Siam Tee Shop

I am steeping this one in gaiwan, using all 5 grams in 100 ml; and while first steeps nutty, the latter were hay, grass and little vegetal and then… just nothing. It doesn’t last long even with fast steeps; and mouthfeel is really thin.

I don’t get any orchids at all. While it is drinkable, it is just too thin to get more of this one.

Reading about what to expect from this Nepal green tea didn’t make this Grinch very eager to turn on the kettle this morning. I steeped 3 g of leaf in 150 ml of 195F water for 1, 2, 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of smoke, grass, and umami. The first steep gives me buttered spinach, grass, kale, seaweed, astringency, and smoke. The smoke and seaweed become even more prominent as the tea cools. The second steep is even more vegetal, with spinach, kale, and grass, backed by smoke, seaweed, and umami. A few floral and herbaceous notes are buried beneath the veggies. I get some lilac hints in the next steep, though the veggies and smoke are still prevalent. The final steeps are smokey, grassy, vegetal, and astringent.

This was not my cup of tea. Even if you like vegetal, umami flavours, the tea was harsh and not particularly nuanced. Nepal can produce some amazing tea (I’m thinking of Jun Chiyabari and Bhakanje), but apparently it can also produce this. As another Christmas grouch would say, “Bah humbug!”

This is my five hundredth tasting note! It’s hard to believe that I’ve consumed so many teas since joining Steepster in 2017. It’s been a fun ride!

After reading Martin’s glowing review, I’ve been looking forward to this tea. I’ve had a Taitung red oolong from Cha Yi and it was mellow and fruity, which bodes well for this session. I steeped 5 g of leaf in 120 ml of 195F water for 40, 30, 40, 40, 60, 75, 90, 120, 180, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of dried apricots, honey, spices, and roast. The first two steeps have notes of dried apricot and other dried fruits, bananas, honey, spices, malt, and wood. Steeps three and four add red berries (maybe strawberry?) and bread, while retaining the honey and roast. There are more jammy berries in the next few steeps, along with honey, bread, wood, and roast. The fruit fades in the final steeps, and the tea has notes of honey, malt, roast, wood, and minerals.

This red oolong lived up to the high praise. I enjoyed the berry notes, and the tea never got bitter or grassy. It also had good longevity. I kind of wish the flavours had been amped up a bit, but that’s typical for red oolongs.

I knew there was a puerh in this calendar somewhere, and here it is. I’ve successfully avoided puerh for many years, both because good ones are expensive and because I didn’t enjoy the few examples I tried. However, even this puerh sceptic has heard of Dayi 7542. Hopefully this aged sheng will be better than the fishy messes I had previously. I steeped 5 g of leaf in 120 ml of 200F water for 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of forest floor, wood, dates, and minerals. The first steep has notes of dirt, wood, and minerals. The second steep adds compost and more earth, with something like rubber in the aftertaste. Steeps three and four add smoke and a hint of sweetness. Subsequent steeps feature more dirt, minerals, smoke, and hints of dates. The final steeps are earthy, metallic, woody, and musty.

I have no idea whether diehard puerh fans consider this a good tea. It’s less unpleasant than the puerh I’ve tried in the past, but it didn’t have any flavours that really drew me in. I did twelve steeps of something that tasted like dirt mixed with iron filings. It wasn’t fishy or overly bitter, so I guess that’s a plus? Anyway, this is not the puerh that will make me love this type of tea.

After the DMS Four Seasons Oolong, I can’t say I’m too happy to see a green tea from Northern Thailand. Green Qing Xin teas are not too popular for a reason, though some Taiwanese examples can be good. I steeped 2.3 g of leaf in 150 ml of 167F water for 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 minutes.

The dry aroma is of almonds, orchids, and grass. The first steep has faint notes of toasted almond, orchid, grass, spinach, cream, and other nuts. There’s no bitterness, but the tea is very mild, to the point that I’m having trouble detecting flavours. The next steep features grass, spinach, nuts, and something metallic. Subsequent steeps are very grassy and vegetal, with some metallic and nutty notes. The tea never gets overly bitter, probably because of the low steeping temperature.

