What-Cha

Something about this tea makes me want to ramble.

Spent yesterday late afternoon wandering Golden Gate Park, stopping at Hippie Hill to listen to the drum circle. I laid on the grass and let the music wash over me. It took a while but the percussionists finally got into their groove after some thick clouds of pot smoke emerged from the group. The cool breeze from the Pacific came in short bursts that would trail off and the grass danced, glistening, seemingly in tune with the drums. It was magical, I felt quite high riding the wind and the music. Sucker for cheap thrills I guess.

We later wandered through my old neighborhood and being hungry beyond the point of deciding what to eat, we stopped in the closest Indian restaurant. It smelled weird upon entering. Noped out of there graciously after having our water glasses filled and said sorry, we’ll have to come back another time. That’s one of my city-living life lessons: never eat at a restaurant that smells off. We then stopped at an American Chinese restaurant I used to like because it was right there, no decision to be made in our state. Got a cheap pot of Tie Guan Yin because I’m pretty over restaurant jasmine green tea. Picked the wrong dish to go with my mood and the tea. Spicy Peking noodles. I ended up getting sick last night with a very upset stomach and a raging headache before we even got home from dinner. Guessing too much salt and oil as I’m a spice fiend.

So I rummaged through my tea drawer searching for a glass of comfort, one hand in the drawer, the other holding my heavy, throbbing skull. Found an unmarked tin and upon opening, I instantly knew it was this tea. I thought I drank it all. It was very comforting and calming brewed in a gaiwan but I only had enough tea and energy for a modest grandfatherly brew.

The liquor was so roasty, smooth, sweet and light with a little creaminess. The berry/prune note in this was sooo dark and thick and sweet. Liquid medicine to soothe the soul.

After 3 ibuprofen and a few cups of this in some dim light, I could finally get comfortable on the couch.

I’m getting really bored reviewing for the GRE coming up in a week and a half.

I want to preface this review by stating that if you want bold flavors, this isn’t your tea. Very delicate, light flavors beyond the roast. This is the last of my 25g bag. 4g in 100mL jianshui gaiwan. I waltzed right through the first 21g enjoying the tea’s lightness and minerality but not really paying attention. So here I am, taking my time tonight.

WARNING self-indulgent, reminiscing tasting notes ahead. These will be few and far between since life is about to get bizzay.

Large, shiny, reddish brown nuggets.

Dry leaf: roast, dried blueberry, mission fig, caramel.

Warmed leaf: still edible burnt wheat toast with a bright red high note like a smear of raspberry jam, burnt sugar.

Ten second rinse, let sit for 10 minutes.

FIrst steep 10 seconds. Leaf: proper wheat toast, brown paper bag, raspberry.
Liquor: like chewing on a maple twig without the bark, raspberry, cream, tingling mineral tongue, viscous.

Second steep 15 seconds. Leaf: brown paper bag, raspberry, cream, vanilla. My left nostril got very personal with a random leaf plucked from the gaiwan and I could smell some kind of -ene. Really pleasant.
Liquor: smells like raspberry and cream, taste woody peach, creamy at the back of the mouth, mineral carries through, salivation starts.

Third steep 20 seconds. Same as second. I’m breathing out peaches and cream. Lingering taste.

Fourth steep 25 seconds. Leaf: heady, dark resin, black raspberry. Walk back to my desk and it smells like raspberries in here. I’m relaxed. Sighing feels good.

I used to live in this old house in Ohio. One of five houses that still had well water in a town of 13,000 people. I actually found that statistic once when I was concerned about having water during power outages. Funnily enough, I later moved to another of the five well-water houses in that town.

Anyway, that first house was old and had such a great energy. The lot next to us was vacant. An old foundation and light pole remained, choked with weeds and 20-year-old tree saplings. I checked town records for some info but came up empty.

Somebody long ago planted three different hedgerows to separate the two houses. One plant was some stupid shrub I had to trim every year because it encroached on the side of the gravel drive. Couldn’t remove it because we were renting. Another plant was trumpet vine. Dear god, talk about invasive and impossible to get rid of without pesticides. The third plant was black raspberry that had grown out of control as brambles usually do. The black raspberry brambles, in fact, rimmed the entirety of the vacant lot next to us. I suffered every summer diving into those thickets. Stained fingernails for days, thorns for weeks, jam for months. Haven’t come across black raspberries since.
Liquor: I forgot to sniff. Tastes, well, like black raspberries and cream :) Minerals fading but tongue still tingling.

