The Phoenix Collection

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Recent Tasting Notes

94

I work for a roof, food and tea :P.

Dry Leaf – Spicy and earth scent
Wet Leaf – Earthy and sweet with spice like notes in the background.
Cup – Brews into a Bronze or darker golden color.

Gong fu style 5grams/5oz Gaiwan *

1st Steep – 2secs – Sweet and earthy scent, the earthiness reminds me of freshly cut mushrooms; it wears a earthy/musky scent. The steep tastes like a very earthy miso soup with a slight spiciness in the tongue. The aftertaste is savory.

2nd Steep – 2secs – Very sweet and earthy. It feels broth/soup like to me, it almost reminds me of a root vegetable soup back home; very filling and warming. It has a very pleasant aftertaste that is savory and just a hint of sweetness. ‘Umami’ puerh, very good.

3rd Steep – 2secs – Sweet scent with some hidden spiciness. Slightly cleaner start with earthy sweetness. This opens up to the broth/soup like umami taste. This time there is some spiciness present and then turns into a camphor freshness.

4th Steep – 2secs * – Clean and sweet steep that becomes earthy and slightly savory, the broth seems a perfect balance between sweet and savory. The aftertaste is savory and refreshing.

5th Steep – 4secs * – Sweet and earthy, the two extra seconds seems to have revived that strong earthy soup notes and some spiciness with it. This steep wears a slight astringency that might be just because of an accident with my strainer :/. Savory and refreshing aftertaste.

6th Steep – 4secs * – Sweet and spicy taste that becomes refreshing, then savory and earthy. This tea has a very good balance between savory notes and natural sweetness that is very pleasant. The aftertaste again remains savory and very refreshing.

I’ll continue this one later. It’s late, I with I didn’t have to sleep sometimes. We need to add 2 more hours to our days so we can have more ‘Me’ time.
EDIT
I continued this tea in the morning. Very warming and filling with some spiciness. Amazing cake.

Preparation
Boiling

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95

Finally back to steepster! Work has been draining me endlessly, but it was worth it when I saw my received shipping notice! ‘Tea christmas’ as my friend named it. I ordered several Puerhs from David Hoffman so I’ll probably keep posting as I drink them :D

Gong fu Style – 5grams 5oz Gaiwan

Dry Leaf – Bittersweet floral and fruity with hints of earthiness.

Wet Leaf – Bittersweet floral with ripe melon/peach scent, reminds me of a ripened peach on the verge of being rotten but is still good.

1st Steep – 2secs – The steep is sweet and bitter with lively floral notes. There’s a strong fruity flavor that is reminisent of dried peach/plum, it has some bitterness but wears no astringency. The aftertaste is ripe honeydew melon sweet and lingers for a long time.

2nd Steep – 2secs – Bittersweet scent with peach/plum fruitiness. The steep is more fruity and floral sweet with some slight broath like smoky taste, as it fades it becomes sweet and clean. The aftertaste is very sweet.

3rd Steep – 2secs – This cup is incredibly sweet and clean with just hints of bitterness and still no astringency present. The dried peach/plum taste is very present and lingers in the palate, it is very fruity and floral at the same time the smokiness is very faint in noticeable. Once again the aftertaste is very sweet.

4th Steep – 3secs – Sweet and fruity with floral notes. As i keep sipping down the peach/plum taste becomes very apparent, the slight bitterness just enhances the sweetness and balances it. The aftertaste here is more reminisent of ripe honeydew and has hints of camphor freshness (I had noticed something in previous steeps but wasn’t sure).

5th Steep – 4secs – Sweet and floral with some bitterness and just a hint of astringency that is very pleasant. As I continue drinking the bitterness and the sweetness opens up for the dried peach notes that have been very present from the begining. The aftertaste continues to be very sweet and refreshing yet lingers in you mouth and throat for a long time.

I was able to get 16 steeps by increasing 1 second per steep up to the 8th steep and then adding 2 seconds per steep in the following steeps. I’m pretty sure I could get more, specially if you like cleaner steeps (still very sweet and enjoyable just not so fruity/floral or bitter). Bulang Mountain killing it again! This cake is a dream. Edit Spelling

Preparation
Boiling
Azzrian

This sounds amazing! Also welcome back! :)

JC

I loved it! And I recommend it. It feel great to finally have so time to enjoy some tea.

Daisy Chubb

Yum JC, great comeback review!

tanluwils

I was looking at some of TPC’s tea list and just sent him a msg via his contact page requesting for samples. Is that list updated regularly? Do you have any more recent notes on this cake?