This tea is nutty, floral, vegetal, and grassy. Steeped according to the vendor’s recommendations, it was soft and inoffensive, but not remarkable in any way.

These little jasmine hearts are cute! It’s been a while since I’ve had a jasmine white tea. I remember loving Teavana’s Jasmine Silver Needle many years ago, though who knows whether it was actually a quality tea. I steeped one 2.5 g heart in 120 ml of 195F water for 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9 minutes.

The dry aroma is of jasmine, and maybe some nuttiness from the white tea. The first steep has notes of heady jasmine, followed by honey, nuts, and hay from the base. The second steep is similar, but with a touch of astringency as these small leaves break off from the heart. The heart is a pile of leaves by the end of steep three, though the flavour hasn’t changed that much. Subsequent steeps feature strong jasmine, honey, meadow flowers, hay, nuts, and a bit of astringency. The final steeps are a little grassy, but still nice and jasmine forward.

This tea delivers lots of lovely jasmine and floral notes. It’s slightly astringent and the leaves are kind of small for a white tea, but overall, I enjoyed it. It also has great longevity for such a small amount of leaf.

After my experience with Snow Shan Green, I wasn’t too excited to see this tea. The names are also confusing. My package says Artisan Arbor, the list of advent teas says Golden Curls, and the website calls it Vietnam Black Tea. I have no idea whether all of these names refer to the tea I’m drinking. I steeped 3 g of leaf in 150 ml of 195F water for 3, 4, 5, and 7 minutes, plus another long, uncounted steep.

The dry aroma is of cocoa, malt, bread, wood, and herbs. The first steep has notes of cocoa, honey, bread, malt, dark wood, roast, grass, and herbs. The second steep gives me a distinct note of rose. (Have I been drinking too many rose-flavoured things lately?) I still get hints of rose in the next steep, along with pleasant honey, bread, malt, cocoa, wood, and faint tannins. The final two steeps are sweet, malty, and slightly tannic.

This is a sweet, pleasant, uncomplicated tea that, as the vendor notes, is reminiscent of a Yunnan hongcha. It’s something I don’t need to concentrate on too much. The rose, if it isn’t a figment of my imagination, is a nice bonus.

My knowledge of Japanese green tea is still pretty limited, as there are other tea types that offer more of the fruity, floral flavours I gravitate toward. This is a seed-grown sencha, which means it should provide some unique flavour notes. Since the vendor recommended using almost boiling water, I steeped 5 g of leaf in 250 ml of 195F water for 1, 1.5, 2.5, 4, and 5 minutes.

The dry aroma is of fresh mountain air, grass, nuts, and umami. The first steep has notes of butter, spinach, kale, broccoli, cut grass, macadamia nuts, sunflower seeds (thanks, Roswell Strange!), and umami. The tea is a little astringent, even at a one-minute steep. The kale and spinach are even stronger in the next steep, though the macadamia and sunflower combo is still interesting. I detect a smidge of orange amid all the vegetal astringency, along with some florality in the aftertaste. Steep three is slightly less astringent, letting the sunflower seeds, nuts, and faint citrus come to the forefront. The final two steeps are grassy, nutty, slightly astringent, and vegetal, with hints of butter and sunflower seeds.

This tea has the vegetal, grassy profile I associate with sencha, though the sunflower seeds and citrus are a little unusual. It was a nice change of pace from all the oolongs and black teas lately.

I’ve had a couple Qilan oolongs from Wuyi, but this is my first one from Fujian. The vendor didn’t give clear gongfu instructions, so I steeped my 5 g sample in 120 ml of 195F water for 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 50, 60, 75, 90, 180, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of honey, grain, roast, and char. The first steep has notes of honey, grain, roast, wood, orchid, spice, and faint plum. The orchid is a little more noticeable in steep two. I get hints of orchid, plum, other stonefruit, grass, and clove in the next couple steeps, on top of the honey, grain, roast, and wood. I even detect a bit of a peachy/plummy aftertaste. In steeps five and six, the roast and char are slightly more noticeable, though still with layers of honey, orchids, and peach/plum. I get lovely, floral orchid, peach, and nectarine in the aftertaste and at the bottom of the cup. The next few steeps are more nutty and roasted, with fewer floral hints and some grass. The final steeps fade into honey, roast, wood, and minerals.

