to these good little flowers. Drinking them is good for the body in many ways.

The tea I used was crumbly as I lifted it apart with my puerh knife to expose the little yellow dots of ‘flowers’. I was going to drink this ‘science project’ looking tea with great interest.

I used 1 gram leaf to 1 oz. water and rinsed it once.
Steeping was 6 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds (ick), 10 seconds.

JC went into detail on his tasting so I’ll be brief.

At first taste, I thought of unsalted chicken broth (although it was a little sweeter than chicken broth). I didn’t spend much time thinking about the flavor, first steeps are usually misleading.

The second steep was still savory with a honey walnut aftertaste that made me think of walnut honey shrimp. OK, I was loosing it. Maybe I was hungry. The tea was pinging my taste memories like a pinball machine but in strange non-puerh territory.

If I steeped the leaves a little longer, I thought, maybe I would get a grip and find the base flavor I need to identify the flavor for this puerh!

So, I lengthened the time to 20 seconds which was a big mistake.
There was an odd rutabaga, sweet straw, vegital taste that was a bad move. Blech.

Back to 10 second steeping went I.
The taste was walnut, sweet with a slightly savory flavor but no straw. This was good and a little bit salty. Not dry or astringent.

I wouldn’t be afraid of the little yellow flowers, you don’t see or taste them when you make the tea. The tea flavor is mild. (Then again this is a 2001 which is very mellow)

Quick Notes This is a double Session review. Two for one!

Dry – Sweet
Wet – Sweet, Creamy, Malty, Bitter with chocolate notes, slightly citrusy and/or juicy.
Liquor – Brown-Bronze

Gong Fu in 5oz Yixing Gaiwan – 5g (loosen tea result of initial prying the cake)

1st 5sec – Creamy, slightly sweet and earthy with apparent bitterness that hints of chocolate. As it washes down it is brothy and thick with chocolate-like bitterness. The aftertaste is creamy and bittersweet that lingers in the back of the throat.

2nd 3secs – Creamy, bittersweet chocolate notes upfront. As it washes down it is thick and creamy with some sweetness that turns savory almost brothy with bitter chocolate notes. The aftertaste is sweet, thick, creamy, slightly savory and refreshing.

3rd 5secs – Thick, creamy, bittersweet with chocholate notes up front. As it washes down, the bitterness notes become more apparent and savory/brothy. The aftertaste is thick, bittersweet with brothy background that lingers in the mouth and back of the throat.

4th 7secs – Sweet, creamy and then bittersweet up front with weaker chocolate notes. As it washes down, it becomes brothy and bitter with chocolate notes. The aftertaste is creamy and bittersweet that lingers in the mouth and back of the throat.

5th 9secs – Sweet, creamy and bittersweet that is slightly juicy/citrusy. As it washes down, it becomes brothy and savory that slowly turns juicy with some bitterness. The aftertaste is bittersweet and thick, it still lingers but not as apparent as previously.

6th 17secs – Creamy, sweet, and bittersweet with juicy/citrusy up front. As it washes down, it becomes brothy and then juicy with bitter notes. The aftertaste is sweet with a bitterness that lingers in the mouth and back of throat, slightly juicier than previously.

I DID SOME HEAVIER STEEPS WITH SOLID CAKE PIECE
(three steeps before I ran out of water)

1st 50secs Creamy, slightly earthy with sweetness and immediately bitter that hints of chocolate notes up front. As it washes down, it feels heavy and thick with savory and brothy body that is also bitter and slowly develops some sweetness. The aftertaste is thick, creamy but savory with bitterness that resembles chocolate notes. (slightly refreshing).

2nd 35secs Once again Creamy, sweet with earthy notes that turns bitter with chocolate notes up front. As it washes down, it feels thick and creamy; brothy/soupy savory notes that also wear bitterness that slightly resemble chocolate and develops some sweetness. The after taste is creamy, savory and slowly turn bittersweet with slight chocolate notes.

Third I steeped for a about 45 seconds. The steep was very similar to the previous but had a more ‘juicy’ feel and slightly less creamy.

