Siam Tee Shop

ADVENT DAY 24, tea 1/3

If you feel that I have missed one tea from day 23, you’re absolutely correct. I didn’t drank it yet, in the time I am writing this note. And as I wanted to use my new tea pot… and enjoy a tea I can share, decided to skip that tea and prepare this one.

It has been phenomenal and there were just loads of flavour and complexity. Honey, spices, baked fruits, malt, brown sugar, you name it. Just a lot and not clashing each other at all… and the cups were great for sniffing and drinking.

Incredlibly smooth and mouth coating, with long and long mouthfeel and aftertaste; definitely, worth more steeps than this single one, but alas, I didn’t had time. But yes, it will appear in my next order at the Siam Tee Shop; once I finish lots of other black teas I have.

My father, who enjoyed this tea with me, said it is great tea and liked it very much and always asked for more once he has finished his cup. That’s something very uncommon from him. And I guess, it is a proof of very good tea.

New teapot (quick picture from phone: https://www.flickr.com/photos/152410333@N04/54226080868 ; including 4 cups (2 pictured))

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

ADVENT DAY 23, tea 2/3

A tea I drank yesterday too; steeped western, in a busy environment. Not a best setting for such a good tea.

Very floral, from mangolia as well as from tea itself. Very smooth and refreshing, I will probably buy a small qty to try it gongfu and in more calm place.

It would be much better if earlier in the advent; but that’s just my wish as I just couldn’t focus on this tea that much as I would like to.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

ADVENT DAY 22, tea 2/3

If I didn’t had so busy day, I would prepare this tea gongfu. Instead, I prepared it western and steeped twice. Luckily, this tea seems to don’t have a trouble with it and both infusions were equally tasty.

First steep was 4 minutes long and I got lots of, as I have read, typical #18 flavours. That’s robust full-bodied strong tea, with flavours that can be spicy — cinnamon mostly, woody notes (but in such a good way) and complexity. I haven’t noticed any freshness of mint; but I was completely okay with that.

The leaves expanded in my strainer so well, so I immediately thought that I have to try it for second time.

Second steep, which was 5 minute long brought very similar impressions, though a little bit weaker, that’s definitely real fact; but definitely still very flavourful. I assume it was more woody, instead of spicy, but I didn’t find it as a flaw.

Definitely, I will have to buy more of this one day, to give it chance steeping gongfu and overall… it is just so damn good tea and distinctly different from Nepalese or Georgian teas that I like, by a lot, too.

ADVENT DAY 21, tea 2/3

I have decided to brew this grandpa style and using one heart (I have received two).

Well, it wasn’t the cleverest thing to do, as leaves here are qute small and they are all in the mug. However, taste-wise it was fine, mostly jasmine (obvious) and fine white tea, sometimes a bit tends to white grapes; hay and meadows. Smooth and tasty, not bitter at all and again here we got a long mouthfeel.

Nothing I would purchase myself, but as a gift to someone — why not.

ADVENT DAY 19, tea 3/3

Hmm, an oolong. Alishan oolong.
Gaiwan time again; so 5 grams / 125 ml and boiling water.

So yes, gongfu with rather longer steeps… first three were 60/40/70 seconds long and then I just steeped it as long as I thought it is just right.

Definitely it is a floral bomb, lilacs and orchids… and in flavour a very mild, slightly green oolong notes (grass and meadows) and as well as some milkiness.

I believe I had better oolongs, but this is a very fine example for daily drinking. Or, maybe rather, a no fuss drinking. I have no comparation if it is not too expensive for that, though.

ADVENT DAY 18, tea 3/3

I am still behind. I am glad I finished the day though; there was rarely time for 2 cups. But I managed it.

This tea looks visually very nice. Lots of golden needles, some black ones and smells wonderfully. I regret I didn’t had time to brew it at work (on time), because I believe, based on my experience today with western brewing; that it could survive grandpa brewing.

Today late afternoon/early evening sessions were wonderful and I am glad I had two.
I couldn’t point out the aroma when sniffing first steep, I thought about honey but my brother disagreed. But it was familiar and so cozy.
When sipped, there were lots of flavours and I am not able to pin them all. But wihout any more ado, here are a few that comes to mind when drinking second steep: bread, freshly baked bread or bread crust; yams; malt; cocoa and chocolate — that goes well to the coconut balls we were making; a little of spicy notes, and again, I do notice that honey-ish note, especially when a little colder.

High chances to buy a bigger pouch of this.

ADVENT DAY 17, tea 2/3

Gongfu, 3 grams / 100 ml (not filling full gaiwan) / 90°C (as suggested)

Nice and grassy sencha, with no seaweed, buttery or salty taste; instead I got nice meadow and freshly cut grass notes.

