Sanne Tea

Water: 8oz

Leaves: large long semi-twisted brownish-black leaves

Steep: 90s, 120s, 150s

Aroma: earthy

Color: reddish amber

Clarity: Great!

Taste: This tea along with the previous one arrived in good condition. I haven’t had black tea in a long time so this will be an interesting revisit with the tea type. The aroma was that earthy. Seeping this tea can go for 3 steeps, tea these leaves were large making it difficult to measure. On to the brewing I used boiling water not allowing it to cool. 90s red-amber color, taste i don’t know if i used too many leaves or if my water was too hot it provides a range of (200-212) I went with 212. I found this cup to be bland & quite bitter for most of the first sips i took. When i had 1/4th of my cup remaining the bitterness went away.120s This time i decided to let my water cool slightly & discard some of the leaves before steeping. Lighter amber color w/no hints of red most likely due to less leaves. No bitterness flavor same. 150s darker then the 2nds cup but still lighter than the first, flavor profile same as 2nd steep. I found this to be an okay tea w/ bitterness if brewed too strong.

When writing reviews do any of you listen to music? Today I listened to Nick Jonas- Chains, Selena Gomez- Revival & Ikon- Rhythm (Korean pop)

Jin Xhan Tea Soap

Package: square, sturdy, thin paper box w/ company logo sticker wrapped around the front
Inside: Soap information Card, soap sealed in hard plastic
Size: 1/2in thick & 1 1/2in wide
Type: Facial & body
Color: Dark beige w/ tea leaves
Smell: Ivory bar soap
Ingredients: Castor Oil, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Sodium Hydroxide(lye), Tea leaves, Tea Tree Essential Oil, Water
Production: Made in Michigan (USA)
Notes: All skin types w/ No artificial colors or Fragrance
Foam: thick white foam (very bubbly)
Skin Feel (After): Dry yet soft

Upon box the soap there were 3 holes in the plastic (top,side & bottom). It was nice that the soap came with an information card allowing me to know what the ingredients were. Although I would have like it to be slightly more specif in terms of if it was a face or body soap. i had to email the company first to figure out this information first before I used it. The scent was difficult to pinpoint but it did remind me of another soap I had in the past maybe an Ivory bar soap? It feels quite smooth in the hands despite there being tea leaves in it. As for the foam it produce a nice rich foam. One thing I didn’t like was it felt like it took a while before my hands felt free of the soap when rinsing. After my hands felt dry yet soft & has no scent. My hands also seemed to be a bit red on the inside. Although it’s made for all skin types including sensitive skin I’m not sure if i want to use it on my face just yet. This was my first time trying a tea soap~

Thank you Sanne Tea for this sample

If you missed my post earlier today, I am doing a fun direct comparison between Sanne Tea’s 2014 and 2015 Oriental Beauty Oolong harvests. I do not often get to do a side by side look of two harvests where the only thing that separates them is a few hours of my sipping time, with mostly the same tea gear (same steeping vessel, different cups) and the previous harvest very fresh in my mind. I had to jump on the opportunity to do this, and instead of making one MASSIVE blog, I divided it into two, also so you can look at each tea in a vacuum. Wee!

So without further ado, time for 2015 Summer Oriental Beauty, a bug bitten Oolong from Taiwan, sporting fluffy leaves with silvery hairs and a veritable rainbow of tea leaf colors. The aroma of these light leaves starts with autumn leaf loam (not wet forest loam, a nice fluffy pile of leaves) subtle spices, sweet raisins, wildflower honey, and cooked apples and pears. The sweet fruity notes and warm spices put me in mind of an autumnal fruit bake, while being surprisingly delicate.

Brewing the leaves brings out the sweetness, I mean it was already sweet, but now it really resembles the honey sweetness and fresh fruit. Juicy pears, crisp apples, and ripe grapes. There is a tiny hint of spice and loam at the finish. The liquid is quite fruity, blending honey, apples, and pears baked with spicy for a gentle and juicy sweetness. Again, it is reminding me of an autumnal fruit bake…maybe a pie but no crust?