Fifth steep 30 seconds. Leaf: wheat toast, brown sugar. Liquor smells like Cow Tails candy, tastes like fresh spring lawn grass with the minerals returning.

Sixth steep 45 seconds. My room smells yeasty now. Leaf: still wheat toast now with sugar plum prune, some kind of -ene.
Liquor: there’s that heady, dark resin again. Taste is fresh grass and mineral. Breathing out peach again. Noticing a light astringency at the back of the mouth.

I think I’ll leave it at that. My senses are spent. Rating later, maybe never.

—

Update: Finished the tea the next day after many more steeps. Ended on a definite kombu note. I love this tea. I tossed the package but I think it said gets better with age. It’s a cheap price to buy a good amount and try different aging techniques.

Over the past few days of doing a sipdown with this tea, I’ve brewed it at a lower temperature (only 5 degrees difference) and noticed some differences, the biggest being a pronounced milkiness in texture in the first steep. Straw, malt, mace (warming and quite peppery, kind of sweet), almond, cream and butter became the dominant notes in taste.
The cocoa I had gotten previously pretty much disappeared. There was still enough of a high note between the fruity nose and the muscatel, orange blossom and yellow gooseberry in the mouth to keep it interesting. The first steep produced an aftertaste of cream/butter while the second was fruity with a lingering light astringency. Again, this tea is versatile in that I can gain equal pleasure by either taking my time sipping or drinking it quickly. The mornings here have been chilly lately and this tea has been a nice accompaniment.

I would be all over this tea if I lived an area with a pronounced autumn.

May 2017 harvest. The dry leaf is gorgeous shades of brown and auburn cut leaves with some downy beige tips thrown in. It has that pungent, spicy darjeeling smell accompanied by a woody cocoa powder.

Going western, following recommended brewing parameter of 2 tsp at 195F. I tend to brew western in glass canning jars. 8 oz water. I got a solid 4 steeps this way at 3/5/8/12? minutes.

Liquor is very clean and soft, there’s some down floating around but I don’t think it adds a thickness. Definite notes of muscatel and orange blossom, followed by some cocoa, malt and freshly fallen autumn leaves. Poking through are mace, coriander seed, violet, gooseberry? Smells bright and juicy but also pleasantly musty/musky. The final steep remained lightly fruity but had a drying quality like that of straw or oak tannins.

This tea can go two ways: drink it quickly or take some more time to enjoy its nuances. It’s not so nuanced that it requires serious contemplation, though. I imagine it would be a perfect daily morning drinker on sunny autumn days when the deciduous trees are preparing for the impending cold. Or take a full thermos on a long hike in the woods. Autumn is approaching :)

Steepster says it’s been 7 months since I last imbibed.

Liquid late-night soul yancha. Seems slightly more roasted and oxidized than other Bai Ji Guan I’ve had — less floral-compost and mellower fruitiness. I wonder if the processing is what has allowed this one to keep getting better with time. Smooth, thick, warming, spicy, mineral sweet. More nuanced tasting notes can be found in older reviews. Bai Ji Guan is such a strange leaf.

Only 1 more session left with this beauty.

Song pairing: Al Green — The Love Sermon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWlZ6F8zykM

Happy Easter

Wow, life! I finally had time for a gongfu session tonight.

This tea has really evolved into something special for me after unintentionally aging it (heh) for a few years. Spicy with sandalwood and camphor atop a thick, mellow, sweet and fruity base that’s almost like red apples and raspberries mixed with soymilk, white mushroom broth and cacao. Initial steep is still a tad drying in the throat, or as Togo mentioned, constrictive. That feeling fades out into a persistent warming, bitter, woody spice like Saigon cinnamon mixed with dark chocolate as a lighter layer in the aftertaste of red apples and lychee blooms ever bigger into osmanthus. At first the tea was very warming and caused me to sweat but that camphor cooling took over in the mouth about midway through the session.

