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Good morning Steepsterites.

Today I’m going off on a Top Secret Mission with my mother to do with wedding preparations and such things. I have time to fortify myself with a cup of tea first though, and to this effect I chose the last of the JJM samples that Spoonvonstrup shared with me. This one came out of a large, silver, foil wrapper.

I didn’t do much in the way of dry leaf aroma this morning (It’s only ten past seven, you can’t expect miracles), but I did note that it had a fairly strong note of chocolate to it. I noticed that one because I didn’t need to have my nose anywhere near the leaves at all in order to pick up on it.

It’s still there after steeping, and it’s strong. I swear this smells like a cup of hot milk chocolate which has somehow turned grainy. Because there is a grain-note in it as well. It smells almost Fujian-y! Oh joy!

I posted this in a comment elsewhere this morning, but there totally ought to be Fujian Drinkers’ Society or something. I’d join in a heartbeat. Sometimes it seems to me like Keemun and Yunnans are getting all the attention and poor little Fujian is pushed rather to the sidelines. That’s just not fair. The Fujian Society would promote Fujian blacks and make sure they received the glory they so rightfully deserve.

Anyway, when I’m not busy plotting a new world order, I actually find time to focus on the tea at hand. So aroma, chocolate-y and grain-y and Fujian-y. Good signs, these.

The flavour, however, is somewhat more confusing, because I don’t get that feeling of Fujianness from it. Oh, all the elements are there; the grainy bottom and the chocolate-y overtones, but it’s just not quite there. I wouldn’t say it tasted particularly Yunnan-y either, and if you recall, the other JJMs that I tried which were definitely from Yunnan had a fair bit of Yunnanness in them. This one is sort of shadow-regional, not really one or the other, (Could it be a third region entirely, perhaps?) because while it has all the elements that I would normally say was required for a tea to have Fujianness, it also has a touch of straw and pepper, which I would normally say was tell-tale Yunnanness.

I like this better than the confirmed Yunnan versions of JJM, because of the Fujian-y notes and also because the Yunnan-y notes are so mild. I think my problem with Yunnans is that often the straw note is very strong and insistent, and while I don’t actively dislike it, I just need it to be a little more subdued in order to be pleasant.

I think I’ve decided this one is more Fujian than anything else though. I can’t argue with that grain and chocolate combination, and as it cools a bit it also develops that slightly juicy note which feels like biting a berry.

Interestingly, and very unlike the others I’ve tried of this type, this one doesn’t have any smoke to it at all. Not in the primary flavour profile, not in the aftertaste, not in the aroma. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. All the others did without exception, and given the fact that JJM is supposedly a type of Lapsang Souchong, I was rather expecting smoke here, so I have to snip a few points off for that.

Points: 84

EMPTY THAT BOX!

Here’s another Jin Jun Mei from Spoonvonstrup. It came out of a small ziplock bag and the leaves were all golden looking. I’m not going to go with a whole lot of intro on this here, and I’m sure you’ll all appreciate me skipping straight ahead to the moment where I poured water on the leaves.

Because that’s when I was struck by a strong smell of honey. It was just for a moment, but it was definitely honey. Like sticking your nose in a honey jar and inhaling deeply, that’s how strong it was. Intersting. So far we’ve had two which were grain-y and a bit malty, one which was cocoa-y and now one with a honeyed streak. The honey note quickly faded again, though and I’m left with something sweet and grainy smelling. Reminiscent of those first two JJMs in the red wrappers, although I would still say this is more honey-y sweet than malt-y sweet.

The same goes for the flavour. Kind of grain-y but with a strong note of honey sweetness. Strangely enough it makes me think that I’m sure I’ve had this before. There’s something very familiar indeed about this flavour, and I don’t think it’s because it’s my fourth JJM in a relatively short time. My memory of having had this before seems older than that.

It tastes kind of Yunnan-y although not all out hay-y, and it’s more smooth than the others I’ve tried. Still with some smoke on the tail end but nothing overwhelming. Yunnan-y? Heeeeeeeey waidaminnit! I thought JJM was supposed to be a sub-type of LS! LS originates in Fujian if memory serves me right. What’s going on? squints at cup I’ve always thought of these as Fujian-y, but one of my other samples of JJM clearly states Yunnan JJM on it. So how can the same tea be produced in two such vastly different regions? Is it something to do with cultivars?