The first steep starts out very light, the mouthfeel is smooth and a touch delicate. Tasting notes start with gently spiced wildflower honey and quickly moving into dried apples and white grapes. There is a touch of pear at the finish but mostly this steep is light and all about the grapes and apples. For the aftertaste, oddly enough, is very gentle loam, adding a touch of earthiness to the light tea.

To the second steep, the aroma is light and sweet, notes of apples, pears, honey, and grapes with a nice spice note. Up until now the spice was hard to nail down, fleeting, but it is definitely a nutmeg note, warm and a touch earthy. The mouthfeel is still pretty light and smooth, a bit of thickness compared to the first steep, but overall it is still light compared to other Oolongs. The taste starts out with honey sweetness and baked apples, this moves to grapes and cooked pears, and the finish is loam and spice. The loamy finish and lingering spice has the earthiness to keep this light tea from floating away.

Before you ask, yes, yes I am quite tea drunk. The aroma of this steep still has the sweet notes of honey and apples, with a touch of grape, but the real powerful note is loam, it is earthy and with a slight spice that lingers in the nose. Mmm nutmeg. The taste is light and smooth while also heavy, the notes of cooked apples and pears (drizzled with honey, of course) very quickly get overtaken with loam and nutmeg, it is a heavy finish, one that cuts down the sweetness just a touch. Seeing the subtle differences between years was epic…I need to do this more often!

Blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/10/sanne-tea-2015-summer-oriental-beauty.html

So today’s blog is going to be something a little fun and special, it is going to be a double post. By that I mean that the first post (this one) will be a direct comparison to the second post, and my reason for doing this is all about harvest. Sanne Tea sent me a sample of their 2015 Oriental Beauty Oolong and their 2014 harvest, so I thought why not do a side by side comparison? It is not often I get to try different harvests made by the same farmer while being able to use the same tea gear and only have a few hours between steeping sessions. Time to let the bug bitten party begin!

Starting with the 2014 Summer Oriental Beauty and the leaves are quite fluffy and silvery, I am always afraid of smushing Oriental Beauty, though luckily I have not yet done so. The aroma of the dry leaves is surprisingly fruity, Oriental Beauty tends to be fruity, but I have in the past found it to be mostly grapes, this version has grapes, dried apples, dried pears and honey. There is also a hint of loam at the finish, amusingly this complex tea is very mild. I always find it fascinating how a tea can be complex and yet have a faint aroma, it is like nose treasure hunting to pick out what all is there.

Brewing this tea (and the 2015 harvest) in my funky new gongfu teapot with lovely red peonies, a suitable amount of pretty for a delicate tea. The aroma of the now steeped leaves is a blend of rich, musky grapes and apples with loam and honey. The liquid is sweet honey, apples, and raisins, it is light and delicate.

The first steep is very light, in color, taste, and mouthfeel. Starting with a delicate smooth and light mouthfeel, Sanne Tea describes Oriental Beauty’s name, it is inspired by the leaves spreading out like a lady’s skirt while dancing…but to me it is the mouthfeel that dances. The taste is primarily honey sweetness, like wildflower honey with an addition of light grapes and apples. The aftertaste is a very delicate pear note.

The aroma for the second steep does not change much in notes, but it does get stronger in intensity, especially in the apple department. This steep is very sweet, reminding me of apple wine, blending sweet apple and white grapes with copious honey. The apple notes give it a lightness that I have not before encountered with Oriental Beauty, a tea which is light, but also rich. The finish is strong honey and pear, both of which linger for a short while.