I enjoyed this tea more than I thought I would, thanks largely to the florals and surprising stonefruit notes. This tea remained pleasant throughout the session without developing excessive sourness or char. I’d say this was more enjoyable than the Wuyi Qilan oolongs I’ve had because the roast was more balanced.

I have used only two grams as it is a little late by now and I don’t want a tea that keeps me awake a whole night.

Steeped western; using 300 ml mug. The aroma of the leaves was fine and nice to smell, but 3 minutes steep turned them to something brisk, however a without much a flavours and it was a little like decaffeined tea to me? Very metallic and definitely not tasty at all. While I will finish the cup, it will keep me wondering what to do with remaining 3 grams.

I have took all 5 grams in my 100 ml gaiwan and used 80°C water as suggested by the vendor for western steeping.

As it was quite tea-heavy, I decided for flash steeps, longest being just 30 seconds long.
While first two or three steeps were very floral, orchid-like and a little vegetal, the fourth or fifth steep turned very vegetal and very buttery, almost undrinkable to me. That said, I have finished this tea fairly quickly and overall, I wasn’t much a fan of this green oolong.

I’ve had some good teas from Okayti; I hope this first flush Darjeeling will be another one. I steeped 3 g of leaf in 150 ml of 195F water for 2, 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of florals, herbs, wood, and faint muscatel. The first steep has notes of orange, muscatel, florals, herbs, and grass. This is quite a green first flush with a silky texture. The next steep adds more herbs, grass, orange blossom, and wood. In the third steep, the muscatel is more prominent, but I also get some slight astringency. The final steep is herbaceous, grassy, woody, and vegetal.

This is a pleasant first flush Darjeeling that’s on the greener side, despite having some fun fruity accents. I probably could have used 4 g, but didn’t want to have only 1 g left over.

This is another type of tea I haven’t had in a while. I steeped 5 g of leaf in 150 ml of boiling water for 1.5, 2.5, 3, 5, and 7 minutes, plus some long, uncounted steeps.

The dry aroma is of heady rose, followed by malt and cocoa from the Yunnan black tea. The first steep leads with lovely, fragrant rose, followed by malt, dark cocoa, wood, hay, and tannins from the Yunnan base. I have a feeling I should have started at one minute. Steep two is still delightfully rosy, with the rose somewhat obscuring the tannins in the black tea. I also get notes of cocoa, wood, hay, earth, and tannins. The three-minute third steep calmed the tannins down substantially while retaining the rose. In steeps four and five, the rose is still prominent but a bit fainter, with supporting notes of malt, wood, earth, and tannins from the base. The rose lasts into the final steeps, while the base fades.

I have a soft spot for rose, so I enjoyed this tea, but the base could have been smoother. I think Wang Family Tea had a rose-scented black tea at some point, and I’m sure I would enjoy that one even more.

This is my first yellow tea from Thailand. Kudos to this vendor for finding cool and unusual teas to include in this calendar! The steeping instructions make me concerned that there will be a lot of astringency to mitigate. Following the vendor’s recommendations, I steeped 3 g of leaf in 150 ml of water using the following temperatures and times: 167F for 2 minutes, 175F for 1 minute, 195F for 2 minutes, and boiling water for 3 and 5 minutes.

The dry aroma is of banana, mango, and wood. The first steep has notes of wood and banana bread, followed by hints of mango, strawberry, and sharper berries. In the next steep, I get banana, mango, strawberry, and maybe grape aromas, while the flavour mainly consists of bread, wood, pine, and tannins. The tea has a herbaceous note as it cools. Steeps three and four offer notes of bread, malt, wood, grass, and herbs, with elusive hints of banana and strawberry and increasing astringency. The final steep is very faint, with notes of wood, minerals, and grass and no detectable fruit.

This yellow tea is very different from the Chinese yellow teas I’ve had, which all emphasize corn and beany notes. I enjoyed the fruity flavours, and I assume they would have been even stronger if I’d drank this tea closer to when it was picked. The thing that detracted from this tea the most for me was the barely-kept-in-check astringency and woodiness. Perhaps these qualities are due to this tea being from Assamica bushes. It was an interesting tea to try, but not one I’d repurchase.