I wasn’t paying too much attention to the steeps, so some were good, some worse and one or two were truly exceptional with very long mouthfeel and nice flavour and aromas. In those exceptional steeps are definitely also notes of mountain and morning dew (no matter how lyrical this sounds) and to be honest, maybe I just didn’t noticed or it’s not there… there was no umami (or very low).

ADVENT DAY 15, tea 2/3

Hmm, yummy!
A cup full of round muscatel, followed with some herbal and grassy notes; with mouthcoating qualities like a honey. Gulped it down.

Last year it was fruitier than this vintage, but nevertheless it’s wonderful cup.

ADVENT DAY 14, tea 2/3

I believe this is very fine teas, but it seems I am not so much fan of yancha oolongs, ya’ know?

It is strong in mineral tastes, with warming cinnamon aftertaste. Maybe a bit too roasted for my tastes. It wasn’t rough, just I am not a friend of this flavour profile.

Prepared gongfu – 5 g / 125 ml; 90°C.
Intentionally without rating

ADVENT DAY 13, tea 3/3
Logging a day late as I had a Christmas work team gathering. And actually drank on day 14.

Two steeps, each 2 minutes long.

It wouldn’t be truth if I say I never had Ceylon-grown white tea. I had and I quite liked them. But yes, they are quite rare, indeed.

Intense floral notes, slightly reminding me elderflowers; followed with woody notes. But from light trees; birch for instance. Second steep is definitely woodier, with honey notes.
Mouthfeel is long and oily, aftertaste is herbaceous.

Interesting twist of White Peony and I never heard about Ebony Springs Tea Plantation, but they have apparently a good tea. At least their white tea.

ADVENT DAY 11, tea 2/3

After steeping and drinking this tea I realised it’s a tea for tomorrow! Whoops, I guess! So tomorrow I will drink tea for today. Let’s see what is it.

I am actually fan of rose teas, but it wasn’t always the case! They used to be too floral, somehow artificial, but then I got to try some good loose leaves and better tea bags and voilá I like it.

This one is Yunnan black tea and just scented with oil instead of petals. Adding a few would make the visual much better though. It was a bit boring.

Not a surprise, this one is very aromatic. After rose, naturally. A little peppery in the scent.
The flavour was just great… as a quality base was used. Malty and chocolate base, with some earthiness too. Strong and enjoyable. The rose level was just right, not too strong, but also not too weak. A little more and it would be peppery, which is disliked by some (I personally would like it), and not too little to search for any rose in this.

In conclusion, it’s not so expensive, so it has got a good chances to buy a pouch of this one day.

ADVENT DAY 10, tea 1/3

Another tea from Laos and again a tea I will need to buy to try it again steeped in different ways. Today I steeped it western, all 5 grams / 300 ml; steeped for 5 minutes.

Even dry leaves are very aromatic after raisins, red grapes and wine; along with cocoa and malty notes.

The mouthfeel of this is amazing, smooth and long; sweet cocoa with red grapes, dates and raisins. Malt isn’t much present in flavours, but sweet grape flavour lingers long in the mouth and rather longer steeping time did not hurt the tea nor my stomach.

Vendor suggests brewing in clay tea pot, but sadly I don’t own any… maybe I will just look after some soon-ish. And putting this tea to wishlist, so I know I just want to try it again. It’s not the cheapest tea, but definitely worth more session and more focus. And yes, it seems it is another winner. And now I am indeed glad I decided to give this calendar a try.

ADVENT DAY 9, tea 1/3

Two green in a row? Well, it is because skipped day…

Anyway, this was just… weak. I steeped 3 grams in 300 ml, used 90°C water as suggested and my white tea that I had yesterday was definitely more flavourful. But steeped leaves of this smelled nice.

I wonder if I should steep it longer than 2.5 minutes, but I was preparing as suggested by vendor. Just the ratio was a bit lower… but I just expecte it more flavourful. I guess that remaining 2 grams I just need to steep gongfu, in lower water qty and with long(er) steeping times.

Without the rating deliberately.

ADVENT DAY 7, tea 3/3

All 5 grams in my gaiwan ready for 90°C water (as suggested) steeped 60, 20, 60, 120 seconds. Sadly I don’t have softest water, instead quite hard water.

I had a preheated gaiwan (well… I have cleaned it and then I just put tea in); and there were lots of grassy and umami notes.

1st steep, 60 seconds
Strong in umami, slight grassy notes and very sweet. Sadly the mouthfeel was rather short.