Final Notes
I like Lao Ban Zhang as a Sheng more than Shou. You still get some of the Bitterness and ‘chaqi’ that characterizes Lao Ban Zhang but its different. To me this cake smells really sweet but it has a sour/bitter taste together with a brothy/soupy savory body as it goes down, its really good. But to me it reminds me of a Pho soup, its savory but it has a certain sour/bitterness to it, that can linger in the mouth. I love Pho, but only when I feel like it. This might be the case with this cake, that is something that you can love when you want it. I’m going to drink it a few more times to give it a fair rating currently I seat around the 78s to 89 range. Good tea, great tea if you want Ripe Lao Ban Zhang.

No notes yet.

Dry – Sweet, Vegetal, Nutty, Honey, Flowery.
Wet – Nutty, Honey, Vegetal, Peas, Butter.
Liquor – Pale Green/Yellow

Gong Fu – 5oz Gaiwan 4-5g (a very light tea)

1st 2secs – Sweet, smooth, creamy with nuttiness slightly resembling snow peas up front. As it washes down it turns savory and vegetal. The aftertaste is sweet, smooth and creamy that lingers.

2nd 2secs – Creamy, smooth and sweet with nuttiness that resembles snow peas and honey notes. As it washes down it is creamy and sweet vegetal that lingers through the aftertaste.

3rd 4secs – Creamy, sweet, vegetal, buttery nutty sweet corn and snow peas upfront. As it washes down it has a vegetal and slightly floral taste that slowly becomes sweeter. The aftertaste is sweet and nutty that lingers with creaminess.

4th 9secs – Creamy, vegetal, buttery, nutty sweetness and slightly floral up front. As it washes down it has a strong savory vegetal and nutty body. The aftertaste turns sweet again and it becomes sweeter, nutty and buttery.

5th 16secs – Vegetal, sweet, nutty, floral and lightly creamy. As it washes down it is somewhat floral that turns very savory, vegetal, nutty that is almost broth like, that slowly turn sweeter again. The aftertaste is sweet and nutty.

6th 30secs – Buttery, vegetal, nutty, sweet but not as creamy up front. As it washes down it is vegetal, savory and nutty that slowly turns sweeter. The aftertaste is sweet, nutty, and slightly vegetal.

Final Notes
Amazing tea, it has a very complex scent even when dry. It really amazes me how even though I can usually tell a green tea from a white tea by scent (some traits give it up), I never really paid enough attention to note exactly WHAT it is lets me know or gives it out. I still don’t have a word to describe it. But as I’m smelling and drinking this tea I ‘spot’ that something and lose it over and over.

Overall, the tea seems like a green tea that was progressing towards a white tea. It has the complexity of a Bi Luo Chun in some floral hints that come and go. It reminds me of a Long Jin, in its vegetal nuttiness and some other green teas with Buttery/creamy body, yet it still holds on to some of its sweet and nutty notes from a Silver Needles tea, that freshness almost juicy. This is the kind of tea that different people will qualify differently as they drink it as it crossess the boundaries of white vs green. Very enjoyable.

MINI NOTE I did longer steeps of 30s, 1:00m, 1:30m, 2:00m, etc. The shorter steeps seems like its closer to a white tea, not because its ‘weak’ but rather, the sweetness is more apparent. During longer steeps it is more brothy, the buttery character is more apparent and then in later steeps the sweetness is more apparent.

Thank you JC for this Sample Pu-erh Silver Bud Sheng!

For once, I read the notes by Amy Oh and JC first, because I wanted to know how to best prepare this Sheng Pu-erh.
Amy steeped hers 30 seconds and JC 6 seconds so I did some of both to compare the two.

I used my white porcelain Gaiwan, 4gr. leaf to 4oz. water.

After 1 rinse, the first two steepings were quick…and my least favorite. The leaves seem to take a bit of time to bloom.

There is an aroma, very faint, that I have smelled before in finer Sheng…a savory scent that reminds me of roasting pecans or artichoke hearts.

The first steepings tasted light and sweet like a refreshing glass of mountain water on a hot day. I pictured a cool lake, granite rock with icy water running over moss.

