6 Tasting Notes

92

It’s been a while since I’ve brewed this one and for my afternoon brew I chose this over my usual Sencha.

This tea steeps a magnificent emerald green from its small dark leaves and it steeps fast. All it needed was 75 seconds at 70c. I’ve heard that you should steep at an even lower temperature (65-68). This tea is fragile!

Flavor and aroma are incredible. The taste of seaweed may be too much for some but I love it (smells and tastes like ocean) there are other notes that linger for a long time here – mellow floral sweetness, evergreen, forest earth. Sublime tea!

Flavors: Floral, Forest Floor, Green, Ocean Air, Ocean Breeze, Seaweed

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C 1 min, 15 sec 5 tsp 24 OZ / 709 ML

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70

Picked up 50g of this on Sunday while refilling my favorite Nepal Black.. actually Nepal Black was out of stock so I ended up with just this.

Dry lef or hot brewed, this tea smells delicious. It has a beautiful rich jammy color from the hibiscus. I was drawn to this tea for it’s Guayasa content since I’ve felt pretty sloth like lately but didn’t want the grassy flavor.

I’ve never actually tried a hibiscus tea, but the taste is nothing special. I taste sour blackberries and lemon zest. Quite tart/sour on the initial sip, sweetening over time. The flavor does not linger. I can very faintly taste the Guayasa… but I actually added a teaspoon of my own Guyasa to my 50g to give the tin some more kick.

I’m happy to use this as a Guayasa alternative, but as a flavored tea for enjoyment? Maybe not too often. I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone. I do think this would make an awesome cold steep tea with some additions in the summer.

Flavors: Berry, Blackberry, Hibiscus, Lemon

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 5 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 43 OZ / 1271 ML

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90

Felt my energy ailing after lunch and brewed a 28oz pot of this. I got it as part of the David’s Tea Energize pack which includes ‘The Buzz’, ‘Jumpy Monkey’ and ‘Organic Guayusa’.

It tastes much different from green tea, somehow I expected it would taste similar. It’s extremely vegetal/earthy. Drawing any comparison to green tea, I’d say the smell, texture and mouth feel is similiar to Japanese Sencha, just with a lot more earthy notes. I have let this steep until cold and I’m glad I did, it doesnt become bitter and it’s delicious cool/cold! When cold there is a lot less flavor/nose but it goes down so easy. Energy is quite smooth and while I didn’t notice a kick, I just noticed that I’m not tired anymore. Interesting stuff! It would be awesome on ice with some sugar in the summertime as an iced tea substitute.

Flavors: Earth, Grass, Vegetal, Wood

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 8 min or more 2 tsp 28 OZ / 828 ML

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95

Love it! I’ve tried longer steeps which brings out a lot more complexity and never any over bearing bitterness even close to 10 min. This morning I tried a 5min 45sec steep with milk and sugar (rare treat for me) and its delicious! I get a lot of hay/cocoa notes from this tea and it has a natural sweetness to it.

Flavors: Chocolate, Hay, Honey, Malt, Molasses

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 45 sec 2 tsp 33 OZ / 975 ML
Michelle Butler Hallett

Yeah, this one is gorgeous.

ropeadope

Almost out of my first 100g, I think I’m using too much (heaped teaspoons) but its delicious! Really cool Twitter feed from the estate in which it is grown: https://twitter.com/junchiyabari

Michelle Butler Hallett

Oooh, thanks for that!

I am proud of myself that I guessed this tea might be from a Yunnan cuttings transplanted into Nepal soil. Turns out I was right.

Michelle Butler Hallett

And Jun Chiyabari rocks. They treat their workers very well.

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85

I ordered 100g of this along with Nepal Black and Kenyan Tindaret also from Davids Tea. I brewed in a 32oz cast iron pot at 93c for just over 5 minutes. First impression was the gorgeous golden/honey color of this tea after steeping. Aroma and flavor are delicious – subtle notes of forest/vegetation and a really satisfying sweet/malty body. Finish is really smooth. The main event is the natural sweetness of this tea (I don’t use milk/sweeteners). Not a hit of bitterness present, I will probably try a longer steep next time. I plan to keep this around.

Flavors: Forest Floor, Hay, Honey, Malt, Tobacco, Vegetables

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 15 sec 4 tsp 32 OZ / 946 ML
Michelle Butler Hallett

Wild-grown Yunnans are amazing. Verdant Tea in Minneapolis deals with a farmer/picker in China called Master Han. He has a secret location where he picks wild-grow Yunnan.

http://verdanttea.com/shop/master-han-qianjiazhai-wild-tea/

ropeadope

Michelle, how does this compare with other Yunnans you have tried? I’m interested in trying more. Thanks for the link!

Michelle Butler Hallett

Master Han’s? The last batch I had was richer than the DavidsTea Wild Yunnan. Each harvest is a bit different.

Michelle Butler Hallett

Here’s how I reviewed it maybe two years ago.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @95C., steeped 6 minutes 30 seconds.

Ooops — got distracted again.

But that’s okay, because this tea yielded a deep grape note and a floral note, almost of wild roses, I’d not gotten before. There even seemed to be an echo of bergamot. And some molasses. Wow.

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