The third steeping’s aroma has honey and apples, with a note of pear, and a strong finish of raisins, there is also a very light hint of loam at the finish. The mouthfeel is still quite light, but it is also quite smooth, the taste is not as potent as last steep, it is as delicate as the first, though it is very sweet like the second. It is like both the steeps were mixed! The notes of pear and apple mix with sweet honey, at the finish there is a lingering but very light spice. This tea scores serious points in my book for having pear and apple notes, now time to move on to 2015!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/10/sanne-tea-2014-summer-oriental-beauty.html

This is a delicious tea that manages to be tannic enough for a citrus flavor but without bitterness. I detailed more at https://nomcha.com/first_tastes/oriental-beauty/

Water: 8oz

Leaves: large long semi-twisted dark green leaves

Steep: 60s, 90s, 120s

Aroma: vegetable

Color: Light yellow

Taste: This tea had arrived in good condition, upon opening the packaged i noticed that these leaves were much larger and longer compared to other green teas I’ve had. As for the aroma it was tough to pinpoint due to it being very faint coming from the dry leaf but i would say vegetable. One to brewing this tea was difficult to measure due to the size of the leaves so i did my best to guess the proper amount as i poured them into my new french press (my mom bought it for me recently) I’ve been playing around with it & works great for tea!). looking at the laves steep they remind me more so of a Oolong tea. Appearance the cup had great clarity with no cloudiness. As for the taste it was very light faint & smooth with no bitterness. 90s darker color, same flavor, 120s same color & taste as previous cup. I decided to stop the steeping at the 3rd cup b/c i didn’t notice any changes besides the color & felt there would be none if i were on the 5th cup. I may go back later and try the last two steeps if so i’ll update this note. Overall i found this to be an alright tea to drink with no bitterness as it brews for longer periods of time.

Thank you Sanne Tea for this sample

Update:
150s & 180s same as 2nd cup
I pared it with half of a lemon garlic Falafel warp (my first time having one, good but wayyy to salty)

This is a different one – a tie guan yin with high oxidation and roasting. However it doesn’t come out like that – it’s on the light side, like a light roast oolong, with black tea notes. it’s pretty complex with milk bread, toasty, sweet, honey, clover, buttercup floral, bread pudding notes. No bitterness or dryness at all, so this tea can take abuse.

However, this tea lacks the richness and high roast flavor, as well as not much of a fragrance of an oolong. It doesn’t resteep as much as I hoped it would – 7 infusions.

Full review on Oolong Owl. A photogenic tea! http://oolongowl.com/tie-guan-yin-black-tea-from-sanne-tea-tea-review/

Very nice, particularly the first cup. Silky smooooth and clean mouthfeel. The flavor is all softness, predominantly lychee. Also some ripe stone fruit and (hate to name it this but who knows what else to call this flavor?:) Juicy Fruit Gum.

Tastes elegant, flavorful and balanced, good to serve company.
Thank you for the sample, Lulu!

Another from Nicole Instead of following the instructions i all out brewed this western style to see how it would fare. I’ve only ever seen tie guan yin greens, so this was a new experiment for me. This kinda feels a little like an oolong but not quite. It doesn’t have that roasty oolong taste to it but it’s not exactly a strong black tea. The flavours are muted a little… interesting for sure, but nothing crazy exciting :) Loved trying it though!

did a shorter session with this one today and it was tasty. always nice to have enough to western brew and gonfu. This is a tasty one either way and i’m glad to have had the chance to drink it all up! noms!

Delicious Nicole! I was super excited to see this one in the sampling you sent me. I do love my taiwanese blacks for that honey note that tends to run through them. This one isn’t quite the same as the one from Butiki but it’s still really nice. I’d be hard pressed to decide on whether i like this one better than the TTC blacks…honey, sweet…hint of maltiness. Just a great cup of yum!

You know you have too much tea when you find a Sun Moon Lake sample at the bottom of the stack boxes. I can understand losing a lesser tea but few teas hit all my buttons like Taiwan Sun Moon Lake black tea. Dry it smells of cocoa, honey, kind sweet potato, with a Darjeeling like muscatel. The whole mix has a baked quality to the scent. Mmmmm.

Tasting is similar to the scent. It is an easy sip that builds to what I am going to call a presence. It isn’t a hefty bite. Its more refined than the raw bite of some teas.

The second cup had me mentally thinking cinnamon candy. It is so sweet and feels syrupy on the lips. The cinnamon image is welcome but weird, in that there is not so much a cinnamon taste, and certainly no cinnamon burn, but the image remained after several sips. I love when a tea does that kind of magic trick. Even in the second cup I still catch grape notes under the cinnamon, honey, sweet potato.