Steeping three was longer…30 seconds. The tea was casaba melon, citrus and semi-sweet. No astringency…just smooth, delightful flavor.

As I keep steeping the leaves, I preferred the longer steep time. The flavor was intriguing. Savory Umami, citrus, exotic melon, sweetness and smooth mouthfeel.

I didn’t find the tea bitter which JC had mentioned.

I’m fond of Silver Buds…for some reason, this kind of tea reminds me of Lake Tahoe and the many times I would sit on the beach looking at the Lake surrounded by tall Ponderosa Pine trees. The scent of pine needles and the clean clear High Sierra pure mountain air is something you can taste (and never forget).

Found my picture…me on a bench looking at the Lake…
http://flic.kr/p/cNoyZJ http://flic.kr/p/c53H9Y

Thank you JC for this sample tea!

New Year’s Eve mail…samples from JC! I picked this Black Tea for my first tea of the New Year!

JC had reviewed this tea using a Gaiwan and short steeps. I decided to use longer steeps and a finum filter in a glass mug, a more Western Style brewing method with a heavy and rich taste.

When I opened the packet of tea, the scent of the dry leaves was sweet and the leaves were long, medium cocoa brown with golden threads.

My steep time was 3 minutes (JC don’t fall over!). While this may seem long, I used 1TB. tea to 7 oz. water and had no problem.

The flavor was not cocoa or malty like I had expected.
Instead, there was a clean, brisk taste that reminded me of Teavivre’s Bailin Gongfu Black Tea, but better. (As much as I’ve always loved the Teavivre Black tea, it has an aftertaste that’s vegital that I don’t like.)

There’s citrus in the scent and flavor (barely orange) as though this is a lovely Nepalese Black Tea blend. (By this I mean that Black Tea from Nepal often has a fruity flavor, close to Darjeelings which can have a citrus taste).

One of the journey’s I’ve been on (if you can call it that) is trying lots of different Black Tea’s. Strong Irish and Scot’s Black Tea’s, Kenyan and Chinese Black Tea’s from different regions (Yunnan, Taiwan, Laoshan, Etc.), Darjeelings, Assams, Thai Black, Ceylon.
This has been my Winter Project…and works well with drinking
lots of Pu’er punctuated by many sessions with roasty Oolongs.

This Guizhou is one of the best black tea’s I’ve ever tasted!

Next time JC, I’ll try this in a Gaiwan your way and follow your steeping style. This time I was my own wild woman!

I sweetened the tea during the second steeping (many black tea drinkers do this so I had to check it out) Sweet but not diminished. (Same with adding cream.) The flavor stands up to additions. (I hate losing the flavor of tea to milk and sugar!)

Great way to begin tea tasting for the New Year!

Dry Leaf – Sweet and faintly earthy.
Wet Leaf – Sweet, creamy with citrus notes
Liquor – Dark Bronze / Brown

Gong Fu in 5oz Porcelain Gaiwan 6-7g
1st 5secs – Clean and soupy/bread/pastry taste up front. As it washes down it becomes sweet and peppery. The aftertaste is sweet like sugarcane and lingers in the mouth.

2nd 3secs – Creamy and sweet up front. As it washes down it becomes slightly savory with bread/pastry like taste that is smooth with slight puckery pepper finish. The aftertaste is sweet, creamy with citrus hints.

3rd 4secs – Creamy, pepper and sweet up front. As it washes down it has a creamy, bread-like taste followed by some citrus notes that linger through the aftertaste. The aftertaste is sweet and refreshing.

4th 4secs – Creamy, sweet, citrus notes and peppery up front. As it washes down it is creamy, bread/pastry/like that lingers. The aftertaste is sweet and refreshing.

5th 7secs – Creamy, sweet, citrus up front. As it washes down it becomes peppery and has a savory pastry/bread taste that lingers for a bit. The aftertaste is sweet and refreshing.

6th 11secs – Creamy, sweet and smooth up front. As it washes down it becomes peppery and has a savory pasty/bread taste that lingers, a citrus notes appears before the aftertaste takes over. The aftertaste is sweet, smooth and refreshing.