What a damn delight! Interesting, engaging but not difficult or fussy — fun texture, forward top layer of spice and incense, subtle and complex with mid/base tones and notes, bright minerality, with every steep a slight change and nothing out of place. Still a soothing buzz, alert yet relaxed despite using a ton of leaf. Wonderful cooler weather, after-dark tea.

Speaking of leaf, I’m as in awe of these leaves as last time. They had been twice lightly roasted and before brewing look darker than other baijiguan I’ve tried; the spent leaf though is clearly baijiguan — very pale compared to other Wuyi oolong cultivars or varietals and possessing some beautiful oxidation.

After tonight’s performance, I’m not concerned about clearing one of the oldest teas from my stash. This one can obviously sit around longer if I can keep my hands off it!

[8g, 100mL clay gaiwan, 205F, 10s rinse (drank — yum!), uncounted steeps starting at 10s]

Song pairing: Biz Markie — Just a Friend
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aofoBrFNdg

My review from What-Cha’s website:

“This tea! Did not expect such quality for a yancha of this price. The leaf is darker than I expected for Bai Ji Guan but it was treated so well. The spent leaves were stunning and whole.

8 grams in a 100 mL clay gaiwan with water either boiling or just off gave me up to 10 steeps. Everything worked so well in this tea. The light roast level, the sweetness and thickness of the liquor, the literal mouth-watering minerality, the florals. The lid of the gaiwan never stopped smelling like sweet chocolate. This tea kept me focused yet calm while studying for hours.

As of this review it’s out of stock but here’s hoping some more is found!"

Finished up the 25g package this morning after having a breakfast of leftover homemade veggie soup.

Gone gaiwan this time. 6 grams/150mL glass gaiwan/160-175F/flash rinse/5 second intervals. Did 7 steeps before calling it quits.

Dry leaf today smelled like dark chocolate and walnut.

Wet leaf ranged from roasted bamboo to light brown sugar, cocoa, sesame, green bamboo, white floral, hot linens, toasted sesame, umami, smoke, green beans and chestnut.

Aroma remained pretty light throughout all steeps, with the most noticeable scents being lemon water, white floral and cocoa, followed by butter, roasted nuts, sesame and green bamboo.

Liquor was really pleasant in the first 3 steeps with lemon water, sichuan peppercorn, bamboo, cocoa, very mineral. Smoke came through in the fourth steep and that’s when the brew turned quite bitter and astringent. From the fourth steep on I tasted mineral lemon water and butter, bitterness and astringency, ending with an accompaniment of yellow squash and green bean.

Overall, I really like the profile this tea has to offer. If the bitterness and astringency could be lessened in a future harvest, I’d like to try some more. Upping the rating a few points.

Western style

Dry leaf smells like roasted nuts and sesame seaweed snacks. Leaves flattish but curled up around the edges. Lots of broken leaf running the range of various greens with dark green, purple, brown and yellow tones. Small amount of hairs still present on leaf.

First steep, 1m10s. Light in flavor: roasted nuts, light sweetness and silky mouthfeel immediately gives way to drying and tingly mineral like sichuan peppercorn. Also getting lemon and anise, something vegetal yet bright – yellow squash? Breathing out toasted anise seeds. Liquor smells like buttery roasted nuts and light florals. Wet leaf now smells like roasted chestnut reminiscent of a long jing.

Second steep, 1m45s, about the same minus the anise. Salivating now. I like that. Light golden yellow liquor in a glass ball jar. Spent leaf is a mix of bright and dull green with a yellow tint.

I remember doing a cold brew with this when I first got it. It was really interesting. 3 tsp to a half liter overnight. The result was quite dark and heavy in flavor. Very prominent with the roasted nuts and butter. A bit bitter. Could’ve used less leaf.

Not much depth to this tea but it’s nice and light. I think it would be good for those who like greens but don’t want something fruity or grassy.

Note 1000!!!! Thank you, Alistair, for this lovely gem at my request! Yeah, I wish I got the 25 grams of this one.

Jun Chiyabari is officially one of my favorite terroirs, and I had to get this one for the natural citrus notes. The first time I had it was while I had conjunctivitis and some post nasal drip, and the slight acidity helped cut through the mucus and reignite my taste buds. Before I get too ahead, I’ll describe it by aroma and flavor.

The dry leaves are very pretty to look at. There are greens, blacks, small amounts of auburn, and lots of hairy silver. I would have that this was a black and white tea blend, never mind the better comparison is to a first flush tea. Smelling it, there are some hay and grain notes accompanied by the orange blossom and a savory pastry note. It kinda reminded me of sunflower or sesame seeds, but more so, like a buttery croissant….I know, pretentious.

Anyway, the same can be said after 2 minutes brewing it western. The citrus is more pronounced, but it still has the savory butter quality it had before. Tasting it was the nice part. The first thing I taste is the actual texture, which was smooth and (you’ve seen me use this adjective way too many times) creamy. The notes immediately come in as the floral orange blossom, , and it ends with grains and savory honeysuckle.

The same notes could be said in the second steep right now, but after the orange blossom, there was a citrus peel hint closer to lemon peel than orange. It was a little sour, but very pleasant and still as soft and smooth as ever. Did I mention that the citrus taste lingers on the tongue?

I’m only on steep three today as it is a sipdown, but I got as many as six cups when I was brewing it western. This tea has some good longevity, and the later steeps become softer and more of a white gold yellow, but the taste becomes a little creamier with the same orange blossom and citrusy profile. I kept on thinking of vanilla, albeit faint and perhaps confused with the lemon peel or even lemon grass as it gets creamier.

As you can tell, I deeply enjoyed this tea. It is very brisk as a black tea, but also very bright and on the lighter end of the spectrum. Like anything that resembles a first flush, the notes make me think more of oolong and white tea notes, especially the white tea like dryness, but it has enough body to make the drinker think black. Or those who have a brain and experience think black, but more so think of where the tea actually comes from.

I’d highly recommend this one to first flush lovers and white tea lovers. I think that the profile is sweet enough as a tea to welcome someone into enjoying straight teas, maybe with some lemon or sugar if they are not so easily converted. It is also very easy to drink. This is also a good fit for more experienced drinkers. The might want a little bit more complexity although this tea does not lack nuance. Either way, I might get an ounce to savor myself if not more. I personally would not drink this one super often to enjoy it once a week at minimum. I can also see myself drinking this tea season round, though I’m impressed with how much I enjoy it in the summer.

Unsealed the last 50g packet of this tea that I hoarded a few years ago. It’s a 2017 harvest and still tastes magnificent!

Not much attention paid like today’s white tea… There is some change with age, though very little. Honey with a hint of butter, cardamom, clean-sweet peppermint, dried cut grass, balsam wood, roasted walnut, black sesame seeds, background roastiness. And I think I get that grilled pineapple Daylon got as a fruity midtone. All the tastes translate into the aftertaste, where they also meet with a grassy peach skin. Eventually a very strong returning sweetness from the throat. I’m not usually a fan of Taiwanese roasted oolong but this one is something special.

Below is my review from What-Cha’s website. I’ve since spent some more time with this tea.

“Special tea. Very nice, large rolled leaves that were handled well. This tea has a very rounded profile so I’m having a difficult time picking out the distinct aromas in the dry and wet leaf. Haven’t tried the recommended brewing parameter yet but brewed in a gaiwan, the liquor is incredible. I taste a very light roast, florals, unripe peach, medicinal wood, and it’s quite sweet like a light honey. There’s a wonderful menthol that might be imperceptible if you don’t savor the tea or if you drink it with food. The menthol lightly lines my mouth and I notice it most near my sinuses. Overall, a very delightful, balanced tea. I’m very grateful to have tried this Shan Lin Xi and hope to purchase more.”

Addendum:

As is it turns out, the menthol became really pronounced in later steeps. Not so much in taste but in feel. I happen to love this; others may not. This tea makes me sweat and I was exuding a minty coolness from my armpits and chest. Like washing up with some peppermint Dr. Bronner’s soap.

This tea just keeps on giving, too. When I thought the brew might be over, I pushed it.
This was my first experience with a shanlinxi and I’ve read that they generally have a butteriness, which in retrospect I totally missed. Upon pushing the last few steeps, the butter became very pronounced and I know it’s an odd descriptor but it was chewy.

I feel like I lack the experience to adequately describe this tea. Probably easier for a well seasoned taster but I can still say I love its complex well roundedness and its longevity. Not an absolute beginner’s tea.

