1758 Tasting Notes

70

This tea I would categorize as not bad simply because there is simply too much sweetness to it. The gooseberry flavor, which like the other reviewers I can’t pin down as gooseberry, is too strong. There is a little bitterness to this tea, but not much. There is no noticeable astringency or malt flavor.

I brewed this once in an 18oz teapot for three minutes with boiling water. I used 3 tsp of leaf. If you like really, really sweet flavor teas you may like this.

Flavors: Berries

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 18 OZ / 532 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

87

This is without a doubt the most unusual puerh I have ever drank. They call it witches brew puerh because it is sold in puerh bundles that look like a witches broom. It doesn’t taste like one though. It was pretty good. It had an aged taste in the first infusion. This quickly mellowed out and smoothed out. By the third infusion this unpleasant aged taste was gone and the brew got smoother. By the fifth infusion it was very smooth.

I brewed this six times in my new green gaiwan. The gaiwan is great, the handle portion doesn’t get hot. It is an easy gaiwan style so there’s no propping the top on the gaiwan to pour. I bought the tea and the gaiwan at The Pleasures of Tea in West Sayville, New York today.

I brewed this six times in a 150ml gaiwan. I used 4.5g leaf and 200 degree water. I steeped it for 15 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, and 1 min.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 5 OZ / 150 ML
boychik

Love the setup. Sheng looks unusual and fun;)

mj

Allan, you’re going to have to build a wing onto your house for all your teaware! What are great problem to have :)

AllanK

I keep having to find creative ways to store it. It takes up two kitchen cabinets, one coffee table with a big tea table, a small tea table and the space underneath the coffee table.

This was a fun sheng, most unusual. I just couldn’t resist it. I might not have bought it had I not been right there.

The gaiwan is great. The upper portion doesn’t get hot. It is easy to pour.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

81

This is another tea from the Pleasures of Tea. It is a mildly bitter, mildly astringent, decaf black tea. It has strong berry flavor and an aroma to die for. It is the best decaf tea I have purchased in a long while.

I brewed this one time in an 18oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.

Flavors: Raspberry

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 15 sec 3 tsp 18 OZ / 532 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85
drank Hei Cha by The Pleasures of Tea
1758 tasting notes

This was tasty tea. I can’t give you the exact brewing parameters of this tea because it was brewed for me at the Infuse Tea Bar in West Sayville, NY. She steeped this four times for me western style, several minutes on each steep. The result was a delightful, sweet brew that only needed a tiny about of sugar (about 1/4 tsp) to cut the fermentation flavor. It will be even better when I brew this Gongfu style. If you live anywhere on the south shore of Long Island or even the North Shore you should visit this place. They have a sit down tea bar where they prepare any tea for you hot or cold. It was a rare experience for one used to making my own tea, not at all like having the staff at Teavana make you a cup of tea. They also have 300 teas that they sell including real Yellow tea and everything else. They have a very nice selection of teaware too.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML
boychik

that sounds wonderful;) glad you had a great experience

AllanK

This was a really good tea, a liu bao I think even though she classed it a puerh. She called it hei cha and puerh is not usually considered hei cha. I bought 2 ounces and plan to gongfu it later in the week. Tomorrow I will brew the Puerh Cake I bought a 2011 Shou. I was able to get the name and tea factory from Teachat and Instagram respectively. She did not know a name or factory and it wasn’t written in english.

Clipper Ship Tea Company is supposed to be getting in Puerh cakes as well.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

84
drank Tieh Kwan Yin Tea by Ten Ren Tea
1758 tasting notes

This tea and oolongs in particular have grown on me. It is a tasty but floral affair with the background notes of wood mushrooms often found in oolongs. I believe it to be unroasted but am not sure. The woman at Ten Ren Tea who sold it to me spoke little English so it was hard to ask questions. Ten Ren in Manhatten’s Chinatown is an impressive store with a couple of hundred teas and lots of teawares. It is better than their store in Flushing. This is one of their lower grades of Oolongs, They had one Oolong for about $500 per pound. If you are in Chinatown it is a store to visit.

