Tea Trekker

Received two ounces of this free with my recent Tea Trekker order. This is overall a very good tea. There was no bitterness to this tea. Despite it being a “green” oolong there was no grassy or vegetal taste. It was perhaps the sweetest oolong I can remember drinking. I have been trying to think of how to describe the sweet notes and am at a loss. They are kind of fruity but with a mineral taste I think. There was also a slight sour note to the first infusion that didn’t last too long. This. however might not have been the tea but what I was eating before I drank the tea. I had just finished some hummus and that might have contributed to the sour note. Regardless this is an excellent tea. It is apparently not available for sale on their website. When I put it in the catalog I had to use the picture for the same tea but spring pluck. The tea has quite a potent mouthfeel and a strong aftertaste. I can taste the tea even when not drinking it and suspect I will for a couple of hours. This is one sweet tea. I feel as if I have added sugar to the tea but I haven’t. It is that sweet.

I steeped this tea eight times in a 120ml gaiwan with 8.1g leaf and 190 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. I should note that the website calls for starting with 30 second steeps but I think it was just right with short steeps.

Bought this again recently. There was no discernible fermentation flavor to this tea. There was a slight wet storage note that lasted about three steeps. What was left afterward was a nice sweet note. I am not sure how to best describe it. The main question you ask about any tea that claims to be this old is are they telling the truth. Two reasons lead me to think this is vintage 1995 tea, one the owners of Tea Trekker are in my opinion honest. The second thing is there was no fermentation flavor at all with this tea. Usually in my experience only shou tea of approximately this vintage will have cleared completely. It also smelled old although that is hardly scientific.

I brewed this eight times in a 195ml Silver Teapot with 13g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. There was no sign that the leaves were finished mind you but eight steepings from a 195ml teapot is quite a lot of tea. I think I would have gotten another six steepings out of the leaves. Going to store some of this in a Yixing container and see if the wet storage note disappears completely.

Bought this with my recent Tea Trekker order. This is one good shou. There was only a vestige of fermentation flavor in the first steep. I could still tell it was a shou but I couldn’t really taste the fermentation flavor. This vestage was gone by the second steep. This tea was sweet from the start with no bitterness. There were a variety of complex notes over ten steeps but I would venture to say that dates or plums comes to mind in the later steeps. I didn’t really notice chocolate notes in this tea but I think they tend to come from the fermentation taste of the tea and thins just didn’t have any. This tea had clearly been dry stored as the Tea Trekker website I think says. I found no wet storage taste at all so I believe this. This is also unusual for a ripe puerh in that is wild arbor spring tea, that is if we can trust the people at Tea Trekker. I personally trust them so I believe that this is wild arbor spring tea. The total lack of fermentation flavor in this tea indicate it had been stored a while so I buy it’s age. As far as how much I enjoyed this tea that puts it at the top of the scale. I am also getting some cha qi from this tea, a rarity for ripe teas. I wouldn’t use the term tea drunk but I am feeling good, very relaxing qi. This is definitely one I would buy more of as I only bought four ounces. I was thinking of buying eight but Tea Trekker doesn’t knock anything off the price if you buy even a pound. I don’t think that I would get too many more steeps out of this tea. I gave it ten steeps and had to open up a bit on the time iin the ninth and tenth steep. I suspect that I would get at least two more steeps out of it though. I might go back for two more later on as I figure I have already extracted all the caffeine from this.

I steeped this tea ten times in a 120ml glass teapot with 9.2g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 1 min, and 2 min. This was one good aged tea.

Drank this down yesterday with my best friend and came to realize why this will have such a mixed review. While many have had freshly roasted oolong tea, there is something different about aged ones; especially when they were originally cheap and terrible leaf, which I don’t know if this was or not.

This was a dark balled leaf that brewed a lightly colored liquid with a much better aroma than the leaf itself. The taste, depending on steep time, can be a bit roasty. This is the kind of taste profile that some like or don’t (similar to smoky taste).
I was surprised to steep this over eight times, ended with thirteen to move onto the next tea. While I enjoyed this tea, it’s hard to not look at the price of it… which makes roasted TGY much more appealing.

