What-Cha

I reviewed my spreadsheet of teas and then realized that somehow I had more teas in my steepster cupboard than I had on the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is a more thorough inventory of what I own so I realized something was off and after reviewing my cupboard, it would seem there was about 9-10 teas that I managed to not remove from my cupboard, despite finishing them off. Oops. I think it is fixed now though.

Most mornings I have been having either a matcha smoothie or a plain black tea and so around 3 pm today when I realized I have had 0 caffeine, I decided it was about time to make a cup of something. None of my blacks were appealing to me so I went to the next best thing.

This tea doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves because every cup I have of it is great. Yet I don’t have it as often as I should. I feel like that sorta just comes with the territory of having a lot of teas though. This is cup is no exception. Malty, smooth, a bit of hay and some corn. I am enjoying it a great deal since it has nice flavors of white teas combined with the robustness/maltiness of a good black tea.

This was so good yesterday I made it again today but I think I should have rinsed my Tea press better because this tastes like white rhino + our Palmolive soap. Oops. Not terrible though :P

I made this in the Tea press which it sat in all day cuz no food and caffeine, combined with work stress, is not a great combo. I had one sip at work and that was delicious and now I’m drinking it with my bacon and eggs dinner. Even after 12+ hours I can tell this is awesome. Full flavored like a black tea and yet flavor notes often found in white teas, I.e. corn. Yum!

Alright, I’m finally getting around to posting this one. This was another sample I finished a week or so ago. I can’t remember the exact date I initially reviewed this one because I failed to put a date on my written notes. Regardless, this is actually the sort of tea you don’t run across all that often. From what I understand, Tieguanyin is not always harvested in the winter, and even when it is, the winter harvests do not often carry the best reputation. I could be wrong, but the general consensus seems to be that the spring and autumn harvests are best, the summer harvest is lower quality, and the winter harvest usually falls somewhere between the two extremes. What surprised me so much about this tea was that not only did I enjoy it to an almost ridiculous degree, but it was just so different from both the spring and autumn Tieguanyin harvests to which I am more accustomed.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was chased by 13 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 15 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 sweetgrass, parsley, butter, cream, and vanilla underscored by hints of lilac and violet. After the rinse, I found slightly stronger lilac and violet scents as well as an emerging aroma reminiscent of watercress. The first proper infusion brought out some hints of cooked greens (lettuce and spinach) on the nose. In the mouth, the liquor offered strongly vegetal notes (cooked greens, grass, parsley, watercress) on the entry that soon gave way to smoother notes of cream, butter, and vanilla. Toward the finish, I began to note emerging hints of pear and green apple. Oddly, there were no floral notes in the mouth, though there was a lingering vegetal sourness after the swallow. Subsequent infusions brought out subtle floral notes in the mouth. The tea also began to take on a number of fruitier characteristics. I started to note emerging impressions of sour apricot, sour plum, tart cherry, honeydew rind, and white grape accompanying somewhat stronger notes of green apple and pear. Impressions of radish and minerals also emerged on these infusions. The later infusions primarily emphasized butter, mineral, sour plum, and sour apricot notes balanced by lingering hints of pear and green apple. Surprisingly, I could not find much in the way of vegetal character toward the end of the session.

This was a very interesting tea in that it remained consistently pungent throughout the session, yet went from emphasizing vegetal notes to fruity ones. Compared to the more readily available spring and autumn Tieguanyins that seem to permeate the U.S. market these days, this was a truly unique drinking experience. I would recommend this tea highly to those looking for a punchier, more challenging Anxi oolong experience or those interested in some of the more uncommon oolongs.

Mellow, medium level of astringency. I liked the brew I got from 3 minutes and 30 seconds, and water that’s just shy of boiling best. If you want more astringency, do 4+ minutes. Delicate sweetness. Again, What-cha has a tea with “raisin” in the flavor profile that’s tasty!

This tea has a briskness like an Assam or Ceylon would have. Though a medium level. Makes for an excellent everyday morning tea.

I think one thing that comes through when I review Vietnamese teas is that I tend to have a huge soft spot for them. To this point, I have been particularly impressed by the teas What-Cha sources, and this was yet another winner. Several other reviewers did not find this tea all that complex, but brewing this gongfu, I got quite a bit out of it.

