72 Tasting Notes

75

This tea is enjoyable, but not great. It seems like a basic Shui Hsien oolong (according to my very limited knowledge of Shui Hsien teas). You get a good amount of roastiness in the aroma and flavor, a nice orangish-amber color, a medium body, with flavors or honey, walnuts, some woody notes, and a slight tang. I’ll give it to them that maybe the flavor does linger somewhat. Very smooth and well-behaved, and nothing really seems to stand out much about this tea. Doesn’t seem have the delightful tart cherry notes or floral aspects I’ve found in other versions of this tea, so definitely not a favorite of mine.

I am surprised with the quality of the tea, as I expected it to be somewhat worse as a certified USDA organic tea. Nothing wrong with that in and of itself, but sometimes I understand organic certifications can be a way to make less salable tea varieties more salable. And I haven’t been impressed with some of the other organic teas I have tried.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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90

First time trying this and I find it to be a great black tea blend. Complex indeed. This is one of the best teas I have found for steeping multiple times western style. Had pretty good results with 2 min first steep / 3 min second steep / and five min third steep. If you are a kung-fu steeper, then ymmv.

First steep is a more malty bold black tea but evolves to take on more of a second flush Darjeeling character in the third steep. Second steep was most interesting. Not a bad experience!

I tend to drink more single-origin type teas, and I enjoy it when I can find more interesting and complex varieties. Not sure why I don’t drink more blended teas, as it stands to reason that there is potential for even more complexity in these types of teas. Once in a while I experiment with my own homemade blends, which is fun and often rewarding.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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90

Sweet with notes of rose and cedar – Tastes like how one of my shoe trees smells, but in a good way, LOL. Pleasant flavors which linger a bit. Very nice!

The leaf appearance is definitely a higher grade than the Formosa Oolong I had previously purchased from Harney and Sons, which was mechanically harvested and had lots of twiggy stuff, smaller pieces of broken leaf, and no noticeable bud material. This one has little or no twigs, larger leaf pieces and whole leaves, and even some small white buds.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML
Keemunlover

Second glance, there is some twiggy stuff but not too much.

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80

This is priced similarly to the Huangshan Mao Feng which I purchased from goarteastore.com (“supreme” grade. The tea is similar in size, shape, and color, but it is less uniform in appearance. There seem to be less complete budsets, and a touch of random stemmy stuff. If I had to guess, this might be a step below in grade or maybe rejects from a higher grade. Aroma and flavor are similar, however this one has a little more of a “milky” quality in taste and isn’t quite as enjoyable. For roughly the same price, I would go with the other tea.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML
ashmanra

I didn’t realize GRT sold as Huang Shan Mao Feng. The one from Teavivre and one from Harney are at the top of our list of favorite green teas.

Keemunlover

Yes, I will have to try those when I get a chance. I think this variety could easily be a favorite for me if I could find one where the flavors are a bit more pronounced and with more of a lasting aftertaste.

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90

Wish I could identify which region/style of tea this is. Foojoy doesn’t give this information. It is difficult to find and many of the Foojoy teas seem to be discontinued, so if I knew the variety of tea I could probably find similar stuff. The dry leaf appearance is very similar to Mao Feng and/or “Clouds and Mist” style teas I currently have, so maybe this is one of those varieties.

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90

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85

Great budget-buy! A nice, delicate but flavorful green tea. I purchased this from Harney and Sons at less than $20/lb. Has a nice fruity/floral aroma, and sweet notes of apricot and a slight touch of nuttiness in the sip. Well-behaved and doesn’t seem to get bitter, at least in the 2-3 minute/175° range. I suspect it would remain pretty well behaved if you pushed it to 4 or 5 minutes, too.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML
Keemunlover

As a follow up note, drinking this tea again the other day reminded me a bit of a “magnolia” fragrance oolong I had tried a while back. Straight up tea, though, not a scented or flavored oolong. Therefore, I think the floral notes might be along the lines of a magnolia essence.

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85

I like this! It is nice and relatively sweet with some Yunnan “funk.” Notes of what I might consider a typical delicate spring green tea are there, with the addition of some hay-like grassy notes which tend towards richer grain/bread tones. I suppose these same characteristics might have been described by the vendor as “beany,” and I could see that. I am not at all sure if this was a spring-picked tea, though. 2nd steep is okay, but clearly dropping off. I am not noticing any floral elements yet, but will continue to experiment with this one.

Preparation
165 °F / 73 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML
Keemunlover

I’ve noticed that 175 degrees is probably a bit too hot for this tea, so I’d recommend brewing in the 160 – 170 range for best results.

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85

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Bio

I love tea. Mainly Chinese teas, such as Keemuns, Shui Xian oolongs when I can find them, Yunnan golden buds, and delicate spring greens. With so many options, though, I keep trying new teas.

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Las Vegas, NV

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