Complex and delicious.

Hm. This is more a roasted oolong taste to me than a black tea. Very mineral but thin feeling. Reminds me of a cross between a lightly roasted oolong and a Darjeeling. It’s fairly dry. Per pkg directions, 30 sec, 40 sec starting at around 205F.

Maybe my memory is on the fritz but this just seems different than any Bao Zhong or Pouchong I have tried before. First the leaf has more green than I recall. There is also tan tips and the darker leaf kind of looks battle ship grey with white spots. The liquor is bright yellow which I did expect but the aroma is floral like Alishan. The taste is sweet and at first reminds me of corn with maybe a touch of malt. Then it moves towards the floral notes. The aftertaste is lingers green and viney.

I know most western folks seem to like their oolong dark and highly roasted. I do not. This is more my style. Light, crisp, and refreshing. A good afternoon sip, to chill or meditate.

Weeee, I am lost in antihistamine fog! My allergies are so bad right now that I am in a fugue state from all these meds, clearly I need to figure out another option or just plan on never getting things accomplished. Ok, not totally true, I read two novels back to back last night, so that was kinda fun. I just need to find a non-drowsy allergy medicine, or drink more tea, since that is always an option!

Speaking of tea, it is time for some tea rambling! Today’s tea is Traditional Tie Guan Yin (Spring 2015) from Sanne Tea, a tea that has its origins in China, but traveled to Taiwan in 1890s and has made quite the name for itself there! I suggest giving the website a read, it has a lovely description of the process the farmer, Mr. Zhang, goes through to create the traditionally roasted Oolong. The aroma is like a memory, as I have said in other reviews of Taiwanese Traditional TGY, it was the first Oolong I had and the first tea I really fell in love with, so that first sniff is always very nostalgic. Notes of toast, toasted nuts and toasted bread, a bit of burnt sugar, cocoa, and delightful notes of toasted chestnuts and walnuts. Those nutty slightly sweet notes make me melt in happiness, I am pretty sure that is what drew me to roasted TGY in the first place.

Into my toasted Oolong pot the leaves go for a nice bath! The notes that come off of the thoroughly soaked leaves is delightfully toasted, roasted chestnuts and toasted bread mingle with gentle char notes and mineral notes. The liquid is very similar, notes of walnuts and roasted chestnuts with toasted bread, the mineral and char notes are very light, and at the finish there is a distinct note of orchids.

Oh wow, that first sip is so sweet! Notes of caramelized walnuts wash over my tongue and wow, that was delicious and unexpected, points for possibly being the sweetest roasted TGY I have ever had. Next is notes of toasted bread and delicate distant orchids, with a finish if cocoa and a slightly cooling sensation, which is also unexpected.

The aroma of the second steeping is toasted nuts and delicate spicebush flowers, with a touch of orchid and caramelized sugar. At the finish there is a tiny bit of mineral and char. This steeping is intensely toasted, strong notes of walnut shells, toasted nuts and bread, and a sharp finish of black walnuts with a lingering sweetness.

Third steep, the aroma is still going strong with toasted nuts, walnuts, and spicebush. The end is a burst of minerals and orchids. The taste is less intensely toasted, but has rolled back around to sweet caramelized walnuts. There are still notes of toasted bread and toasted chestnuts, with a delicate finish of orchids and sweetness. Ah, this tea was quite delicious, a wonderful example of a roasted Tie Guan Yin!

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/08/sanne-tea-traditional-tie-guan-yin.html

I have been doing a side by side tasting of this with Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company’s Farmer Lee’s Sun Moon Lake. My palate is not very nuanced, I know, but I don’t detect a significant difference between these two at 45 seconds or at 90 seconds. Honey, malty, sweet and sour at the same time. Neither will replace Butiki’s TWMB – lacking that bready, yeasty component. But both excellent teas. When I run out of BTTC’s and if they haven’t gotten any more, I’ll hope that Sanne Tea will still have this one!

I opened the package and took a deep breath. The leaf smelled roasty and hearty, like it was fresh and still full of flavor. The leaves were long and unbroken. I always like it when you can actually see two leaves and a bud still together.