7th 16secs – Creamy, sweet, smooth and slightly citrus up front. As it washes down it has a smooth pastry/bread taste that linger a bit before turning peppery. The aftertaste is sweet, smooth and refreshing.

8th 22secs – Creamy, sweet, smooth and citrus up front. As it washes down the liquor has a faint bread taste with smoothness that turns peppery. The aftertaste is sweet and refreshing.

Final Notes – This cake is beautiful, small.. but beautiful. You can easily appreciate the fact that is hand made as the pressing is not too tight and you can easily separate the buds. This was completely hand made which is the main reason I decided to use short steeps to ‘better appreciate’ the teas as it opens/changes. I will try it later with longer steeps but I doubt I will like it more than I did this way (I might prove myself wrong).

The liquor is very sweet and clean with a slight creaminess/smoothness that makes it pleasant. The camphor is light but strong enough to notice. It took 10 steeps pretty well with the 10th (1 minute) being slightly weak in depth but I since the tea is sweet it allows you to to have a sweet break even if other notes are faded.

Quick Notes I added the picture of the tea, it looks like a perfect cut of a log, and honestly it smells like one too.

Dry Leaf – Old tree bark, old wooden library.
Wet Leaf – Sweet, woody, eucalyptus.
Liquor – Yellowish/Golden Bronze
Gong Fu Style in Porcelain Gaiwan 5oz/4g

1st 5secs – Sweet, woody and eucalyptus freshness. At some points seems to resemble an elder flower or linden tea. Very refreshing.

2nd 10secs – Sweet, refreshing with woody/grassy/herbaceous notes that become slightly savory and earthy but fades into very refreshing sweetness.

3rd 15secs – Sweet, woody and refreshing. As it washes down it again resembles herbaceous tea. The aftertaste is sweet and very refreshing.

4th 20secs – Sweet, woody and refreshing up front. As it goes down it tastes like linden/elder flower tea (herbaceous) notes before it becomes sweet and refreshing again.

5th 30secs – Sweet, woody and refreshing up front. As it goes down it has woody/savory notes before the herbaceous elder flower/linden tea taste. The aftertaste is sweet and refreshing.

6th 50secs – Woody, refreshing and sweet upfront. The savory woody notes becomes more apparent but fades into herbaceous sweetness. The aftertaste is extremely refreshing.

Final Notes This is not a Puerh, is a Heicha (to me they are their own category). This tea extremely refreshing, the most refreshing one I’ve had besides tea with mint added/eucalyptus added. I can only compare it to having a herbal tea blend of Linden elderflower Holy Basil and maybe some ecalyptus (not as bold as the blend but perhaps a second steep of this blend).
It is so tighly packed that it looks like a single piece of wood at first sight, after I pryed it, it was easy to see the leaves and the small ‘Jin Hua’ or golden flowers in between them. I did two short washes of the leaves and the washes themselves had extreme sweet and camphor scents. I was doing short to extremely long steeps, it doesn’t seem to go bitter or astringent at all and it takes an amazing amount of steeps well(did around 12 going strong).

I keep coming back to this tea. It definitely isn’t a bad tea, its just so DIFFERENT from all the others I usually drink. I’ve had ‘bad’ tea and I can really drink it more than two or three times. I’m starting to think this tea had the same impact my first few Puerhs had with me. My brain just said ’can’t identify’ and I rejected it.

I keep drinking it, the first steep is the strongest one, Smoky/broth-like soup with the faintest hint of sweetness but the body is incredibly savory and so is the aftertaste (I think this is what caught me by surprise).

The second steep is less smoky but still present, the sweetness is slightly more appreciable before it turns savory and broth-like as it washes down. The aftertaste has a strong savory base with hints of sweetness. The savory notes linger in the mouth and back of the throat.

The third steep is savory and brothy up front and allows a sweetness to take over for a moment. As it washes down the ‘cycle’ repeats itself but this time the sweetness lasts much longer. While the sweetness comes up front the savory doesn’t disappear it takes the background and at least to me seems to serve as a base for he sweetness, making it that much more enjoyable.

