Gong Fu Tea Shop

From Nicole with love! That girl must have quite the Yunnan collection considering the number she’s sent to me. :P This one is almost all black leaves with just a few scant golden tips. The dry leaf smells rather earthy with some sweetness. I’m thinking this is going to be another “dark” Yunnan, which are not my favorites. Oh well, for science! ;)

The aroma is quite earthy with that smoky edge, but there’s also sweetness and a bit of raisin or dried fruit. Whew, very earthy in taste! It’s times like these that I wish I had real maple syrup so I could try these slightly smoky teas “Terri-style”. I’ll have to pick some up the next time I go to a real grocery store (there’s a small one on the bottom floor of our apartment that we generally use, convenient but they don’t have everything and some of it’s more expensive).

Welp, I don’t really have much else to say about this tea. It’s just not my style! :P

This is one of my summer favorites! I’m really enjoying floral & fruity black teas lately, and although this one does not contain any actual fruit, it still has a very nice light berry aroma and flavor—just a hint that goes right along with the light floral aspects of this tea. The black tea base is great too—not too strong, not too weak, but just right. A great way to wake up on these sunny summer mornings!

I received a sample of this from Charissa. Thank you!

The best way to describe this one for me is to say it is a very flavorful darjeeling esc tea. I liked it. It was muscital, fruity, but had a bit more body than I am use to in the darjeelings I have tried. I liked it! This will be an afternoon tea for me while it lasts. Thank you for sharing this one!

Last cup of this sample from Charissa! This tea changed my mind about Kenyan teas. A great morning cup. Smooth, complex, and bold.

This is my second cup of this tea. The sample I have comes from Charissa. Thank you.

I started work EARLY this morning. I work an office job, but when I have a lot of stuff to get done I am one of those weird folks who likes to get up at the crack of dawn, and when I say the crack of dawn I really mean before most normal human beings would even think about waking up. My boss jokes that he didn’t even know that hour existed. I work better int he morning. Always have. So here I sit, tea in hand. Enjoying the last few minutes of piece and quite before the crowds decide to come in for the day.

Over the past few months I have had a few blended or straight teas from Kenya. To be honest I haven’t given these teas a fair chance. This tea is making me rethink my perspective to Kanyan teas. This tea is offing a complexity I didn’t expect. This is a brisk yet smooth cup. There are subtle hints of cream/vanilla in this cup and it also offers some small undertones of fruit. I could easily continue to enjoy this tea as a morning cup. My favorite from Gong Fu Tea shop ran out this weekend so it looks like the next time I am in Des Moines when the store is open or they offer free shipping I will be stocking up again. This may just make it into my cart.

I received a sample of this from Charissa. Thank you for sharing some of your Gong Fu teas with me!

This was a really tasty cup. I had this one in the afternoon yesterday, but noted that this would be better in the morning. It is a bit of a kick in the pants kinda tea. It has hints of muskital/mushroom. It is brisk, but the briskness is a nice flavor adding taste. It is rich and well balanced flavor. I can see why tea from this region is often used in breakfast blends.

From the Here’s Hoping Tea box3!

I am a huge fan of Mandala Tea’s milk oolong and was very curious how this oolong stacks up. Appearance wise, GFTS’ milk oolong is a darker, vibrant green, with smaller more chewed up leaf than Mandala’s milk oolong. I used the same steeping parameters that I use for my Mandala Tea milk oolong.

Taste wise, GFTS’ is more fruity – I was getting coconut and bit of fruityness, with lots of vegetal and buttery creamy. This one is quite good – but I’m still leaning on Mandala Tea’s milk oolong, which is more caramel butter edge to it with nicer leaf quality.

Not sure about this one. I got some while at Gong Fu this past Saturday but I don’t know that I’ll quickly make my way through the 2 ounces. It was okay, somewhat roasty and heavy. But there was an off putting undertone to the cup that I’m not sure I liked. Will try again before rating or trying to rehome. :)

I had this at the shop today, iced. I was trying to decide if I needed to buy some of it to take home. I ended up deciding not to. It was good, but I wasn’t sure if I loved it 2 ounces and $20 worth.

It was more fermented tasting than most teas I’ve had. Not malty so much as fermented. It wasn’t a bad thing by far. It gave the tea a sweetness and mellowed it out. I didn’t pick up any smoke, which was good. :) It was rich and thick feeling, even iced. If it had been available in 1 ounce or less expensive, I might well have come home with some.

