Teaman

I like Yunnans so when I saw this tea from this supplier, based on the photo and the description it sounded like a winner. Having tried it a few times now I am finding that it’s a bit disappointing.
The leaf is beautiful, with yellow and black twisted long leaves. The color of the brew at 3 minutes is dark. The flavor is lacking. Yes it has some maltiness but the flavor is not what I’d expect of a standard Yunnan nor a golden Yunnan tea. For me it’s just a kind of an “eehhh” flavor, nothing exciting or noteworthy. I can’t say (based on recent cuppings) that I’d re-order this one.

I have tried assam teas from this source before and never found any that lit my fire. But this year’s supply of this estate tea is a winner! The leaf is small and twisted, not broken. It is described as tippy tippy and malty sweet. I have to agree, that with a bit of sweetner and my usual short steep this brews up a fantastic cup of tea. The brew is dark amber, the aroma is sweet and wonderful. I don’t add dairy, preferring to enjoy the full malty strong brew. I highly recommend this assam for assam fans.

My Monday morning tea today is this very nice blend. The flavor is smooth and malty, a little sweet and can be taken without milk just fine if you don’t steep it past 2 or 2 1/2 minutes. It’s a very enjoyable flavor with deep amber color. My can is getting low and may be soon time to reorder. I recommend this tea!

My after lunch tea today is this fine varietal. Opening a new bag of this, I was then surprised that I had already sampled this tea from a small sampler bag. Once again I find this tea is outstanding! The leaf is med-long, finely twisted and beautiful with it’s golden tips. The aroma of the dry leaf is wonderful. The light smoky caramel is nicely pronounced. I brewed for 3 minutes and sweetened with one Splenda packet. The brew is golden amber, medium darkness. The flavor is outstanding, clearly rivaling my all-time favorite golden yunnan from Tao of Tea called Emporer’s Gold. It has the slight smokey but caramel flavor with spicey notes thrown in. I will have to do a taste test between the two to determine the champion. In the mean time I’m going to really enjoy this mug of tea on this cold cloudy winter day. If you enjoy golden or tippy yunnan teas and you get a chance to try this congou from Hubei, you won’t be disappointed!

This full leaf tea with some tips provides a bold tea with a mild malty flavor. Hopefully it keeps me more alert following my workout and lunch meal.

Someone threw out my Jasmine Pearl tea leaves before I could do another steeping so I went for this one next. This is a really great tea. I’ve never had Milk Oolong before this recent order. I got a sampler size and it’s good. I’m still trying to decide if it’s milk it tastes like or something else. Whatever it is, it’s like the others have been saying…yummy! The brew is a pale greenish yellow. The aroma is wonderful and matches the flavor well. If you haven’t had this tea before, get some quality stuff and try it. I haven’t tried other brands but this one from thePuriTea is worth the price! Standard disclaimer…I have no connection with them other than as a customer.

Settling in for a nice quiet evening sipping this beautiful and tasty oolong tea. It is fresh and fragrant in it’s aroma before and after steeping. The flavor is wonderful and provided you like Jasmine, you can’t go wrong with this one. The brew is a pale yellow with a hint of green. If you aren’t a big fan of Jasmine this one may be even considered slightly overpowering. However, I assume that is what you would purchase the tea for. A second steeping and maybe even a third may be in order for this cup.

My first tea of 2010 is this one. Three balls in the mug and 3 min steep. Brew comes out a deep golden amber. With a little sweetener this is a great cup. Flavoring is bold and reminds me of a Golden Monkey with a little malty, woody, and caramel-y notes. There’s no bitterness or astringency and makes for a great morning tea or anytime.

Selected my last tea of 2009 to be this one. It has a tightly rolled up leaf dark green in color. The aroma of the dry leaf is mild, with a sweet floral and slightly fruity aroma. I brewed it for about 3 minutes. The brew was a moderate greenish yellow color fairly typical for an oolong. The flavor is not as bold as I was expecting from this oolong. For being “superior” I think I expected more. It’s a very nice flavor but suggests I need more leaf next time. The leaf did not completely unfurl after the 1st steep so I later tried another steeping, adding another minutes. It came out just as tasty as before. The leaf unfurled the rest of the way and the leaf is full and beautiful. Size wise they are small to medium leaf. It’s quite a beautiful tea visually. While I’m not an oolong expert but I was expecting a little more for a “superior” grade tea.