Bought up what I could. I hope whoever else gets their hands on the remaining amount finds it as pleasurable as I did.

Thanks for the very FRESH sample. 5-6 grams in a 150 mL glass gaiwan gives 2 teaspoons leftover for the recommended brewing which I’ll do later.

Spindly delicate medium-dark green leaves and buds are twisted to reveal the white downy undersides. The sample bag is lined with down.

Allergies have been a problem lately so I can’t pick out dry leaf scents easily but what I do get is soft and green and floral. There is some broken leaf (no dust) but perhaps that leads to the wonderful experience of this tea. The delicate brewed leaves turn a shade of yellow and some show spots of reddish oxidation. They smell floral like daffodil?, an unplaced green, sweet, creamy, a bit eggy with the lightest tinge of lemon.

The liquor has that floral, milky sweetness I find when biting into a raw ear of peak-season sweet corn but it’s also mineral, bright and clean at the same time. I’m reminded of creamed corn with a touch of spinach. Very smooth, slightly drying, the downy hairs ever-present. The sweetness and floral remain in the mouth a while after the sip. No extreme drop off in flavor as the steeps progress, moving into a bit more astringency but retaining the florals. Eighth steep gives way to a nice clean and light ending.

Caffeinated, calming, gentle on the belly.

I’m still kind of a tea noob but I want to say it’s like a less aggressive Taiwanese baozhong. Quite different than the current Anhui Huoshan Huang Ya offering.

Less leaves was the way to go for this one. I gotta say that I’m still not in love with it, but reading a review changed my mind a little bit. The reviewer compared it to a more traditional Oriental Beauty, and I admit the power of persuasion helped making another cup. It’s still a little sour and tangy with a weird cotton note that pops up occasionally, but I get more of the pear note Alistair describes with less leaves. I’m still not a huge fan of this tea, but I’d be interested to see what other opinions of this one are as it is a good tea nevertheless.

I’ve been drinking nothing but oolongs lately that I just had to try …another oolong. But this is no ordinary one, as it is something new from Darjeeling. And I’ve had a hard time drinking it some days-not something I expected to think or write.

I was very excited about this one because it was something new. Heck, the leaves are gorgeous by having a tea rainbow of autumn and spring colors shifting from yellows, to browns, to greens, to auburns, and whites. The smell has that spicy hay floral note I associate with Darjeelings, and brewing it up lightly western, it has it too.

As for the tasting it, it is aromatically earthy, but also very acidic and slightly tart. The texture is smooth and lovely with a sweet pear note and a very pronounced cotton note that makes it a very summery tea, but there is a green spiciness like a green pepper or dryness that I am having a little bit of a hard time with. That does not really make sense considering the smooth profile and lack of bitterness or astringency, but I’ve had a hard time finishing the cup because I get overpowered by it.

I need to get to know this one a little better before I rate it. It is without a doubt a great quality tea that is very reflective of its Darjeeling terroir, and awesome for its distinctly more oolong flavor profile compared to the other Indian Oolongs I’ve had, but it this tea has a power to it that I struggle with.

The tea has a unique dry stalk aroma that is very woody. This is the first time I am trying it out so the brewing parameters are very much an experiment. I used 5g of stalks in a glazed clay gaiwan.

steep #1: 80°C, 1 min, 80ml
The smell of wet twigs is also quite robust, main notes being decaying leaves, wet earth, forest, peach and brown sugar. A very unusual and interesting combination. The liquor has medium body and is less robust. There is no bitterness or astringency. It is actually decently fruity and sweet, with roasted butter flavour emerging in the aftertaste. Empty cup smells of compost and beeswax.

steep #2: 80°C, 30 s, 80ml
Similar, but slightly weaker smell. The taste is now more woody and sour in the finish and the texture is a bit lighter. The aftertaste has some spiciness to it too, which is nice since there is no astringency as I mentioned.

steep #3: 80°C, 1 min, 80ml
Ever more fruity smelling, I can now notice the lychee mentioned in the description. Also, alcohol tones appear, especially once the twigs have cooled down. Mouthfeel is again slightly on the thin side, but has a nice mouth-watering effect and cooling aftertaste. Also, for the first time a little drying in the finish. Not much sourness in this infusion, there is more of subtly bitter and vegetal notes.