2nd steep, 20 seconds
Definitely strong in umami again, followed with grassy and some seaweed notes, not so present, but present buttery notes; not so sweet cup this time. Hints of astringency!

3rd steep, 60 seconds
Umami has finally weaked, but it’s full of seaweed now, quite salty and buttery, in aroma freshly cut grass, zucchini.

4th steep, 120 seconds
This steep is again flavorful, cut grass, zucchini, less of seaweed and salty taste… probably I like this one the most?
Long mouthfeel, mouth coated with that grassy note which I have expected.

Now I just want to give this tea another chance and probably steeping in colder water. Because the last steep was definitely with colder water than the others; as I could drink it much earlier. Used leaves smell after kohlrabi, and I think they are indeed “done”.

Available directly from Japan from: https://www.the-tea-crane.com/ — there is no collaboration between them and me :)

ADVENT DAY 8, tea 1/3

Yes, it’s right. I skipped third tea for Day 7 because it’s a sencha, and I wanted to prepare it correctly. Yesterday, I was too tired to pay attention to details, and my thermos was full of Tielka’s Persian Mint Chai, which needed a thorough cleaning before brewing any other tea. I usually use my thermos to store hot water during gongfu sessions, but yesterday was an exception.

Now, onto the Kanchanjangha. I steeped the entire 5-gram packet in my strainer using almost 90°C water and steeped for 4.5 minutes.

The resulting liquor was murky but filled with wonderful aromas. I detected distinct fruity notes of cherry and raisin, along with woody cedar notes. The flavors were quite similar, with additional notes of dark chocolate, florals, and muscatel. The finish had a subtle malty and tobacco character.

This tea is definitely high in caffeine and made for a great breakfast tea. It woke me up nicely. I highly recommend it! As someone who has a soft spot for Georgian teas, I’m also developing a fondness for Nepali teas.

ADVENT DAY 6, tea 1/3

Today I just did completely different line-up of the teas. And brought this to the office, as it is like a tea bag and I thought that it would be great in huge mug that I have there.

And it seems that those rods are quite widespread, as Alistair from What-cha offers them, The Steeping Room as well as Rakkasan; and I am pretty sure I saw them elsewhere too. And I am pretty sure they are from same source, just bought from different vendors.

After explanation to my co-worker what I actually steep; I could drink a very malty (almost beer-y, I mean “polotmavý” style) hot liquor that was warming me inside greatly, with very smooth and round taste with long mouthfeel; and slight woody (oak) taste.

Truly wonderful and easy going tea, though I had a bit higher expectations. I wonder because of “Wild” in the name, or just expected some wow effect in flavors or scents… this one wasn’t vanilla rod, which is also offered. Maybe that was missing :)

ADVENT DAY 4, tea 2/3

I have accidentally closed this note before saving, so only short recap below. Noone is interested in long notes anyway.

Gongfu, 2 grams / 125 ml gaiwan, 80°C water, longer steeps (15 s + 15 s increments)

Interesting flavour profile: corn and corn husks, followed by hay and grassy notes, with longer steeps there are buttery notes; from 4th steep astringency and bitterness, but still perfectly serviceable tea; and can’t wait for more focused session with remaining 3 grams.

ADVENT DAY 3, tea 3/3

And last one, served at home, steeped western all 5 grams in 300 ml of boiling water.

I remember having Doke black tea once and I wasn’t too impressed, but this one is better than the previous experience. It was very strong with high caffeine content, full-bodied and malty tea. There is quite strong tannic note and hints of woodiness in the flavour, not really sure if I like it in my afternoon cup. It rather tastes like one of the breakfast blends. I have had much better black teas, also from India… probably Doke isn’t the region that impresses me.

ADVENT DAY 1, tea 3/3

I took Siam Tee Shop advent just because I just wanted to go through plain teas to find some new favorites, to try teas I wouldn’t probably buy otherwise and to keep palate ready for plain teas and not only for flavored teas.

Vendor promises chesnut flavors from this tea, when brewed with 90°C water (!) so I did exactly as they suggest. Decided for 3 grams / 125 ml gaiwan; that means I have 2 and something left for other session. Probably after holidays, though!

I got promised flavor! It is chesnut with buttery notes, especially when steeped longer (at least 1 minute). When steeped too long, it gets green beans and vegetable notes too; which clash with chesnuts.

While it is a fine and nice tasting tea, I probably prefer the grassy green teas; as this one just didn’t click to me… somehow? Or I just didn’t expect this in the Advent?