Obviously, I gongfued this tea. After a very quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 14 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 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, I picked up aromas of malt, dark chocolate, prunes, and cedar coming form the dry tea leaves. After the rinse, I detected emerging aromas of roasted nuts, caramel, and dark wood. I couldn’t detect any new aromas on the first proper infusion. On the palate, the liquor was surprisingly strong, astringent, and tannic. I found notes of cedar, dark wood, dark chocolate, malt, caramel, roasted nuts, and prune underscored by vague hints of spice. Subsequent infusions brought out impressions of butter, cream, dates, brown toast, and fig. The roasted nut notes became clearer and started to separate a bit, reminding me of a combination of chestnut, beechnut, hickory, and black walnut. I also began to note subtler impressions of pine needles, eucalyptus, camphor, minerals, red apple, and tart cherry, while the spice notes began to grow stronger and resemble a combination of ginger, black pepper, and clove. The later infusions mostly offered notes of minerals, malt, brown toast, dark wood, and cream underscored by hints of roasted nuts, cooling herbs, gentle spices, and touch of fruitiness.

It’s no secret that I love malty, rich black teas and this was that sort of tea. I found that it displayed admirable longevity in a gongfu session and brewed up with much greater depth and complexity than expected. All in all, I thought this was an excellent black tea and would not hesitate to recommend it to fans of such teas.

Sipdown
round flavor – no real finish, but lingering flavor. fruity, soft, hint of sweetness.
honey
better at a higher temperature 200F instead of 195F

The flavor on this tea is round – there isn’t any real finish, but it does have lingering flavor. Fruity, soft, hint of sweetness. 195F, 2 min.

New Year’s Eve ended up being all about comforting teas in my household. This was the tea with which I rang in the New Year. I stayed up (didn’t end up watching the ball drop) and started a gongfu session somewhere around 10:00 PM, finishing up a little after midnight. The fact that I took my time with the session allowed this to technically be the first tea consumed by me in 2018, and honestly, there were far, far worse things I could have consumed to ring in the year. This ended up being a great baozhong and further proof that the fancy competition grade teas do not always provide the best and most satisfying drinking experiences.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a very quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 185 F water for 7 seconds. This infusion was chased by 14 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 15 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, I detected surprisingly strong aromas of lilac, violet, sweet pea, cream, and butter. After the rinse, I found emerging aromas of pastry, vanilla, custard, gardenia, and magnolia. The first infusion brought out a hint of sugarcane on the nose. On the palate, I found pleasant notes of butter, cream, vanilla, pastry, and sugarcane that were thicker than expected. These notes were balanced by hints of lilac, violet, sweet pea, melon, and orchard fruits. Subsequent infusions brought out stronger floral notes on the palate, and on these infusions, the magnolia and gardenia appeared. I also started noting fully formed notes of cantaloupe, honeydew, pear, and green apple. New impressions of sweetgrass, mango, lime, tangerine, minerals, and lettuce emerged, though I could also find faint underpinnings of peas, spinach, and custard, which had surprisingly both disappeared from the nose and never bother to turn up in the mouth until this point. The later infusions offered lingering impressions of butter, cream, green apple, pear, sugarcane, and minerals balanced by lingering floral and citrusy hints.

A surprisingly heavy, complex, long-lived baozhong, this tea clearly had not lost a step in storage. This seems to have been out of stock for quite some time at this point, but if I could acquire more of it, I most certainly would. I really found it to be that good, and to be honest, I’m much pickier than most people would ever imagine with baozhong.

I’m getting caught up on the backlog in baby steps. I finished a sample pouch of this tea late last week. It took me longer than expected to find a listing for this tea on Steepster because it seems that What-Cha started sourcing their Tieguanyin from a different producer within the past year. The version of this tea that I am reviewing is a 2016 autumn harvest from Gande Village and this listing was clearly for the Gande Village Tieguanyin. The Tieguanyin What-Cha currently lists is an autumn 2017 harvest from Changkeng. Anyway, I tend to greatly enjoy Gande Village Tieguanyin. This one was certainly no exception.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 10 seconds. What-Cha recommended a water temperature of 185 F for this tea, but that seemed a little low to me. I’m used to using anywhere from 194-208 F for jade Anxi Tieguanyin, so I decided to up the water temperature to 194 F. The initial infusion was chased by 13 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 15 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 emitted pleasant aromas of cream, butter, sweetgrass, lilac, and violet. After the rinse, I found emerging aromas of custard and vanilla. The first proper infusion brought out a hint of saffron. In the mouth, the liquor offered mild notes of sweetgrass, cream, butter, violet, and oddly enough, hints of green apple, pear, and some sort of citrus. Subsequent infusions brought out the custard, saffron, vanilla, and lilac to differing extents in the mouth. The green apple and pear notes grew stronger. The generic citrus notes started to more closely resemble tangerine. New notes of mango, minerals, coriander, and parsley also appeared. The later infusions emphasized butter, mineral, cream, and sweetgrass notes balanced by lingering hints of green apple, pear, and tangerine.

