What-Cha

My wife requested “the buttered popcorn tea” when I asked if she’d join me in a birthday sesh yesterday. Delightful as always. And a sipdown, so… wishlist!

This tea is joy. Steaming leaves boofed right up my nose with nougat, caramel, condensed milk. Alistair assured me the flavoring was all plant-based or I’d be side-eyeing this scrumpkin.

Slow open with caramel and minerality on the nose. Mouthfeel is smooth with mineral water, rock sugar… no cream yet, actually.

Second steep boofs up my nose again — condensed milk, nougat. Taste opens up to lilac, maybe lavender… thicker now, and creamy. Butterscotch! Mild astringency and vegetals.

Nougat is persistent on the nose. I love it. Third steep keeps astringency, sweets are moving down from the nose onto the palate now. Some raw vegetal notes, like broccoli stems. Grandma is slipping me a Werther’s Original while the other adults eat crudite.

Nice full mouth in the fourth steep; this keeps steeping like a champ. Astringent, creamy, cucumber, fleeting anise… seems like the oolong is really coming through the flavoring now. Shining. Lily in the next steep, with sugar and caramel sweetness lingering.

I poured a few more steeps. The base is so nice, delicate and wispy here at the end. Clean baby (sorry not sorry), honey, medium mouthfeel.

I adore this layering of punch and subtlety, both. There’s so much to find if you feel like poking around here, but it’s also a very comforting and easy friend (who brought cake) if that’s what you’re in the mood for.

Got a baby bag of this and burned right through it. Gong fu’d it once or twice. It was good, but — given the teaser notes of flowers and green and butter and cream here — I found myself craving complexity and roundness that it didn’t quite deliver. I’m at a point in my life where I’ll happily fork over my cashmoney for that thrilling feeling of bouncing around in a profile that tempts a smile before the swallow and dares me to lose all my tea out my teeth.

But. But! I took the remainder to work and grandpa-styled the last couple servings of it in my Yeti tumbler. What a delight, really, and those sips were like angels singing compared to the trash I normally grab and throw water on all day long. I think this will be my plan moving forward with teas that I find so-so — take them to work, where I‘ll appreciate them SO much more, and feel excited rather than beholden to empty their shiny little bags.

As I get ready for work —

Beautiful aromatic mix of sweet chocolate and rose, tangy lemon-malt and sweet potato with fruity and sweet red grape overtone, herbaceous tobacco undertone. Light and buoyant, sparkling, juicy swallow. Fruity red grape aftertaste. Not a heavy tea but subtly fortifying and also spicy-drying-warming. Lots of tongue tingling and mouthwatering give way to a cooling sensation in mouth that has eventually made its way into my ears. The aroma of the tea sticks to the empty mason jar, reminding me of the sips I just experienced.

Thanks for letting me dip into this bag, Leafhopper! This is a really good tea. The wonderful thing about What-Cha is they have many teas I want to keep as staples and this one has made it to the list.

Just a sample from Alistair, so a sip down of sorts. Nepal had me doubtful, but oolong got me excited… and meh. A fine example of the cultivar, but the leading flavor of linalool oxide in Darjeeling just doesn’t really do it for me. Oolong processing didn’t add anything substantial that I could pick out. I should maybe start trying to pair teas from this region with food, as I find them kind of tiresome standing alone.

I forgot I’d been hunting roses in this tea. Maybe a re-order for my inner Elmer Fudd. It’s delicious, but I absolutely don’t have my arms all the way around it yet.

Started with 25g of this and plowed through 15g in two gong fu sessions today, chasing roses.

First go was 1g/oz, second was 2g/oz. The second did suffer some bitterness, but both were good. I discovered bran flakes, malt loaf, and the 82 ways I can hold, sniff, and slurp a cup in search of roses. I did not find roses — did not find florals at all — and am a little sad about it. I would not be surprised if this was a failure of my palate, but also know variations year to year can leave a tea full of extra-special-somethings or lacking some character it once had. I imagine pandemic-era tea has even more potential for same. So it goes.

Light to medium mouthfeel. It’s pleasant and comforting. Blacks have a tendency to burn out my palate and leave me a little up-strung, though, so I’m not convinced this is where I’ll choose to cash my chips in very often.

A sad-face sipdown in a day full of great blacks! This takes a full pot of leaves, but gives and gives in return. I think this one goes back on the wishlist.

Had the most curious experience with this tea yesterday. I brewed it twice in a row, because although the first steep was lovely, I really didn’t pick up on any of the berry scent/flavors that most reviews seem to find unmistakable. The leaves are pretty light and fluffy, and I put about a tablespoon and a half (but didn’t weigh them) into my 5oz gong fu pot.

Notes coming off the leaves, both dry and steaming, were super exciting even without much berry: nuts, roast — like someone was cooking supper — and just a hint of floral around the edges. Smell off the first cup was wet dog — which sounds gross, but honestly reminds me of Thai food, when funk-smell usually means great taste (I’m vegan and avoid fermented aquatic creatures, but the point stands). Tasted of toast, nuts, leather. Second steep brought in those florals that were on the nose — lightly, though, with roasted hazelnuts mostly taking the palate.

