493 Tasting Notes
This tea is a sample for review. Thank you so much WymmTea!
Im really impressed with presentation. each sample is wrapped with handmade paper with sticker attached .
Upon opening ive noticed very big leaves. Huang Pian are older leaves that rejected because they dont look pretty. taste wise they are sweeter and less astringent than perfect young ones. farmers usually keep them to themselves.
i enjoyed this tea. it is bitter sweet, clean and full of flavor. With longer steeps it develops astringency but i always try to stick to very short steeps especially with young sheng.
6.5g 70ml gaiwan 200F rinse/ short steeps
Thank you so much for the sample Wymmtea. it was a nice experience
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Preparation
i got this sample for review – thank you so much Crimson Lotus tea.
When i opened the pouch it smelled smoky, grassy and sweet.
This tea is delicious. almost no smoke detected in a brew. just faint to make things interesting.
I enjoyed it a lot. many steeps yesterday and i continue today.
7g 80ml gaiwan 200F rinse/short steeps. few secs, i didnt time them. its easy to drink, no harsh bitterness often associated with young sheng, no astringency ( but again i kept my steeps short). lovely tea overall.
Im so glad i was able to try this tea, thank you so much Crimson Lotus Tea
PS no stomach issues i usually experience with young Sheng
Preparation
Morning session . Trying to sip down my enormous amount of hongcha.
Love this tea.
7g in 150ml pot. I always rinse it.
It was delicious and lasted me all morning into afternoon
Sample from Happy Earth Tea – thank you so much.
This tea was quite successful. i stopped buying First Flush Darjeeling because they are very temperamental. Too hot, too long and you can ruin it.
I faced the challenge lol
It was easier than i thought.
3g 8oz 190F just few sec under 3min.
I didnt cover the pot either. i was afraid to burn the leaves.
it is highly aromatic, light and brisk. Astringency creeps up as it cools so i recommend to drink it while its hot. it has some resemblance with yunnan greens in floral grass and nuttiness.
overall Im very happy with the session. i should not be afraid of FF.
Thank you so much Happy Earth Tea for the opportunity to try something i wouldnt pick up on my own. It was a great learning experience.
Preparation
Tea of the morning . i had to revisit. also Im trying to sip down enormous amount of red teas i bought last year. So many of different companies. i think it will be easy because they are in 25-50g pouches.
This tea is very nice. leaves are gorgeous. tastewise i’ve had better ones. not that anything wrong with it. its just not complex enough. Kinda the same from steep to steep.
Anyways, i did enjoyed it. Because I love Chinese Red(black) teas
Preparation
Sample from Happy Earth Tea – thank you so much.
i tried this tea using my parameters and failed. I used 6g for 100ml and 200F. short steeps didnt help because it became quite strong vegetal and astringent.
i strongly recommend you to use their parameters (unless you are familiar with this tea and know what you are doing)
Next try (thankfully it was a nice sample enough for 2-3 sessions) i did exactly as written on their website for gongfu:
Cover the bottom of your vessel you are using with a single and uniform layer of tea.
Use boiling water.
Steeps: 1 min, 30 secs, 40 secs, 50 secs, 1 min, 1:10 mins
It did work. what a difference, like 2 different teas. it is floral fruity, some nuts. the roasting done really well without unpleasant ashy aftertaste.
its still not tea for me because im not comfortable with strong floral notes. But if you fan of floral oolong i think its really nice quality tea.
Thank you so much Happy Earth Tea for sending me generous samples i probably wouldnt pick on my own. It was a great learning experience.
Happy Earth Tea were very kind and sent me samples some time ago.
I apologies it took me so long to try and review. they sent me delicate teas i wasnt familiar with. due to my allergies i didnt want to try them.
This oolong is lovely. its sweet smooth and quite complex. it went thru many steeps and i believe i still can resteep it. It has some fruity notes , lychees i believe or maybe grapes. those two are pretty close. some raw nuts.
Overall this tea is very smooth and sweet without any bitterness. not floral (thank you, im not huge on floral teas). Roasting done beautifully without any ashy/bitter undertones.
Thank you so much Happy Earth Tea for sending me this tea. im not sure I would pick it on my own. it was a great experience
Ps i did my own parameters (i forgot they give their parameters on website). i dont know, maybe i had to follow their but in my experience when i use 5-6g of tea i try to give quick steeps for the fear of becoming bitter
5g 110ml gaiwan 195F
rinse/pause/ 5/5/7/7/10sec etc. many many steeps lost count
Preparation
Last night session.
I am not a fan of young puerh. its always bitter, astringent, many times smoky. tastes like hay and tobacco. No matter how careful im about temps and steeping time. plus it gives me stomach aches.
This tea is magnificent. it totally changes my view on young sheng. its buttery smooth, clean and sweet. like faint fresh peas and so creamy. at the same time it does tastes like sheng. i had many steeps and saved leaves for tonight.
I do not recommend you to drink it on the go. It should be savored. Each sip.
And i was soo tea drunk. i could barely type on my iphone. Giggling all the time like child. i call this tea Happy Tea. it didnt make me stoned. its not like Naka when i couldnt move. it just made me very happy. All my troubles disappeared.
I need this tea.
Thank you so much Crimson Lotus tea for the sample. This tea goes on my shopping cart.