This was not the most complex or challenging Tieguanyin I have run across, but it was consistently good from start to finish. Sometimes just dealing with a nice, respectable example of a particular tea is better than anything, and for me, that was the case here. Fans of jade Tieguanyin probably will not find anything terribly interesting or unique about this tea, but it may just be the sort of tea they would choose to turn to when they want to drink something good and solid. I’m a big fan of jade Tieguanyin and that is the role this tea ended up playing for me. All in all, I think it can do the same for others.

Thank you so much for the sample!

I was okay with this tea although I was impressed with it. It was a complex one because of its balance with florals and the toasty roast, but it was faint overall like butter on crispy bread. The florals were more prominent steep two and three gong fu, and some caramel notes were there, but butter and toast were a bit more accurate with a side of pleasant charcoal. It was sweet, but faint and nutty like almond, and a little bit of dry like thick cashew. The roast and faintness of some of the florals with bare fruity notes were what made me a little bored with the tea personally.

Finished this off today. Really, this was a very floral and malty Yunnan. Imagine honey suckles tossed in mega sweet potatoe skin malt ending in a sweet cocoa nib aftertaste…in the driest sense of those raw ingredients possible. Dang, this is a good daily drinker. It has a good mouthfeel, a coppery body, a buttery set of florals, and a slight bitter sweetness with only the slightest amount of astringency. It was straightforward with some nice notes to polish it off, and delicious. I prefer to western it at two minutes to bring out the cocoa nib, more, but gong fu divides the notes up. The honey suckle and the sweet potato are more present that way.

If only I were not set on my other favorites. This is good for those who want their daily mornings to be coppery.

There’s more that I could write about this one, but I’ll say it was more floral than I expected, and compared to more expensive Dianhongs in the past. It does have a usual sweet potato malt like others, but the fruit and cocoa notes together in the background made it a little more sophisticated than what the price might suggest. I’m not going to say too much more now but I will in the future.

What-Cha re-released this tea as a traditional oolong online….though I could be wrong. Correct me Alistair if this is a different crop.

Anyway, I was okay with this tea. It was a complex one because of its balance with florals and the toasty roast, but it was faint overall like butter on crispy bread. The florals were more prominent steep two and three gong fu, and some caramel notes were there, but butter and toast were a bit more accurate with a side of pleasant charcoal. It was sweet, but faint and nutty like almond, and a little bit of dry thick cashew. The roast and faintness of some of the florals with bare fruity notes were what made me a little bored with the tea personally.

It is a nuanced one, but I don’t know. I think I might have liked the new style more.

eastteaguy got to this one before I did.

Anyway, vague notes of chocolate, woody anise (barely there), with more present notes of buttery apricot, honey, autumn leaves, and mega loads of orange blossom amidst its general muscatelness. I’d say this tea is a little lighter than the usual muscatel Darjeelings I’ve had, but it has a malt quality if brewed for four minutes (2 grams) and it is very, very buttery. There were days where I could down this, and other days were I had to drink it slowly. I liked it best around noon to four personally.

Again, a bit more of a snobs tea, but still very approachable and doable in a more traditional western fashion, albeit better with a little bit of sugar, or straight for purists. I prefer it pure, but I am a mad health nut before hatter.

I liked every single Darjeeling I tried. This stands as a close to number one in terms of my favorites from that order. It has the dry florals you’d expect, but the flavor balance was unique for me. It often tasted more like a white tea than a black because of its sweet corn, hay, lemon, and honeydew notes amidst it’s more worn background of grain, brown leaves, and something… I’m not sure. There is a bittersweet edge that is not overpowering, and really not that bitter even amidst a grandpa style brew from one time. Think the elusive cocoa note….but it’s barely there. Cayenne popped up barely, but it is not nearly that spicy. Those notes match the sweet ones in a compliment, making it balanced overall.

Considering the price point, it is a snobs tea, though the sweetness makes it a little more approachable. White tea lovers might be intrigued by this one, and oolong lovers might be slightly curious since the notes do match a few that belong to a higher oxidation….although the aftertaste let’s you know it is a black. It can stand up to sugar, but I wouldn’t risk cream until someone says otherwise. It was expensive after all.