I brewed this western style in an 16 oz teapot with 190 degree water and 3 tsp leaf for two minutes.

Flavors: Mushrooms

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 2 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
mj

The next time I’m in New York (I assume I will be at some point?), I will check it out for sure :)

apt

mj: Also check out Fang’s Gourmet, Tea Drunk, and Sun’s Organic Tea! I also heard that Ippodo is good and there’s also a pu’erh shop opening in Brooklyn.

AllanK

I have been to Fang’s, it is great, I didn’t like Sun’s, and I’m not familiar with Tea Drunk.

mj

Thanks apt! I’ll have to make a note of all those. No plans currently to visit NYC, but I’m sure I’ll be back in the future.

Allank, I follow Tea Drunk on instagram and it looks awesome! @teadrunk

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

83

I ended up enjoying this tea a lot, but not the first steep. I added some of the tangerine peel to this tea so it was very smoky in the first infusion. By the second infusion this smoke flavor was dulled and I started to enjoy this tea. By the third infusion the smoke flavor was barely a memory. By the fourth infusion it was nearly gone. Once this smoke flavor dissipated I started to get the base flavor of the tea, a nice ripe, slightly sweet ripe puerh. Thank you Teavivre for this sample.

I brewed this six times in a 160ml teapot with 6.5g leaf, 1g tangerine peel, and boiling water. I steeped it for 15 sec, 15 sec, 15 sec, 15 sec, 30 sec, and 1 min. I think I could get about two more steepings out of this tea if I chose, maybe three. By the sixth steeping the flavor of the tea is somewhat weak, nearly but not completely played out.

Flavors: Orange Zest, Smoke

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 6 tsp 5 OZ / 160 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

82

This tea is an excellent caffeine free indulgence. It has those three things you need, chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate. It is purchased from the Clipper Ship Tea Company of Northport, Long Island, New York. They do take phone orders and have an impressive selection of teawares. They don’t yet have a website but I am guessing that some of the one million people within driving distance will be on Steepster. The main flavor of this tea is chocolate, with a spicy aftertaste and the background more mild vegetal flavor of the honeybush.

I brewed this once for 5 min in an 18 oz teapot with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water.

Flavors: Chocolate, Spicy

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 15 sec 3 tsp 18 OZ / 532 ML
mj

Haha, “those three things you need”….you speak the truth, Allan!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

78

This is a strange and interesting tea. It tastes heavily of mint, I would have guessesed peppermint, but apparently it contains spearmint. What it does not seem to taste of is chocolate, however when you let the tea cool the chocolate flavor comes out. I found this out by accident when I was busy baking for 30 minutes after making this tea.

It is one of those teas you are not sure how to rate. There is the strong flavor of mint and the secondary flavors of chamomile and chocolate. But all in all I liked it enough to probably finish what I bought.

I brewed this western style for 3 min in an 18 oz teapot with 200 degree water and 3 tsp of leaf.

Flavors: Spearmint

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 18 OZ / 532 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

83

This is somewhat disappointing as the blueberry flavor is not as strong as the aroma. Still it is a good tea, very floral in taste with a mild blueberry flavor. There is no noticeable bitterness or astringency to it. It is a nice relaxing morning cup of tea.

I brewed this western style in an 18oz teapot with 175 degree water and 3 tsp leaf for 3 miin.

Flavors: Blueberry

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 18 OZ / 532 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

I am Allan. I live and work in Long Island, New York. I have been amassing a tea collection for nearly two years and have spent way too much money. I now try to buy mostly Puerh as I like it most and it lasts nearly forever. Black tea has a habit of going bad. If anyone is interested in tea swaps I am open to ideas and have quite a cupboard.

Location

Bay Shore, NY

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer