Tea Trekker

First tea of 2011 was the last of this tea. It’s pretty empty these days. I was wrong. I found some more.

The tea had a strong, clean and fresh aroma both dry and rinsed. Floral, but not overly heavy on the lilac-character. It opened relatively slowly with repeated quick steeps and released a nice, if painstakingly subtle flavor and texture. At a year old, the bouquet of floral qualities had already faded a good bit, but the tea had matured, married, and become refined and ethereal. Extremely delicate, subtle and never overly strong in any particular flavor element. I’m not sure my mind had been quieted enough to fully appreciate this tea, so I look forward to revisiting it in a more conscious state.

Most remarkable were this tea’s clarity and texture. The soup spilled out of the gaiwan and into the gongdaobei as an electrically crystal clear liquid, vibrant and beaming, which made for a visually impressive session. In terms of texture, the tea had a strong cooling quality, with a crisp drying sensation and an overall lifting of the palate. Very enjoyable. Despite these qualities, the tea did little for me in terms of qi or energy. Finally, and it’s not obvious in any of the photos I posted, this tea was impressively stemmy, with lengths reaching about three inches on many leaves.

Blog post: http://tea.theskua.com/?p=36

There aren’t nearly as many varities of white tea as there are of, say, green and oolong, so any time a new variety of white tea from a new region pops up, I’m ready to try it out. Tea Trekker’s Shangri-La White Silvertips from Nepal caught my eye after noting it’s description: “reminiscent of a light-bodied black tea.” Sold!

This tea is, in every way, a middle ground between the two most well-known Chinese whites, Silver Needle and Bai Mu Dan. Silver Needle is bud-only, Bai Mu Dan is two leaves and one bud, Shangri-La White Silvertips is one leaf and one bud. The color of the liquor falls in between, as does the intensity of the flavor.

The tea has light fruity notes, but also a hint of depth one might find in a light black tea (as the description aptly mentions). It’s a well-rounded tea that I dare say I enjoy more than Bai Mu Dan. A solid cup from a region not known for their white teas.

I made this tea as an iced tea today, and it is awesome. I made it a little stronger that normal, let it steep for four minutes, and then put it in a thermos (like device) that was full of ice. Very very delicious!

So I think I’m getting the hang of this batch of Darjeeling. Short steep time, allow the drink to cool slightly, then drink relatively quickly before the tea completely cools. Also I seem to be having more success in getting a better flavor and less astringency when I make a larger pot (at 600 ml of water and 6 rough teaspoons of tea in my large french press) I still prefer the second flush.

Okay, today i think I finally understand what I was being told about the “front of the mouth” flavor. It’s not so much the vast difference in the kind of taste, but the location of taste. Yes, that what the phrase should have indicated to me, but I can be daft. So this tea is not my favorite of the two. It is very picky with brewing time and temp. It also sees to need to be drunk with a small range of time after cooling in the cup for a bit.

So those might seem like detractors, but the tea is very very nice! The flavor is hard to describe due to my poor palate. That being said it reminds me of spring, in the same way that Japanese green teas remind me of hot summer. The flavor is crisp like a fresh ripe granny smith apple, tart too. It has nearly no lingering taste or texture, and the bright almost fluorescent green color of the leaf in the liquor is very attractive. I think in the future if I have to choose between several varieties of Darjeeling I might not choose this one, although it is wonderful. I got exactly what I wanted out of this one, and if you prefer front of the mouth flavor, I recommend it.

This is part of my first foray into loose Darjeelings. I’m not sure how to describe the tea, and I think before I give it a numerical rating I will have to drink it several times. There is a certain flavor, not unlike sorrel, that I really like. I will say that is has a naturally sweet aspect to it. I very much enjoyed it, and will continue to enjoy it this week. I have yet to give it a full “stress test”, and when I do I will write a fuller report.

I have yet to do a true test on this tea, but today I did at least give it some variation. I let it steep for three minutes, outside my tea-monger’s recommendation. I also let it cool a little before drinking it. Yeah this tea is wonderful. Again I still taste that sorrel taste, actually it reminds me of lamb’s tongue (also known as lamb’s ear). It kind of reminds me of rose petals, or rose perfume in taste.

This is part of my first foray into loose Darjeelings. I’m not sure how to describe the tea, and I think before I give it a numerical rating I will have to drink it several times. There is a certain flavor, not unlike sorrel, that I really like. The flavor of this tea seems to be more full, and perhaps this is the contrast between “front of the mouth” and, um, not front of the mouth that the tea monger mentioned. This tea’s flavor seemed more accessible somehow. At any rate I enjoyed it very well. I have yet to give it a full “stress test”, and when I do I will write a fuller report

It’s what’s in the cup.
Sugar really ruins the flavor.
Three steeps seems to be the useful limit.

[Backlogged]

I drank this last night at work. The first steep was fine, but the second steep was really good! I used significantly cooler water than the first steep, and once it had steeped for somewhere around 2.5 minutes I let it cool in the cup. I will definitely be making iced-tea using this tea in the near future.

Second steeping!
Mellow, full flavor. Much improved (from what was already very tasty).
I let this cool in the cup a little longer and I think that may be a part of the change.
There is a lot more of that “flavor of the sea” taste, much greener, but still the toasty “clean barn” is there. So glad I tried this!

This is a first for me, and I’m glad I tried it. The flavor reminds me of sembei (or O-sembei if you prefer). It is, well toasty, yes, but it has what I’m calling a “clean barn” taste. It has that taste that reminds me of the combined smells of dry haw, old wood, and worn leather. It definitely has that “flavor of the sea” that Japanese green teas have (in my opinion), and it’s a good thing. This is all after the first steep. I will steep at least twice more, and report on my findings. Or, I may have a stroke from all the tea I;ve been drinking. Either way.

Today I brewed a larger pot of this, for to share with my darling wife, and I let it steep a little longer than I had previously. As is generally the case I find larger pots of tea tend to have a deeper, fuller flavor and mouth feel, and such was the case. I got a hint of caramel or raisiny smell. The taste is still pretty much that really good “basic black” tea flavor that describes itself. A little milk, a little sugar, and we have tea power. Shall we go to the brain?

As it turns out, I did not misbrew this tea last time. This is what I might call a solid “tea” flavored tea. It really does have that aluminum kind of taste to it. The only thing that I can possibly relate it to is the way a (traditional) martini feels along the side of the mouth. It’s a good solid black tea, especially if you’re looking for what I;d asked for: A non-floral black tea.

The temperature and steeping time seems to be fairly forgiving, so in that sense it is a good standard to to keep around, especially if you just gotta have a cuppa righta nowa.

I think I may have misbrewed this one. It had that pure-black tea taste that really only describes itself. The aroma in the package was that sweet tobacco, dried raisin smell, but when brewed it didn’t seem to have that flavor. It was tasty, and deserving of more attention than I gave it. It also had a hint of aluminum. Seriously, not just metallic flavor, but aluminum specifically. It wasn’t unpleasant (the aluminum), but I think it points to a misbrew rather than a fault with the tea.

This tea is a mixed bag for me. I didn’t taste any nutty flavor as other reviewers did. What I did taste was a buttery aftertaste with a very astringent flavor.

The astringency isn’t really pleasant, but it isn’t too bad either. It may turn some people off though. My wife definitely didn’t like it. It kind of reminds of the astringency of drinking a Darjeeling for example.

What is really odd is that the buttery taste seems to remind me of an orchid or green Oolong. Which is definitely good.

I’m torn between two flavors here….The astringency turns me off but the butteriness keeps me drinking.

I brewed this tea using the instructions. I brewed the first two infusions for two to three minutes at a temperature of around 175. I brewed the third time for 5 minutes with the same temperature.

I wouldn’t say I will never drink this tea again, but after this sample is done I definitely won’t buy anymore of this.

If you like the astringency of a black tea mixed with the buttery taste of a greener Oolong wrapped up in a green tea package this tea is for you.

I like this tea a lot. I don’t love this tea. I see this tea as a very high quality green tea with a subtle flavor to it.

To me the flavor seemed almost nutty, but it was very hard to notice. There wasn’t much in the way of vegetal flavor, and as Teafreak states this is a tea for someone with a very advanced palate who is able to realize the subtle flavor.

I wouldn’t go as far to say that I wouldn’t let a beginner to green tea try this tea, I would just rather them try something else with more flavor and sweetness first.

To me the flavor is nutty but yet sort of metallic in nature, not in a bad way, just the same as a lot of really fresh Chinese green tea in my opinion.

The tea could grow on me and I will definitely drink it again soon.