I plowed through this one first of the samples, and it was almost my third or second favorite. The other reviewers have already nailed it. Autumn leave piles and fruity notes are the prominent notes, though I had some association with dandelion faintly in the florals despite the cocoa-muscatel notes being the most dominant. This tea is more typical of a second flush with its dry fusion of cocoa and cooked fruit amidst a character best suited to autumn, but it is a very tasty example of one.

If you want a more typical tea that belongs to your idea of “Darjeeling”, this is the tea for you in exceptional quality from the exceptional Gopaldhara Estate. I gotta say this might appeal more to a dark oolong drinker, but Darjeelings are usually lighter anyway, so I might be describing Darjeeling drinkers in general anyway. Well, I like What-Cha, and this is yet another option that will definitely satisfy the buyer.

I’m back! And I owe Alistair a handful of reviews…

I started with the popular favorite for something interesting in this log, or interesting for the fewer words I’m going to use for future logs and time management.

So this sample from “the champagne of teas” was exceptional and fairly wine like. All the good descriptors have been used like autumn leaf pile, fig, dates, red wine, so on and so forth. I only did it western and grandpa, though I easily seeing it being like a Bai Hao or Oriental Beauty with a savory edge. It can be drying and tannic like a red wine, but it was more akin to a Zin or a sweeter Cab. This tea was distinctively herbal and floral like any other Darjeeling, but the sweet date and fig notes distinguish it along with its buttery viscosity.

I am very tempted to get more of it-even my brother plowed a cup straight despite his more Western cream and sugared palette. If only I didn’t have my sights set on other specific leaves, I might have a small stash of it. I recommend this to Darjeeling snobs and to those looking for a lighter version of a more muscatel tea, maybe Dianhong lovers who want to change it up a bit. It might convert some to Darjeeling, but otherwise, it is a savory black tea to those who search for it.

I’m still making my way through some of the Toba Wangi teas I purchased this year. This was my most recent sipdown and it ended up being one of the more intriguing and enjoyable oolongs I have tried this month. The tea, itself, was quite reminiscent of a high-quality dancong oolong, though I imagine that open-minded, adventurous oolong drinkers would enjoy it as much as dancong enthusiasts.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 8 seconds. This infusion was chased by 12 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I picked up aromas of roasted grain, orchid, hay, and stone fruit from the dry tea leaves. After the rinse, I detected a stronger orchid scent and emerging honey, nectarine, and plum aromas. The first infusion further emphasized floral and fruity aromas, though I did not note anything new on the nose. On the palate, I found a prominent orchid note which gave way to subtler impressions of grass, hay, roasted grain, and stone fruits. Subsequent infusions continued to bring out strong orchid impressions, though I also began to note emerging violet and plumeria notes. The stone fruit impressions grew stronger and more distinctive. I found distinct plum and nectarine notes all over the place. The honey also started to show up in the mouth. Impressions of minerals, cattail shoots, pomegranate, watercress, cream, butter, malt, pear, and raisin emerged too. The later infusions emphasized butter, malt, and mineral notes, though I could still find lingering fruity, vegetal, and floral notes in the background.

This was a fun and unique oolong that brought a lot to the table. It also demonstrated admirable longevity and versatility; I made a point of later brewing it Western and it turned out great. To be quite frank, I preferred this tea to some of the dancongs I have been trying lately.

With my hair, I am wash and go. For most days, with my tea, I am brew and go. My job at the time I wouldn’t have time to even brew tea on the premise, so I would need make a huge thermos. No time or place for gong fu.

At first with this tea, I brewed it western style. I wasn’t a fan of the tea, the flavor profile many were writing about was muddled. The next day I made time to try it gong fu. It was like a whole new tea! I tasted everything. The honey, the warmth, slightly sweet. I guess I got into a pattern of just always brewing my tea western, and always feeling rushed to do so. I try to always have oolong around the house to force me to gong fu.

I preferred this oolong to the Red Buffalo from What-cha. But gong fu all the way, no western brewing for this.

I devoted most of last week to the continued cleaning out of the fabled sample pile. I get the distinct impression that I will be doing more of the same this week. This is one of my more recent sample sipdowns (yesterday) and I wanted to go ahead and get a review up on Steepster before I forgot about it. Overall, I found this to be a very nice jasmine green tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of dragon pearls in 4 ounces of 176 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was chased by 13 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 15 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, I found extremely pleasant aromas of jasmine, ripe melon, and grass. After the rinse, I noted stronger jasmine, melon, and grass aromas. The first infusion then brought out hints of vanilla and squash. The liquor initially offered delicate jasmine notes on the entry that gave way to hints of grass, honeydew, nectar, and vanilla. Subsequent infusions brought out slightly stronger notes of jasmine, grass, honeydew, nectar, and vanilla. I also caught new notes of cream, fresh zucchini, straw, sugarcane, minerals, and squash blossom, as well as fleeting, subtle impressions of apricot and white peach in places. The later infusions offered pronounced mineral notes underscored by grass, zucchini, and hints of honeydew and jasmine.

