teaddict

First time drinking this one. Free sample included with a large recent order.

3 grams, six ounce glass pot, water 150 degrees

60"—probably a little short, given the small quantity of leaf—but delicious infusion, floral, sweet, fruity, like drinking peaches, very nice

165 degrees and probably 3 minutes—got distracted, but it’s good to ‘push’ a tea on first testing, right? Still quite tasty, fruity, stronger than I really prefer, but nothing unpleasant revealed by the overlong infusion.

180 degrees and several minutes again, liquor is becoming light amber, quite floral and fruity still, though not so strong or sweet as at first. I like this quite a lot. I kept at it for a few more extended infusions, and it gradually faded very pleasantly.

The iced version was also very good. I put some of this in the shopping cart for my next order.

1st 30 second steep, 205 degrees, leaf enough to coat bottom plus of empty gaiwan, filled up when unfurled (too lazy to weigh it, bad me)

Very delicate and floral, a bit underwhelming, really.

2nd, again 30" (short but this is now well-opened and this 30" is more than the prior 30", effectively) similar, delicate, spicy, and very like an Alishan….but not quite.

3rd, went longer—2 minutes—still delicate, floral, light, delicious, and not-quite-Alishan! I guess this is the ‘flavor of the tea varietal’ used. Mmmm.

Somewhere 5th or 6th infusion….yes, I see the difficulty in labeling this tea. The flavor is very like a white tea in delicacy, but there is an element of depth and richness and spice that is distinctly oolong in nature, and the staying power of the tea is all oolong. This is wonderful stuff.

Preparing a 2nd series of infusions after the first one started to lose power….delicious stuff, spicy sweet. I am a fan.
….

(Sometime later) Stopped taking detailed notes, but the flavor of this one kept it pleasant right out to sweet water stage. I must have liked it because I drank 3 sessions of it in a row. Drinking it again now, a couple of days later, with some Dan Cong and Tie Guan Yin in between, and it still sings to me. Mmmm.

I let the first infusion go longer and am loving it from the first sip now.

Even the leaves are elegant and lovely as they unfurl—a rich deep green.

No notes yet.

A perfect session with a perfect tea, in a perfectly lovely new teapot: just a few leaves of this tea, in 100mL teapot, water 205 degrees, and several infusions of fruity (plums/grape), lightly spicy (cinnamon, peppermint), sweet (honey) tea. More infusions after an overnight rest, totalling probably a dozen infusions from not much tea. Wow.

First brewing in a long time of this favorite, in a tiny yixing pot, drinking from a new gorgeous little tea cup, and the jewel-like glaze on the cup matched the delicate floral/camphor loveliness of the tea perfectly. Mmmmm…. Flash rinse after flash rinse, and lots more left in the leaves to enjoy this evening.

Enjoying this one as a cold-brewed tea, and the depth of flavor is just fantastic this way too. Mmmmm!

I sampled this one as part of a tasting on two different tea forums. I am drinking some of it again for the first time in many months. It was the strongest of the EoT three sampled in those tastings, and now, after just sitting in a sealed pouch in an airconditioned cupboard for a long time, it is sweet, spicy, anise, mellow, delicious. I’m drinking a lot of short infusions, water is variable temp (trying not to heat up the office too much by keeping water at boiling in the kettle), and it’s just delicious, and a lovely counterpoint to all of the green and green oolongs I’ve been drinking lately.

The package is almost empty, and still never a formal tasting session note. I enjoyed this one for 5-6 infusions in the evening, let the leaves sit overnight in the steeper, and then enjoyed another full day of infusions, floral, sweet, fruity, spicy, complex. One of my tea-buddies said, while enjoying today’s Alishan offering, “this one is nice, but that one yesterday [the Kan Tou] was something else…..so nice I want to wear it as perfume!” Another Dan Cong fan is born….

Another day when I needed a tea lift, and this LBZ reliably provides it. It’s sweet, herbaceous, and has a wonderfully long aftertaste. Mmmmm. As long as I keep the infusions very short—and this little yixing pot doesn’t pour that quickly, so immediate pouring of flash infusions basically means I’m doing 10 second infusions—it’s marvelous stuff.

Another day, and a more predictable and pleasant encounter with this tea. I really do need to watch the leaf to water ratio, because for me the delicacy that I enjoy here can be overwhelmed by the nuttiness if I overdo the leaf or length of infusions.

I did a comparison between this tea and one I’ve been drinking from Wing Hop Fung today, my first time opening the package of the Xi Hu. The Xi Hu is a 2011 tea, and the one from WHF was not so fresh—probably a 2010 harvest—but the tea tasted as I remembered it immediately after purchase.

The leaves are a pleasant bright green, smelling sweet and a bit floral. I started with water I did a comparison between this tea and one I’ve been drinking from Wing Hop Fung today, my first time opening the package of the Xi Hu. The Xi Hu is a 2011 tea, and the one from WHF was not so fresh—probably a 2010 harvest—but the tea tasted as I remembered it immediately after purchase.