If Vietnamese red teas are too strong and rustic for you, consider this oolong. It has a very similar taste profile without the harsh stomach. A beautiful tea, silky smooth with strong wet rock minerality and a slight rasp on the tongue. Alluring character that evokes damp smoke and tobacco notes weaving through a pristine high mountain clouded forest. This tea manages to capture citrus, red fruits, osmanthus, leather, cocoa and tobacco in equal parts. It also has a strong calming effect.

Thanks for sharing, Martin!

Fifth of 7 teas from SiamTeas Clubbox January ’23 – Tuyet Shan

Western steeping of 4 grams of this unusual terroir sheng. 4 minutes steeping, boiling water that cooled down for a few minutes, approx. temperature 90°C.

Dry leaf aroma was “typical” sheng profile, hay and strong bitterness, a little reminding me the pressed white teas, nothing much appealing.

Steeped tea aroma was fruity. I noticed mostly stonefruit, but sadly I wasn’t able to notice much more. I feel I am out of track in noticing flavors and scents. Maybe I need to drink more tea again and start searching the nuances again.

But flavour profile is distinctive enough! I have noticed certainly the stonefruits I mentioned in the aroma; and mostly it was smooth and highly enjoyable dried apricots and fresh peaches. There was also a little herbal note, reminding me a lemon balm or something like that… a little rough, but it wasn’t medicinal, you know. Long mouthfeel and aftertaste, mouth coating smooth quality.

If anyone told me that Vietnamese sheng could be so good, I would not believe them. But apparently, sheng and red oolong is something I will get in bigger quantity than this sample 10 grams… 25 or 50 grams will be sufficient.

A sipdown! (M: 2, Y: 38)
Eh. The first note? Have I ever shared this tea with someone or I drank it all alone? I don’t remember!

Anyway, last year FF Darjeeling. Probably a good timing to sip it down, as I have some 2023 FF too.

A funny story behind buying this tea. I have put it in to shopping basket in the webshop, reading it is my favorite Mokalbari, placed the order along with other teas; and then I have read in the invoice saying Makaibari. I went back to the tea shop and it was clearly marketed as Makaibari. I just read it wrong!

But decided to try it anyway, as back then I didn’t had any FF tea. And afterall, why not trying another tea garden.
In fact, I never loved this tea. It was quite highly astringent all the times, proper steeping parameters were working once, twice and then I had to change them again; it was fine and non-offensive tea, but it doesn’t gave me any particular impression. No fruity notes, no florals; just somehow astringent and sometimes even bitter tea.

Well, until today; when using last 4 grams and steeped for 3 minutes and it was round flavour with hints (but only hints!) of tropical fruits and again that creeping and, even for me, too high astringency.

A sipdown! (M: 4, Y: 81)

Happy to manage another sipdown, and this is a gongfu sipdown. I had 6 grams left, so two weaker western steepings or one gongfu; so I have decided for the latter. I read my previous note and read it needs a bit colder water than usual, so I have used roughly 70°C.

Short steeps. Starting with 10s, adding small increments like 3-5 seconds.

Preheated gaiwan notes — well, astringent. Sheng maocha I had is weak considering this. Quite unpleasant.
Added water, spilled it shortly after (not a rinse per se). Well, very same notes but even stronger, strong hay notes and a little bit acrid.

First steep was somehow weak with strong dry notes and drying the mouth as well. Second steep was less astringent and seaweed notes came, with lots of salinity, hay-like and aftertaste of “steeped hay” (at least that came across my mind, but I never tried that!). I tried another 15 seconds steep (as the second), but it seems that I am just not a fan of this tea. That salty note is making me feel thirsty and it’s not refreshing at all. I just don’t like it and I give it up after 3 steeps.
Lowering the rating from 76 — today session is roughly 35, so average being 55.

Fourth of 7 teas from SiamTeas Clubbox January ’23 – Tuyet Shan

Actually, today wasn’t that hot as a few days back; but still I had a mood for green teas. And plain green teas. I took in the office Tielka green tea; and at home this one.

Two minutes steeping, not even 80°C water, but not measured. Western steeping 4 grams.

I had no idea what to expect, as the aroma was actually quite seaweedy, quite buttery and salty.
But when brewed, and it seems that first steep was just perfect, as I got nice and smooth tea. It was like a breeze, refreshing but not too strong to be annoyed by it. It was grassy, slightly minty maybe — which I find unusual in not flavorued tea nd I am sure I have avoided any contamination, as it was still in original box (along with sheng puerh).

Second steep, made with same leaves, but 4 hours later is certainly more buttery and grass turned a bit into hay, but both notes is, I believe, because I used sadly hotter water and this tea seems a bit finicky.

Now, as it cools down, it became somehow salty too.