46 Tasting Notes
Tea: Handmade Shui Jin Gui by Tea Yuan, sample
Prep: 100cc gaiwan, full, boiling water, 10s, 10, 30, 30, 30, 45, 60
Sessions with this tea: 3
Taste: Opens with heavy-handed roast, which quickly fades into a dark fruit/cherry/raisin flavor with a sticky sweetness. Some floral notes in the background, then settles into a cinnamon-ish vibe, which abruptly ends. Sweet cherry/almond aroma. My second session with this I leafed lower, is generally the same but overall has more of a floral vibe, no cinnamon or cherry notes, but heavier on the nutty/almond aroma.
Body: Thick mouthfeel. Early playful feeling on tongue. Leaves a pleasant sour tang on the cheeks, similar in sensation to the cherry flavor. Extreme energy. I had to stop drinking this for a while because I got so over-caffeinated and jittery. Use caution. Second session same thing, I was through the roof after 5 steeps. Not sure why this is.
Good flavor, good aroma, but I really hate the jittery feeling this one gave me. Maybe I can try seriously underleafing to see if same flavor/aroma comes out without the feeling of impending doom? Edit: nope
Reviewing the Spring 2016 version of this tea. This tea has been the workhorse of my winter. My true daily drinker.
Prep: 60 or 100cc gaiwan, full to brim, boiling water. 15s, 10, 10, 20, 20, 30, 40, 60, 60
Sessions with this tea: 30+
Taste: Slow cooked, caramelized sweet potato, with maybe clover or some milder vegetal note on the early steeps. A hint of floral, low-medium roast notes, also a bit of savory soup note in the middle steeps.
Body: Medium thickness to the mouthfeel, good mineral strength. Highly playful across the tongue on the first 3 steeps. Moderate energy, sits in my neck and upper chest.
Very enjoyable tea which has been my workhorse “daily drinker” this winter season. I had a sample of the 2015, which I loved, so I bought a large quantity from 2016. It’s a pretty straight-forward yancha which has a playful melody and fun rock feeling across the first 3-4 steeps, and has an understated sweetness and nuttiness. The roast notes don’t trip over themselves or fade away, but are integral to the opening steeps. These things make this an ideal daily drinker for me, and I keep this bag at work and find myself reaching for it afternoons when I’m not in the mood to experiment with something new, or just want something enjoyable to sip on. I will miss this tea when I run out soon.
Reviewing Spring 2016 version of this tea.
Prep: 60cc gaiwan, full. Boiling water, 10s until the color fades then add time to chase flavor. Also tried heavier and lighter leafing, and tried longer steep times, starting at 30s and extending out to several minutes. Usually get about 6 good steeps out of this.
Sessions with this tea: 10+
Taste: Maybe gentle roast notes, sweeter, softer, and more floral. Not all that much taste here overall, doesn’t change much across steeps. Strong floral aroma, maybe daisy?
Body: Thin mouthfeel, minimal energy. No feeling in my cheeks or throat or chest. Mildly playful across tongue in first 2 steeps, then disappears quickly.
Overall an unfortunately weak yancha of which I blind bought a large bag. Maybe this would be for people who like lighter teas and want to explore wuyi teas.
I submitted this tea for review by a new company, because I think his name is worth spreading. This is one of the more enjoyable rou guis I’ve had in a while.
Prep: 100cc gaiwan, full to brim with tea, boiling water. Short steeps x3, adding 15s to each steep from steeps 4-9. Then chasing flavor with 1 min + steeps.
Sessions with this tea: 2
Taste: This has a complex bittersweet characteristic with a strong but not overpowering or forceful taste of spices. The sweetness is not that of sugar, and it blends together with a gentle roast note very well. There is minerality present as well as some wood notes. The whole effect is subtle and savory. Imagine bittersweet cooking cocoa rather than sweet hot chocolate, or nutmeg used for cooking a soup rather than a pie.
Body: A thick and dry mouthfeel, almost like you have melted that cocoa powder in your mouth. This I think is interesting, as tea usually gives me thick wet feeling, like pudding or cream. This mouthfeel, combined with “dry” aspect of taste, is what made this tea so pleasing to me. Energy is radiating warmth sitting in my chest. Very “whole” feeling, like getting praise in grade school for something you worked very hard on.
Overall one of the most pleasing rou guis I’ve had in a while. I don’t prefer sweet notes usually so I welcome yanchas without much sweetness. Plus this tea hits the perfect spot in terms of roast note, low stated bittersweet, woody/herbaceous note. All combined with a beautiful mouthfeel. Old Ways is a new vendor and I will be trying to obtain more of this tea very soon.