This was one of the most pleasant, consistent jasmine green teas I have tried to this point. It offered a wonderful texture in the mouth and displayed considerably longevity. I do wish, however, that it had been a little stronger and thicker. All nitpicking aside, this was a still a very good tea. I would have no issue with recommending it to fans of floral teas.

A wonderful morning tea.

Excellent!!!! I have tried many Golden Monkey tea, and my search is complete. This is the best I’ve tried. The Fujian region never disappoints me for tea. My favorite silver needle comes from here. As another one noted, this tea is the perfect everyday tea. But I will have to stretch it out until there’s more of this tea(What-cha is out of stock at the moment). It’s just tasty, slight malt, no astringency.

Prior to finishing a sample pouch of this tea, it had been nearly a year since I had consumed any genmaicha. It’s a type of tea I love, yet for whatever reason, I just don’t drink it all that often. This was actually thrown in with a What-Cha order earlier in the year as a free sample. That was rather fortuitous considering I had been toying around with the idea of ordering some Obubu teas at the time, and the arrival of this sample allowed me to try one for free. Honestly, I found this to be an okay genmaicha. It was pleasant and it was not really bad in any way, yet it also did not wow me. I was expecting more too because I have seen this tea get rave reviews in other places.

Since I do not own a kyusu, I had to use a standard teacup and mesh infuser. I used about 3-4 grams of loose genmaicha for my approximately 8 ounce cup. I should also note that I tried a number of brewing methods with this tea. The one that worked best for me was a series of three infusions in which I started with an extended brewing time, cut the time back on the second infusion, and then extended it again on the third and final infusion. Steep times went 1 minute 30 seconds to start, then 30 seconds for the middle infusion, and then 3 minutes to finish. I also used a higher water temperature than What-Cha recommended. I researched this tea a little before trying it and found that other sellers and several genmaicha brewing guides suggested starting with a water temperature around 195 F and then increasing up to 212 F from there. I thus used 195 F water for the first infusion, 205 F for the second, and 212 F for the final infusion. I also tried brewing this tea both at What-Cha’s recommended 176 F and at 190 F, but I found that I preferred the results of the other preparation. Also, I did not cover my cup as the tea was steeping. I watched a video from Obubu on Youtube in which they not only did not cover the tea as it steeped, but they also recommended that the tea be allowed to steep uncovered. They were of course preparing this tea in the traditional manner and were starting with a significantly shorter initial infusion, but they insisted this method allowed one to better gauge the progress of the tea as it steeped. It probably was not necessary for me to do this, but I did it anyway. Did I get this one right? I probably did not, but hey, at least you know what kind of brewing methods I was using.

Prior to infusion, I noted that the dry blend produced mildly toasty, grassy aromas. After infusion, I noticed a strong scent of toasted rice balanced by hints of grass, spinach, and seaweed. In the mouth I found a nice toasted rice note up front, though I quickly found underlying impressions of hay, grass, seaweed, and something of a sweetness. It reminded me a little of caramel, though I also thought there was something rather floral and nectar-like about it. The second infusion again emphasized toasted rice on the nose. In the mouth, I found more balanced flavors of toasted rice, hay, grass, seaweed, and spinach. The sweetness was still there and I began to note impressions of minerals and wood too. The final infusion offered a milder toasted rice presence on the nose offset by a more prominent vegetal character. A subtle minerality was present as well. I found a somewhat heavier mineral presence in the mouth. There were fleeting toasted rice, grass, hay, spinach, wood, and seaweed impressions beneath it. I could also pick up on a faint hint of sweetness.

This was a very mild, mellow, subtle genmaicha no matter how I prepared it. I should note too that I was expecting a more balanced blend and did not quite get that. What I mean is that I was expecting a very even split between the toasted rice and the Yanagi bancha, but the toasted rice seemed to be consistently more prominent on the nose and in the mouth. Personally, I like my genmaichas a little heavier, a little more balanced, and a little more astringent, but this was not bad. It most certainly was not my thing, but again, it wasn’t bad.