Final Notes
I made 6 steeps with this tea, up to the 5th the tea continued to get sweeter but it still kept its savory and smoky character, after that it was weak. I’m not a fan of Lapsang Souchong but that might be slowly changing. I still enjoy past the second steeps the most but I’m starting to enjoy that brothy/smoky/meaty ones. Maybe is the cold weather and smokiness give me ‘warmth’.

Quick Notes Finally logging this one. I’ve been drinking it none end and now that I’m almost out of it I finally decided to log it.

Dry Leaf – Raw Sugar, vanilla, malty-bitterness, citrusy and plummy.
Wet Leaf – Sweet and malty, warm sugar some citrus notes.

Gong fu Style – Porcelain Gaiwan 5oz/5-6g

1st – 1sec – Very clean and citrusy at the front that has a slightly ‘savory’ maltiness that lingers before it becomes clean and sweet again.

2nd – 1sec – The lid smells like vanilla infused sugar. The liquor is clean, sweet(like warm water with sugar) and refreshing on front. As it washes down it has a savory malitiness that linger a bit. The citrus notes is a bit more apparent and it feel refreshing.

3rd – 2secs – The lid smells like raw sugar, vanilla and maybe (almond?). Citrusy up front and immediately sweet. The body seems savory while maintaining its sweetness(good balance) as it washes down. It has a light body not ‘heavy’/‘creamy’, it feels refreshing, smooth and clean.

4th – 2secs – The lid smells like vanilla, almond and sugar. Citrusy up front and turns sweet, slightly ‘cleaner’ than previously. The malty notes are not as strong although it is still present as it washes down.

5th – 4secs – The lid smells sugary, vanilla and some faint almond. Sweet with citrus notes. It turns slightly savory and malty as it washes down. It has a cleaner aftertaste, very refreshing.

6th – 5secs – The lid smells slightly malty, sugary, vanilla and faintly like almonds. Cleaner start, not as citrusy, but very sweet. The body maintains its malty and almost savory characteristics. The aftertaste is malty and sweet with freshness.

Final Notes
Using a small Gaiwan, I’m able to get past 11 steeps with this one. I love it western cup as well with 10, 15, 20, 30, 45 seconds and 1min steeps. I feel like this tea doesn’t change as much as most black teas do with a ‘flavor peak’ although the 2nd and 3rd steeps can be the most easily noticeable in taste.

The tea is very forgiving in the sense that if you do over-steep(bitter) you can still get a good steep on the next one, it doesn’t seem to retain the bitterness in the leaf. I would compare it to Imperial Golden Buds(Yunnan), Golden Bi Luo, and even nicked named it ‘Golden fleece’s dirty sister’ (Golden fleece from verdant). I call it ‘dirty’ because verdant’s version was very complex BUT very subtle, this one seems bolder.
EDIT
Bolder vs Subtle doesn’t mean good vs better it is just what it is. Bolder vs Subtle, depends on your preference which one is ‘better’.

Thanks to JC for sending me this one! I’m sorry it has taken me so long to try it.

I broke off a small chunk of the tea and decided to steep it in my yixing teapot. This tea has a lovely aroma. At first I was thinking it smelled like an evergreen forest.

Steep #1: It’s been a while since my last sheng. I steeped this for around 30 seconds and was surprised and how mellow it is, you can never tell with younger shengs. The tea liquor is only slightly bitter in the finish and I am also picking up on the fruity notes which are quite pleasant. I have a slight tingling on the tip of my tongue. :)

2nd steep: 30 secs?? I am getting the vegetal notes, perhaps I steped this for a little too long because the 2nd steep is more bitter than the first, still it is good though. Woodsy and a bit of smoke. It seems very invigorating on this overcast day.

Not sure if I will be able to write more on this tea as I have so many things to do this morning… It is really good! Might consider getting a cake.

I started my morning with this one today. I was up early and decided to have a cup or two before heading off to work. I ended up having four cups.

I decided to go for short infusions with more leaf to make stronger cups. I didn’t made it to work as early as I hoped but it was well worth it, there’s nothing like being able to relax your way to work in the morning. I need to restock this tea!