I haven’t had a Sri Lankan tea in a while, let alone one from a semi-wild garden. The vendor recommended steeping 3-4 g of leaf in 100 ml of boiling water, so to use up the sample, I steeped 5 g of leaf in 150 ml of boiling water for 4, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma of these big leaves is of malt, honey, earth, and wood. Oof! This tea has a kick! The first thing I notice is briskness, followed by raisins, dates, malt, wood, honey, copper, earth, spices, and ugh, tannins upon tannins. This tea dries my mouth out like it’s its job. The second steep adds minerality, smoke, and yep, more tannins. I reluctantly undertook a third steep, which had notes of raisins, earth, grass, malt, wood, and tannins. This tea isn’t finished, but I think I’m finished with it.

I try to give every tea a fair chance, especially if it’s from a sustainable garden, but I didn’t enjoy this tea at all. The vendor usually gives great steeping recommendations, but using boiling water brought out all the flaws in this tea. I don’t know whether using less leaf at a lower temperature would have made an improvement. As it is, this tea was harsh, tannic, and metallic. Maybe people who like breakfast teas would have a better experience. I rarely throw out unspent leaves, but I don’t think I can handle any more of this.

I’ve had Si Ji Chun oolongs from Taiwan ranging from spicy and floral to grassy and unappealing. It will be interesting to try a Four Seasons oolong from Northern Thailand. I steeped 5 g of leaf in 120 ml of 185F water for 30, 25, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 180, and 240 seconds, plus some long, uncounted steeps.

The dry aroma is of peanut butter and florals. The first steep has notes of peanut brittle, grass, daffodils, orchids, and herbs. I get a hint of spice, maybe nutmeg. The next steep adds almonds, butter, coriander, and faint citrus. Steeps three and four are similar, with nuts, butter, coriander, nutmeg, herbs, spinach, and grass. The next couple steeps continue to be nutty, buttery, herbaceous, grassy, and slightly floral. In the final steeps, the tea continues to have appetizing aromas of almonds, peanuts, and butter, but is increasingly grassy, vegetal, herbaceous, and sharp.

This is a decent Si Ji Chun, especially in the earlier part of the session. However, it gets grassy and vegetal easily. The vendor’s recommended temperature of 175F for Western steeping probably reflects this. I enjoyed their Thai Sticky Rice Oolong more than their Four Seasons.

I don’t recall seeing Bhakanje either. But the leaves are very nice!

I prepared this tea also gongfu, using all 5 grams in 100 ml. Steeps were 20/30/40/50 and a few longer ones.

In a first steep I got old-well-known Nepalese terroir aromas, those being woody, but also very aromatic herbals, malts (a little like dark, roasted malts) and tannins. Considering that I haven’t made any rinse, this looks good!

Second steep was very malty and adds baked bread notes, which are extremely pleasing to me. There is a little dryness, but nothing too much. I haven’t noticed that much of herbals and florals as Leafhopper, but in the major flavours we noticed the same.

Following steeps were pretty much similar as others, always with some note being more dominant and others were weaker. I would not consider it very drying, but I was drinking it rather fast, that’s true.

I really like this one. But I am a little biased towards Nepalese teas, so that’s why. But it is also just a delicious tea. I will definitely keep this one in my wishlist.

Note: As I go tomorrow for 3 days long business trip, I won’t post any new notes. It will be hard to catch up, but hopefully I can make it!

Bhakanje, founded in 2019, doesn’t have the name recognition of gardens like Jun Shiyabari, at least to me, and I don’t recall seeing its tea on vendors’ websites. It’ll be interesting to see what a supposedly gonfu-able fall black tea from Nepal is like. I steeped 5 g of leaf in 120 ml of 195F water for 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 75, 90, 120, 180, and 240 seconds, plus some long, uncounted steeps.