If it’s cultivars, I’ve changed my mind. Don’t explain. That stuff is way over my head, just say it’s cultivars or something.

Anyway, I suspect this particular sample has a Yunnan originan as well, based on the very Yunnan-y flavour. That honey-y note is really tipping it off. It’s one step away from having that sweet hay note as well, although were not quite there yet. All in all, while I do quite like that honey note, because it’s fun and interesting and not like the teas I normally drink, I do still prefer non-Yunnan-y samples over this one.

This teaches me that while this is still a type to look out for, I have to pay attention to origin of it as well.

Points: 70

I’m taking a leaf out of SimplyJenW’s book and making an effort to reduce the number of samples in my possession. Some of them are getting pretty old and some of the others will get old and forgotten if we don’t do something about it. So let’s EMPTY THAT BOX!

Then it took me another couple of minutes of catching up on Steepster and thinking about the ETB project before I realised that there wasn’t actually anything stopping me from doing something about it right now. I’m slow this morning.

Feeling inspired for a JJM, I picked another one out of the lot that Spoonvonstrup sent me, as these are some samples that I would be really sorry to see get old and forgotten. This tea seems very me and I would like to actually explore it while I can remember it. The reason I don’t just do that without having to occassionally force myself, is that I’m just so easily distracted and then it’s just easier to reach for the tins on the shelf. It means a lot less agonizing over which tea to choose while the kettle is boiling for the third time, because it got cold while I pondered this very important question.

Maybe I should set up some rules for EMPTYING THAT BOX! or something. Later.

Anyway, this particular Jin Jun Mei came out of an orange wrapper and a small amount of the contents had been used before I got it. A very small amount it must be because there’s still loads of leaf here.

While it was steeping, it had a very chocolate-y note to it. It wasn’t one I sat here searching for; it was simply making it’s way from the pot to my nose all by itself. This had me curiously sniffing at the wet leaf after emptying the pot, but there was nothing particularly chocolate-y about that. Some cocoa yes, the dark stuff used in baking, but also grain and something kind of a bit spicy and wood-y. In the actual cup itself, it’s like we’ve got the reverse, the wet leaf being the photo negative or something. A whole lot of cocoa and then the grain and spice underneath laying down the foundation of the aroma.

Did I find all this cocoa in the other JJMs? I can’t remember.

So due to the aroma, I rather expect the flavour to be similar. That’s not a lot to ask, is it? I mean, that’s not unreasonable. Gosh, was I in for a surprise. It tastes nothing like chocolate or cocoa or anything sweetie-like. Rather than that it’s kind of harsh and a bit gritty. There’s a good amount of smoke on it and it’s somewhat astringent, so it gets really prickly. Underneath that there is a note which – oh hey, look! Now that I look closer, this note is actually remarkably cocoa-y. Good, I did think it was odd that the aroma of it should be so strong only to not have it show up in the flavour. So first smoke, then a quick but strong smidge of cocoa and here come’s the grainyness that I knew had to be in here. The grain is also the note that continues into the aftertaste along with most of the smoke, definitely leaving me with an LS-y impression.

I feel like this is the JJM out of Spoonvonstrup’s lot that I’ve tried so far that has been the most complex tasting one, and also the one that best showed the relationship between JJM and LS. It’s also definitely the harshest, I think, and although this one is very nice on it’s own, seen in the context of the other JJM’s, I think I preferred the other two I tried so far over this one. Doesn’t mean I would turn this one down another time, though.

Points: 77

I have sent the birthday boy off to a whisky related event with a crisp banknote and instructions to ‘buy himself something pretty. Or something wet if he prefers’. Meanwhile I’m celebrating his birthday in absentia at home with some more the Jin Jun Mei that Spoonvonstrup sent me, while laying wicked, wicked plans for an attempt at lemon surprise pudding. (If I can pull that off, I’m going to earn myself soooo many gold stars! :D) I may have to get a little creative with available crockery, but how hard can it be?

