226 Tasting Notes

61
drank Decaf Ceylon by Harney & Sons
226 tasting notes

i got it thrown in my order as a freebie. it was a tea sachet which was a bit weird since my order consisted of loose teas only. Well, maybe they do not have any free samples of loose tea. Still strange.

I peeked at the sachet and smelled and it was not very encouraging: no discernible fragrance and inside the sachet a half of the content was tea dust, simple and pure… And the other half some tiny abused pieces of I don’t no what…leafs? stems?

Anyway, I threw it in the mug, filled it up and waited for 2 minutes. Well, no aroma appeared and the taste was so generic, flat and forgettable. Right in the area of a typical supermarket teabagged offerings. Which was a shame because the packaging was nice, the sachet looked good enough and I really, really wanted to find a decaff Ceylon for a mindless casual drinking (and to save my caffeine daily quota for better teas).

It was kinda of a disappointment, sorry. I will certainly never buy it again, loose or bagged.

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91

This tea is very fragrant, especially during the first two steepings. The aroma of tropical fruit, lychee, flowers, peaches. The color is very satisfying: deep amber.

The taste is quite mild and largely follows the nose. I somehow expected a bolder taste. Make sure not oversteep it since it acquires the rougher bitterness that crowds out milder floral notes. In the third steeping and later the floral notes are largely replaced with apricot, honey, and almond.

It is a very forgiving tea and comes out well in a gaiwan, grandpa style or the typical western method. I came to like it as a daily drinker because what eslse do you need for that but a tea that fragrant, good tasting, not harsh and goes well with almost any kind of mood? It has been growing on me steadily.

I will add it to the beloved keemun hao ya as my daily staple. It has the same robustness and is perfect as a morning tea. Will certainly order again.

Flavors: Almond, Apricot, Flowers, Fruity, Honey, Lychee, Peach

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 45 sec 3 g 2 OZ / 70 ML

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84

I had a sample, gor during the free shipping promotion on Black Friday. The cake seems to be pretty tight.
I used a 100 ml gaiwan and 5g of tea. Did the steeps in the range of 30-60 secs. The first couple of them are very light (to be expected), from the steep number 3 the real game started.

The best part about this puerh is the smell of the wet leaf and tea. It is hard to describe but it is very refined. Wood in a forest on a warm day. Not strong at all but quite complex and pleasing – no hint of rot or mustiness.

The taste is along the same lines: it is restrained and refined,. Wood, sweetness, some grass. It is the kind of tea that a successful professional in a suit would sip in their office looking on the spring landscape lit up by a morning sun. And after a short pause turn back to doing Really Important Things, and doing them really well.

The tea resteeps well but is losing its refined complexity rather quickly. If you steep it for 2 – 2.5 mins or thereabout it gains some nice, not excessive bitterness.

Kinda a different puerh from what I am used to. It is good to keep it for a very specific mood but it will hardly become my daily drinker.

Flavors: Grass, Mineral, Sweet, Wood

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 1 min, 0 sec 5 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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86
drank 2017 Grandpa's by white2tea
226 tasting notes

It is a very calming and forgiving tea. True to its name, the taste changes little based on the time of steeping. One of the other reviewers said that its main quality is smoothness and I agree. Not much in terms of the flavor, but there is that soothing taste of earth, rotten wood and mushrooms with some sweetness in the background. Unlike some forgettable puers I had before (Upton and Teavivre, I am looking at you!) this one has a definite depth and “volume”.

All in all, it is a very relaxing and forgiving tea that is not going to disappoint a lot of people. And it comes in convenient balls for traveling and drinking on the go. A keeper.

Flavors: Decayed Wood, Earth, Mushrooms, Sweet

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86
drank 2017 Turtle Dove by white2tea
226 tasting notes

It is very tightly pressed so it makes more sense to get it as a tuocha. That’s how I got it: White2Tea slipped it in as a free sample. Because it is pressed so tightly it is a bit tricky to determine the steeping time at first. First infusions are very light and floral, later it develops nice apricot notes and a little touch of bitterness (in a good way).

This tea has an absolute great aftertaste: long, lingering and gradually changing. You can get many infusions out of it. Quite robust for a white tea.

I am not a big fan of white teas but this one is quite special and satisfying. This is one of those teas that one has a difficulty to come up with a set opinion about because there is a lot going on and you feel like you need to try it several times to process all and arrive to a set conclusion. I am definitely intrigued by this Turtle Dove and probably will order more.

Flavors: Apricot, Flowers, Grass, Honey

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68

The leaf is quite broken: good look trying to brew it in a gaiwan. The aroma is fresh but not very complex, the same can be said about the taste. It looks that the white tea used in the blend is not of a good quality. As a result, it is not horrible but particularly good either.

Flavors: Apricot, Grass, Mint, Peach

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78

It is supposed to be a cost-efficient alternative to Darjeelings.

The dry leaf is rather small and certainly broke but fragrant.: the smell of meadow, flowers and apricot. The wet leaf smells rather uncomplicated, of sourish grassy sweetness. The tea itself is not particularly strong on flavors – it is floral with the hint of apricot. The flavor is very muted so having a good water is important. Overall, not a bad tea, especially if you do not oversteep it but not much of a unique character there. There are certainly better Nepalese teas out there, including Upton’s.

Flavors: Apricot, Flowers, Grass

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88

A very pleasant tea. The aroma is complex: it does have some puerh earthiness and roses but also some hard-to-differentiate sweetness. Fruity, perhaps. The same with taste: it is a complex, comforting sweetness.

Also, there are multiple tiny particles of rose petals floating around: it looks good and creates a very interesting sensation when you drink the tea, adding some “volume”. In general, it is one of my trusty, “comfort food” type of tea. You are likely either love or hate it, but surely need to try.

Flavors: Earth, Fruity, Rose

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59

The aroma is good (hazelnut, cocoa, apricot, vanilla) but the taste is rather dull and one-dimensional – the cocoa-laced sweetness. The puerh does not come through at all. Also, it does not lend itself to multiple resteepings. Will not order again.

Flavors: Apricot, Cocoa, Hazelnut, Vanilla

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Profile

Bio

I like to drink teas to recreate a specific mood, or just to take a break at work. The world of tea is so endless, patiently waiting for exploration and rewarding you in many ways big and small.

I am looking forward to years of playing with tea leaves, gaiwans, cups, and YouTube videos.

My ratings:

90 or more – a very good/excellent tea, I can see myself ordering it again.

80-89 – it is a good tea, I enjoyed it but not enough to reorder.

70-79 – an OK, drinkable tea but there are certainly much better options even in the same class/type.

60-69 – this tea has such major flaws that you have to force yourself to finish what you ordered.

<60 – truly horrible teas that must be avoided at all costs.

Location

USA

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