I brewed the tea in a little clay gaiwan that I only use for oolongs, but it doesn’t photograph well and it’s impossible to see the color of the tea in it, so I transferred the tea to this neat little antique set that I found online. The mountain on the picture makes me think of Taiwan.

I was all set to go six steeps since that’s the number on the package but after five both the tea and I were done. I love the first steep of an oolong, and this one was no disappointment. The tea had a light mouth feel – not coating at all. The flavor was pure nectar: sweet and lightly floral/fruity. Really lovely. The aftertaste was long lasting and sweet. Even the color was like honey.

Full review and photos: https://tealover.net/2015/07/sanne-tea-oriental-beauty/

You know what is really gratifying? Blowing a professional chef’s mind with my baking creations. I am pretty much in charge of baking stuff in the house, but since I have to eat gluten free, my stuff is always gluten free. Many years ago (what we with gluten problems call the Dark Times) it was nigh impossible to find decent breads and such (it was always weirdly textured or tasted really odd, and cost a small fortune) and baking was practically fancy alchemy left to the pros. Poor Fish had to spend a couple years living gluten free and has grown to hate it, so he understandably felt a great deal of trepidation when he found out my baking would lack the glory that is wheat. So far he has been really impressed by my creations, but what really took the cake was the dumplings in the soup the other night, I made them totally from scratch and they were some of the best I have ever had and he is still raging about it. I seem to have developed mad skills, who knew?

Sanne Tea sent me some more tea to review, yay! I am such a sucker for Taiwanese teas, and totally made a squee when I saw that one of the samples was Taiwan No. 18, you might know this glorious black tea as Sun Moon Lake Tea, Hong Yu, Red Jade, or Ruby Black…a tea of many names and many faces. I say many faces because this is one of the most unique aroma and flavor profiles I have run into in tea, and this is thanks to the strain of tea plant this tea is made from, a hybridization of wild mountain tea plants and Burma Assam tea plants, of course the terroir of region helps as well. The farmer of this particular tea roasted it on a lower temperature, meaning it takes longer to roast and there is a larger element of uncertainty. Well, as expected, I was floored by the aroma, I just love this stuff, blending strong notes of sassafras and menthol (but without the mint, it is weird, you need to sniff this one yourself to truly understand the menthol without mint) with an accompaniment of cocoa, malt, and sweet potatoes. It is very sweet and rich, probably sweeter than other versions of this tea I have sniffed.

Brewing the tea (I really want a special Yixing for this tea, it is so unique, I want to know how the clay would affect it) the leaves are very complex, there is just so much going on! Strong notes of sassafras and menthol with honey, dates, cocoa, malt, sweet potatoes, and even a touch of cinnamon and licorice at the finish. The liquid is very sweet with notes of sassafras, dates, and sweet potato, not so much on the menthol, but the sassafras is wonderful. If you ever get the chance to have a rootbeer with real sassafras in it, go for it!

Ok, I am sitting down, I know how Red Jade affects me, I get tea drunk from the first sip of this stuff! The cup comes to my lips, I sip…and omg that is delicious. There are a pile of exclamation points in my notes. The taste starts out with sweetness, notes of honey and dates as the first burst of flavor, this moves to sassafras and the cooling sensation of the menthol, really it is like the sensation and not the taste, it is very strange but so good. The finish is a blend of malt and cocoa with an aftertaste of dark (but not too dark, like 60%) chocolate that kinda curves up to sweet quite a while later.

Second steeping, the aroma is a sweet blend of honey, cocoa, sweet potatoes and of course the iconic (to me) sassafras notes. The taste is a bit more brisk this steep, with notes of woodiness, sweet potato and malt taking up the forefront, this pretty quickly switches to sassafras and menthol at the middle, the menthol lingering into the aftertaste with an accompaniment of honey and dates at the finish. This was a steep to wake up the mouth, similar to eating a mouthful of ginger without the burn.