JC

I haven’t taken new notes. I did retry it a few months back. but I can give you a sample so you check if it is up your alley with the added age.

tanluwils

I think this would be good to try since I have limited experience with bulang tea. Hopefully I can make a purchasing decision before tea prices spike.

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93

The dry leaf has a smoky and bitter scent with hints of floral sweetness; but when wet, the smoky bitterness becomes more apparent, the only thing I can compare it is to the smokiness that would come from a campfire that uses wild wood.
Gong fu gaiwan 5oz
1st Steep (2secs) – Sweet and clean with smoky body that becomes floral. It has a smoky, floral and sweet aftertaste that turns refreshing; slightly astringent.

2nd Steep (2secs) – Clean sweetness that turns slightly bitter with a heavy smoky body with strong but pleasant floral notes. It becomes refreshing after the flowery aftertaste with slight astringency.

3rd Steep (2secs) – Smoky and flowery bitterness that becomes sweet and floral without loosing its smokiness. The aftertaste is floral and smoky but it becomes refreshing/camphor like.

4th Steep (4secs) – Smoky and flowery with sweetness that accentuates the wood smokiness with slightly bitter floral notes. This steep had very refreshing/camphor feeling.

5th Steep (5secs) – A Cleaner sweetness into slightly smokiness that becomes more apparent as it washes down and it becomes floral with faint sweetness and it feels refreshing on the throat.

6th Steep (6secs) – Clean feeling that becomes smoky and floral with some bitterness. This steeps wears a bit more astringency but is not unpleasant as it becomes refreshing once again.

7th Steep (8secs) – Clean and refreshing and it slowly gives hints of the smoky and floral notes that become more apparent as it washes down and seem to last longer on my mouth. Once again becomes very refreshing as the smoky and floral notes fade.

8th Steep (10secs) – Very clean start that becomes smoky and turns floral with some bitterness(almost bittersweet, in a good way). This steep become slightly more astringent and later more refreshing.

I did 14 steeps of this tea and I’m pretty sure I could have made more (late and too many bathroom breaks), but to me its an amazing tea just because even though it might be a ‘basic’ Puerh, it is well aged and it has all the characteristics of the Maocha but subtle like a fine aged Sheng. And frankly love the smokiness, is like straight out a camp fire.

Preparation
Boiling
RMC

On this maocha, I usually do even longer steeps (30 secs intervals) and it’ll be the only tea I drink for the entire day. Usually, depending on steeping times, this tea will last for a greater part of the weekend.

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100

I decided to do an actual tasting note. I’ve been holding back because well I wanted to make it justice since it is my favorite puerh so far. I’ll probably keep revisiting and adding notes as I keep tasting.

Gong Fu Dedicated Yixing Pot 4oz with 3-5grams of tea.

1st Steep – Fruity sweetness like ripe honeydew that becomes clean and becomes fruity and floral as it goes down, it wears a slight bitterness in the aftertaste.

2nd Steep – Fruity and floral fragrance with stronger aftertaste that plays between floral and sweet fruitiness and slight vegetal broth with refreshing finish in the throat.

3rd Steep – Clean Start with apparent sweetness and slight bitterness. It starts turning floral and fruity with slightly vegetal notes and refreshing after taste.

4th Steep – Clean start into a floral that turns vegetal and broth like that leads to a subtle fruity sweetness. As I continue drinking this steep the sweetness seems more apparent with slightly bitter aftertaste.

5th Steep – Clean and sweet start lightly resembles honey with floral tones and somewhat vegetal taste. The scent of ripe melon is apparent for me at this point. The after taste is more sweet and fruity but quickly turns vegetal and refreshing.

6th Steep – Cleaner but sweeter in the front with more apparent fruity notes of honeydew melon that becomes floral and slightly vegetal. The aftertaste is cleaner and refreshing.

7th Steep – Sweet and clean with notes of melon that become floral but this time seems to stay mostly fruity and sweet. The aftertaste is slightly vegetal and refreshing.

8th Steep – Sweet and clean with subtle fruity notes and floral aftertaste that is slightly vegetal and some bitterness that becomes refreshing in the throat.

Some notes: I steeped for 2 seconds on the first 3 steeps and added 1-2 seconds to the following steeps and the cup always maintain a sweet honey like scent. I was able to do 14 steeps last night and continued this morning. When I mentioned ‘vegetal’ I guess I would replace ti with ‘Umami’ a savory taste that is very pleasant but no specific description seems to apply. I will continue to come back to this tea, I love it and its very subtle and complex a the same time.