7g 100ml gaiwan 200F
rinse/ 3/5/5/5/7/7/10 sec etc
I dont rate teas but on a scale of enjoyment its solid 100
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Preparation
:D :D :D That is quite a review!
I haven’t been able to become tea drunk in weeks. I’ve been looking forward to trying this more than the shou and I’m a shou person.
Thank you Stephanie ;)
I’m a shou person. the more I drink quality sheng the more appreciative I get. There are days when I crave sheng, especially now with hot weather. This was good kind of drunk. Happy drunk ;)
What is Naka?
Naka is the region. Sheng fr Naka is very powerful. I get stoned. Not something I’m looking for often
Heck lol I just realized I received a different sample. Oh well, my mind does silly things. adds to wishlist
I’m very much on the same boat, except I have to be extra carefully not burning my fingers while handling the gaiwan during spring/summer. The high water temp scares me a little…
KiwiDelight, teapot to the rescue! While I have several Gaiwans, they are mostly for testing purposes. I do burn my fingers too. I have small sensitive hands.
Thanks for the reference – I’m keeping this in kind. How is it?
boychick I’m stubborn. I like playing around with pu erh leaf with the gaiwan lid.
The Ove Glove definitely prevents burnt fingers. Since the insulated fingers are thick, it may take a little time to get used to.
AH now I remember! the only one I know of is from Jalam teas
http://www.jalamteas.com/pages/naka-unfermented-puerh
Indigobloom, the one i tried is from Chawangshop. i was brutally drunk, stoned.
http://www.chawangshop.com/index.php/2007-naka-qiao-mu-bamboo-raw-pu-erh-100g.html
there is one from White2tea but its a lil expensive. i didnt have a chance to try. supposed to be amazing
https://www.white2tea.com/tea-shop/2005-naka/
wow that is pricey. I’ll buy it off you if you don’t want the rest of yours (unless it was a fun drunk, then you may wanna keep it haha)
I only have from Chawangshop. Im not brave to spend $32 on 25g. not yet. maybe if i win a lottery lol. for experience getting so drunk that you cant move and have a hangover the next day Chawang did this job well. its around $10 for 100g
Love it haha. Teas that tend to make others “drunk” just get me happy and zen/alert. But I’ve only ever had it from samples. Seriously something to consider! :P
i got a sample recently and decided to try last night.
This tea is really good. it has no storage smell or taste. at all. just aged ripe shou, extremely clean but i wouldnt say its flat . its rich,creamy, fruity( more like red fruits),some malt and super clean. its a pure pleasure to drink 2002 tea without any mustiness or fermentation flavors. if only Chawang shipping wasnt that tricky.
Preparation
Sounds delish. How many infusions?
I lost count. Had sessions over 2 days. 15? Maybe. I use almost 8g for 100ml and I tend to have very short steeps. So it lasts longer I think
Oh wow. I always worry about the leaves going bad after keeping them out for more than a few hours. In my tea class they said it shouldn’t stay out more than 8 as that was when the bacteria levels spike. But nothing was said about the leaves, just the tea!!
Ok, I do save leaves all the time. Never had any going bad. Now that it’s hot and humid I take it out on a saucer and spread and let it dry. In winter months I was leaving it in Gaiwan or Yixing. My winter temps never higher than 66-68F. I don’t like to put steeped leaves in a fridge. It doesn’t taste good after. I always hit with boil water so no problem.
Yeah I’ve tried the fridge thing too. Awful haha
I’m more active on IG nowadays. I follow Happy Earth Tea. they have beautiful pictures. Once they mentioned tasting session of Spring 2015 teas in Rochester, NY. I really wanted to try those teas and they offered to send me some samples.
Today i was brave to face First Flush Darjeeling. Ive had some before but it was never a success. FF tend to be more finicky. i wasnt paying attention to temps and time at that time (maybe like 8 yrs ago roughly). so i gave up.
Im so glad that they sent me samples outside of my comfort zone. I used website parameters. instead of 1tbsp i measured 3g. 190F 8oz
The dry leaves have intoxicating aroma of spring wild flowers. they are long greenish grey color.
Once i brew it the aroma of tea was so strong. the tea is refined, delicate, appropriate for afternoon teatime.
it has apricot, nectarine flavor along with raw nuts, slighly citrusy. it does develop slight astringency almost by the end of the cup. not unpleasant but rather welcoming.
This tea is complex and ever changing. it had different notes by the end when i finish it.
It doesnt require anything. no sugar ,no milk. no cheese.
It should be savored on its own.
I did try to resteep @5min. it was decent but not even close to a first cup. Darjeeling teas usually not very good with resteeps and its fine by me. one cup of this tea is enough to think about it.
im so glad i was able to try such an exquisite tea. Thank you Happy Earth Tea for sending it my way
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Preparation
Love the glass cup! I only ever resteeped a darjeeling with any success one time. At a Fairmont hotel. Bagged, oddly!
Drinking mostly Chinese teas that resteep easily i had to test it out. But I’m not disappointed because this tea is too good
That makes sense. I often forget to resteep but then I’m mostly a black tea girl :)
ive actually been enjoying some darjeeling teas lately too. Some are pretty good. i still brew in a gaiwan tho. ha
We just had this yesterday too! short steeps always work well for this puerh:)