Now. This JJM is also one that doesn’t have a brand as such on it, but like the previous one, it came out of a red foil wrapper. Different from the last red foil wrapper though. Let’s just quickly, for comparison purposes, sum up what I concluded on the first one. It had a rather grainy sort of flavour and a late-comer note of smoke. Not much in the way of fruity sweetness I otherwise associate with LS, so it was a different experience than LS. In a whole other box in my brain. So this is what I’m expecting out of this one too.

The aroma is definitely grainy, but also remarkably malty-sweet. I didn’t remember that maltiness from the first JJM. Was it there? I don’t think it was. This note is so big that it would have been impossible not to notice. Again, however, there isn’t much in the way of smoke on the aroma.

The flavour is much the same as the first JJM I tried, although this one appears to just be larger somehow. It also has the smoke note showing up a lot sooner than the first one, almost at the very beginning of the sip. At first there is the grain, not as malty-sweet as the aroma, but there is definitely some of that in it, and then the touch of smoke hits. It sort of arrives in a pointed arrow-like shape and unfolds over the rest of the flavour. (Here we go with my cross-wired brain again!) Bright white against brown.

The first one had a bit of astringency to it, which the boyfriend told me was right on his border for astringency tolerance. After which he told me that a couple of the other blacks I sometimes serve have a little too much astringency for his tastes too. Apparently there is a huge difference between working this out for himself and telling me which ones it is he doesn’t care for, so that I don’t give them to him in the future. But I shouldn’t talk really. It took me a very long time indeed to drum up the courage to tell him that I don’t actually much like celery, and instead developed a technique of eating all the celery bits first, quickly without tasting them too much. Based on this and the memory of that first one, I doubt he would have enjoyed this one very much, because that too is just much larger in this sample.

I wonder if perhaps this wrapper had a lot more leaf in it than the other one did. It is a very strong cup. Perhaps even a little too strong for me. I think I liked the first one I tried better. Not because of the difference in strength only but also because this one seems a little too forceful.

And it has occurred to me that putting a rating on unknown brands is totally useless as most posts will be about different batches entirely. Therefore I have removed it and moved the amount of points into the body of the post instead.

Points: 82

I have never had this before! Spoonvonstrup has begifted me with a whole little treasure trove. The whole swap got on the way because of two teas. One was the TGY from Verdant which it was deemed necessary for me to also attempt some gong-fu-ing of and this one which Spoonvonstrup thought I would be likely to enjoy. There are several different samples of JJM and most of them are brandless. I’m documenting them anyway, so that I can remember what I thought of the type later on. This one came out of a red wrapper.

Apparently, this is a type of Lapsang Souchong. I didn’t know that. Or I did, but had temporarily forgotten and was just reminded of it now. Based on that I was expecting something kinda smoky and I was surprised when the aroma showed up to be decidedly non so. It was grainy, primarily, but not really smoky at all. I found that a bit odd. I don’t think I’ve ever met an LS that didn’t smell smoky. My mind slipped to the unsmoked LS that LiberTEAs tried the other day and wondered if this was something of the same sort.

The flavour reveals that it isn’t. It’s definitely smoky now. At first when it was warmest I got a mostly grainy flavour again, sort of like the aroma and then smoke showed up as an afterthought. There is a fair bit of astringency as well, as the boyfriend pointed out and then proceeded to tell me that he thought some of my unflavoured blacks were a little too astringent for his tastes. When asked for further details he couldn’t tell me which ones they were. Apparently it’s something of a surprise that I need to know this stuff so that I can not continue to give them to him.

As I’m trying to type and drink tea around a sleepy but social cat (what do you mean make her go away??? I can’t! She’s cute!) the cup has cooled somewhat before I got very far drinking it. At this point the smoke comes out a lot more and a lot sooner in the sip. It’s quite smoky now and also somewhat grainy. The grain now merely forms a base where before it was more or less the primary note.

In LSs I like there to be a certain sweetness and fruityness to complement the smoke. That aspect is as much a requirement for the perfect LS as the smoke is. I would like to be able to say that this aspect is present in this tea. Alas, this is not the case. I’m getting a little of it out of the grainy-ness but not really to the same extent as I have come to prefer.

However, all is not lost. I don’t usually get grain-y flavours from LS in a quantity that has made me notice and remember them, and to my surprise I find that this good amount of grain in the flavour works in much the same way as that fruity sweetness. It provides a balance with the smoke, preventing the smoky note from getting too harsh and prickly. And you know, it’s quite good at it too.