The dry aroma of these pretty, tippy leaves is of honey, lemon, lavender, and wood. The first steep gives me notes of honey, lemon, lavender, other herbs, florals, malt, tannins, and wood. The tea is also drying if held in the mouth for too long. The second steep adds baked bread and a fruity note I’ll call pear. In the next couple steeps, I get more distinct lemon, lavender, orchid, violet, and wood, while the tea remains drying. Steeps five and six have more malt, earth, grass, wood, and tannins, though there’s still lots of lemon, pear, orange, and florals. Subsequent steeps are less fruity, though the lavender, herbs, and florals persist. The final rounds of this tea have notes of wood, earth, tannins, minerals, and malt, and some remaining lemon and florality.

Not only can this tea withstand gongfu steeping, but it can perform this way really well. It reminds me quite a lot of the Floral Lapsang Souchong from Wuyi Origin, a light, lemony, floral tea from a very different region. It had some woodiness and was a little more drying than its Wuyi counterpart, but overall, it was very pleasant to drink.

I have to say that the previous reviews of this tea don’t fill me with enthusiasm. I’ve had Vietnamese oolongs long ago, including What-Cha’s famously good Red Buffalo, but don’t remember having any green teas from this region and hearing that they could get bitter. I steeped 5 g of leaf in 250 ml of 160F water for 2, 1.5, 2.5, 4, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is quite floral, with hints of spinach and grass. The vendor describes this floral aroma as tea flowers, though my closest guess was orange blossom. The first steep has ethereal notes of orange, pomegranate, kiwi, magnolia, and orange blossom, with background notes of spinach and grass. The next steep continues to carry top notes of pomegranate, orange, honeydew, and florals, with the more vegetal green tea lurking beneath the surface. I get a nice kiwi and honeydew aftertaste from this steep. Steep three is still ethereally fruity and floral, but the green tea is beginning to show its teeth, with spinach, saline, beany, and astringent notes coming forward. Steeped for four minutes, the tea retains some of the magnolia, orange blossom, citrus, kiwi, and melon notes, though they’re becoming a bit soapy and the grass, spinach, and astringency are becoming distracting. The next steep is greener, with notes of spinach, grass, saline, and other veggies and hints of florals and tropical fruit. The final steep is predictably grassy, saline, mineral, and vegetal with slight fruity hints.

This is one of the most fruity green teas I’ve had in a while. I like the tropical and floral flavours, but the astringent, vegetal base gets in the way. I imagine the base would be even more assertive if I’d steeped it using hotter water. This was an interesting tea to try, but it’s not a daily drinker for me.

Also, in case anyone wants even more tea, this is the last weekend of my Black Friday sale. You can get 20% off if you buy three or more items, and a free pouch of Fushoushan Green for orders over US$150. My list of teas is here: https://www.teaforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=2847

Not long time ago I had my first sticky rice tea from Curious Tea and now a little other one, though named in very similar way.

I used 85°C water for all 4 steeps, starting with two minutes and doing minute incements but last steep was for longer time. And I have used only 2 grams in my 100 ml gaiwan.

First of all, it is strongly aromatic in pouch, so I know exactly what to expect.
First steep was a little bland, though. Definitely some sticky rice notes, maybe a little of milky and floral notes are there too.
But then it started! Second one was very, but very strong and thick tasting. Amazingly long mouthfeel, with sticky rice notes and that floral bomb in my mouth! A little astringent, though. I guess a little shorter steep would be better.
Third steep was milky, rice, and florals were much lower. And last one was… just a little too “oolongy” with a little of sticky rice.

So, I need to find a way, how to make first steep so good as a second. Maybe I just need to be patient enough?

In conclusion: I like this one more than Curious Tea version. By a tiny bit.

I made a separate entry for this oolong because the existing one mentioned green tea from Myanmar (Burma), which is not what the website says this is. I believe I had some sticky rice oolong from What-Cha eons ago, but I don’t remember much about it. I steeped 2.3 g of leaf in 150 ml of 185F water for 2.5, 3.5, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of sticky rice, nuts, milk, and florals. The smell of this tea steeping made me hungry! The first steep tastes distinctly of nutty sticky rice; I also get faint floral, milky, and grassy notes, but the rice is really the main flavour. The second steep is nuttier and slightly more astringent, though the rice is still very prominent. The third steep is remarkably similar. By steep four, the tea is becoming more grassy and vegetal, though the rice persists.