After reading TeaTiff’s review of this one not too long ago, I thought “hmm that sounds good!” and added that at the last-minute to my summer tea order at Gong Fu. What a great unexpected addition it turned out to be! It totally hit the spot! Full-bodied, fruity, vanilla: NAILED IT! This tea is just so satisfactory. It’s elegant, lovely, quite dashing with that nice fruity current taste (and smell! Oh the scent that this tea exudes! I seriously spent pretty much the whole five-minutes while it steeped with my nose practically plastered to the bag, inhaling the delicious aroma).

If this tea were a person, it would be that “tall, dark, and handsome”, smooth, clean-cut dashing gentleman in a spiffy black suit at a party . He’d be French, of course. And if you stand close to him under a starry sky in Paris, you are totally drawn in by the fantastic fragrance of his cologne. Ah, Paris. Ah, strong sweet fruity black tea. I am in love. (If I knew French, this is where I would insert the perfect French phrase). Okay, I know, this all is sounding pretty cliche, but this tea is not cliche. It’s just….wonderful.

The only thing wrong about it is it’s name, in my opinion. I would definitely pick something more romantic than Le Tour de France. Not that Tour de France is not a good association—it’s just that it doesn’t represent the elegance and smoothness and finery that is this tea. I would call it something along the lines of “Moonlight in Paris.” Ooh la la!

I tried this tea again when I was in Chicago, and it tasted a lot better than the other times I had it, so I’m bumping up the rating. Not sure what made the difference, the fact that I was using unfiltered Chicago city water, or that I used a little more leaf. Anyway, it was more robust and had a deep, distinct, earthy flavor.

It still isn’t my favorite black tea, but at least it had a richer flavor this time, and was good enough that I could finish drinking it, and even enjoy it to a point!

Hmm I didn’t care for this tea. It just tasted really bland to me, lacking the complexity and depth of flavor I like—and come to expect—in really good black teas. There is just not much to say about it. I even tried steeping it for a shorter period of time (3 minutes instead of the typical 5) because the description said it was good for gong fu style drinking, but that didn’t change anything taste-wise. As a last resort, I finally tried cold-steeping it, and that also did not bring out anything new in terms of flavor. Oh well, I’m glad I gave it a try, though.

Thanks to TeaTiff for this sample!

Wow, this tea is pretty complex. I used about 3.5 teaspoons to 2.5 cups and steeped it for about 3 minutes. It doesn’t have a strong smell dry, but when brewed it almost reminds me of a lapsang. The smell is mildly earthy and smoked. The sip starts of strong with the taste of the forest floor in autumn and finished with a drying astringency (probably due to me steeping it at 212 instead of 208). Since it is highly oxidized, it drinks like a black tea instead of an oolong. I like my oolongs a little less oxidized.

I mostly drink scented/flavored teas at work. They are easy and I don’t feel guilty about getting the steep time and water temperature all wrong. When I put in an order for more of my beloved Milk Oolong I also added 2 flavored blacks, this one and Garden Grove. I enjoyed this one the other day, and so far it is hitting me as a tea that is very similar to Paris from Harney and Sons. I will have to drink a cup side by side to be sure. I really enjoyed the base in this one and without tasting them side by side I would say that this one wins, but we shall see. This was a very enjoyable flavored tea for work!

I had a little bit of this left, so I decided I wanted to pseudo gong fu this one at my desk. I should just bring my gaiwan into the office. I end up doing more psedu gong fu sessions here than I do actual sessions at home. Well, I could also use that as an excuse to buy a new gaiwan. Anyone have any suggestions of ones they like?

I love how freaking creamy this tea is for the first several infusions. CREAMY! If it weren’t for the fact that it’s clear, I would think that it had whole milk at a minimum, it’s so creamy. Then it gets like buttery popcorn. So yummy! I love this tea.

(I do have some of thePuriTea milk oolong coming in the mail tomorrow. I will definitely compare, since I loved that one the one time I had it.)

And I needed a relaxing, lovely, amazing tea today because I’ve spent my entire day dealing with idiots. IDIOTS! I told you I will fix it, but you have to verify one thing for me before I will make the fix. Don’t ask again and again (literally three times!) without verifying the information for me.

On another note, I’m going out to dinner with a friend from the east coast as she drives through my area on her way elsewhere for the weekend. I’m excited.

I am in love. IN LOVE!!! with this tea.