Not all teas have genders, but LS is one of the few types that does. It’s male to me. I’ve always thought of it as very much towards the alpha-male end of the spectrum as well. This one is even male-r than that, somehow. If regular LS is the sort of tea that buys a motorcycle and plays rugby, then JJM is the sort of tea that travels to the moon. For fun.

Before I find myself stuck in a quagmire of gender stereotypes, I shall end the post. I really enjoyed this one. Good call, Spoonvonstrup!

Points: 90

This was so not what I expected!! Partially because I didn’t fully read the label at first- Which I finally did when trying to determine the company name. There is a hole punch through the logo so I’ve messaged my friend who brought it over from India in hopes that she can enlighten me. Bah! One day I’ll go to India with her and buy my own tea =D
Okay, so the tea! For a chai, it tastes very healthy. Clean and uplifting. The spices are bright and play up on the astringency of the base. I wonder what region this is from, because it certainly is not Assam. Ceylon perhaps? It’s a ctc tea, not that the processing means anything, necessarily.
As for the ingredients, there is most certainly some cardamom in there, and clove. A touch of cinnamon as well. Nothing too spicy, or sweet. More… sour, I would say, esp as it cools.
I tried a tiny cup of it with milk added, and it brought out an odd sort of bakey note. Like apple pastry. Interesting!!
It seems better without any milk, the first infusion anyhow. It may go better as a latte.
The second steep is more sour. I wish I’d added more honey now, but I was already upstairs and settled into what I was doing… shrugs
Overall, it’s a nice chai but not my favourite. I’m sure it will get drunk eventually. Maybe.

My student’s mother made me this tea. Disgusting. Blerghhh

Under the heading of I should have known better. A small silver bag labeled black tea came in a pretty cup my wife got at Christmas. I opened the bag expecting loose leaf but found a couple small bags instead. Why didn’t I stop. This horrible stuff tastes like perfumed bathroom powder. Nough said. I am going back to my earl grey I haven’t been logging for the last several days. Oh, and my wife doesn’t drink anything with caffeine and that’s how I ended up with this stuff.

I had this once more with a friend this weekend. This time I was able to prepare it gong fu style and had a little more control over the water temperature. It was very nice!

The overpowering rose flavor from the first steep last time was much milder to begin with. It persisted further across multiple infusions, but was a background note instead. The smokiness and undertones that remind me always of a Yunnan red were still there and felt a little more prominent this time around.

Looking forward to enjoying this tea more in the future!

I love the name of this, because the shape and size of the leaves are, indeed, very eyebrow-esque. Each individual leaf is quite small, but it’s extremely fun to see and smell them. The scent of the dry leaf is lightly sweet, with a hint of the distinctive smell of a Yunnan red.

The first infusion yielded a nice amber liquor and the aroma was particularly sweet. It started out like the scent of damp hardwoods, lying out in the morning after a night’s rain. With the first sip or two, it became a high, clear floral scent, bordering on rose. This first infusion was becoming a bit overpowering for me, personally, but my friend enjoyed it quite a lot.

With the second and third infusions, the floral tone grew milder and no longer overpowered me. At the same time, the red tea flavor started coming out of the woodwork in a very subtle way, mostly as an after-taste. I have to say, I greatly preferred this tea after the first infusion was consumed. Again, this speaks more to my personal taste than anything else.

I drink this ya bao probably once a week in the office. It’s light, refreshing, and simply delicious! In the office, we’re limited on our hot water resource, so I put a little cold water in with the leaves first, then fill my teapot the rest of the way with hot so that it steeps at approximately the right temperature.

Added benefit: It’s just the right temperature to drink immediately!

Every sip of this tea makes me smile and gives me happy little caffeine jitters.

I enjoyed this quite a lot! When I first was opening the various bags my brother sent me from China, this one surprised me most! It’s a type of tea I haven’t experienced before and the pure visual of it caught me off guard at first. I pinched out a sampling for the photo I took, and was surprised at just how soft and downy the leaves were. They are also quite larger than I was used to in general.