The leaves are a pleasant bright green, smelling sweet and a bit floral. I started with 2 grams of each in gaiwans with 75 mL of 160°/71°C water to start, 30" first infusion, and the XiHu was sweet peas, very light on the nuttiness compared to the WFH tea, but nuttier than the average green tea. 20" second infusion again sweet and vegetal, lightly nutty. The 40 second 4th infusion was nuttier and less sweet. I increased the temp to 177°F/81°C for the fourth infusion, 1 minute, and the tea was notably lighter, mildly sweet. I did another similar infusion before upping the temp again, 193°F/89°C for the sixth infusion, 2 minutes, and the first sip was sweet, delicious, and it kept on as somewhat nutty sweet water, pleasant. Again upped the temp to 205°F/96°C for the 7th infusion, 4 minutes, just to see if there is anything else left in the leaves, and again, it was sweet water, a little bit vegetal and a little bit floral, very mellow.

This is a very nice tea.

Fuller review with photos
http://www.well.com/user/debunix/recipes/DragonWells.7.11.html

Had a not quite so fantastic session with this one in a different pot—a tokoname kyusu—then finished the sample again with a session in the same shiboridashi that I started it with, and it was again, simply stunning. Wow.

Finally got to this one—have been on a tasting kick this week. I read another review comparing this one to berries and chocolate—and I agree, the dark leaves have a unique scent that is reminiscent of raspberries and dark chocolate. The leaves are also a very surprising deep purple-black when dried, and purple-green when wetted. I’ll edit again to put a link to photos on my web site shortly to show what I mean.

The tea itself does fulfill the expectation of berry in a deeply tart fruitiness. The chocolate, however, does not come through. I understand the difficulty Greg had writing the description because this is not a typical puerh. But while the first infusions can be a bit tricky—there’s some bitterness to work around, and the next time I might start it with slightly cooler water—the later infusions, as it fades towards sweet water—keep that berry and sweetness delightfully. A very nice tea.

Should have added: steeps were flash rinse, then 10 seconds apiece for a good while before increasing to 20", 30", eventually a minute or so.

Dry leaves
http://www.flickr.com/photos/debunix/5992938178/in/photostream/
Wet leaves
http://www.flickr.com/photos/debunix/5992938764/in/photostream/

As anticipated, this one also makes terrific iced tea. I used about 3 grams in a 10 ounce up, cool tap water, and refrigerated it. 12 hours later, rich and floral and fruity with a bit of something not bitter, but a bit of a counterpoint to the sweet fruitiness. Mmmm.

(Another free sample with the current order from Norbu)
90mL shiboridashi, preheated, with 3.1 grams of tea, delicate intact leaves, with sweet delicate scent

160°F/71°C, 90 seconds
Peaches and honey, flowers and fruit, delicious.

160°F/71°C, 2 minutes
Peaches receding, still honey, fruity, flowers, and delicious

180°F/82°C, 2 minutes
Vegetal grassiness to the fore now, still some floral overtones, fruit/peach essence gone now

186°F/86°C, 3 minutes
Floral, sweet, vegetal, pleasant, but I think the leaves are mostly done now.

This is a lovely tea, very reminiscent of Bai Mu Dan, and should be delicious iced. I’m going to prepare a cup of that to drink tonight—will update when I do.

This is a nice spicy oolong, without as strong a cinnamon note as the one other I have tried (from HouDe). I’ve been drinking it mostly bulk brewed for the thermos, but also a few times gongfu cha. I haven’t taken detailed tasting notes yet, so won’t put a full rating on it now.

3 grams in 3 ounce preheated iron-rich clay shiboridashi

170°F/77°C, 30 seconds—weet, vegetal, grassy, a delicate floral note too. VERY NICE!

170°F/77°C, 30 seconds—sweet, and the floral is stronger this infusion, fantastic

170°F/77°C, 45 seconds—wow, how does this one go on like this? I am drinking a meadow of spring flowers—THIS is the “honeyed quality of some Chinese green teas” that I read about in one of my tea books, and haven’t ever properly tasted in tea before. I’ve had some fine green teas that have had hints of this, but usually tempered with nuttiness or astringency or bitterness when the tea is pushed a bit, or just lower-key with the floral elements, and here there is nothing roasted, just sweet, floral, wow.

190°F/88°C, 30 seconds—still that astonishing sweetness, and my tastebuds are dancing.

185°F/85°C, 1 minute—oh my….I am in love.

190°F/88°C, 2 minutes—still delicious, the floral richness a little less intense now.

(remaining infusions between 190°F/88°C and 200°F/93°C)

3 minutes—enough sweet floral flavor remains to encourage a 4th infusion.

4 minutes—mmmm, a little lighter now, still pleasant.

5 minutes—closing in on sweet water, done now.

What a marvelous tea!

I did buy more of this tea when I ordered again from Jing, and have finally been making good use of it. Today I brewed up a thermos full and it was sweet, floral, rich, and still has that Mao Xie edge that is subtly, beautifully distinct from Tie Guan Yin. Mmmm.