Preparation
Boiling

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100

The one! I found MY Puerh. This tea fooled me when I first opened the bag ‘Ooops I opened my silver needle white tea bag!’ then I smelled something different.. ‘Is this the silver needle puerh?… IT IS!’ It looks like a silver needle white tea with a slightly bitter-sweet fruity scent coming from the dry buds.

This one is my favorite because to me it captures bits of my favorite traits in different teas. Subtle in all aspects and yet complicated to the palate. I holds rock sugar sweetness that opens into a more fruity melon like sweetness, floral but never overwhelming in scent or taste, it has some of the bitterness you would expect from a good Sheng but it’s an undertone to its sweetness.

It becomes floral and has a good lasting aftertaste that is sweet, fruity and floral with a eucalyptus freshness in the back of the throat. The wet buds smell sweet and bitter with hints of citrus fruit peel. This tea doesn’t change much over course of the multiple steeps it can take but rather seems to offer a limitless supply of steeps, keeping the subtlety in its notes.

This is the kind of tea that has me smelling my cup after every steep. I’d recommend it to both Sheng lovers and newcomers alike. If you prefer ‘rougher’ notes then this might not be the one for you, but if you appreciate balanced and aged, this is your Sheng.

Preparation
Boiling

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92

I’ve had this Puerh stored for quite a while now. I was waiting to become ‘worthy’ of the tea, since this is an aged puerh I wanted to try several other younger of the ‘same’ type so I could learn and compare how age and good storage would affect it.

I have to say I’m glad I got it, the difference between the youger and the aged (similar quality leaf) is incredible. The tea is incredibly subtle in changes but with very apparent and distinctive flavor and fragance. You still get some of the perfumy essence that characterizes bamboo ‘packed’ puerh but is not overwhelming (young can be a bit too much).

Slight sweetness that opens way to a great ‘clean’ taste and then it becomes menthol like and incredibly refreshing, is similar to the feeling of mint fading in your mouth. Yet, despite that clean feeling in your mouth you can taste the smokiness and bamboo fragrance in your palate. I did multiple steeps and the does change with steeps but the changes are very subtle and takes several steeps to notice them, which in my book means ‘great puerh tea’.

I’d recommend it to anyone who loves puerh or wants to learn more about them, but if you are in the later then make sure you get a young one to compare.

Preparation
Boiling
TeaBrat

I have a bamboo puerh from Mandala tea and it’s yummy!

JC

When I first started drinking puerhs I saw the name ‘bamboo sheng’… I told myself ’you are going to drink that, that sounds amazing. I was partially right, it CAN be amazing!

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61

Second infusion. 4g/4oz water at a boil. The second infusion is much darker than the initial. The first steeping was a nice clear red liquor. Now it is opaque and reddish brown. Lots of dark malt and hints of chocolate in the aroma. Quite a lot of earth in the nose also. First taste is some stale black coffee and dirt. But not in an unpleasant way if that makes sense. The flavors fade quite quickly to a fleeting chocolate with slight astringency.

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec

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91

Steeped a 4g button in ~10oz just boiled water for three minutes in a YiXing teapot. Removed leaf strainer after three minutes. Extremely dark color, reminds me of black coffee, except it’s a deep brown. Very earthy, almost like damp dirt. Slight mushroom notes. Some malt aroma (light black malt, some chocolate malt). Medium bodied, no astringency to speak of, semi-dry finish. Smooth taste, the flavors are well integrated. Mostly earth with a slight roastiness.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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85

Third steeping. Boiling water. 10 seconds. Still a 3g/4oz tea to water ratio. Several hours since the second steeping. Still tasty, could have used a bit longer steep (+5 seconds). A bit more watery then earlier.

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85

Quick rinse with boiling water followed by a short steep. 3 grams in 4oz/water. Steeping longer than a few moments really draws out an astringency in this tea. Flavor-wise, it is briny, almost like seaweed. With light honeyed oxidation. A medium bodied mouthfeel. Some lingering sweetness.

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec

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93

There’s something great about going back to one of your favorites that gives it that extra pleasure. I love this black tea and would recommend it to anyone who loves chocolate/malty/sweet/fruity aromatic black teas.

I usually get 3-4 steeps from it. First cup is extremely aromatic like caramel and chocolate met in a cup and the taste doesn’t disagree/differs from the scent.