steep #4: 90°C, 90 s, 80ml
Colour is darker now, more on the orange side rahter than yellow. However, it seems that the taste profile is flatter and again more sour, even though still really pleasant to drink. The aftertaste has some really nice fluctuating roastiness and woody aspects too.

steep #5: 90°C, 150 s, 80ml
Finally, some hints of astringency appear. Taste is more fruity, sweet (honey) with drying, citrusy finish and cooling, alcohol-like afteraste.

steep #6: 100°C, 3 min, 80ml
The darkest, almost brown, infusion yet. The taste is somewhat vegetal and reminiscent of later infusions of a Taiwanese amber GABA oolong. I think it’s time for the last steep over the flame.

steep #7: simmering, 10 min, 150ml
Smells of honey, caramel, rosehip and brioche. Colour is somewhere between dark red and brown. Taste is not extraordinary to be honest, but better than infusion 6. It’s definitely more bitter and quite sweet. It also has a similar quality to it as bug-bitten teas. A nice way to finish the session in any case.

Due to the high price, I don’t think I will be buying this tea again too soon, but I would recommend experienced drinkers in particular to try it out at least for the novelty of experience. It definitely isn’t bland, which is what I would normally expect from such a tea. Just a bit more on the subtler side, but the complexity is there. In any case, I will try different brewing methods the next few sessions I have left with this and see if my opinion changes.

A tea deserves at least a 90 from me when I crave its flavor, and a few extra points when I want to designate it as morning tea.

I know that a lot of people choose something brisk to wake them up, but the earthy tones and honeyed tang coax me to alert my senses and appreciate the subtler profiles. This mornings brew was more subdued than I’ve had it before. I got the heather honey, something like grilled pineapple, and a smooth texture, but I tasted a little bit more mineral that I was not expecting. Vague florals coated my tongue midsip that reminded me more of a Ba Xian, and I was not sure how to place them. If I could taste colors, I got an orange amber and purple despite the liqour’s tawny hue. Was I tasting lily? I don’t know. When the florals end in the honey note, it has a little bit of a violet effect amidst an earthier background from the light roast.

I hope that my notes aren’t too much of an actual exaggeration. Some are repetitive. I could interchange grilled pineapple and heather honey as the same note for example, albeit the char subtleties gave me the idea of grilled pineapple and the floral mix in a dark sweet end gave me heather honey. Nevertheless, this is a satisfying tea for my mornings, and one that I can see more experienced drinkers playing with for the flavor profiles.

Lord knows how long I’ve stared at the screen for this one before I got it. I’ve actually had quite a few light roast Shan Lin Xi’s for cheaper, and while some were good, they were typically earthy, roasted, and a little sour. I was also iffy about the balsam notes-the tea could either have a great tang or be overwhelming. Thankfully, this one had the tang was approachable.

I’ve only brewed it lightly via western and grandpa not above 3 grams so far, and I can that this tea is roast done right. Sometimes, I’ve been short and done it in only two minutes at first and slowly increased the brew times later one using 3 grams. 6 minutes grandpa was solid…3—4 min western using 2 grams was better. Alistair was spot on with the notes-it is very smooth, oily, and indeed has the balsam and honey notes. In my personal taste language, it distinctly reminded me of grilled pineapples in their sweet and savory glory. Better yet, it was very similar to the Aromatic Zealong in terms of the aroma and the balsamic taste. The Zealong is a little bit peachier, but this tea does have at least a peach seed quality when it dries up. White balsamic and honey are better approximations, however.

Although I’ve never had an actual balsam drink before, it did taste like a white balsamic oil sweetened with honey and it was not overwhelming. The longer steeps of say four minutes or over in later steeps brought out a little bit of the roast, reminding me a little of cooked herbs, but the oily accent reminded me of truffle oil or truffle mushrooms. Very pleasant indeed.

I do have to try this Gong Fu once before I rate it, but as a the review on the website suggested, there is something about this tea that makes it better for longer steeps. I think that I’d get more roast and florals gong fu, but I need to try before I judge. I’m also going to hold off on the rating. This is a drink on occasion tea rather than “I need this!”