For a cold showery winter morning this tea hits the spot. It’s a full leaf assam with some tips in it. I steeped it my usual 2 minutes for an assam and the astringency/bitterness is mostly non-existent, so no need for dairy additives. I find the brew bold and dark, the flavor smooth and moderately malty. It’s a good cup to sip and reflect on this last day of 2009.

This is the 3rd place holder in my taste test with three assams from SpecialTeas. This is a complex malty assam tea that has some other notes that adds a bit of mystery, maybe a hint of pine or smokiness, but very subtle. It’s a nice assam, at 2 minutes steep doesn’t really have any noticeable bitter aftertaste. It likely would do well with dairy (milk or h-n-h) but I usually drink my assams black with sweetner. For this taste test I used just sugar.

I did a taste test today with three assam teas from SpecialTeas. This was the close runner up of the three assams. I like a malty caramel flavored assam and this one is a good one. It’s also a nice smooth medium strength flavored assam but has a little more bitterness in the aftertaste, which the first-place winner didn’t. This was even with a 2 minute steep. I added no dairy products so just the sugar for sweetner.

Pitted this one up against two other Assam teas in a taste test. I carefully measure the tea (by weight) the time steeped (2 min to prevent bitterness,) and the sugar amount so all are done the same. Of the three, this one came out on top IMHO. It’s smooth with very little if any astringency. Has a nice caramel malty flavor with no lingering bitterness. I added no dairy products and it’s a nice cup just with the sweetener.

Had a mug of this today from a sampler packet I recently got. It’s the second time I’m sampled it. It claims to be a 2008 winner of some award so I figured it must be good. It is a strong blend as they claim. I’m not sure if I put too much leaf into my brew but it was strong, a bit too strong for my liking. Given it has Assam as one of the primary leaf varietals I steeped it 2:15 minutes and it still came out with quite a bit of astringency. It’s got a interesting malty and earthy flavor that I’m thinking their suggestion for adding milk might be in order. I also think rock sugar or at least raw sugar or Turbinado sugar might enhance this further. It was a bold wake up tea and while not a favorite I will give it some more tries making sure I measure it more carefully next time and try it with milk and sugar.

Enjoying this wonderful Keemun with a piece of dark Belgium chocolate (72% cocoa) from Trader Joe’s. What a combination. If you like Keemun teas and haven’t tried this tea from TeaSource yet, you owe it to yourself to get some.

My afternoon tea is this interesting tea from TeaSource. It’s a first flush black tea that’s got a slight vegetal flavor like a green tea yet it’s oxidized as a black tea. It’s has a pleasant flavor with fruity and honey notes that is rather enjoyable.

No notes yet.

Had this tea this morning (2nd time since purchasing it) and it was excellent! The toasty/oaky/smoky (slight) flavor I personally refer to as the “keemun” flavor is very nice in this one. If you like Keemun Hao Ya A then this tea is a definite one to try. It’s organic to boot so that’s a bonus. I had 16 oz but wishing I had some more with me.

New package of this tea arrived the other day. This is a great assam at 2 min steep. No noticeable astringency, yet a bold and smooth malty taste. For a cold but clear sunny day this is a great wakeup tea! What a great start!

Today was my last serving from my supply of this really nice assam. I like a malty non-astringent assam and this one is a good one. The leaf is a larger leaf particle that is not so broken. It has some tippy leaf but not a lot. The flavor at 2 minutes is delicious, no bitterness and a strong malty brew. For a cold overcast day… this hits the spot! Yumm! I see TeaSource is out of stock on this one and not sure if any will come in for 2009. My 2008 supply ended today. :(

Trying to keep this slow afternoon before Thanksgiviing awake. This brisk tea helps, a nice malty bold after lunch tea.

Got this new tea recently and find it has a rich and rather unique flavor. The unsteeped leaves are twisted and curled and have a dark greenish black appearance. The aroma is distinct and pleasant. The color of the brew is a light golden yellow. The leaves unfurl and reveal their long full leafs. They take on the appearance of an oolong tea. The taste is smooth with notes of fruit. It’s a delicious tea.

Tried the new bag again this morning. Yukk! I don’t think it even has Satrupa in the bag. I will inquire of the source on this bag as it’s nasty tea. Maybe that is the nature of this year’s crop which I hear resulted in some very strong assam teas. But I had two bags of this in the same order and the first bag was wonderful. This bag is like a different tea or a different crop at least.

Having a cup of this as my after lunch tea. It’s a darker Yunnan with small broken particles and a golden Yunnan leaning in it’s flavor.