1234 Tasting Notes
Lately, my love for charcoal-roasted oolongs has increased. This one in particular has some great roasty notes. The site doesn’t say if it is charcoal roasted but my palate says yes. And how incredibly interesting that this is a barrel-aged tea! Thank you Vallhallow. What an absolutely fascinating tea! To anyone who has had a charcoal-roasted oolong before this has many of the same charcoal and roasty notes. But what sets this apart is the port notes. The hygroscopic nature of tea shines brightly with this one. It is earthy, rich, and complex in flavor and aroma. In the wet leaf, I also detect notes of slightly charred sweet bread. Thank you Henriette for sourcing and sharing this most unique tea!
This tea is part of the class ADV.01 but is also available on their website as Ceylon Gold. This is a FBOPFEXS grade. Meaning it was time-consuming to create and will be more expensive than your typical black tea. This is the type you will never find in a bag. My first cupping was done officially, 5 Min, 20fF, and 3g. The dry leaf I find to be interestingly sweet with sugared wood notes. Maple. And vinsanto! The wet leaf is also sweet but a bit more cherrywood. When infused this way it reveals a very drying sensation. To the point that you feel the need to drink water. It is astringent as well but that is to be expected. The sweetness tapers off quite a bit and lends itself to the woody, resin, and lacquer flavors. As it cools rosewood flavors develop. In fact, I would say I enjoy this one more when it is cool. When in infused in my personal way the woodiness comes out stronger with less resin and lacquer. A strange note of raspberry just note as well. Maybe I’m overthinking that. ^^; This is a good black tea but to be honest it’s not going on my list of “I need this on my shelf.”
Three to Seven minutes. That’s quite the range. The dry scent is a bit lacking but only, I guess, because this is an older sample. Slightly creamy, slightly woody. The liquor aroma isn’t bad. Kind of like brown sugar. Vanilla. The flavor is bits of vanilla with woodsy tones. Cedar and oak. Slightly sweet. The base is nice. Strong enough to fight on its own but not so strong that it overpowers the other flavors in the blend. Perhaps in its prime this would be better but eh… can’t say it’s one I would seek out on my own.
Many, many years ago, when I didn’t know it wasn’t a very bright idea, I liked this Culinary Teas variety so well I ordered a whole pound. Newbie mistake.
I think we’ve all done that at some point hehe. I definitely got some Teavana that I shouldn’t have just because they were going out of business
Tastes change, too … looking back to my ill-advised one-pound orders over the years, very few of them are still at the top of my favorites list.
If Mint mated with a citrusy blueberry this would be the result. I can tell this is going to be good for me because it has elderberries. Though I would probably have to infuse it far longer than I want to, to truly get the benefits. The liquor is a purplish, dark amber. Kind of pretty actually. The main flavor is mint and then the blueberries come in. Then the mint. Then slight elderberry. Then the mint. Maybe brown sugar if I look for it enough. But mainly spearmint. If there is black tea, it’s lost on me. An interesting blend.
Well… that didn’t turn out well. I’ve already tried to steep this two different times. One was a larger steep for family members. That failed. The next was just a single serving for my sister-in-law. I couldn’t tell whether she enjoyed it or not….
As a dessert, this sounds amazing. I love blueberry and I love lavender. The dry aroma is very pleasant. Mainly lavender with hints of blueberry. The steeping tea does not smell good. Kind of like I just threw a plain bath bomb into the water. I love that there are real blueberries in the blend and not just flavoring.
The flavoring leans mostly toward lavender and then the hibiscus hits and that’s all you can think of. Taste something else and go back to it again so you can forget the hibiscus.
Daughter (8) double thumbs up. Didn’t taste vanilla or elderberries but thought I tasted mochi… no I mean boba. Yeah I can see the boba.
Tasting with children. Daughter (8) says: Smells like gingerbread. And has a bit of wine. (No I do not give this child wine) It’s really good. I taste the ginger.
Dry aroma: The ginger is very strong with this one. The dark side will instantly be repelled by its strength. Slight berry and citrus notes as well.
Wet leaves while infusing: High in ginger. Also reminds me of the ginger they give you at Asian restaurants.
Flavor: Tangy and zingy! Mix this with other medicinal herbs and you’ve got yourself a potent feel better drink. The berry plays lightly in the back while the ginger punches your tongue. Overall interesting but mainly a bit too weird for my taste.
I find it interesting when they call a tea complex but I find it to be fairly easy to access. At least I find the taste to be the case anyway. The appearance of the dry leaf is complex and beautiful. A work of art. The flavor is subtle, almost honey like, with bits of vegetal notes. Perfect for ancestry searches.
Ah!A new company! Thank you Valhallow. Generally, I stay away from blooming tea because I’ve not had good experiences in the past but this one isn’t bad. My daughter also enjoyed watching it bloom and drinking it. The flavors are mainly fruity and a bit grassy. Not one I would buy on my own but good to try.
This is so exciting. I love Japanese green teas but when I looked at the dark green coloring of the leaf I knew this one was going to be something special. The koi kyusu is coming out for this one. The dry leaf smells so good. fresh, clean, grassy, and somewhat sweet. Asparagus. Smooth. Fresh asparagus. Umami. So smooth! The wet aroma reminds me of cooked spinach. Within the first minute is the best steep time maybe within the first 30 seconds. Thank you Valhallow for this sample.
This sounds really good!
Yeah, there is a whole story about the aged wine barrel aspect of this tea that drew me to it. Long story short though another company sold out of a port aged oolong that i had mulled too long over buying and then i scoured the internet for other wine barrel aged oolongs and found this one.
I have one Pipacha oolong as well, but I did not noticed much of port. Maybe I need to find correct steeping parameters.
Well you found a great company! Ms. Lovell is an amazing woman. And she personally answers email whenever one of her coworkers doesnt have an answer. Here is here answer when I asked a bit more about it.
“This was the invention of another tealady- not me. Her name is Nina Gruntkowski and she is originally from Germany. She is experimenting with growing tea, with her husband Dirk Niepoort who is a port producer in Portugal. Her tea is in its infancy but her passion and inventiveness is rather more matured.”
Awesome!!! Pays to ask questions. :)
Then we have very same tea! https://chacamelia.com/en/project/about-us/ is their official website; and tea I have: http://steepster.com/teas/cha-camelia/101430-pipacha-bio