This is by no means a complex tea, but the Jin Xuan conveys the sticky flavour really well and it was enjoyable to drink. If I end up ordering Thai food later today, this tea will be to blame!

It’s been a while since I’ve had a Ya Shi Xiang. Sometimes they’re floral and fruity, and other times they’re roasted to a level that obscures most other flavours, and you never know which type you’re going to get. Though the vendor’s steeping instructions seemed a bit odd for a Dancong, I decided to follow them because their parameters for their other teas have been solid. I steeped 5 g of leaf in 120 ml of 190F water for 40, 30, 40, 50, 60, 75, 90, 120, 180, and 240 seconds, plus some long, uncounted steeps.

The dry aroma is of honey, vanilla, and florals (I’m guessing gardenia, violet, and orchid). The first steep of this Dancong is an aromatic treat: honey, vanilla, orange, milk, jasmine, orchid, violet, and gardenia. In the mouth, I get hints of the roast, minerals, and tannins that are characteristic of Dancongs, though I also get many of the florals, especially jasmine. Jasmine, gardenia, and orange are prominent in steep two. Jasmine is the star in the next couple steeps, combined with vanilla, milk, caramel, and minerality, plus other florals. Steeps five and six feature jasmine, gardenia, milk, and banana, but the minerality, roast, and tannins are starting to assert themselves. The next couple steeps are a bit grassy and vegetal, but continue to deliver that lovely jasmine taste and aroma. It’s only near the very end of the session that the tea becomes roasty, mineral, and fairly astringent, though the jasmine and sweetness persist.

This is exactly the kind of Dancong that keeps me interested in exploring these often disappointing teas. It’s no secret that I like florals, and this Ya Shi Xiang has them in spades. It also has incredible longevity. I have a feeling that babying this tea with regard to temperature had a lot to do with mitigating the astringency. Some people might find it too perfumey and not sufficiently roasted, but while I respect traditional tea making, this very floral Dancong was a pleasure to drink.

This is my very first experience with “Duck ßh*t aroma” oolong and while I always wanted to try this mysterious tea, I am not sure I really wanted to try it today after very awful day at work.

That’s why I acutally started with La Via del Té one, but this comes after a little nap.

I steeped as suggested by vendor, 40 seconds being first steep using all 5 grams today in my 100 ml gaiwan, second a little shorter and then steeps with shorter, approx. 10 seconds increments.

The leaves were wonderful to look at, twisted, glossy and long, with no particular aroma detected, even though I have used a preheated gaiwan. Maybe I was just too tired or unfocused.
However, the aroma after first steep is very strong and fragrant. It tickles my nose, with something I am not able to describe well, but I think it can be that English name of it. It is very specific combination of mineral notes with fruits and florals.

As of taste of first steep, I am again pretty much clueless, but it is smooth and not bitter or astringent, very mouthcoating, but what the flavours are?

Second steep was 25 seconds only. Used leaves became more mineral, and a little salty maybe? The liquor is again very mouth coating and I do notice gardenia as in the oolong I had which was with those flowers. But this one was more intense, almost like an incense stick. Also it reminds me Pardubice Dobra Cajovna tearoom in such a way. After cooling a bit more, it is a little soapy to me… so that floral note is too strong for me.

In third steep I have noticed florals combined with some stonefruits, which are very ripe, almost melting like. Maybe it is a little like mirabelle plums? That aroma of this tea is very distinctive! A little less soap-y.

Fourth steep was approx. 50 seconds long as I needed to clean spilled water a bit and turned on the countdown a little later. But seems to be best steep? The soapy notes are gone and instead I got a nice, somehow fruity, notes.

And I steeped it a few more times, but let’s finish this tasting note here.

Do I like it? Well, I am not that sure. It was interesting and the mouthfeel was nice and long-lasting, however… well, it seems it is indeed taste to be acquired. And for that I would need more than 5 grams. Also 5 grams seem to be a little too strong, but I didn’t wanted to keep an awkward amount left. I may get a small bag when I place another order there.