cultureflip

This one starts off somewhat brusque and uninteresting, perhaps a bit too dark and heavy for my taste. Once the initial flavor fades into a delicate malt the floral nuances are allowed to develop and linger into a deliciously spiced and subtly fruity aftertaste.

I don’t know the precise geographic location of the Singtom estate but perhaps it is in a lower elevation or in a warmer area relative to other Darjeeling estates.

No notes yet.

No notes yet.

Tastes like Yunnan.

First foray in to the realm of matcha . . . I like it a lot. Been drinking it every day.

No notes yet.

Brisk, forward citrus and mint. Slight roundness at the bottom gives it just enough fullness to be satisfying. The flavors are nice and clean but run a bit shallow compared to some other Darjeelings. This tea does not cloy for attention in any way and tastes exactly how a non “tea drinker” would expect. Tea.

Good for the price and perfectly adequate for a “stock” Darjeeling.

Two words: glue stick. Glue. Stick.

Interesting enough to try once but this one is not for me.

This is a very good shu. To me, this is where shu puerh begins to stand apart from aged sheng. Many lesser shu tends toward the murky and greasy in their attempt to emulate the earthiness of wet stored aged sheng. This one carries the typical characteristics of shu but elevates them to a higher level.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that this tea is not at all an attempt toward emulating aged sheng but is perfectly enjoyable by itself; dense, cooling, and hollow in that the flavors are not muddied or confused.

I personally like shu puerh so this tea is very enjoyable to me. In the past I have always preferred an aged sheng to any shu but this one definitely stands on its own merits. It’s different and “shu” enough to be, to me, a sort of paradigm. Good stuff.

Fruit forward, sweet and a little simple . . . in a good way. There is a lot of fullness up front with peachy sweetness curling in the back of the throat and mingling with the typical hay flavor found in teas of this varietal (Bai Hao, Bai Mu Dan, etc.). The aftertaste is of a perfumed caramel and the light yet distinct fruit flavors linger in the background. What this tea lacks in elegance it makes up for in playfulness and accessibility. It has a childlike character to it because of the sweetness.

What alludes to the quality of this picking are not the flavors themselves, which are good, but the clarity of the different flavors and how they travel through each sip. It is as if an artist were to use bold strokes of subtle colors. The effect is very immediate and pleasing.

Ok so I’m assuming that this is a Wuyi cultivar either grown or processed or both in Taiwan. It is roasted and rolled in typical Taiwan style. It is good. Gingko puts it in grapefruits: http://steepster.com/teas/homemade/11640-tea-grapefruit-made-with-taiwan-wuyi

It’s also benefited from a little ageing which gives added character to the juicy, chocolaty flavors. I’d say it’s like a well roasted Dong Ding but somewhat heavier in the chocolate department a la Da Hong Pao. The hui gan is beautifully light, fresh, and surprisingly green.

Boom! I ran out of my stash of the now defunct SpecialTeas blend and after looking around for a new supplier I landed on Upton. This one is huge and heavy . . . a tea of planetary proportions. It’s the only tea I take with cream and sugar (a LOT of sugar) and there is nothing you can do to calm this one down. I love it.

It’s pretty good and the seller’s description is pretty spot on. This one has somewhat of a burly, malty character up front but finishes very nicely. There is a definite element of elegance as the flavors lift into a citrus coolness and lingers for a while leaving one feeling quite comfortable and satisfied. The balance of heaviness (relative to some other more delicate Darjeelings) and complexity of flavor is very nice.

Darjeelings are interesting for me in that the subtle differences between quality teas of different estates are enough to warrant a treasure hunt of sample sifting and research more so than any other type of tea. To me, they are the most like wines or single malts.

Wet leaf aroma of cumin, cinnamon, clove and cooked bitter greens. The liquor vapor carries the light scent of wet cedar.

The taste is light and sturdy with an underlying sweetness that gives warmth and cushion to the relatively straightforward flavor profile. The flavor of the roast comes out in the back end and develops into a hiu gan that is beautifully alive with a bit of its Taiwan youth shining through. Delicious.

Later steepings become more perfumed and woody on the tongue. The soft warmth is still there and provides a nice backdrop for the slightly grassier finish.

Overall this one is an interesting combination of subtle warmth and brisk simplicity.

I accidentally way over-steeped it and while it came out very strong it remained perfectly palatable. I have never had a “cooked” puer that tastes like this. The taste rivals some of the better aged sheng I’ve had if not for the typical heavy/silky mouthfeel (not greasy like some nastier shu).

Delicious, deep, woody and stoic. Energizng (esp when over-steeped). High quality shou, for sure.

No notes yet.

This one immediately piqued my interest as a strange and unusual (and authentic) offering. Nathan at Verdant Tea was kind enough to supply me with a handful of bite-sized samples of some of their sheng (which are all very, very good by the way) and this fortunately found its way in there.

