What-Cha

I’ve downed this one and only have 5 grams left. This one has changed a little bit, and I’ve enjoyed it because I feel like I don’t run out of things to write, think, or say.

Yesterday, I got rose and peanuts; the day before, I got grains with the honey, yams, and florals like oats and bread; today, I got honeysuckle, sweet potatoes, light malt, cocoa, and peony. Some of the tips are silver, and looking back at these notes, the notes and parts of the tea resemble a white tea.

In essence, this is a black tea for white tea lovers. It’s not as strong as some of its other Fujian counterparts and is a very light, soft tea, but it’s been a much welcome staple while I wait for more bud based blacks coming my selfish way. The main heathered honey is still prominent with a very floral body with reliable Fujian flavors, but it’s hints are fun and pull back and forth.

This one scores between an 85 and 90 for me since I kept coming back to it. It’s not a heavy tea and is more suited for the afternoon of evening for me, but I like my black teas light and flavorful. I recommend this one to people who are familiar with Fujian teas and who prefer white teas and less heavy blacks.

This is an interesting one. I will be honest-I miss the days of the 10 gram sample to increase the variety of what I try, but this is one of those teas that was perfect at 25 grams for me. I could have read too much into the notes for this one, but the floral combo was really interesting, and there were some parts of the session where it tasted different, but the basic honey floral flavor was still there.

The mix of color is interesting-it is wiry, black, and gilded with faint gold tips, but it’s mixed with silver ones, too, like a white tea.

The dry leaf is fairly floral-and it kind of reminds me of a jasmine black, but it’s not too strong. It still smells like a chocolaty and yammy Fujian tea.

This is not a strong tea, and more on the lighter end like other Fujians and even the recent Tie Guan Yin type blacks I’ve had, but it still has a yammy malt distinctly like other Fujian teas. The difference comes with the florals and the honey notes. The honey comes off more to me as heathered, dark honey with some texture. The honey note also reminded me of other fructose based things like apricots in steep 2, citrus in 3, and peaches in four.

I’ve had a harder time pinning down the florals.They tend to remind me of jasmine more strongly, but also reminded me of chrysanthemum in a very light way. Later steeps brought lilac (HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I USED THAT SAME
DAMN NOTE), but I’ve drank this with my Evening Lilac from Renegade Tea in comparison, and they are pretty close, only this one is more citrusy and honey based-that one is more floral.

Heathered honey remains the most dominant flavor amidst nearly heavy florals with the chocolaty/yammy malt ones in the middle brews. The honey reminds me of some darker and more sundried white teas, and the chocolate notes faded after brew 5 for me in a session of 7 steeps after a random amount of seconds and minutes that I paid no head to. The teas body, however, is very light to medium and not thick while. Viscous, but not heavy. The later steeps also brought in some healthy but small tannin hints that were nice, but the tea was still chocolaty and honey sweet.

Overall, I’m a big fan. I’m curious to see what other people think of it. This tea personally stood out to me because it combines the trademarks of a Fujian Black in my head and brings out the floral qualities. There were moments were it tasted a lot like the Jasmine black that I ordered in that other teas later steeps.

I’m not quite sure what I’d rate it yet. It’s struck me as more of a late afternoon tea for a medium re-center or recharge over a breakfast tea, but I definitely kept coming back to it last night. I also wish I got some Jin Jun Mei and Golden Needle Black in my last order. I figured-I have too much Hon Cha, but I’ve really been craving it lately.

Really, my tastes are slowly reverting back to older ones. I still love my oolongs, but I’ve been drinking a lot more of my Chinese What-Cha blacks and the Hugo Jasmine Green a lot more lately. I tend to in the winter anyway and do still drink my oolongs, but I’ve brewed them for less steeps. Some of my greener ones I swear have gotten spinagier in time, although I always drink them within a year.

Taste preference aside, I really liked this one and will continue to enjoy it for this bizarre year and season.

What a lovely tea! It is delicate, smooth and comforting, while possessing a powerful bag of aromas and a long-lasting aftertaste. In short, it is like a FF Darjeeling with more fruity and umami notes and less astringency.

The main aromas I found were those of fruit tree flowers, honey, and vanilla. The taste starts off tart with lots of high floral notes and a cooling mouthfeel. Flavours of cantaloupe, citrus skin, and butter are among those that show up in the first infusion. Second steep then has more bite, a mildly grassy note and interesting olive oil / focaccia flavours. The umami flavours unravel even more subsequently, with the third infusion tasting of roast beef and thyme. The aftertaste is very flowery and protracted. There are also some yeasty notes such as those of kombucha and bread.