Not really a tasting note. Rather a comment and clarification.

I have to bump this one up a bit. I love it, I got the 250g cake and in less than a month I’m half way through it. I drink it at home and in the office. The part that made me realize how good it is… is finding myself at home contemplating the idea of having tea and browsing my ‘stash’ and ending up having this Puerh. Honestly, once I wasn’t sure what to drink and I literally told myself ‘Let me think about over some Tibetan Puerh’. If that is not an excuse to drink it, I don’t know what is. :P

Anyway UPgraded its score, more than well deserved.

I’m WAYYY behind in my Notes ‘quota’ :P I have several teas I have to add to steepster and add notes. Work, Holidays and work (no error here) has been on my way. I have to catch up to you guys! To the tea!

Gong Fu – Porcelain Gaiwan 5oz / 6g
Dry Leaf Plummy, sweet, rock
Wet Leaf Wet rock, Plum, Honey, Orchid floral, refreshing
Liquor Pale and somehow golden yellow

1st 2secs Lid smells of honey, rock, plum and spicy. The liquor has a ‘wet rock’taste with apparent Orchid floral that is sweet and slowly gives hints of apricot/plum that also has some honey sweetness. The aftertaste is mostly plummy and floral that lingers in the mouth but specially on the throat.

2nd 2secs Lid smells of rocks and then turns honey sweet with floral plummy notes. The Liquor has a very apparent ‘wet rock’ taste that lasts long before turning plummy/apricot like. The tea is very complex and different notes appear with each slurp. The aftertaste is rock like with plum/apricot notes that lasts as it turns honey sweet. The Floral and plummy notes linger in the throat.

3rd 3secs Lid smells honey sweet, wet rock, plummy and floral. The liquor is plummy, ‘wet rock’ with honey sweetness. As it washes down there’s a floral, honey and plum taste that lingers before the honey and ‘rock’ taste reappears. The aftertaste is sweeter but equally floral and plummy and lingering.

4th 4secs Lid smells like wet rock, plummy/apricot and honey sweet. The liquor has notes of ‘rock’ that linger before the plummy/apricot and honey sweetness set in. As it washes down it has a stronger floral presence. The aftertaste is long lasting; it starts plummy floral with sweetness and becomes mostly sweet in the mouth but very plummy in the throat.

5th 6secs Lid smells honey sweet with hints of wet rock and apricot/plummy notes. The liquor has a ‘wet rock’ taste with apricot/plum notes, the sweetness takes a bit longer to set in, which allows to appreciate the Orchid floral notes. The aftertaste is of ‘wet rock’ and plums and lingers in the mouth but specially in the back of the throat.

6th 8secs Lid smells like wet rock and then honey sweet with hints of plum. The liquor is plummy and floral with some hints of ‘wet rock’ but weaker than previously. As it washes down it becomes floral and fragrant. The aftertaste is floral plummy and later turns sweet in the mouth but the floral plummy notes linger in the back of the throat.

7th 12secs Lid smells plummy and floral and becomes very honey sweet. The liquor has an apparent ‘wet rock’ taste with honey sweetness and some apricot/plum notes. As it washes down it seems cleaner with ‘wet rock’ notes before it becomes floral and plummy. The aftertaste is plummy sweet in the mouth and floral plummy in the throat.

8th 20secs The lid smells like wet rock and honey sweet with faint plum/apricot hints. The liquor has ‘wet rock’ notes, floral plummy notes that becomes sweet as it washes down. The aftertaste is floral and plummy and it lingers in the mouth and throat.

Final Notes
I love this Mi Lan Xiang! I find it incredible that is perfectly balanced, nothing is overwhelming about this tea. I’ve had other Mi Lan Xiangs that either over do it in sweetness(by high firing) and kill the floral notes. Or are excessively floral by (slowly firing) and bury all other notes.

Last thing. I quoted all the WET ROCK taste references but not the scent ones. Mostly because you can smell wet rock.. but well I haven’t gone around picking up wet rocks and tasting them. But somehow ‘wet rock’ makes sense. The only thing I would compare it to, is drinking river water that is running down a rock.