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This is part of the High Mountain Experience Set I bought from Wang back in 2021, and I wanted to try this tea before it became eligible for a spot in my tea museum. I haven’t had many Cui Feng oolongs. Of the two I can remember, one was not that great and the other was very floral. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml porcelain teapot using boiling water for 55, 45, 55, 65, 75, 90, 120, 180, and 240 seconds, plus a few uncounted steeps.

The dry aroma is of orchids, cookies, cream, and grass. The first steep has notes of orchids, cookies, cream, honeysuckle, other florals, and grass, with faint peach in the aftertaste. Orchids continue to be the dominant flavour in the second steep, with cookies, grass, cream, citrus, peach, and other florals in the background. This tea is quite sweet. The next couple steeps have lots of orchid, honeysuckle, orange blossom, grass, cream, citrus, peach, and something I’ll call woodsiness that also recently appeared in their Alishan. Steeps five and six are a bit more grassy, though with plenty of orchids, other florals, cream, and fruit. The next few steeps become even more grassy and a bit vegetal, though I still get orchids, cream, and sweet florals. The final long steeps are floral, grassy, herbaceous, and vegetal.

This tea measures up to Wang’s high standards, though I was a bit distracted by all the grass. Steeping it in my clay pot highlighted its grassy aspects and toned down the fruit, which is why I prefer it in porcelain. The sweet florals and hints of fruit make up for any downsides, and like other teas from this vendor, it has good longevity. This isn’t my favourite tea from Wang, but I’d highly recommend it.

Some Darjeelings seem to last for years, but others definitely don’t. This is what must have happened to this second flush from 2020. I steeped around 3 g of leaf in 355 ml of 195F water for 5, 7, and 9 minutes.

The dry aroma is of faint cocoa, muscatel, and grass. The first steep has notes of muscatel, cocoa, caramel, wood, honey, citrus, orange blossom, grass, and paper, along with some astringency. The flavours are a little muted, though still detectable. The next steep adds autumn leaves, bread, and malt. The final steep is bready and malty, with tannins, autumn leaves, and hints of muscatel.

This is a nice tea that has faded with the years. I’m not giving it a rating at this point. I also could have done shorter steeps to cut out some of the astringency.

Of the two unsmoked lapsangs from Trident that Daylon sent me, this is the one I was most looking forward to trying. Anything with “fruity” in the name sounds promising to me! I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml porcelain pot at 195F for 7, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds, plus some uncounted steeps.

The aroma of the dry leaves is of blackberry, lemon, roses, lavender, malt, soy sauce, and wood. The first steep is soft, with notes of blackberry, lemon, honey, roses and other florals, malt, soy sauce, and wood. The tea has a nice, thick body. The second steep is sweeter, and orange, molasses, lavender, more honey, and some tannins are noticeable. The orange, lemon, and blackberry/generic red berry notes are more pronounced in the next couple steeps, though the honey in the aftertaste is a little cloying. I also get whisps of pineapple in the aroma. In the next few steeps, the sweet blackberry, citrus, and honey remain constant, and I get more rose, florals (orchid?), and grass with some tannins. The fruity, floral flavours persist through many steeps, after which the session fades into malt, minerals, tannins, and wood.

This is a lovely lapsang that lives up to its name. I didn’t find it quite as compelling as the Wild Lapsang because I didn’t think it was as well balanced or complex. I liked the rose and blackberry, but it verged on being too sweet in places and the range of fruit wasn’t as wide as that in some other lapsangs I’ve had. Still, it has great longevity and is overall a very nice tea. It’s also from 2019, so the fruit may have been more vibrant a couple years ago. Thanks to Daylon for the sample.

After enjoying a nice spring 2021 Lishan earlier this year, I purchased a whopping 825 g of Taiwanese tea from the same supplier. I’m swapping 75 g with another Steepster member, but the rest is all mine! If the other four teas I bought are as good as this Baozhong, I made the right decision. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 150 ml clay teapot at 195F for 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds, plus many uncounted steeps.

The dry aroma is of lilac, orchid, honeydew melon, apricot, cookies, and egg custard. The first steep has saline, mineral, grassy, and egg custard notes, with lilac, orchid, butter, and honeydew melon. Where the tea really shines is in the lingering aftertaste, which features perfectly ripe apricot, pear, and dewy melon notes. The next steep introduces coriander, herbs, cookies, and something similar to menthol, plus more spring flowers and that same lovely aftertaste. Steep three adds even more florals like sweet pea and gardenia, plus honeydew, peach, apricot, and pear. The smell in the empty cup is wonderful! As the session goes on, salt, minerals, grass, butter, and florals continue to appear at the front of the sip, while the fruit blooms in the aroma and aftertaste, which can last for minutes. The fact that the fruit doesn’t show up as much in the tea itself is a little annoying, but that aftertaste makes up for it. The tea continues to be floral, saline, and sweet until the end of the session, with the honeydew, stonefruit, and pear in the aftertaste. I can also leave it overnight for one final steep without tasting any bitterness.