For my second session, I added maybe 2.5 tablespoons of leaves, which seemed like a LOT… and there it was! BAM — elderberry jam punched me in the face, nearly overtaking every other flavor I’d picked out in the first session. It was like a completely different tea. So interesting. Berries and berries and berries after that. I grew up eating elderberry pie, had mulberry bushes in my backyard, and currently eat shit-tons of blackberries… and I’m going with elderberry here. Cream, honey. The berry scent and taste was jammy, cooked, pie-like — not the acidic, light, flitting flavor that a lot of “berry” teas and tisanes have. I don’t much care for those. All of the umami and nuts (I’m actually glad I under-leafed that first go, as I was able to pick these out separately) underpinning the big jam flavor was really nice. Fairly light mouthfeel despite the big flavors.

This kept being tasty for quite a few steeps, in both sessions, though not as heady as the first sniffs and sips. I’ve had several so-so blacks in the past few days, so this was a lovely surprise. I find I am gravitating hard toward Taiwanese teas — mostly oolongs, admittedly, but all the flavors here made for a black I’ll likely come back to.

Apologies in advance to anyone reading, as I’m about to copy-paste this note onto two teas…

I drank two Shandong Laoshans yesterday, one from What-Cha and one from Yunnan Sourcing, within an hour or so of each other. I had mild intentions of noting some differences between them, but the reality is I just wasn’t focused enough while doing some studying. I’m sure I’ll make more in-depth and fussy reviews for each later, but overall impressions remind me a lot of What-Cha‘s Vietnam Fish Hook Green. Umami, asparagus, crockpot white beans, salty, savory. Very approachable, smooth, and delicious. I will probably always keep a tea of this character in my cupboard, though I look forward to getting to know the intricacies and contrasts between all of the ones I have right now. I brewed both around 167-170°, which I think is perfect. Some astringency showed up toward the end of each session, but I think that was more a function of steep length than temperature. I really like this style of green.

Many thanks to Alistair for this free sample! Loved this tea and definitely want to get some more eventually. I feel like this tea’s flavor evolved for me more than most others I’ve tried over the course of the infusions. First infusion was spinach, cream and cucumber. Second infusion lost most of the spinach flavor. Third infusion introduced honey. Fourth and fifth infusions had a back note of peach.

Dry leaf: vegetal.
Wet leaf: spinach.
Flavor: spinach, cream, cucumber, peach, honey.

I have tried so many new teas over the past few days, but have been overwhelmed with classwork (I took a Chemistry class for kicks, and am indeed enjoying it — but it’s so accelerated time-wise that it’s managed to take over my life). Three more weeks in survival mode!

I did want to pop on and put a note here, though. I did a bit of googling, because this flavor that runs through soooo many of the teas I’ve had lately was haunting me. Linalool oxide! It’s in this Nepalese black, it’s in Darjeelings, it’s in White Antlers, it’s in Wild Tree Purple Moonlight White from YS… and it turns out I don’t love it. I mean it’s okay, it’s drinkable… and I can see why some people would enjoy it… but it’s not a scent or flavor I want to seek out any more often than I accidentally stumble on it. I kept calling it camphor/menthol, but it’s more than that — I needed answers!

“It occurs naturally in green and black teas. Linalool oxide can be described as camphorous, floral, fruity, spicy, tea-like, woody and even minty. It is well known for adding depth and sweetness to tea and lemon flavors as well as enhancing woody notes in red wines. Natural linalool oxide can also be used for mint top notes due to the fact that it has nice cooling sensations at certain levels.” (perfumerflavorist.com)

A tea from Jersey in the Channel Islands, produced at the fledgling Peacock Farm!

Brewing directions say 165F but I’ve had wonderful results at 175F and even with hot water from the work dispenser, which is certainly much hotter.

The dry leaf smells like sweet, wet grass now dry, kind of earthy-musty with maybe a sugarcane-cocoa sweetness; a hint of blanched nettle.

When brewed grandpa style in a glass, the leaves sink within a few minutes to the bottom and produce a green-gold brew with glinting hairs suspended. I smell marshamallo and sugar cookie, young grass.

The tea is viscous and sweet with a refined astringency. Left to sit, the flavor develops from something like sugarcane and minerals with a touch of toasted green bean into something even sweeter with smooth, rounded and oh-so-slightly savory tones of marshmallow, toasted rice and chrysanthemum along with that hint of blanched nettle found in the dry leaf. A sticky sweetness clings to the entire mouth in the aftertaste. By the third fill, I’m noticing more acidity — a gentle lemon and grassy-toasted green bean taste with fleeting honeysuckle. A fourth fill leaves my mouth feeling raw and sore, like there’s enzymatic action.

An absolute pleasure to drink despite being a 2021 pick and the raw mouthfeel after pushing the leaf too much. I would consider ordering future harvests of this green tea and the black tea. Just have to practice a little denial knowing the cost of the fresh leaf :P Leafhopper and I split this one while on sale.