This was my first gongfu cha tasting of this one, because I opened the package for the first time while traveling and without proper gongfu setup. It just wouldn’t get bitter or lose a rich sweetness no matter how I abused it. I was bulk brewing it in my thermos and really impressed with the results under those harsh conditions, and became very eager to see what it could do when more carefully brewed at home.

2.3 grams in porcelain gaiwan, about 75mL water—1 gram/ounce
Water 205°F/96° C

1st, about 30 seconds
Sweet and rich, floral, delicious, marvelously pleasant

2nd, about 20 seconds
A little more spiciness in addition to the floral sweetness

4th, forgot at 2-3 minutes
Splendidly rich, floral, spicy, but no hint of bitterness

5th, also quite a long infusion
Less sweet, but amazingly floral and still very rich, deep flavor

6th, shorter infusion
Lighter and sweeter, deliciously floral

7, 8…and more, out to about a dozen infusions, probably could have been longer if I hadn’t overdone the middle ones so much.

I really like this tea, and particularly the staying power both when brewed gongfu cha and when I’ve bulk brewed it for my thermos—it still has wonderful flavor hours later, not to be compared to the fresh brewed, of course, but far better than most green oolongs I’ve tried for that use. I just ordered quite a bit more, anticipating a lot of afternoons at the office with the thermos full of this one.

2.3 grams in porcelain gaiwan, about 75mL water—1 gram/ounce
Water 205°F/96° C

1st, about 30 seconds
Sweet and rich, floral, delicious, marvelously pleasant

2nd, about 20 seconds
A little more spiciness in addition to the floral sweetness

4th, forgot at 2-3 minutes
Splendidly rich, floral, spicy, but no hint of bitterness

5th, also quite a long infusion
Less sweet, but amazingly floral and still very rich, deep flavor

6th, shorter infusion
Lighter and sweeter, deliciously floral

7, 8…and more, out to about a dozen infusions, probably could have been longer if I hadn’t overdone the middle ones so much.

I really like this tea, and particularly the staying power both when brewed gongfu cha and when I’ve bulk brewed it for my thermos—it still has wonderful flavor hours later, not to be compared to the fresh brewed, of course, but far better than most green oolongs I’ve tried for that use. I just ordered quite a bit more, anticipating a lot of afternoons at the office with the thermos full of this one.

2.2 grams in small porcelain gaiwan. Flash rinse.

Infusions 205 degrees, about 50 mL apiece.

First flash infusion: very little flavor, need to be bolder.
20" 2nd infusion: more interesting, woodsy, still very mild
several minute 3rd infusion (meant to make it long, but lost track of time): stronger, woodsy, some bitter edge with herbaceous flavors, but really not much else—I know this is not really a proper test of the tea, but it’s not making me want to drink more.
10" 4th infusion (after long delay, suspected it might be stronger): mild, woodsy, hint of sweetness, starting to be more interesting now
20" 5th infusion: a bit bland again

About a dozen infusions in, and still hard to find a sweet spot. Have gone from 20" to 2-3 minutes. There in nothing that is unpleasant about this tea, but it’s just not showing anything extra-appealing like my favorite shus—no unusual sweetness, or plumminess, or warm caramel notes. The strength of the woody/herbaceous flavors does hint at more interesting flavor development with time, but it’s not inspiring me right now. I’m going to put it in the back of the cupboard and give it some months before I check it out again.

Another marvelous session with this tea, and some 6-8 infusions in the tea is still entirely bright, rich, fruity, tart, sweet….deeply satisfying stuff. Mmm mmmm.

It’s been nearly a year since I took notes on this one. It has sat in its wrapper, in a cloth bag, in a file drawer in my air-conditioned office for the past year. I’ve dipped into this a few times since last year, and this time I’m using a piece that, when hydrated, fills the gaiwan between 1/3 and 1/2 full. I started with a flash rinse, let the tea hydrate/wet a bit, then have been enjoying a series of quick, hot infusions—the Pino is set to 205, and I’ve been infusing 10-20 seconds, and mostly drinking them down very quickly. Lots of herbaceous flavor, sweetness, anise, but little outright bitterness. It’s just delicious, and again, the biggest problem I foresee with this aging experiment may be trying to drink it sparingly enough to keep some around for a long time.

This was a not-hot brewing, rather than a true iced steep, with water at room temperature rather than chilled. I used a generous amount of leaf, let it sit 4-5 hours, and the infusion was astonishingly sweet, so much so that I diluted it slightly before finishing the mug. I’m going to try for a second infusion, just in case the leaves have more to give. I see why they recommend this one for cold brewing, yowza.

I’ve had some very pleasant additional sessions with this tea since I first wrote that, but today’s note is about this one brewed cold (ok, room temperature). I prepared a reasonable quantity of leaf—the amount I would infuse 2-3 times in a vessel of the size of the glass mug, and added a couple of Chrysanthemum blossoms. Steeped about 5 hours before drinking. Quite tasty, sweet, with their camphorousness intact, mmm. Will try for a 2nd infusion.