I’ve steeped this Baozhong in both clay and porcelain using temperatures from boiling to around 185F and various infusion times. Lower temperatures brought out more of the fruity notes, though boiling water never made the tea bitter. Clay seemed to produce slightly better results, though maybe that was due to the longer pouring time of my pot.

This is a fantastic Baozhong! I’ve rarely encountered such dewy, pronounced fruity notes in a tea, combined with such longevity and lack of bitterness. I wish more of these notes had shown up in the body of the sip instead of the aftertaste, but this is a minor quibble. This is one of my favourite teas of 2022 and I’m sad to say goodbye.

I sent this tea to Daylon a while ago and thought I’d made a note about it, but I guess not. This is a summer 2015 harvest that has been languishing in my tea museum for seven years, so most of the tropical fruit notes mentioned in earlier reviews have dissipated before I could enjoy them. Why pay for aged tea when you can age it yourself, right? :P I’m following Daylon’s gongfu parameters to see if I can get more out of this tea, steeping 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml porcelain pot at 195F for 25, 35, 25, 45, 50, 70, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of dark chocolate, cherry, pastry, wood, and malt. The first steep has notes of cherry, raisin, dried fruit, cocoa, pastry, honey, wood, and malt, with hints of maple syrup and some bitterness. I get whisps of papaya in the second steep, plus cherry, darker chocolate, wood, and pleasant sourness. The fruit is less noticeable in the next couple steeps, with honey, pastries, wood, malt, brown sugar, and tannins becoming more prominent. The tea is also quite drying. The next couple steeps retain their cocoa, honey, and pastry notes, but veer more toward wood, malt, earth, and minerals. The session ends with notes of honey, hay, malt, earth, and minerals.

This is an enjoyable tea, though I think I would have found more of the flavours I gravitate toward if I hadn’t waited so long to drink it. It fades rather early and can get a little drying in later steeps.

This is my final spring 2022 green tea from Teavivre. I’ve been interested in Anji Bai Cha for a while, and decided to order a sample along with my green tea gift set. I steeped about 4 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 185F for 30, 30, 45, 60, 80, 120, and 240 seconds, plus a few uncounted steeps. I also bowl steeped about 1.5 g of tea in 200 ml of 185F water for 5 minutes, adding more water as needed.

The dry aroma of these pretty needle-shaped leaves is of green beans, citrus, umami, and nuts. The first and second steeps have a brothy texture and notes of green beans, soybeans, asparagus, citrus, orange zest, chestnuts, and umami. The next couple steeps become more vegetal, with asparagus, spinach, grass, butter, and beans, though the citrus is still detectable. The tea is not getting as bitter as other greens. The final steeps are predictably vegetal, though some of the citrus and beany flavour remains.

Bowl steeped, the tea reveals all of these notes, plus some spring florals around the middle of the session. The umami isn’t as pronounced, and there’s no astringency. The tea just fades into grass and veggies.

I’m glad I decided to purchase this tea. The citrus and chestnut make the vegetal profile more dynamic, and it never becomes as bitter as some of the other green teas I’ve tried. This is one of my top three teas from this Teavivre order, along with the Bi Luo Chun and Huo Shan Huang Ya.

Given the many reviews on this site, I’m surprised I’m the first to write a note about a Teavivre green tea. I think they’ve changed the name to Premium Lu Shan Yun Wu, though I rather like Gou Gu Nao (Dog’s Head Green) for its randomness! I steeped 3 g of leaf in an 85 ml porcelain pot at 185F for 7, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds. I also bowl steeped the rest of my 5 g sample in 200 ml of 185 water, starting at 4 minutes and adding water when needed.

The dry aroma is of green beans, chestnuts, veggies, and spring flowers. The first steep has notes of green beans, butter, asparagus, grass, sesame seeds, and spring flowers. The chestnut aroma at the bottom of the empty cup is wonderful. The next steep adds kale and brussels sprouts, though the nuts are still present. Steeps three and four are even more vegetal, with grass, lettuce, and what I think is narcissus. The final steeps are full of cruciferous veggies and are a bit astringent, though they retain a floral and grassy aftertaste.

