Random Steepings

This is a random sheng from my W2T goodie bag. :) The wrapper it came in had no English clues for me, but did include the number “2008”, so I was wondering if it was another aged sheng, but this doesn’t taste very aged to me. None of that earthy/musty character at all. The wet leaves are mostly an olive green colour, some a bit mottled with light brown, and a few noticeably darker brown leaves mixed in. They are pleasantly aromatic and zingy – even many steeps in, I like sniffing the leaves in my gaiwan after pouring. The tea liquor brews up a light to medium gold colour, and it has a fairly bright, tangy flavour. I kept the bitterness at bay by sticking to 80-90deg water and ~20 second steeps many times in a row. There is a slight softening and complexity (compared to the 2015 shengs I’ve been drinking recently), and I remember getting some interesting muted floral notes about 5 or 6 steeps in, but other than that, not much beyond “hi I’m a sheng!!”. There is the sweet coating on the back of my throat, but not much sweetness in the actual sip. I’m getting a moderate amount of astringent drying on my inner cheeks. Having said that, I keep compulsively steeping and drinking this over and over, so apparently all the bitterness and astringency is no barrier to my enjoyment of this tea, lol. :) I’m actually finding it a bit energizing, which is a nice change of pace from all the teas that keep making me want to have a nap (secondary theory: the time of year is what’s making me want to have naps constantly). I’m so confused by all these bitter/astringent teas I keep drinking, when normally I love me some sweet, smooth, creamy teas (black, green, oolong, etc). Ahhhh, I think I’m being bitten by the puer bug, this is so, so unfortunate, lol.

Today I’m drinking the 3 Dahongpao teas from the Aug/Sept White2Tea club. I’m putting this here because I don’t want to do them separately. I will review the Qilan teas separately though.

Fresh DHP (4g)
Really interesting aroma. Tangy? Intensifies w/ wet leaf. Smells like candy actually.
The brew is much milder than I thought it would be. I’m kind of surprised at how much I like this tea. It’s really quite mellow. No astringency, lovely light sweet aftertaste. Not having had many (any?) DHP’s, I have no point of reference for this tea. Is there a light smokiness I’m detecting in later steeps? (I’m on #3 right now). Another reviewer said burnt sugar. Yes. I was thinking caramel, but not as sweet. So burnt sugar fits the bill. I’m not really overtaken by the roast on this one. I’ve had other wuyi oolongs that were much more in your face with the roast. Not so this one. Steep five is weak; tea is losing its oomph. Let six sit a bit longer and the tea liquor is dark but the flavor has definitely faded. Becoming more mineral/meh.

8 years aged DHP (~3g)
Oolong owl said the dry leaf aroma is “car tire.” Which is hilarious and spot on. Not pleasant at all. Wet leaf aroma is much nicer though. I don’t know, I’m not getting as much flavor out of this. Weird. Maybe it’s because I just ate? I probably should have waited a bit. I’ve had two steeps. I think I’ll put it aside for a bit and come back. Ok, I did come back about an hour later. Still not feeling it tbh. I mean, it’s ok, but just that. It’s the like the fresh with the flavor and intensity turned down from 9 to like, 4.

5 years aged DHP brick (~4g)
The brick itself has no discernible aroma, but the wet leaf smells fantastic. The burnt sugar aroma is very strong, very much like the fresh DHP actually but a bit more intense. The flavor is just so good, deep, rich, and roasty but sweet. My mouth is coated with a sweet mineral aftertaste. Mmmmm sweet rocks. I would buy this if I could; it is my favorite of the three. I will say the flavor drops off a bit for me after the first several steeps though.

One thing I have learned over the course of my tea journey, and specifically with these oolongs (including the Clover Patch, which I reviewed separately a few weeks ago) is that I am not one for subtlety when it comes to flavors. Most days I like a tea to announce its arrival with four-part harmonies and a horn section. I don’t know if my palate will become more “refined” in time, or if this is just the way I am. Anyway, I continue to completely enjoy the w2t club. Initially I thought it would just be something I’d do for a few months, now it’s already incorporated into 2016’s tea budget (which I’d already spent by July 2015, but whatever…)

Tea leaves: https://instagram.com/p/70W9e7GgMZ/?taken-by=curlygc
Clockwise from right: fresh (more defined, long, slender, beautiful. 8 Years aged: similar to fresh but more chopped up. Brick: chopped like shou. Chopped Shuey? (I’ll see myself out)

My dad works at a tech company and when they have employees come in from Asian countries, they often bring gifts. One of the gifts was a tin on tea from this guy that has a small tea farm. From what my father said, it was a side hobby/project that the man had. My father isn’t a fan of tea, but graciously accepted the gift and passed it onto the biggest tea fanatic he knows. Lucky me! I can’t read any of the writing on the tin, so I don’t really know anything else about this tea.
It looks like a dragonwell, so I steeped it for two minutes at 175. It is very buttery, a little sweet and a very light grassy/hay taste. As the cup cools I get a little bit of a mineral like taste in the end of the sip, which could very well be my water source. This tea is so light and tasty!