And obviously, this one is for more experienced drinkers and the adventurous. The honey notes make it an easy drink, but the oily nature is a hit or miss.

The dry leaf possesses aromas of tomato sauce and seafood. Those are also present in the wet leaf smell, which is very enticing and unique. There is a slight reminiscence of the Dehong Ye Sheng hong cha by YS, but only in the robust base notes.

The taste is quite fruity and bright, a mix of sweet and sour initially with more vegetal character in the finish. Overall, it is quite mellow taste due to the lack of bitterness and astringency, but it has decent depth and complexity.

It has been way too long since I have posted anything. School and work have eaten up all of my time for the past week or so, and when I have been available to review tea, I have not been motivated to do so. Well, I suppose it is time I did something about that. This was yet another of the What-Cha samples I finished back in June. While I tend to be a big fan of What-Cha’s offerings from Indonesia, the previous Harendong Cui Yu I tried was not one of my favorites. This tea was a roasted version of that tea, and I have to say that I found this one to be even less impressive. It was an oddly bland and grainy roasted oolong and did not possess enough depth, complexity, or longevity for my liking.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of rolled tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was chased by 13 additional infusions. 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, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of straw, honey, raisin, and prune. After the rinse, new aromas of butter, wood, and baked bread appeared. The first infusion then brought out a hint of malt on the nose. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered muted notes of straw, malt, honey, raisin, prune, and wood backed by a faint hint of cinnamon on the swallow. Subsequent infusions brought impressions of spice, roasted almond, and cream to the nose. Baked bread and butter notes belatedly appeared in the mouth alongside new impressions of minerals, cream, roasted almond, and roasted grain. The final infusions emphasized lingering mineral, straw, cream, and roasted grain notes balanced by subtler notes of honey, butter, roasted almond, and raisin.

An oddly simplistic and unrefined tea compared to some of Harendong’s other oolong offerings, this one was a disappointment for me. Though the aromas and flavors it displayed worked well together, the mouthfeel was oddly thin and gritty, and the tea just did not offer enough to sustain my interest over the course of a gongfu session. I also tried this tea Western style, and it did not offer all that much better of an experience when prepared differently. Try as I might, I cannot see this tea appealing much to drinkers of roasted oolongs. It was just too plain and mediocre with flaws that could not be overlooked.

5g leaf, 12 oz cup of hot (but not boiling water

Steep 1: 45 seconds
Lightly sweet, very light roast (but no char or bitterness associated with baked and heavily roasted oolongs). Some floral vegetal notes. I can definitely taste/smell orchid. Slight tannin and bitter flavours in the aftertaste, slightly drying in the mouth.

Steep 2: 1 minute
Sweeter, lighter, almost no toasted flavour (more like a jade oolong)

I received this as an extra with a tea order from What-Cha. It’s a pleasant oolong with a slightly nutty smell and taste. I’m not sure if there is a name for it but I have found that there are oolongs that are a bit closer to green tea and some that are a bit closer to black tea. This one is closer to a black tea. It is not at all astringent. I think this would be an easy tea for anyone to drink. It’s very approachable.

This is a sweet and medium bodied tea, whose smell reminds me of baked figs and honey a bit. There are some notes of cocoa and also melon in the aftertaste. The taste is balanced with a good depth.

Overall, Red Tiger is a great fruity oolong that is also very affordable. Highly recommended!

(Gaiwan, 30 sec infusions for first 4, +5 sec following, 13 steeps total)
Very interesting – had no idea what to expect! Wet leaves smell lightly toasted, touch of butter & starch. Pale yellow brew to start. Steeps 1-2 are delicately savory, buttery green vegetable flavors with just a little sweetness. Not getting “rice” so much as general toasty starchy notes. Fun to see the bright green “sticky rice” leaves open up while oolong leaves are still fairly tight. Steep 3 has tiny additions of bitterness and dry finish. Steeps 4-7 get a light floral aroma, though taste isn’t really there yet. Steeps 8-11 gradually lose flavor, especially buttery notes. Final steeps 12-13 get a slight boost of floral aroma and flavor, but all other flavors are receding.

Next day followed pkg directions for western brewing; had most of the same flavors as gongfu, but not as distinct. Pleasant and generally comforting.