When this tea is bowl steeped, much of the bitterness disappears, though so do some of the florals. The first few rounds are beany and nutty, and then the tea fades into grass, minerals, and lettuce.

This is a bit more delicate than the regular Lu Shan Yun Wu, with more chestnut and floral notes. Bowl steeping is definitely the way to go if you want to avoid bitterness.

Thanks to Daylon for providing samples of two unsmoked Lapsangs from Trident. Unsmoked Lapsang Souchong is quickly becoming one of my favourite types of hongcha, which is unsurprising given my preference for highly aromatic, not-too-astringent teas. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of lemon, lavender, orchid, malt, wood, and soy sauce. The first steep has notes of lemon, orange, lavender, orchid, honey, sweet potato, grain, malt, pastries, minerals, and wood. Lemon zest is more apparent in the second steep, and it has notes of rye bread, tannins, earth, pine, cream, herbs, and raspberry, especially in the aftertaste. Raspberry and cherry are more noticeable in the next couple steeps, along with molasses and a syrupy tropical fruit I’ll call guava. This is balanced by the lavender, florals, herbs, malt, and tannins. The next two steeps have notes of guava and cherry, but mainly emphasize lemon and florals. Steeps seven and eight are still fruity, but more tannins are creeping in and the wood, malt, and minerals are more apparent. The aroma in the empty cup is still lemony and fruity, and the tea has a long, lemony aftertaste. The sweetness continues throughout many, many more steeps, though the tea gradually thins out and has more tannins, earth, wood, and minerals.

This is a less assertive tea than What-Cha’s Tong Mu Lapsang, but I think it’s just as complex and appealing. Perhaps it doesn’t have quite the same variety of fruits as the What-Cha version, but I think it’s perhaps more balanced. That persistent lemon and lavender profile is one I like. I’m glad Daylon sent me so much of this tea to enjoy!

I’ve been neglecting my oolongs from Wang Family Tea, and wanted to rectify the situation a bit before starting on my spring 2022 purchases. This unroasted Alishan is from spring 2021. Following Wang’s instructions, I steeped 6 g of leaf in 120 ml of boiling water for 55, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85, 95, 120, 150, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is sweet and floral, with notes of orchid, gardenia, and honeysuckle. The first steep gives me heady orchid, gardenia, honeysuckle, pine, coconut, cream, grass, and other flowers (Daylon mentioned freesia, which fits). The florals are even headier in the next steep. Maybe it’s because of the pine, but I do get a sense of “woodsiness,” as the company calls it. The tea is also a little vegetal, with grass and lettuce in the aftertaste. Sweet freesia and lilac are more prominent in the next couple steeps, along with coconut, lemongrass, pine, lettuce, and that “woodsy” note. The next few steeps are full of sweet florals, but are becoming increasingly vegetal, with lettuce, spinach, and grass. The tea never gets bitter, but has a vegetal, floral fade.

This is a very nice Alishan that’s better than many others I’ve had. It’s definitely on the floral and vegetal rather than the fruity side, but as someone who likes heady florals, that’s okay. I’ll probably revisit another harvest of this tea at some point, though the Shanlin Xi Wild Garden is more up my alley.

This is one of those teas I thought I’d tried, but I don’t see a note. (When I pasted this review into Steepster, it turns out I did write a note for it, but I can’t see what it says! I gave it a pretty high rating, which is ominous.) I steeped 3 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 185F for 20, 40, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds. I also bowl steeped 2 g of tea in 200 ml of water at 185 starting at 3 minutes, adding water as needed.

The dry aroma is of smoke, meat, green beans, grass, and florals. The first steep has notes of smoke, meat, green beans, asparagus, butter, and grass, with a floral and smoky aftertaste. The next steep has even more smoke, and adds spinach and hints of apricot. Already, this tea is quite vegetal. The next couple steeps have hints of florals, apricot, and grass, but the smoke and spinach/asparagus/bitter veggies predominate. The final few steeps are very smoky and vegetal, and I understand why Teavivre doesn’t include them in their instructions.

When I bowl steep this tea, the bitterness and smoke are much less apparent. I get more florals, asparagus, and grass, and even a bit more apricot. The tea fades out rather than getting extraordinarily bitter.

I don’t think this is the green tea for me. I’m not a fan of smoke, and I can really taste it in this Mao Jian. There aren’t enough other flavours to make it interesting for me. Well, you can’t like them all!