One of my first thoughts of the appearance, which was incidentally repeated by a friend after she saw the picture, was that the leaves look a bit like grasshoppers! After tasting this tea, I feel like that visual consideration almost has an effect on the flavor of the tea. Yes, I know that sounds weird, but hear me out!

My first infusion of this tea yielded a nice mild yellow liquor. The aroma was mild and sweet. The first sip took me to a dewy spring morning with the fresh new growth of wild grasses. Every proceeding cup and infusion only served to enhance this feeling for me.

There was a light sweet flavor niggling at the back of my mind that I couldn’t quite place. All I could think of is that it reminded me of sweet grass. Of being a kid playing in a field where sweet grass grows. And every now and then, you pick a stalk and chew the end in a Mark Twain-esque moment. Something about the flavor eludes me in such a way as to require this kind of description!

It will be fun to try this again to see if I can put my finger on the flavor. Additionally, my brother noted that this tea ages well, so I think I’m also going to stash at least some of it away to age for future tasting!

The dry leaf has a very sweet scent. It caught me a little off guard, but it was suddenly clear why it is referred to as fragrant.

My first infusion was perhaps steeped overlong. I steeped for around 2 minutes. The liquor was a very lovely shade of citrine, hence the yellow, I’m guessing. It was quite bitter and astringent, but not in an unpleasant sort of way. Just in such a way as to give the impression it perhaps demanded a shorter brew time. I wasn’t able to taste much of the flavor beyond that in this infusion, so I kept on.

Each successive infusion became less astringent, mellower, and sweeter. It also acquired a smoothness to the brew that I found particularly pleasant. Some of the sweetness reminded me of teas that have been scented, but without the strength of an actually scented tea.

Next time around, I’ll definitely steep the first infusion for a shorter time to get a better impression of the beginning flavors for this tea.

Had this just this morning in my Yixing pot and it was delicious! Same flavors as previously, just this time with the small amount of additional earthiness from enjoying out of Yixing.

Yue Guang Bai in a loose form was one of the first finer teas I had an obsession for. This is the first time I’ve had it from a cake and it tastes just gorgeous.

The liquor is a beautiful amber with the familiar damp hay aroma wafting up. While the first infusion does indeed have the same astringency that I’ve grown accustomed to, there’s something milder about the flavor. It makes me wonder if perhaps some of the loose Yue Guang Bai I’ve had was rather new and this cake had been aged, even briefly. I’ll do some research into this and discuss it on my next tasting, I’m sure.

All this does so far is assure me of my affections for a hearty Yue Guang Bai!

As I was drinking this tea, I realized it is only my second ever Tie Guan Yin, so I was excited to really think about the flavor in comparison to the other I’ve had.

The first infusion was very vegetal and the liquor was a lovely hay color. It was lightly astringent, but the flavor really came out in full force. With the second infusion, the astringency took a brief leap and tickled the tongue in a fun sort of way that helped me taste the tea itself a bit more completely.

For each proceeding infusion, I was joined by a friend who, not a great drinker of tea, found it extremely palatable and enjoyed more than a few cups. At this point, the tea really mellowed out and the flavor lingered nicely.

I’m most excited about this Tie Guan Yin, as it is from the family tea plantation of a tea shop owner my brother knows. He sent along a tin with 8 more samples, so this will hopefully last me at least a little while, as I make my way through the many other teas my brother sent me!

My friends went to China in Oct 2001 to adopt a baby and came back with my God Daughter Chloe, and some really good Ginseng Oolong tea. Elise went back with a friend for another adoption two years later, and another Ginseng Oolong tea, and this Ginseng Oolong tea is reviewed here.

I must say that the first Ginseng Oolong was better, due to it being a first experience of this type of tea, or the fact that it was brewed in a Tokoname teapot, or maybe it really was better. We all agreed to this fact.

To celebrate the Chinese New Year I chose this tea, and first cupped it last Friday night. The dry aroma was amazing and full of licorice. This tea is formed into pellets dusted with licorice and ginseng. The first two cups were steeped by info below.

The first cup wet leaf aroma was filled mostly with licorice aromas while the ginseng was noticeable but secondary. Wet leaf aroma in the second cup was slightly more licorice, with fuller ginseng aromas. In the third and fourth cups, the wet leaf aromas exhibited more ginseng and less licorice, with the licorice notes faded in the forth cup. The cup color was a medium yellow, getting darker with each longer steep (1.5 & 5 min).