Day 15 of Sara’s Old Tea!

I did a quick wash, then steeped this one for 4 minutes for the first steep, 4.5 for the second. It opened up a good deal for the first, and even more for the second.

It tastes of raisins and honey and malt and happiness and kitten snuggles. I’m going to steep this until no more delicious flavor comes out of it. Mmm.

My morning cuppa. Another of my 2017 teas that I’m working through, in a still-sealed 10g package. I usually brew 3.5g to 500ml but dropped it to 3.3g to try to more evenly split the leaf into three 500ml western brew servings. Steeped for three minutes in 205F water.

The brewed tea has that lovely coppery reddish-brown color of a nice black tea. The aroma coming from my cup as I wait for it to cool enough to drink is giving me notes of cocoa, wet wood, roasted nuts, cinnamon, and honey.

The flavor is very breakfast tea malty/bready, with that orange citrus/smoky savory note I often get from Chinese black teas. I’m picking up a little of the wood, nuts, and a dark bittersweet cocoa toward the end of the sip, but the sweeter notes that were coming out on the nose aren’t present in the brewed cup. There is a bit of astrigency after the sip, but overall it’s surprisingly smooth for how strong and robust the tea is coming off.

An ideal breakfast tea; it has a hardiness to it, but is still smooth enough to drink unadorned (which is how I like to drink my breakfast teas).

Brewing tea aroma notes: barley, baked bread, mineral
Brewed tea leaf aroma notes: smoked honey, campfire, roasted aubergine
Brewed tea aroma notes: corn, roasted charcoal, mild milk
Tea flavour notes: roasted vegetables

Day 8 of Sara’s Old Tea!
This is a really smooth green tea. Should I have washed it first? The pearls really opened up for the second steep.

I get a sugar cookie flavor from this, as well as malt and vegetal notes. The vegetal notes came out a lot more for the second steep. Very tasty green tea! Thanks.

Okay, I am finally back on Steepster after a hiatus that proved significantly longer than planned. I was making pretty steady progress on cleaning out my backlog of tea reviews going into November, but I ended up getting busy with some other projects and losing focus and motivation. Hopefully, posting this review will be the start of me getting back on track. I’m dipping further into the backlog than normal with this review. I know I finished what I had of this tea sometime during the first half of the year. I’m pretty sure I had all of my notes on it written out and ready to go sometime between the middle of February and the end of April, but as usual, I cannot be more specific. What I can offer is that this was an excellent tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. The water temperature for my review session was set at 203 F and was neither raised nor lowered during the session. After rinsing the rolled leaf and bud sets, I started my session with a 10 second infusion. This infusion was then followed by 17 additional infusions. The steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaf and bud sets emitted aromas of char, smoke, caramelized banana, toasted rice, roasted barley, roasted almond, and vanilla. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of longan, lychee, sugarcane, and roasted carrot that were underscored by a subtle orchid fragrance. The first proper infusion introduced aromas of cream and butter. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of char, smoke, roasted barley, toasted rice, cream, butter, coffee, roasted carrot, and roasted almond that were chased by hints of daylily, sugarcane, orchid, lychee, longan, and caramelized banana. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of plum, grass, spinach, coffee, balsam, and roasted hazelnut. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of longan, orchid, caramelized banana, and daylily appeared in the mouth alongside impressions of plum, peach, daylily shoots, spinach, minerals, vanilla, grass, roasted hazelnut, Asian pear, and balsam. I also noted hints of earth, sweet corn, and roasted chestnut, as well as a strong peanut shell presence in the aftertaste of each sip. As the tea faded, the liquor shifted to emphasize notes of minerals, butter, cream, roasted almond, grass, daylily shoots, and toasted rice that were supported by hints of roasted hazelnut, sugarcane, daylily, longan, spinach, balsam, roasted barley, sweet corn, plum, and vanilla.

As stated earlier, this was a great heavy roasted oolong. It produced a liquor that was extremely complex and sophisticated while also remaining very drinkable and soothing. Nothing was out of place. The mix of aromas and flavors was not only unique and fantastic, but it was expertly balanced. Overall, this was just a fantastic offering. If you happen to be the sort of person who is not sold on heavier roasted oolongs, then this tea may not be up your alley, but if any tea were capable of converting you, I would say that this would be the one. Naturally, people who are established lovers of heavier roasted teas would very likely find a lot to love about this one.