Feeling: undecided

When you take a first whiff of the brewed tea you instantly know that its gonna be good: it is strong and complex, with honeyed sweetness, floral notes, and the forest floor aroma reminiscent of a good red wine.

The taste is powerful and multi-faceted, with sweetness, dark berries and stone fruit dominating. You can spend some time getting new and new notes out of it by alternating brewing times.

It is a remarkable black tea and I will stock up on that for sure. Looking at other reviews, pretty much everyone who tried it was taken by this Shan Cha and rated it extremely high.

Sipdown. Onto the wishlist it goes. This is cinnamon biscotti in a cup and I really enjoy it.

I… is this what Dong Ding is supposed to be? I had just about written off the style, but figured if anyone could get it right, it’d be Alistair.

Color me impressed and humbled… cinnamon shortbread, florals… astringency that makes me want to try this at a slightly cooler temperature. It’s delicious.

I ran out of water before the leaves ran out of life. I feel like I finally understand the love for this cultivar.

After last nights debacle with the pomegranate stuff, I decided to whip myself into shape this morning and follow some directions!
…
But as I write this, and look on the bag, I realize I only partially followed the directions. I did brew this tea at 194 as directed. I brewed gong fu cha style with about 7g of tea to about 6 oz. Water. I steeped 30 second steeps after a 5 sec rinse.

I don’t think this is a complicated tea. It’s very light and buttery with a sugarcane note in the finish. I’m picking up subtle florals with a hint of grassy ness. Very pleasant but not particularly mind blowing. I will gladly drink the rest of this tea but probably won’t restock it.

I was inspired by beerandbeancurd’s tasting note to try this tea with pineapple upside down cake tonight but got so excited to brew the tea, I couldn’t wait until cake time!

I brewed it about 5g to 5 oz. Water at 194 degrees. 5 sec. Rinse.
The dry leaves smelled like cinnamon and dark chocolate. Wet leaves netted stronger cinnamon and vanilla.
Steeped at 30 second intervals for 4 steeps then 45 seconds, 1 minute, 1:30, 2 minutes.
Dark chocolate was prominent throughout followed by sugarcane, hay, malt, and spice. Did I mention the dark chocolate? A lovely light, slightly sweet finish ended each cup.

I kept my leftovers to cool and threw it over ice and yes, you guessed it, dark chocolate with a crystal clear, slightly sweet, finish.

This is a delicious tea that I have no hesitation recommending.

I decided to take a break from gong fu brewing this morning an opted for a cuppa Earl Grey instead.
My only other exposure to earl grey has been grocery store bags, so this tastes and smells quite good in comparison. I steeped it as directed, 2 tsp. To about 8 oz. Water at 203 degrees for 4 minutes.
I’m having trouble identifying notes this morning but do get orange and lemon which I think, is the bergamot? I’ve never had bergamot so am guessing. A rather short, polite finish, and overall very satisfying cup of tea.

I have been checking my oolong box and found this one. Certainly it will fill sipdown prompt — Your oldest oolong tea even though I don’t count one serving amounts as sipdowns. But let it be a sipdown! (Two prompts in one day, woo!)

Okay, actually it must be my first experience with aged oolong. This oolong was released when I have been 8 years old, maybe I have started with my tea bag wrapper collection back then? I don’t know, when exactly I have started.

It is unigue, because it looks quite green in colour, even though it has been roasted 60%; and overall I wasn’t sure about flavour profile (walnut skin, really?) and overall, you know, it’s old tea feel.

I was pleasantly surprised already when adding leaves (all 5 grams) to the preheated gaiwan. It was somehow herbaceous, with roasted grains, and overall quite indeed complex.

I have been using 90-95°C water in thermos, and it seems it suited this tea well. I didn’t made a rinse, as there wasn’t any dust and following flavours and aromas were noticed (without particular order):
Walnut skin for sure, agian that herbaceous note, grains, nutty, florals, a little of spices (derk says cardamom, could it be), a little grassy (no contamination with Kumano!), olives a bit, or maybe olive oil. The mouthfeel was, again as derk said already, somehow oily and smooth, creamy and mouthcoating.

Some other qualities to mention: relaxing and keeping my sanity “alive”. It’s getting harder and harder to focus on the studies, as I feel, I know this already, but truth is somewhere in between mark A and F, depending on the topic. Also, my brother was having homeoffice today and well, it didn’t helped me too much. It was somehow distracting me, although he didn’t had much MS Teams calls.

PS: derk, thank you for sending this my way!

This is a pretty fussy sencha. First brews around 165 F for 20 sec were quite bitter and not very enjoyable. After some reading and experimenting, I recognized that about 150 F for 5 secs flash first infusion was best. +10 sec/subsequent infusion for about 5 infusions total.

If brewed in the latter way, most of the bitterness is gone and is replaced by umami and sweetness.

Dry leaf: seaweed.
Wet leaf: asparagus, wet hay.
Taste: umami, sweet.

Very smooth Taiwanese green oolong. Better brewed hotter.

Dry leaf: Floral.
Wet leaf: same.
Taste: Floral, cream, pear.