It is different that any other traditional tea I’ve had as it carries very airy, herbal qualities. The taste is an exquisite blend of chamomile, lavender, lemongrass, and definitely sage. At no time does this taste bitter or medicinal. Instead there is a caring warmth throughout. Only at the tail end of the flavor profile does the taste of Yunnan sweetness come through reminding me that I am, in fact, drinking tea..

All in all I have to say that I am impressed. It is most certainly in a genre of it’s own with the only similarity in taste to puer being the lingering sweetness at the end. It’s really interesting, if anything, and I can recommend it to anyone who like hot beverages of any sort.

Surefire.

Thin florals and the typical “juiciness” of good, heavily roasted TGY take the forefront as the agedness unfurls slowly in the midst of the more immediate rock-like qualities. The real action is in that slowly developing complexity. A good balance of aged swarthiness and heavily roasted . . . roastiness.

It’s very durable, too. One testament to the quality of this tea is that only after multiple steeps is it’s complexity reduced to that of the peak flavors of lesser teas.

Wet aroma opens with a toasted earthy sweetness and, because of the purely dry storage, is not at all musty. The aroma is not bright but subdued and cellared. There is an interesting dichotomy present throughout the cupping of this tea and that is the interplay between a cooling menthol/eucalyptus quality and a more wild and rugged tanned animal skin quality.

The liquor has a silky texture and the cooling aspect floats to the top of the palate as somewhat of a vapour. Anchoring the flavors is that subtle yet heavy primitive leather taste and a tree bark dryness left on the tongue. The hui gan is surprisingly profound and delicious reminiscent of a sweet and earthy Yunnan red.

Stiffer brews do nothing to ruin the profile of this tea and instead push each quality into greater pronunciation. It’s that versatility and durability that impress me most. Also the returning sweetness becomes fuller as one progresses through the cups.

So in the search for the best aged sheng on a budget I’m left with a couple of contenders, this being one. Actually, in all fairness, I’m left with 1a and 1b because the other one is a wet stored puer. The differences are not of quality but of characteristic.

And how cute is that butterfly :-)

I ruined this tea the first time I tried it with what was apparently too-hot water so for a while I thought it was no good. I decided to give it another go and accidentally let the boiling water cool for what I thought would be too long. I don’t play with exact temps but cooler water is better for this one, for sure.

Very silky, light and sweet. Not quite as nectarine and syrupy as the “Yellow Buds” but more translucent and sweetly floral. Very impressive and I wish I had bought more.

Opens with a soft perfumed must of old hardwood seasoned with incense. I love tea that evokes a monkish atmosphere. Calm, austere, and beautifully contemplative.

The taste is amiable and sweet with hidden florals and finishes with an interesting mineral hardness which spikes gracefully providing structure to an otherwise plush experience. The hui gan is shallow and simple but the mouth is left coated with a light and airy sweetness. Later steeps slide down effortlessly seemingly lubricated by the lingering silky mouthfeel.

Some of you should be familiar with this seller’s standard by now. He’s picky and his teas are purdy good.

Dry aroma of sweet dark chocolate and nutmeg. Pour some boiling water on it and, lo, a strikingly pungent aroma of delicious pho broth and re-hydrated mushrooms. Smells like it wants to be salty.

The taste is an excellent woody malt with backdrops of wilted rose petal and cumin. The deep florals take prominence and the tannins sit soundly on the tongue with weight and structure. Later steeps blend the differing aspects of malt, broth and flora together quite artfully.

I haven’t had anything less than great from this guy’s shop so don’t be frightened by the seemingly astronomical prices of some of his teas. Even if you just get the sample sizes they are worth trying. There is an element of tea snobbery involved (that I’m sure he would admit to if confronted) but that’s only because of the time and effort put in to the careful selection of his stash. Look past the pomp and packaging and you will find superb tea. That is all.

A dry and dusty brick with lots of yellow specks of this crazy alien fungus strewn about. Before pouring hot water on it there is a nice musty aroma of raw bitter chocolate.

The initial taste is faintly sweet and light on the palate but still thick and brothy. It’s more akin to aged puer than any red tea I’ve had and carries an interesting tartness found in some roasted aged oolong.

Overall this one is fairly complex and easy to drink. The flavor profile is smooth and understated with elements commonly found in different aged tea. I like it. The fungus doesn’t scare me.

The wet aroma is of very sweet/tart dried apricot and citric acid. A honeysuckle sweetness lays under the brighter aromas and the vapor carries an interesting camphor-like quality.

A palatable sharpness is evident in the bright flavor of the liquor making this puer seem very sprightly and alive. Light camphor and dandelion finalize the immediate taste and the hui gan is of beautiful apricot nectar which clings to the mouth for quite some time after the sip is down.

This one is atypically sweet for such a young specimen and does not carry an overwhelming bitterness or smoky character. Very easy to like.