My note didn’t get saved right. Anyway, more flavors listed down below on top of what I’ve written on its page. Some mineral during steep three and four from my gong fu session. The notes made me think of lemon or honey crystals. Steep two and five reminded me of honeydew.

I am thankful to have acquired some of this tea, and even more thankful I get to enjoy it on a grey Sunday Morning. Well, Sunday noon now, but I woke up at 10:00. That’s still morning.

Knew eastteaguy would snag some, too!

I wish I snagged more of this one. I am really happy that Alistair was able to acquire some, and deeply appreciate that he decided to put it up on the shop that he did.

As with most of my reviews this month, I’m not going to go into an exhaustive breakdown of my sessions, but I will focus on the re-occuring details I noticed and my personal opinion on the tea.

Opening it up, the tea is definitely on the greener side like most Dayulings, but packs a flavorful punch even if the leaves barely tint the hot water. Yes, I gong fu’d it in a small portable glass set in increments of 10, 35, 45 seconds and so on. Rose water, greens, grass, pineapple, lemongrass,pear, sugarcane, and mineral water were the most re-occuring notes in every part of the session. The rinse and very last steeps were the greenest, middle steeps were fruiter, and later steeps were more floral leaning into the rose with osmanthus sneaking up.

I greatly enjoyed it because it was a delicate tea that was rich in flavor, and extremely pronounced in its rosy headyness and creamy texture. Alistair described it as balsam, and I can see the tea being close to a white balsamic since it has just the right amount of green acidity to be similar. I will say it’s not too different from other Dayulings I’ve had, but I’m very pleased because it’s exactly what I wanted it to be.

I do wish I bought more of this, but since I had at least 50 grams of Wang Teas’s Dayuling, I wanted to add more variety and focus on other oolongs and black teas. It’s a shame this sold out so quickly, but I am glad it did because it stands out from What-Cha’s other teas.

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge February 2022: A Taiwanese tea – 2021 Spring Harvest

Another bittersweet sipdown. I feel I may have drank this one up too casually and too quickly, but it’s so good. Just a lovely concoction of tropical fruits and floral sweets.

Steep Count: 4

2021 Spring Harvest

High Mountain Green Oolong types are an easy favourite, and one’s from the Shan Lin Xi area are an easy if expensive sell. I thought I’d made notes on more of them than this but they have a tendency to not stick around long enough for that! The aroma of the dry leaf and broth is (as expected) beautiful, rich, and aromatic – it’s a mixture of floral (honeysuckle), honey, and fruity notes, along with something that is quintessential oolong. Pure ambrosia.

Cream, floral and fruit components are at the right balance for me here, creating a well-rounded profile. The fruity component is kind of like pineapple and the honey-sugar qualities of persimmon. While at it’s hottest, the finish has a zesty-sweet heat. I second Daylon R Thomas’s suggestion of “ginger lily” (it’s a bit of both, ha). There’s a suggestion of creamy banana and/or persimmon as a lingering taste as well. The sweet-grass/vegetal notes, which gain prevalence as it cools, also lend to the persimmon effect.

Western Steep Count: 6

After the second steep I went to bed and carried the session into today. I think steep 4 onward tasted a bit like a natural Jin Xuan (you know that subtle vegetal cream) but with more floral. Next time I’ll try for an uninterrupted session with gongfu so I can draw it out more!

I’ve had a fair amount of ‘meh’ experiences with aged oolongs, but it’s fair to say that it is a category I haven’t explored in any breadth. This one is the first aged Taiwanese oolong that I genuinely like. 

The complexity and pungency in the aroma is very impressive and in fact certainly above average even compared to fresh teas. It is very floral and sweet in a preheated gaiwan, with notes of stonefruits and spices. After the rinse there are many more aromas, such as those of cooling mountain flowers (thyme), cherry, cannabis, prunes, toast, and popcorn. Additionally, a faint lavender note rises from the empty cup.

Right from the get go, the mouthfeel is very smooth and airy, with a buttery texture and a slightly astringent finish. The taste is sweet, floral, nutty and metallic. It has a minty finish and flavours of walnut shell, char and mussels. The aftertaste is also pretty sweet and buttery. It has a kind of ‘chunky’ character that I am not sure how to describe. It feels as if one was actually eating something. I really like the cha qi as well, which is heady and pleasantly calming.

