400 Tasting Notes
Sample from Hoalatha.
This is a fine wake me up tea to have before facing the drive to work/work itself. We’ve been moving slow with processing at work lately due to the holidays approaching; therefore, 90% of the day consists of either waiting for work and/or no work at all. Instead of going to work tired and wanting coffee (We don’t drink coffee here) to get me going, I was happy to find this in my stash of samples.
The flavor profile is simi-sweet because it was mixed with regular matcha. However, the balance of the matcha is perfect. The Pumpkin Pie Matcha comes out on the tip of the tongue—which gives it the right amount of sweetness—while the regular matcha gives you the right amount of umph needed for the day.
PS. Now that I’m officially done with school until I start the process for the English MA program, I will have time to review tea.
Cheers!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BOP47O_BPEh/?taken-by=s.g_sanders1
2011 Iceland Raw
I had acquired this from LP a while back, but I’m just now getting to the samples he had sent. This is a very smoky raw; which the profile continues on and on throughout the session. It’s quite astringent too, but the bitterness dies down a bit, while the smokiness remains.
75/100
From Puerh TTB
I was unable to pick out the notes for a few steeps in. However, after alternating the amount of water to leaf, the tea became noticeable. This tea has a sweet floral and a hint mushroom in the taste. At first, I hadn’t tasted much. The tea had subtle notes of something, but I was unable to claim the flavors.
I will note that even after the session is completed, the mushroom notes are still lingering behind. Definitely an unusual tea, but I think I can drink this again.
Flavors: Floral, Mushrooms, Sweet
Tea sample from eastkyteaguy
I am really liking this cup this morning. The rose surrounds the palate with a delightful floral sweetness that isn’t overwhelming with the floral aspect. Yes, it is a tea that is supposed to probably be overpoweringly floral, but it’s nice—not too overwhelming.
However, as I keep sipping, I realize that the base is probably what mellows it out—giving it the perfect balance.
Thanks eastkyteaguy for the sample!
Sample from Hoálatha
I found this cup to be very bold with layers of spices. This tea has a very thick mouthfeel. I’m getting a slight astringency in the aftertaste, but overall a very tasty brew. I added a bit of milk halfway through to counteract the astringency—which actually helped the profile of the tea to smooth out a little bit.
Flavors: Spicy
I started this sample pretty late in the evening. I’ve been drinking down some samples today; however, this session was the longest from the few sessions.
This tea has a darker color than most shengs I’ve had. Not a lot of bitterness. I tasted earthy-mint (with a touch of honey toward the first few steeps) notes throughout the session. I’m not aware of the total number of steeps, but this tea didn’t give even after I stopped after 3 hours….I might be willing to get a whole cake later down the road.
It seems that I’ve been falling behind on reviewing tea lately. Work has been quite an adventure. There are many shipments sent out during this time of the year due to post-Thanksgiving and Christmas; therefore, my shifts have been starting at 3 P.M. and ending around 1-1:30 A.M. And to be quite frank, a cup of tea can make one unable to sleep…heh.
Anyway, this has been a daily drinker for me this week. I love the depth of flavor that arises from the liquid. It’s a dark tea, with many deep earthy/moss flavors. Fortunately, it’s fairly inexpensive, so using a lot of leaf (approx. 10g for 100 ML) for each session isn’t a problem. I must admit that I will push this tea with the temperature of water/amount used per session. This usually lasts me about 10-15 pots per session; which is a nice session before work.
I highly recommend this if you’re into the deeper earthy/mossy flavors. It’s quite nice.
Flavors: Earth, Moss
I had purchased a couple of teas from Puerhshop.com a few weeks ago, and they had sent a couple of samples with the order. I decided to drink this tonight since I can’t fall asleep until 2 or 3 now that I work nights. I can’t give this tea a fair rating due to the high amount of broken pieces within the sample; however, I’ll rate it on what I’ve experienced with the tea at the moment. I also acquired a lot of tea dust, too. Very bitter and drying. I stopped after filling the cha hai a few times, but the tea remained bitter/dry throughout the whole process.
Flavors: Bitter
Congrats for being done with school (for now)! :)
Thank you! The hard part has even started yet. :p