Classic Chinese

This is not what I was expecting, but that is not a bad thing. This is very very smooth. I get almost a smokey flavor, a woody note and almost cherry like flavor to this. This is way more savory than I was expecting. It is one of those snuggle in a blanket on a cold day kinda teas. I am picking up no astringency. I could definitely sip this all afternoon.

WOW this is DELICIOUS!

I accidentally oversteeped it and it took it like a champ. Super smooth and creamy and malty and sweet but also a little savory. Addictive and so so tasty!! I can’t wait to try it again but more carefully and see what other flavors I can pull from it. YUMS

My first JW tea! I ordered a black and white chawan (which I love!) and since I’ve heard such good things about the tea, I also picked up a few samples! The leaf of this tea is beautiful…medium length, twisty, black. I could tell it was really good quality. I brewed this gong fu-style and drank it out of my new chawan. I let the first infusion go for about one minute. The liquor was such a pretty red! It tasted like chocolate mousse with a touch of cherry, and it was silky smooth. Absolutely delectable! Mmmm!!! I’m really impressed. If this is “classic,” what else is in store for me? ;)

I got a small sample of this tea from the vendor when I purchased some other tea at the Philadelphia Coffee & Tea Festival. This tea is divine. I don’t get much subtlety in flavor but it’s soothing and perfect for a cold November day when it’s snowing outside. Savory, smooth. Lovely.

It resteeps amazingly well.

Another sample from the Awesome Scribbles!

I was looking for just a straight black tea this morning. I couldn’t stomach the thought of a flavoured tea for some reason. No matter, I picked this one.

This tea is interesting. I am getting a lot of earthy tones, slightly mushroom. I immediately wondered if this one was blended with a pu-erh tea, but it doesn’t seem to be. It is thick, bold, malty and slightly sweet, sweet only in the way a black tea could be sweet. Still getting lots of fresh soil, earthy tones. Which is not terrible, just not what I anticipated from this tea. I could imagine how good this te would be with milk, but I went for straight black as I usually do not add any milk or sweeteners to my black teas.

Not my favorite Joseph Wesley tea so far, but it is still good, just not to my taste.

Another black tea chosen at random from the pile! This one came from scribbles. The leaves are short and thick, and dark chocolate brown in color. Dry scent is very mild with malt, hay, wood, and cocoa notes. I steeped mine for 3 minutes at 200 degrees.

I was surprised by the amount of sweet cocoa aroma I got from this one. There were also very earthy notes along with wood and mushroom. This is another black tea that reminds me of a shou (a mild shou, obviously). There’s no fishy note or anything like that, but it’s very earthy and sweet with a bit of woody taste. Mellow and smooth, not astringent or bitter at all. This isn’t my favorite as I don’t love earthy teas, but it’s still quite good. :)

MzPriss’ Unflavored Tea Box – Tea #16
My first thought is that the Strawberry Rhubarb that I had in the infuser yesterday MUST have contaminated this tea…. though it usually doesn’t do that. And I steeped the Strawberry at JUST boiled and this one after 15 minutes… it doesn’t seem like that much flavor would carry over. Otherwise, if this tea has this much of a fruity flavor then I am amazed! Before taking a sip, there is a sweet floral fragrance coming from the cup. The brew color is very light. Someone mentioned sweet ripe plums with tangy skins, and that is accurate! But so much strawberry. I wish I knew if the flavor was contaminated. Such a light, smooth, syrupy cup, it’s fruit and caramel for me, no chocolate at all. The second steep still had a very light color, but the flavor was more astringent than anything else, which was odd, so I wouldn’t steep it that way again. The rating is for the first steep. If I like this one from Joseph Wesley, I’d probably LOVE all of their teas. They all sound amazing.
Steep #1 // 15-20 min after steeping // 3 min
Steep #2 // 2 min after boiling // 3 min

A nice, well balanced tea. Dark bittersweet is a good descriptor. It was a little dry – perhaps I used too high a temperature water. It will be enjoyed! Thanks again, Teatiff! :)

Having my first cup of the day, from a trade with Boychik.
I’m sure I screwed this one up, either too much tea, or too hot of water, because it’s quite bitter. Luckily I have enough to experiment with, & I’ll make a note on the Baggie to do so.

(From the UTTB.)

Having this tea for breakfast this morning! The tea liquor is a coppery red-amber and the aroma is smokey sweet. First sip was a little astringent, and I was worried that the entire cup would be that way. Not so. It has a bold, no-nonsense way about it—like an Assam. The more I sip the more the initial bitterness becomes a distant memory. It’s chocolatey, malty and caramel sweet at the end. There’s a drying fruity taste to it that’s like raisins or cranberries…maybe plums, with their slightly bitter skins. I like the briskness and the bittersweet qualities of this tea! It’s exactly what I needed this AM!

Drank straight, but could stand up to milk and sugar. I would recommend brewing at lower temps…MzPriss wrote 180F on the packet, but I brewed closer to 200. I couldn’t imagine using boiling water. It would be much too bitter for me.