I’m surprised not to see an entry for this tea on Steepster, although it could be the same as the Vietnam Flowery Oolong. Nonetheless, I’m making a separate entry just in case.

This tea was harvested in 2014 and was best before 2017. (Note to self: Go through your sample drawer more often.) I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml pot at the recommended 176F for 25, 20, 25, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of orchids, lilacs, honey, toasted sesame seeds, grass, and sugarcane. The first steep has notes of orchid, lilac, lilies, other flowers, toasted sesame seeds, brown rice, sugarcane, and grass. The second steep is sweeter, with sugarcane, cream, lettuce, and those lovely florals predominating. The next couple steeps are still floral and toasty, like a cross between a green Dong Ding and a genmaicha. The next rounds have notes of butter, nuts, toasted sesame seeds, coriander, grass, and heady flowers. The session ends with nuts, grass, and veggies, with floral hints in the background.

I don’t know if this tea has changed with age, but even three years past its best before date, it’s held up surprisingly well. It’s too much like a green tea to be something I wholeheartedly enjoyed, but I’m glad to have finally tried it.

Dropping this note here because I’m fairly certain What-Cha is the origin of this tea I received from White Antlers. That was ONE BIG BALL in a sealed foil packet with Chinese script. The only English characters on the packet alerted me that what I had in my possession was Zhang Ping Shui Xian Cha. The date of the only review for this tea matches White Antlers’ timeline of teas.

So. The ball weighed almost 8g. Steeped in my generic 500mL Chinese pot… for 4 pots! That’s a lot of tea! No surprises between the aroma and taste. Carob, tangy plum, raspberry, chocolate syrup, with hints of geranium, pine, and pomelo and a licorice root type sweetness, very mineral. It was a pretty mellow 4 pots. Flavors became stronger as the tea cooled. Overall smooth and mineral, perhaps a bit of a watery body. The spent leaves look very healthy and a lot of them are sets with two leaves and a bud.

Not exactly to my tastes and I can’t pinpoint why. It does taste a lot like https://steepster.com/teas/what-cha/89012-china-fujian-zhangping-heavy-roasted-shui-xian-oolong-tea-cake but with more developed flavor and aroma. This is a black tea, the other one is an oolong. Thank you, White Antlers, for sending this my way :)

And to my American friends here, please make wise decisions for your health and your families’ this coming Thanksgiving weekend. My grandfather in Ohio passed a few nights ago due to COVID and only COVID. It is sweeping through his nursing home despite tight restrictions. My mom made it sound like he came to terms, accepting that it was his time and that he would pass soon. He was an eccentric man not a family man, a greaser type of guy, a drag car racer, a lover of Pepsi and Butterfingers. His dining room was a dancefloor and at one point he had a yellow station wagon with Bart Simpson images and quips painted on the windows — The Bart Mobile. RIP Dr. Cool.

I’ve had a handful of GABA teas and was not that impressed, but Derk’s glowing reviews made me want to try this version. Thanks, Derk, for the sample and for the recommendation to use more leaf than usual. I brewed 7 g of leaf in my 120 ml porcelain teapot at 195F for 25, 20, 25, 30, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds, plus a few long, uncounted steeps.

The dry aroma is of honey, nuts, baked pears, apples, raisins, and a slight GABA sourness. The aroma of the wet leaves is mouthwatering! The first steep has notes of honey, nuts, raisins, baked pear, apple, dates, and other dried fruit. It reminds me of a liquid fruit roll-up! Mild spices, brown sugar, and GABA funkiness emerge in steep two. The honey and nuts become slightly more prominent in the next couple steeps, although the tangy, slightly syrupy fruit is still the star. The raisins, dates, apple, and tangy dried fruit overpower the pear in steeps five and six, and I get malt, baked bread, and wood in the background. Finally, on the seventh steep, I notice cream and the sweet potato Derk mentioned. The session ends with malt, wood, almonds, earth, minerals, tannins, and those lovely dried fruits.

This is a treat of a tea. I’m still not a fan of that distinctive GABA taste, but love the array of fruits and the nutty, spicy, comforting profile. I’ll have to stew part of my remaining sample to make the most of those flavours.