The second cup the leaves open fully giving more taste and aroma with the same steeping time. The scent is more aromatic like dark chocolate, there’s still some caramel like sweetness to it but the scent of dark chocolate takes over as well as some maltiness. The taste becomes much more apparent, not as sweet as the first cup, more malty and heavy and very pleasant.

Third and Fourth steeps. The scent has some chocolate background but the aroma is much more fruity, almost wine like comparable to that of a keemung. The taste is fruity and wine like, not as malty and just hints of chocolate, now that the chocolate taste is fading you can taste a bit of smokiness.

Expensive tea, but if you love black teas I would recommend it to have it on your stash.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec

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93

I really enjoy this tea. I prefer white and green teas over black but this tea allows me to enjoy all the aspects of a black tea while keeping smoothness. Similar to a Keemung in being smooth and fruity but with pronounced smoky chocolate notes. I drink this tea every morning before work.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec

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89

A tea that is not for everyone. It can appear to be tasteless/bland at first but it has hints of sweetness and vegetable taste. However, it’s true identity lays in its after taste. If you only like strong tasting tea I would stay away. If you like subtle notes and teas with multiple notes this is a good for you.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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82

I added this tea after I tried it based on a recommendation. I was very surprised at the sweetness and how much bold it was compared to others I’ve had previously (other companies). I found it a very affordable pleasure, a ‘go-to’ tea every day for me.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 45 sec

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71

An almost citrus-y nose, steeps dark and earthy from the medium round cake. Multiple steepings each better than the last. Very even, no distractions, just pure pu-erh.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 5 min, 30 sec

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84

Easily the most fragrant dry green tea leaf I’ve ever encountered, the color of this Dragon Well is beautiful, ranging from light to medium green. The leaves are irregular. They are not uniform at all, but such things are not important to me. Opening the package, I was amazed to find what seemed like nectar mixed with an almost melon-y (honeydew?) sweetness sitting atop your usual Dragon Well notes.

Brewed, the pale green soup doesn’t disappoint. All of the flavors promised in the scent of the dry leaves have found their way into the cup, which is remarkable since I was a little gun-shy and under-steeped this. Don’t ask me what I was on, but my notes read “a vegetal taste follows the sweetness like a bride’s father who is reluctant to give away his daughter.” He did give her away, though, and faded to the background as the tea cooled.

That lovely sweetness lingers noticeably in the nose for a good half-hour after the cup’s finished. This is truly a delicious tea. Then again, you’d have to be pretty sure of yourself to second-guess David Lee Hoffman.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 1 min, 30 sec
JC

I’m getting this ta because of you review. I’ve had similar experience buying from him but never crossed my mind to try this one.

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82

I’ve become a big large leaf pu-erh drinker, and this particular tea is growing on me quickly…A wonderful earthy aroma pre-steep, almost chocolate-like in its depth gives the Jing Gu Da Ye varietal a bit more gravitas. The steep is excellent, with some care to clear the stems. Nice color and very even.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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70

This surprisingly fragrant green from my pal David Lee Hoffman at The Phoenix Collection has a bit of a tartness on the nose, and the fuzzy stiff-grassyness you see in its raw form unfurls beautifully as the tea steeps. This makes the Golden Dragon one of the prettier teas to drink with people who see it in my cup asking what it is I’m drinking… The Golden Dragon drinks about as well as any green I’ve ever had with a fine even finish. Good for at least four steepings in a 16 oz tea tumbler.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 30 sec

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73

This is a wonderfully earthy and hearty pu-erh, I like to drink it in the late afternoon…

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 2 min, 30 sec

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66

My go to day to day steep, of all my greens, this one is the most drinkable. Trying to conserve my Pu-erh reserves.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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77

A nice, easy going tea, perfect for a Sunday morning. I really need to learn more about green pu-erhs, because every one of them that I’ve had has been really good.

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79

I sourced this tea from The Phoenix Collection directly (http://thephoenixcollection.com) and it has been a wonderful morning cup. Steeps well, the pack is tight in the bamboo section…Which makes extracting the tea a bit of work, ask David about his tea awl for use in this pursuit. The process does lead to fragmentation of the leaf…Which clogs up my Teas, Etc. glass filter…but it’s worth the cleaning time.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 3 min, 30 sec

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75

First, I should note that I ripped the “company description” and image from Silk Road Teas’ Monkey Picked Tieguanyin. David Lee Hoffman is the former proprietor and buyer for that company and the high-end Tieguanyin they offer is pretty much the same sort of TGY he’s now offering through his new venture The Phoenix Collection. However, there is no real website and no company descriptions or the like to be had from The Phoenix Collection as of yet… Best bet for most teas from Hoffman is to go onto Bon Teavant for images and descriptions.

