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Yay, I’m the first to write a note on this one! :)

After discovering a Dragonwell at the back of the cupboard and drinking that, I suddenly had a craving for raw pu so I thought I would start one of the sample packs I have been buying recently. For some reason, I bought a sample pack of this one, even though I have a whole untouched beeng in the stash. I guess that was an oversight at the time, but it does not feel so now.

The dry leaf is grassy and sweet, and the initial steepings were the same. About the third steeping, the tea developed a spicy sparkle on top of the grassiness that lasted ages in the aftertaste, even developing further on the tip my tongue. There’s a slight smokiness to my breath that develops further on into the aftertaste and I can feel the tea waking me up gently. The mouthfeel is creamy and full, double cream, perhaps. It’s very pleasant drinking this and I think I have a ways to go yet. The leaf feels like it has legs to it after half a dozen steepings and I should get a fair few more out of it. Nice.

Instead of getting on with my work, as I am supposed to be doing, I decided to catalogue my teas today and update the cupboard on Steepster. This has proven an instructive process, because I found a small sample that was gratefully received from Bonnie some time back. It had worked its way to the back of the cupboard. Cataloguing teas is thirsty work, so I immediately decided to brew this one up and try it. The label Bonnie had written indicated that I should expect something special from this tea. I forgot to sniff the dry leaf, but it did look marvellous, as only a Dragonwell can. All those flat leaves lined up appeals to my sense of order. The wet leaf was savoury with a hint of banana, while the liquor seemd to have little aroma at all. It has the savoury taste that I expect of a Dragonwell, but also apple, a spot of spice and something vegetal. This is so much more delicate than other Dragonwells that I have drunk with a light creaminess that I really enjoy. What a superb tea.

Drinking this western style, because I needed a big mug full of tea and not lots of small ones. Still smooth and good, even made in heretical fashion. I put a large lump of tea in the pot and it loosened up really quickly so that the individual whole leaves could easily be seen. Nice.

I have been meaning to try this for some time now. I bought it as a novelty item and it has sat on the shelf staring at me until today. So, it’s tea packed into aromatic bamboo. The first problem was how to get into it without scattering tea everywhere. The website suggests stamping on the open end of the bamboo, so I did, and it worked and with a bit of extra effort and a lot of risk of trapped fingers, I managed to get into it. Looking at the tea inside the bamboo made me think of soil samples being brought out from the drilling rig. Possibly not the best mindset in which to taste the tea. The tea seemed quite chopped and there were a lot of stalks in there too. So, the important thing was how it tasted. At this point, my vocabulary begins to fail me. There is an iron edge to it that I associate with shu more than sheng. There is also a camphor or pine note. I’m not getting the floral notes that the website suggests should be there but there is some smokiness to it. It is also very cooling. I can feel my face cooling down as I drink the tea, and that is accompanied by a slight feeling of light-headedness (but not enough to give you my bank details, Bonnie!). In most respects it is very different from the other shengs I have tried, which must be a result of the processing. I cannot really decide about this one. It’s an interesting tea, but is it really good? Based on reviews elsewhere, I get the impression it is a bit finicky, so I shall need to try it again and see how I fare in the future.

I can’t believe I have not written a tasting note on this tea before. I try to write one on each tea that I drink, although it is rare that I write more on a tea I have already written about. This is a tea I received as part of my Canton Tea Club membership last Christmas. Ah well, time now to scribble something quickly.

The wet leaf has a roasted floral aroma and is very dark. The liquor is dark orange and has the same roasted aroma, but is more nutty. Tasting it, the roasted flavour comes through first followed by a floral nuttiness. It lingers on the tongue, transforming some of the taste into sweetness as the aftertaste develops. I could not imagine drinking this tea every day, but it is the right tea for the moment, and worth keeping around for when those moments occur.

Found a packet of this at the back of the cupboard while looking for a green tea to cut the caffeine headache from too much coffee and not enough sleep this week. I think it arrived as part of my Tea Club membership (now lapsed). Anyway, it’s doing the trick. It’s light, chestnutty and the aftertaste goes on for a while. The liquor is almost clear and the dry leaf has a pork chop smell to it that I have noted before with other Long Jings. It is doing the trick, so I can get back to focusing on editing without coffee jitters. Yay! Boy, do I know how to live! ;)

Well, I have had this for two years in the cupboard now. It’s quite rich in flavour, not fishy at all and I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes. Yes, it’s a whole body tea experience. I’m really not sure how to describe the flavours right now, but the aftertaste is lingering on my tongue nicely. It’s sweet (I’ve used that word a lot recently!) with a touch of cinnamon and a hint of the iron edge of spinach, then there is a milk chocolate finish at the front of my mouth as I swallow. I’m enjoying it quite a lot.

Just started a session of this one. The dry leaf smells like fresh hay. The liquor is a light amber colour and the taste, so far, is sweet with a slight bitter, but not unpleasant, edge to it. It’s smooth and slightly sweet, and I can feel the after-taste prickling on my tongue, a bit like space-dust.