Another of my 2017 tea haul that I’m trying to work through. Sampler size, still sealed (boy was it ever, I didn’t think I’d ever get the zip at the top of the pouch to come undone!), a First Flush May 2017 harvest with a May 2020 best by. I brewed western with my breakfast-for-lunch, 3.5g leaf to 500ml in 205F water with a 3 minute steep.

The wet leaves have a lovely aroma of sour fruits, lemongrass, and meadow flowers. The tea liquor is a bright, light orange color, and the aroma from my cup is an herbaceous sort of florality (dandelion?), rose, hay, strong citrus (lemongrass and orange zest), and minerals.

Mmm… the tea is very light, citrusy, and floral, and extremely smooth. The aromas are presenting in the flavors as well, as I’m tasting meadow flowers/dandelion, subtle sweet rose, lemongrass, lemon and orange zest, and a bit of malt and hay. I’m just not tasting the minerality that came out on the nose. Probably not the sort of strong, full-bodied tea one would associate with breakfast, but a lovely afternoon cup.

I was so sleepy this morning I turned on my kettle before putting the water in. How?! I started hearing a weird “clacking” noise and then a burning rubber smell, and realized what I had done. Then I had to wait a good 15 minutes to know if there was any life left in the old girl so I could make my morning cuppa.

This is from 2017, best by March 2020, but was still vacuum-sealed, so I’m hoping it has held up okay. Brewed western, 3.5g to 350ml in 205F water (if my kettle wasn’t totally borked!), steeped 3 minutes. The leaf looked nicely opened and my liquor is a slightly reddish-brown color. I’ve been a little trepidacious about any oolong boasting itself as “roasted” as I sampled a few Teavivre (through Dazzle Deer) ones and they just weren’t for me, but the aroma coming off this cup is extremely pleasant… A very chocolately scent, as well as some orange zest and a light rosey sort of floral.

Thankfully this isn’t just charcoal in a cup; it is delicious! There is a slightly earthy/mineral roasted nuts quality, with some notes of cocoa and orange zest, a bit of floral sweetness, and a slightly vegetal/woody flavor as well. Everything goes together so well in the cup and is very smooth, warm, and satisfying.

I really like this one!

I have one serving of this one left. I’m still holding off on the sipdown. This was truly one of my top black teas. There are also many, many, many teas I need to add that I’ve drank, so….I’m starting easy before I delve into writing and uploading. I might just write the reviews, then update the pictures.

Light brew yesterday, still a great 5 cups. 4th and 5th were weaker, but aroma going strong. I’ve just opened my last 50 grams of it, and am now starting to have diet addict freakout. I know this was limited, and weather permitting, I’m hopeful it might return. There’s a distinctly canola oil like vibe with the fruity qualities of the tea that I absolutely love, and it’s definitely my favorite black tea in my stash right now. I actually started looking into Green Terrace’s to hold me off and see how it compares, but they’re Paypal isn’t working. So I may have to reach out for help or be more responsible by finishing this slowly.

I’ve hoarded and not opened this for over a year. Given the crap shoot of this year, I should have opened it earlier. Instead, I opened it to help me reset when I go into a new trimester. This remains as my favorite expensive black tea right now. It sometimes has a chocolate note, but it’s more in texture as light malt and sweetness. The other dessert qualities are more forward. Too bad it was soo limited.

Notes abound-I’ll just put them in the flavor notes cause I forgot to input them last time.

Hands down, this is one of my favorite teas from What-Cha in the last few years. I was already devoted the green version, but this one has moved up.

In terms of flavor, it’s comparable to the Nectar and the Wild Mountain Black so highly rated on here. Like Alistair notes, it’s got tons of layers of florals, nutiness, and sweetness. However, the mouthfeel is so sweet and full that it reminds me of funnel cakes in how sugary it tastes without additatives western or gong fu. There are definitely some florals like lilac, but then it leans heavily into all kinds of fruit. Sometimes I got citrus, apricot, peach, plum, cherry, grapes and rhaspberry. I could be exagerating, but it was top notch. Then there’s the savory sweet qualities, like brown sugar and butter. So, so good. I’m stealing a note from another Lishan black, and also adding butternut squash.

Anyway, this tea has a lot to offer, and the way in changes in layers is great. I actually found myself more drawn to the small amount I have of this tea than my Oolong…which is a big statement, because that Lishan oolong is one of my cabinet staples.

Essentially, this tea is what I hoped it would be, and I will be determined to get more from my next paycheck.

Thank you Alistair!!!

Love this so far. Definitely on the sweet side-more notes coming soon.