BanZhang King Ripe (ha ha…) as the label reads from White2tea moving sale. As you all know by now laobanzhang or LBZ is the greatest of all puerh. All other puerh bows in its presence, which is how it got to be known as the king of puerh. First you might notice that this tea has no age, that’s cause LBZ trees are magical and can travel back and forth through time at will. No one knows exactly how old the tea is when being picked. This tea could be from a tree that doesn’t yet exist and has traveled back in time. Another possibility is that Paul, the owner of White2tea, a well known time lord and used his puerh powered tardis station to capture this mystical tea in some unknown dimension. Now that we all know a little more about LBZ its on to the tasting.

Before removing the wrapper one must make sure to put on welding goggles or very dark sunglasses to protect the eyes since the tea itself shines like the sun. Carefully removing the wrapper I pick up the cake and it fills me with powerful energy, it feels like electricity coursing through my veins. In fact I happened to be holding a light bulb in my other hand and it would light up whenever I was touching the LBZ. The tea seemed to know I was in the mood for a 10 gram session, a good sized chunk removed itself from the rest of the cake, floated in the air till it settled in my gaiwan and proceeded to separate itself into it’s individual leaves. LBZ doesn’t smell of anything in the traditional sense. Wisdom, enlightenment and intelligence are what my brain registers as I hover over my gaiwan and sniff.

I grab my kettle, pour some hot water over the tea, drain my gaiwan directly into my cup and stare into what looks like the infinite. Grabbing my cup I bring it slowly to my lips for the first sip of his majesty….Reality melts from around me, replaced by something that can not be described in any words I know. The effect is like loading the universe into a cannon, aiming at my brain and firing. Kubrick probably drank this right before writing the end of 2001. All sense of time and self are gone. I am a being of pure energy travelling the cosmos. Eventually I come to on the floor wearing nothing but my goggles, having a full grown beard and still holding my cup. The clock reads a minute later and the date is the same. Time for myself has obviously passed at a much different rate than the world around me….

Having now tried the King of all puerh I can see why it’s so sought after. It’s an experience like no other but not one to be taken lightly. I suggest all who wish to try it read this carefully and be prepared.

Having a 2014 Ma Hei mini tuo from I think the Tea Horse Family production.
I received this from a friend and I am still waiting on some more info on it.
I let this one open up overnight after rinsing it twice.
Impressions, I worked the tuo open and saw some decent leaf in there.
Brewing it, light yellow color. Brew itself, it starts a little soft like a Yiwu and then it kicks like a Lao Man E. Not bitter but the bit of mouth numbing effect to it.
Cooled it gives a touch more bitter but not enough to turn anyone off for such a young sheng.

Decided to follow the advice of a fellow steepsterite and mixed up a 50-50 mix of Salted Caramel and Peanut Butter Cup, and it was a fantastic idea! The blend was very heavy on the salted caramel tastes (which I’m glad had a decent amount of salt; I feared it wouldn’t be noticeable) with a light peanut/chocolate taste in the background. The two teas mix nicely. I’ll certainly finish off the last tsp. of my sample of Peanut Butter Cup like this.

Today was Happy Tea Mail Day !
I received a care package from Grill. Samples of 2 sheng. One is a mystery.
I love mystery teas.
Dry leaves are gorgeous, long, golden tips ,silvery and dark. Smelled a little like FF Darjeeling, somewhat floral and hay.

5g 75ml gaiwan 200F
rinse/ pause/ short steeps, almost flash

The brew is bright yellow with slight orange tint. Wet leaves smell a little smoky but it didnt translate into taste. its smooth, pleasantly bitter, and somewhat astringent (that didnt bother me at all)

By the 4th steep i was tea drunk and had a dumb smile on my face. I felt the energy concentrated on my eyes, i tried to open them wide haha . Also my face feels numb on a cheeks and around the mouth.

I have a feeling this tea has long legs and i will continue it tomorrow. For now, i need to make a dinner.

Thank you so much Grill for sharing this sheng with me. its excellent tea and quite an experience.

PS He promised me to tell what tea it is after i finish my sessions ;)

https://instagram.com/p/6ngCMWBwgq/

https://instagram.com/p/6ni8o3Bwn7/

2 grams of Sir Thomas Lipton Earl Grey from Lipton, plus
1 gram of Origins Darjeeling Tea from Twinings

I have these two big tins of teas which I don’t like. I don’t find them any good, neither black nor for builder’s brew. But I don’t want to forget about them and leave them to waste. So I thought, why not blend them together and see how it comes out?

Glad that I experimented. The result was surprisingly nice. Not that they tasted wonderful together, but at least I didn’t have the urge to make a “meh” face like I did with them individually.

The bergamot flavor from the Lipton EG was still there, it was light and quiet, in the background. The Ceylon from Lipton and Darjeeling from Twinings blended together they produced this interesting sweetness that was quite pleasant. And then their astringent taste… how should I explaine… It was like, when tasting these two teas individually separately, they broadcasted their loneliness by producing astringent taste. Now that I married them two, they broadcasted their happiness by producing a sweet taste.

Oh geez, sorry I sound like a 5 yr old… I will just shut up and go drink more tea now.

It’s that time of year again for great tea value opportunities! …
TeaVivre’s 4th Anniversary Celebration!
http://teavivre.com/sale/anniversary-celebration.html

I’m actually drinking a green tea called blue butterfly, but it’s not getting its own entry yet because I’m not sure if it just tastes like a combination of gentle fruits with bubblegum and dish soap, or if my bottle absorbed some of the flavour of the Fairy Liquid when I gave it a really thorough soak last night. UGH. :(