Prep: 100cc gaiwan, 4-8g, boiling water. Have steeped short — like 10s increasing by 10 — or long — starting with 45s and increasing by 30.
Sessions with this tea: 6
Taste: Dates, raisins, sour dark fruit and some mustiness.
Body: Mouth puckering when you let the sour brew out in longer steeps. Pretty thick mouthfeel. Energy sits deep in my chest or upper abdomen and radiates slow waves of soothing.
This is A material. The body is great, the flavor is great. If you haven’t had a rich aged oolong and experienced the dark fruit sensation, then this is a good choice. There is just this tiny unpleasant musty note which transiently wafts into some steeps then disappears again, seeming randomly. If not for this note, would be A+. I’ve sampled this before and decided to buy a larger quantity, and I’m glad I did. This tea is fantastic for winding down a day or opening up a calm morning — the energy is just amazing.
Edit: the sour note is unpleasant if you let the tea cool down. This tempers my opinion somewhat, but needless to say drink this one hot.
Tea: 2007 Kunlu Mountain raw from Bana Tea
Prep: 100cc gaiwan, 8g, boiling water, 10s, 10, flashx2, 10, 20, 25, 30, 30, 45, 50, 60×4, stopped timing
Sessions with this tea: 1
Taste: Good god. Where to start? Delicate floral bitterness up front with a nutty walnut flavor. As it steeps out this transforms into like, honey that has been microwaved and is ready to add to cooking. With nuttiness built in. Maybe honey drizzled over walnuts and left in the oven a bit. That bitterness from walnut shells is there. The bitterness stays across all steeps, and is very pleasant, turning into sweetness. The bitterness and sweetness evolve from floral to deep and rich, never really veering into that fruity sweetness of like a darker tea.
Body: Darker orange color. Thick slurpy mouthfeel. Where do I put all of this saliva? Saliva floods my mouth like I turned around at the beach and got hit by a wave I wasn’t expecting. Except the wave is made of the burnt honey flavor which the tea tasted like. Cooling in the cheeks. The energy for this one sits in my upper chest and exudes alert calmness, not too jittery.
A very enjoyable tea. It has just enough bitterness to keep me interested, and the overall complexity of the interplay between the flavors is very interesting. I needed a bib to deal with all the saliva dripping down my chin. The body is great. Please someone tell me where to get more of this.
Prep: 60cc gaiwan, ~4g. Boiling water, 30s, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 60, 60.
Sessions with this tea: 2
Taste: burnt walnuts and spice. I think it is earthy or dirt notes, but to me they mixed together with some nut flavor. This had maybe a touch of sweet vanilla or nutmeg or something I couldn’t quite place my finger on which was very fleeting. Flavors very understated and very linear, did not change much across steeps.
Body: Thin mouthfeel, slippery sensation, minimal energy. No salivation, no feeling in my cheeks or throat. Where is the tea? Maybe I underleafed this one as well.
Overall a linear nutty shu which I have enough for one more session with, but will not likely seek out again. The flavor is enjoyable I mostly like tea with more body and is thick and chewy with louder flavors. Update: another session, no changes.
Prep: 60cc gaiwan, ~4g
Sessions with this tea: 2
Taste: Much richer taste than the Denong Wild. This was rich, savory mushroom which showed earthy notes and some nuttiness at later steeps. Tiny bit of quickly fading bitterness.
Body: Thin mouthfeel, not much energy. Apparently I underleafed?
Overall enjoyable flavor, weak in texture, may leaf a little heavier next time. Oh well!
Brief review, first session. 6g in 100cc, boil. Will expand but I wanted to pay attention and take brief notes for now.
Mostly woody and green pepper flavor. Thick mouthfeel, pleasant cheeks and throat. Very salivating. Energy makes me feel like my vision can puncture cloudcover. I don’t have much to add beyond the other reviewers for now, I feel this is more spicy and less sweet than reading would make it seem. Sweetness is bold and kinda near the end for me.
Tea: some 2011 Dayi shu puer that was sent to me, unlabeled
Prep: 60cc gaiwan, 4gish? boiling water, quick steeps
Sessions with this tea: 1
Taste: Very mild fermentation notes. Light leather and vanilla. Doesn’t evolve much across steepings. Later steepings bring in a kind of “pulpwood/paper” taste, which yes I am familiar with from chewing paper in grade school. Don’t ask.
Body: A lot less thick than what I expected. Fairly moderate thickness, the earthy feeling lingers a bit, and I feel strength in my jaw and upper neck. Get a bit of heaviness in the stomach also, not pleasant.
Not usually a huge shu fan, and this was sent to me by a friend to try something different. Is definitely on the lightweight side. Would have to ask to find out what this is, but I don’t care much to ask.