Third steeping, like the previous one, notes of honey and cocoa blend with sassafras, though no sweet potato this time, but there was a bit of malt. This steep is a bit more mellow, more similar to the first steep, it lacks the briskness of the second but makes up for it in sweetness. Starting out with honey and dates, with a bit of chocolate, this moves to a burst of sassafras and finally finishing out with I swear it tastes just like candied yams! Another fine example of a tea that is a work of art, the more I drink of Red Jade (or whatever name you know it by) the more I love it and crave it.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/07/sanne-tea-taiwan-no18-tea-review.html

Yesterday, courtesy of Lulu and George of Sanne Tea, I brewed Yu Shan High Mountain Oolong tea Western style: 6.5 g / 8 oz. / 212*F / 2 min. without sweeteners, milk, or cream.

Intro.: From the artistic Asian-themed packaging and presentation one gets the impression that this is a very special Oolong that was crafted with great care and pride. Per the enclosed info card, Yu Shan “is among the top grades of Oolong tea.” This hand-picked (April, 2013) and family-made Oolong is grown on the tallest mountain in East Asia, Jade Mountain – “one of the most remote wilderness regions in Taiwan.” With such a growing environment, it’s not surprising that this tea has passed pesticide residue testing. This is very good news for those who are health conscious. Not every tea can pass such rigorous testing.

Leaves: Green balls with some stems
Fragrance: Roasted green tea with a very pleasing floral sent
Color: Light golden yellow
Aroma: Roasted green tea with a very pleasing floral sent
Flavor: Medium roasted with an underlying flavor that reminded me of green tea with a rich caramel buttery-smooth taste.

2-min.: Even though this tea is a light golden color, 8 oz. of it is surprisingly rich, buttery-smooth, warm, and very relaxing. Add to that, the caramel flavor and the very pleasing and potent floral aroma and you have a very captivating tea experience! There was no astringency or bitterness. Sanne Tea’s Yu Shan High Mountain Oolong made an excellent first impression for a tea lover like me who has no previous experience with such high quality Oolong teas.

3-min. resteep: similar to the previous cup but with some bitterness. This cup reminded me of Gunpowder Green tea. The dry green balls were now unfurled into full unbroken leaves. Perhaps 3-min. was too long for the first resteep. The brewing instructions didn’t provided resteeping recommendations.

Impression: A very rich, refined, and very captivating Oolong tea experience!

Thanks to Lulu and George of Sanne Tea for this gracious sample.

Suggestions:
Please consider adding:
1. Complete Western and Gongfu brewing information on the package:
grams / ounces / temp. / time and brewing times for each resteep.
2. Organic certifications, EUROFINS compliance, or webpage of pesticide residue test reports to the packaging.

Method:
RO water re-mineralized with an Aptera filter http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/39532-puregen-aptera-alkamag-water-filter
http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/37731-my-weigh-durascale-d2-660-digital-scale
Brewed western-style conveniently using a digital variable-temp electric kettle in a tempered tea mug with a brew basket:
http://steepster.com/teaware/bonavita/39130-1-liter-variable-temperature-digital-electric-gooseneck-kettle
http://steepster.com/teaware/royal-albert/45581-old-country-roses-afternoontea-mugs
http://steepster.com/teas/teaware/29177-finum-brewing-basket
http://steepster.com/teaware/teavana/39312-perfect-preset-tea-timer

First, thank you Lulu for the sample. I tried the survey link and could not get it to work.

I thought Dongding was a heavily roasted oolong. Happily, and to my surprise, this one isn’t. I do my best to fairly review heavy roasted stuff but it is honestly my least favorite type of tea. So Yeah for this one!

The dry leaf is so floral. Love. The nuggets are tightly rolled with just a little stem tail. After steeping I always am amazed. How did they get all that leaf and stem in there?

So, the taste… this is how I think all oolong should taste. I am not really catching any roasted note at all. Instead, I am catching the orchid like floral notes, followed by a passing buttery popcorn flavor. There is also a spice note along the lines of nutmeg. Very nice.