The directions on the bag stated to brew it with 1 heaping teaspoon per 6 oz of water. I chose to use 2 heaping teaspoons plus 3/4 of a teaspoon for 16 oz of water which is the customary amount of water I use when brewing so either my wife can have a cup or I can have two instead having to re-brew so quickly.

The first steep I did as the directions stated and steeped for two minutes. The second I steeped for three to three and a half minutes. The third I steeped for about 5. The tea doesn’t really hold up all that well to more than two steepings as far as I gather.

Another thing I want to note is that the leaves are really hairy. The hair is a really fine hair, so fine that when i took the teaspoon out of the bag the hairs were sticking to the spoon due to the static electricity. They reminded me of iron filings and when I smelled the tea I think i got some of the fine hairs in my nose…lol

I am in green tea mood lately. The description of this tea says that it has a sweet taste. They weren’t kidding. The taste is very hard to describe. The sweetness is there, It is an ethereal sweetness that you don’t really notice at first but the longer you leave it in your mouth the sweeter it becomes. It never becomes too heavy or even too sweet, at least on the first steep. It is just right.

The liquor is very light green. The tea gives you a sort of calming stress float away sensation, just as it should.

I brewed it for 2 minutes at roughly 175 F, using two heaping tablespoons just as it said to use.

In summary, I am not a green tea expert but this is one of the most elegant green teas I have ever tasted. It is light and airy with an ethereal sweetness to it that only gets better the longer you leave it in your mouth.

This is a solid entry in the category of black teas. I remember my first sip thinking “Ahh, now that’s what a good English tea should taste like” I would describe this tea as rich, dark, with a certain spice flavor to it – somewhere in the cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg range but woodier.

This tea enjoys some adornment from the milk and sweetener department, but personally I don’t find that it goes well with whiskey or rum.

I find this to be a perfectly satisfying midday tea that can be enjoyed in gulps (because dammit you’re tired and need a quick pick me up with a smile) or in sips (because you need that moment of you time).

A final note is that this was the first tea I’ve had that wasn’t grown in China, Taiwain, India, or Japan. If this is an example of what Kenya has to offer the tea-drinking world, then I am excited to explore Kenya’s other teas.

I recently reviewed “Tieguanyin Traditional-Style Traditionally-Grown” Oolong tea, as purchased from from the Tea Trekker store. In this instance I might suggest that you read that review to get a baseline.

This particular tea is similar enough in description, but all in all a better tea. It enjoys better results from multiple steepings, has a richer and more complex flavor. On the other hand it doesn’t seem to tolerate cooling in the mug very well – gets that dusty flavor – blech. Drink while warm to hot for best results!

What a wonderful tea!

In my opinion there are two ways of enjoying this tea, and both methods really deserve a little attention. The first is the more traditional method of steeping quickly and frequently. This method could be described as taking a long slow sip of a wonderfully complex cup of tea. It is best done with small tea cups, 6 oz. or smaller, so that it can be drunk while still hot to warm in temperature. Each cup, and I’ve made it up to ten steepings when I’ve had the luxury of time, offers a gentle progression of the tea’s green, earthy, flavor. I get the impression that I am drinking the tea from the tip of the leaf and through the plant all the way to the root. It progresses from a bright and leafy flavor to an earthy almost bark-like flavor.

The second method, while not traditional, has a lot to offer as well. Brew the tea for three minutes or so, still using the very warm but not boiling water. Watch the tea leaves color the water as they trade essences. Then enjoy a deeply complex play of both subtle and rich layers of flavor. Even using this method you can enjoy multiple steepings, but rather than a progression, I find that they flavor weakens.

Drinking this tea without adornment is my recommendation. This tea also makes a great iced-tea as well.

I would warn that in my experience this tea has a strong caffeine effect, and a long lasting one. While it isn’t as harsh (in that way) as coffee, this is a work horse of a tea. My suggestion, start your day with this tea, and keep it going with steepings throughout your day. This tea, he will be a very good companion to you!

Okay, this proves it. This is an amazing tea that really needs careful brewing. Exactly two minutes in very hot water. Let it cool a little bit, but then drink while still quite warm. Today I added whole milk and some sugar, and while they made it a sweet treat, I highly recommend that those of you interested in trying a Lapsang for the first time try this one, and brew as directed above. (and previously)

Low on sugar so I used maple syrup, perfect.