I did this pseudo gong fu cha again in the 5oz finum glass and I took notes. Notes that are of no use. They just say things like “Wow!” “I can’t believe this tea!” “Incredible” “Dreamy” “I’m in love”

Okay, there are a few other notes along the way that are useful. Creamy, incredibly creamy. Milky and creamy. Amazing mouth feel.

By the end, the aroma was more buttery popcorn, and that was how it tasted, buttery creamy and delicious.

I love this tea.

I want more.

I want more now.

TeaTiff sent enough of this tea that I can do another session. I’m thinking Monday since I won’t have time for the care this tea needs and deserves over the weekend.

This is tied for the highest rating I’ve given a tea. I don’t have the other to compare to this one to decide which I really like better but this tea is amazing.

I am in love. I want this tea (and the other tea with the same rating) in my cupboard all the time.

This was a gorgeous light buttercup color. It smelled wonderful – creamy and mildly vegetal. And it tasted even better. It lived up to all the promises the smell made – buttery, smooth, creamy, lightly vegetal, mildly sweet.

Thanks, TeaTiff for sharing this at the tea this afternoon! It definitely goes on my list to pick up from Gong Fu!

This is another sample I finished off today :) I really enjoy silver needle teas. This tea has a nice sweetness to it. A touch of honey, apple, and hay. A bit weak but still enjoyable.

I found a good sized sample of this in my sample drawer. I was pretty excited because I love silver needle! It’s sweet and mellow. I wish it had a bit more of that silver needle sweetness to it though. It’s a bit weak but it goes perfectly with my rainy day off :)

This is a nice green. It is lightly warm and vegetal, with a teensy bit of asparagus and possibly nut, and a faint smoky taste reminiscent of gunpowder green tea, and with a slight smoky sweetness on the finish. The first thing I noticed, though, was the gunpowder taste—nothing strong or bold, but just enough of a presence to bring to mind my old habit of drinking 4 cups of gunpowder green tea before my morning run during marathon training. That sure did get me going!

Anyway, this is a perfect tea to keep me going these days, when I require a different sort of energy…not a bold burst like a cannon, which the gunpowder used to supply, but a more low-key, substantial, and sustainable energy to keep up with my toddler all day! And yet the tea needs to be mellow enough to keep me calm and patient. This fits the bill most afternoons. It’s an enjoyable yet practical green, nothing too fancy or lofty for everyday, yet not hum-drum or boring. It has enough complexity to keep me interested, but nothing I would feel obligated to forgo on the basis of “not having enough time” to appreciate it.

This is another great spring green tea! Deliciously sweet and juicy cherry and sencha combine in an exquisite and vibrant duo. The scent of the dry leaf is incredible: it will make your mouth water the minute you stick your nose in it, and brings to mind super juicy cherry candy like a Starburst or Jolly Rancher. The liquor itself, though, has a more natural cherry flavor which is nicely balanced and doesn’t taste medicinal (I was a little apprehensive it would taste too much like cough syrup). Additionally, this tea has a light, almost faint vanilla wafting in the background. All in all, it’s fresh, fruity, and faintly floral—as if you were sitting among cherry trees in full bloom. Very tasty!

I bought 2oz of this back in December with my last order from Gong Fu. I really liked the milk oolong and wanted to try something similar but different. I have had this a few times and there is something about it that just hits me wrong. I am not sure if I am brewing it incorrectly but I always get a “bitter” flavor. I am not sure if it is actually bitter or just a flavor in the tea that is hitting me wrong. This tea looks like it has won some prizes and although that doesn’t mean anything for my palate, I just wanted to like it.

This smells very floral/vegetal. The first part of the sip is very buttery followed by the flavor that I dislike. I have a few tsp left of this. Maybe I will try lowering the water temp even more?

This is a tasty treat! A delicious sencha base with nice juicy fruit flavor. Strawberry and raspberry provide a light sweetness while the rhubarb contributes a delicate, pleasant tartness on the tongue. I can also taste smooth honey. As is the case with all the Gong Fu teas I’ve had so far, the variety of flavors co-mingling with the tea are very well-balanced and masterfully chosen. This tea really does make you feel like you’re on cloud nine. It’s a great way to celebrate spring, and I’m glad I included it in my spring green collection!

This one is very earthy, just a little fruity but not sweet enough to be to my taste. There are some peaty and tobacco notes that I don’t tend to like, either, and while the overall flavor isn’t bad it’s just not my thing. It’s a sipdown and I don’t think I’ll restock.