I also got this sample from Lulu a couple of weeks ago – apologies for the delay in this write-up and in my completion of the survey! I didn’t want to have it after work and not really appreciate it, so I’ve kept the sample safe until I had a good opportunity to actually enjoy it – today was that day! :D

After breakfast, my brother and I sat down to enjoy this tea – and it really was very lovely! :D The dry leaves smelled wonderful; pastries, flowers, brown sugar… Lovely! :D

I brought down my beloved Verdant gaiwan and set about this tea – as the sample came in to around 6g, I opted to use the whole sample and just do really short, fairly hot steeps. And I think it worked fantastically.

The resultant tea was smooth, creamy, and delicious – it had a wonderfully thick mouthfeel and really intense flavours of orchids and pastries, the flavours I most enjoy in Taiwanese High-Mountain oolongs. Five steeps later, and around ten seconds per infusion was enough; each cup was intense and flavoursome, without any bitterness and very, very low astringency. We’ll keep drinking this throughout the day, that’s for sure.

This oolong really was very, very delicious. I have only positive things to say about it! :D Perhaps, when my stash runs down, I shall turn to Sanne Tea for some more.

I should also comment on the packaging: it came in a lovely sealed foil bag, within a beautifully labelled little green envelope-thing. The information card, too, that the tea came with was wonderful – lots of information about the growing/cultivation of the tea, about the location of origin, about the farmer, and about the tea itself (in terms of harvest date, oxidation, roasting etc.).

Wonderful! :D Thanks so much for this Lulu; I’m really grateful for the opportunity to try this sample of your delicious tea :D

Another busy week with a busy start! Yesterday was mostly eaten up by visiting the doctor (and no, I do not want to talk about it, let’s just say I am not happy about that visit) and gaming, Ben took me out for a post-doctor, pre-game Korean meal where I promptly OD’d on Kimchi and Okusucha. My Oppressor made his debut and I barely won my game, it was crazy close and awesome fun. My Oppressor and Minder Swarm and my opponent’s Desolator were so well loved that we get to be the photo for next week’s league announcement, I am so proud. Today is Ben’s birthday and we will be celebrating it using the powers of Indian food.

Today we are taking another look at Sanne Tea with their Dong Ding Oolong, this specific Dong Ding is from the winter of 2013 and grown by a farmer whose Dong Ding Oolong has won several awards. This Dong Ding is only lightly roasted, meaning it lacks the really intense roasted tones I find myself going nutty for, but retains that delicate floral notes that give the tea a heady lightness. The unroasted and very lightly roasted version of Dong Ding is something else, if you ever get the chance I suggest doing a side by side comparison of different levels of roast with a Dong Ding, it is quite the adventure! The aroma of this particular Dong Ding is right in the middle of being floral and roasted, with notes of popcorn, spicebush, hyacinth, honeysuckle, toasted sesame, and a distant note of orchid. I really enjoyed how the roasted notes and floral notes played off each other rather than clashing, so mad props to the roaster for knowing exactly when to stop, something I am still learning with my little personal roaster.

I was torn rather or not to brew this tea in my roasted Oolong yixing or in a gaiwan, I decided on going with my yixing, theorizing that a little bit of a floral note being imparted into the clay would not ruin my seasoning. So, after steeping the leaves, the aroma is strong with notes of spicebush, hyacinth, and lilac, it is very heady with only a touch of toasted sesame at the end. The liquid is sweet and floral, with notes of spicebush and lilac, with a distinct sweet finish of honey that lingers in my nose for a while.

This is a smooth and silky tea, the mouthfeel is just delightful, it coats the mouth with its smoothness. The taste is primarily in the camp of a green, floral, oolong, with notes of fresh vegetation and flowers. It is very sweet and heady, starting off with lilac and hyacinth and moving on to honey and broken leaves at the midtaste. The end has a hint of toasted sesame and spicebush, tying in the roasted tones and giving the tea a level of richness.

And onward to the second steep the leaves go! This time the aroma gets a little bit more of the toasted quality, with spicebush and toasted sesame being more dominant and the heady floral notes of lilac being secondary. The taste is even more floral than the first, it is super heady and sweet, like drinking the nectar of lilacs and hyacinths. Yes, I do in fact have hummingbird envy, and yes I have tried to drink numerous flower’s nectar, it is hard! The finish is a tiny bit of toasted sesame, which I think is pretty fun. As much as I love roasted Dong Ding (and totally picked the wrong pot, oops) this only lightly roasted Dong Ding was delicious.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/03/sanne-tea-dong-ding-oolong-tea-review.html

I got this sample awhile back but got raging allergies for the first time in my life, followed 4 days later by a vicious 4 day stomach bug that basically kept me tea free for nearly two weeks total!