The flavor in the first two cups exhibited amazing licorice flavor, not to intense—very delicious! The ginseng was well represented here, but the two flavors traded places in the third and forth cups. The ginseng was more prominent here and by the forth cup, the ginseng ruled the cup. I love the sweetness of the licorice, and the way it coated my tongue. My experience with straight ginseng is that it has a natural sweetness, but alone can be bitter if oversteeped. No bitterness was noted with it here and I found the ginseng to have a sweetness of its own.

Today, (Jan 24th), I made four more cups with longer steeping times and slightly more tea. First two cups were steeped at 1 minute and again the licorice came through beautifully and deliciously! By the third and fourth cups steeped at two and five minutes, the sweetness of the licorice faded and the ginseng and its sweet qualities edged forward. Today’s steeps were fuller and sweeter, and the two stars complimented each other well. There was no bitterness in the ginseng at all. The oolong itself was much less noticeable, and in the wet tea, there was much less actual oolong tea.

This tea is very delicious and sweet and relaxing, and for me addicting, even though the oolong itself was sparse. I love it just like I love my God Daughter Chloe. Happy Birthday Chloe!! :)))

Cupped: Fri, Sat, & Tue, January 20, 21, & 24, 2012.

Reviewed: Tuesday, January 24, 2012.

Made this iced again. I don’t think I could ever make this hot. Great iced! I even added a lime to it. Yum!

One of my friends gave this to me for Christmas. All it said on the tin was Hibiscus Strawberry. I saw bits of hibiscus, strawberry, dried oranges with orange peels, and cardamom. I cold brewed this as I’m always afraid of the hibiscus coming out too strong with hot water. Cold brewed, this was delicious! I felt like I was drinking a fruit juice. Delicious and naturally sweet!

My friend Carey give me this tea months ago. I do not think he was a big fan of Pu-Erhs. He said they upset his stomach. I really think he may have steeped his way too long. Anyway, it took maybe a minute before the liquor went from clear to red and the mini cake was still intact. I was getting a nice numbing sensation and a firm, strong brew. Cup 2 is utterly stimulating after I broke up the cake and steeped it for maybe 30 seconds. Cup 3 is the winner. I steeped it for maybe 2 minutes and I am getting a slight carbonation with a true eye opening flavor. This is a very convienient way to enjoy Pu-Erh on the go. A very nice tea. Now I have to get him to join Steepster….

My brother and I found this particular tea while travelling China. We first tried it in our hostel in Beijing where we shared some tea with one of the ladies running the hostel. We both found it to be delicious and made certain to get more information on it so we could track it down as we traveled further.

It was purchased in markets in early 2011, so was harvested 2010 (though harvest date and precise location is uncertain). Some was purchased in Kunming, and more in Menghai. In Kunming, it was found at a stand in an open-air market. In Menghai, in a tea shop near the bus station.

The aroma is lightly vegetal, very slightly hay-like, with a hint of sweetness. Overall, this is a mild tea. It is lightly earthy, with mild astringency with each sip. With a small amount of bitterness with each sip, but mostly the herbaceous sweet flavor of the tea, I absolutely adore this tea.

I have tasted a number of random pu-erh teas and this is one of my favorites to date. It was an added random sample mini tuo with an order from Life In Teacup, but I have been unable to identify just which tea it is. However, it was so tasty, I wanted to write up a little something.

Using a gaiwan and relatively recently boiling water, I gave this pu-erh its first new breath of life. And smelling the air wafting from it as I poured that first infusion, that’s exactly what it was. It’s very earthy and natural in scent. As I tasted it, I felt as if I was hiking the woods on a dewy spring morning. The sensation of tasting this particular pu-erh brings back happy memories.

Though it has a light bitterness to it, I was surprised at how light the flavor was on the first infusion compared to how darkly the liquor brewed. The bitterness has a hint of sweetness, like you would expect of a hoppy ale or porter.

At this point, all I can say is that I’m saving the wrapper and going to do all I can to identify this pu-erh so I can order myself a larger quantity!

This came in small silk/synthetic tea bags, and a wealth of flavour and woodsiness oozed through them. Alas my packets are gone!