This tea exemplifies the trend in oolongs away from their dark and twisted roots to the light and crumpled incarnations of today. Sure, sure, TGY is certainly a traditionally rolled oolong, but it wasn’t ‘til Jades took over in Taiwan that the red-tinged dark moss colored leaves of Tieguanyin began their march to grassy green. I happen to love medium-ox well-roasted TGY and find it sort of disheartening that it’s hard to find among the “Competition Grade” teas. I do think Jade Oolongs definitely have their place… I’m just a bit biased in thinking that place is Taiwan. I love the notion of diversified processing methods throughout the land, but think it’s sad when trends wind up wiping out traditional methods in a fell swoop. The second issue of The Art of Tea Magazine had a nice article about how Red Water style Dong Ding has all but disappeared due to this same trend…

Anywho, despite my reservations about changing styles eclipsing the old, and barring my preference of darker oolongs, this is a lovely tea. It’s got a good amount going on and it’s pleasant in presentation.

I used 4g with 100ml water in a glass gaiwan. Single rinse using 84 degree water. I only did three evaluative infusions (I was hungry): 1minute-83C, 30seconds-82C, 1minute-80C. I brewed more, but drank from the gaiwan.

Dry leaves are bright green with yellow accents. Fragrance is like banana leaves with a slight squashy and rubber (ficus sap/latex) note. Smells similar to a stand of horsetail fern in a freshwater seep near the coast. Smell carries through to the wet leaf aroma, but sweeter and more buttery, like a cinnamon roll without too much cinnamon. Liquor is bright yellow-green (sorta cartoony toxic color, but clean looking) with steadfast transparency. Aroma very different from either fragrance or wet leaf aroma – notes of zucchini skin, cucumber, cardamom, true cinnamon, Cymbidium orchid, iris flowers and foliage, rosemary, sage, and some watercress.

Not much to say about the flavor after the aroma – it’s mostly tactile accompaniment to what’s going on in the nose. Sweet and sour are played with a bit. Sort of a home made whipped cream effect going into a lingering milky-sour note that stimulates the salivary glands. Faint notes of orange bell pepper, cooked green pepper (as in a chile relleno), tomatillo, mugwort, and pounded rice and soy confections (like mochi). Thick mouthfeel and very smooth. Despite all that’s going on, it’s a mild tea. Light bakey notes and a sunflower nose in the aftertaste.

Soothing tea that I wish I had easier access to.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 0 sec
Auggy

Any chance this is the same TKY Chicago Tea Garden offers? A lot of their teas are sourced by David Lee Hoffman.

Thomas Smith

Y’know, it very well may be. As part of the agreement when he sold Silk Road Teas he was not allowed to sell teas for a period of five years and he was really blown away when legal action was raised against him when he violated it selling some of his puerh cakes. Seeing as he maintained his contacts and continued buying, it totally makes sense that he’d sell through a vendor he held in high repute and did dealings with. I’d believe it to be the same and prolly wouldn’t be able to taste the difference apart from differing storage conditions.

Blindman

Thomas – we are always willing (and I guess able in the case of our Website “company description” and Tieganyin text) to lend a hand in promoting good teas. Also, we have some Oolongs that may interest you, particularly of the more traditional oxidized style. But, we think some good words our way would help as well. It should be noted that Silk Road Teas sources its Oolongs from many of the same farmers that David Hoffman now does. That is the beauty of relationships, especially those built around good tea. For the matter of legal action, we are not aware of any such activity. We have always kept a level of understanding and humor about Pu-erh dealings.

Thomas Smith

Story was related to me by a vendor in the North Bay Area after he started offering the Phoenix Collection. Specifically, it was a reminder of David’s legal obligation sent to Hoffman, not any kind of lawsuit. It’s the kind of thing that needs to be done to protect against precedent, not a commentary about the dealings of companies in any way. Point I was tossing out there was that he agreed to not be out there fostering a competing brand for a short period of time, but due to the nature of relationship-products the tea he started selling on his own is likely to be virtually indistinguishable from that of the companies he’s worked with.

Are you a representative of Silk Road?

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