I am glad I waited until I was totally well to drink this- it is beautifully fragrant. It is floral but also creamy and lasts for 3 solid steeps western style, but could conceivably do another. Lovely for a chilly spring day!

I got this sample in the mail last week from Lulu. Thanks Lulu. I filled out the online questionnaire at surveymonkey.

According to the info card on this tea, it’s from a farm on Yu Shan Mountain , the tallest mountain in East Asia with a height of 13,000 ft. This tea is considered among the top grades of oolong tea and the production is very limited.

This a medium roast oolong. It brews up a dark golden colour. A wonderful floral aroma to this tea with a smokey roasted flavour. It’s smooth with a hint of buttery flavour underneath the roast. My 2nd cup has a little bit of bitterness in it but that’s only because I oversteeped the 2nd infusion just a bit. There were plenty of leaves in the gaiwan that were just uncurling in the first infusion and on the 2nd I should have kept the time short.

On to the 3rd infusion. Kept this one really short: 1 min and it’s excellent. The roasted flavour is toned down a bit. No bitterness at all. Still a wonderful floral aroma. I could probably keep going on this tea. There’s plenty of flavour in those leaves.

Cries, tears, gnashing of teeth, pulling of hair…yeah, for those of you who follow along in my life journey, you know that Monday’s are Dropzone Commander League! I went against my most ancient of foe, the Shaltari, in a killpoint battle and got stomped, the backside of my Desolator was handed to me. At least I got to break out the Desolator and instill fear in my opponent, too bad I could not roll anything other than ones. My skills were on par, but my dice really love the Shaltari and so, I lost.

Enough about my dice betraying me, today we are looking at Sanne Tea’s Honey Black Tea, Sanne Tea is a work in progress company that sent a bunch of samples out to various steepster members and I was lucky enough to receive a few. They specialize in Taiwanese tea, which you all know I have a serious weakness for. This specific tea, comes from Wuhu Village in Ruishi township and is one of those awesome teas that is created thanks to the leafhopper biting the leaves causing a defense reaction in the leaves, resulting in a delightfully sweet aroma and taste. Before I get into the tea, allow me to leave you with this picture of the packaging the tea sample came in, it is beautiful and I had to show it off.

The aroma of the leaves is true to the name, it is intensely sweet and rich, like warmed honey, baking bread, molasses, cocoa, and a very distinct malty finish. It is a very pleasant aroma that I enjoyed sniffing while waiting for my tea kettle to heat up, like a pig looking for truffles I snuffled the leaves happily.

Brewing the leaves I got a pleasant malty aroma wafting around the room, but the real party is examining the wet leaves. I detected notes of sassafras, I love sassafras, I used to have a sassafras tree in my yard and the branches smelled so good when broken. There is also a bit of cocoa and lots of sweet honey goodness. The liquid is a blend of honey, cocoa and a bit of malt at the finish, rich but not too rich.

Well, this tea has a nice intensity to it, it starts out very sweet and creamy, with a combination of honey and cocoa. This transitions to a slightly sharper, in both taste and texture, note of malt and molasses. The finish is honey and it does not linger overlong.

Second time! This steep has a blend of sweet cocoa, a bit of maltiness, and a finish of molasses in the aroma. For tasting, well, this is one of those teas that just works for me taste-wise, it blends notes of cocoa and honey with molasses and malt. It has just the right amount of sweetness and sharpness that makes me happy. Also a finish of baking bread for extra yum, I could certainly see myself buying more of this tea once they get their shop open. I had several more steeps of this one and found that it did not change much, but it had some great staying power, which made it a good painting companion.

For blog and photos (and a friendly Desolator): http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/03/sanne-tea-honey-black-tea-tea-review.html