I must say that the lasting flavor of this tea makes it a great experience.
https://www.instagram.com/p/-ZpqzjxYN9/

From the Liquid Proust Group buy

I really enjoyed this tea. It is a moderate to heavy roast with a strong nutty/toasty aroma. The taste is soft and round with a nutty flavor and just a hint of bitterness at the end. Long finish. As the tea cooled it developed a more complex flavor: sweet, with a note of raisins. The tea just gives off waves of flavor, as well and a fairly hefty cha qi, and the finish lasts forever.

I was anxious to try this so had a single cup, then drove to a meeting, and could still taste the finish, 30 minutes after finishing my cup. My 2nd steep was several hours later, which is less than ideal: Beautiful aroma. Taste starts out slightly bitter but mellows out. The third steep was simpler: no raisins. Taste is powerful and complex but has a few off-flavors. I think I had a couple more steeps but didn’t record notes. Yesterday I spent 8 hours outdoors in 40 degree weather at a scouting event with my grandson, so the only tea I drank was a travel mug full of Darjeeling (the mulled cider at the event was pretty good, though. Today, 2 days after my initial steep, the tea is still pretty good though with less body and complexity. It is quite sweet. I’m at that point where I’ve doubled my steep time and the tea is still enjoyable but I want to go on to the next tea.

I’m not giving a recommendation or rating because I don’t know how much the tea cost (it is buried in the group purchase, which wasn’t cheap on a per-gram basis) and because any rating might be skewed by my excitement about drinking my first tea from the group buy. However, I really enjoyed the tea.

I poured these nuggets from their package into my cha he, and I took in their aroma. I wasn’t picking up too many diverse tones. The main focus for these dark nuggets was pure roast. The description states that this tea has been re roasted numerous times, and it is easily identifiable. I placed the rolled oolong into my warmed gaiwan and I gave it a shake. The scent deepened to an even HEAVIER roast. I mean this stuff was like campfire toasted. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The steeped leaves, again, kept the consistent char profile. The liquor was a pale golden, and it carried a slightly different tone. The initial taste was odd and intriguing. The taste began as a slight mineral and fruit note, and then it progressed into a dry oat flavor. This grainy tone had a sweet background; I was reminded on Honey Nut Cheerio’s. The initial few drinks were intensely lubricating in the mouth. I was practically salivating, which was quite enjoyable. The brew then became slightly sour and just a hint more dry. The char notes became present by the third steeping. I was able to pull a decent amount from these leaves. Also, there was an ever prescient sweetness after each sip. I was able to narrow this flavor down to either raisin or plum. The note followed throughout the drinking; however, the note wasn’t as long lasting as I had anticipated. The qi was pretty decent, for I was heavily sweating and heating up quickly during the session. I enjoyed this brew, but it wont be something I’ll get more of. Personally, I am looking for a more sweeter aged oolong. Nonetheless, this was a very fun tea session, and I am happy to have tried it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/-XVInjTGRD/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Thank you Liquid Proust for organizing and packing all these samples from the Aged Oolong Sampler. Trying the 1986 Tung Ting today. While I won’t say I didn’t enjoy it it’s a little too roasty for my tastes. I steeped this tea fifteen times and I think it would go a few more steeps if I had a desire to continue. It was roasty to the end. There was another note behind the roast, a kind of a sweet note but I’m not sure how to describe it. Drinking this was an experience, that is for sure. This is not one that I would go out and buy more of. I am still more of a ripe puerh fan at heart.

I steeped this tea fifteen times in a 60ml gaiwan with 4.7g leaf and 190 degree water. I didn’t give this one a rest I was in a hurry. I did give it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, 2 min, 2.5 min, 3 min, and 3.5 min. Not entirely sure if I’m feeling any qi off of this one.

Tea Trekker continues to bring very high-quality tea to aficionados. This is one of their many Darjeeling offerings, and it’s a second flush.

This tea brings a strong, fruity (muscat, stone fruit) aroma and flavor—breathing in the steam from your first cup is heavenly. It’s balanced by the right amount of astringency and slight bitterness to give it some edge and bight. A light, clean texture with a touch of silkiness. Maybe a hint of maltiness lurking, but that’s not the main focus. This is a refined but invigorating tea that’s perfect for a first cup in the morning.

Out of all the teas that AllanK has provided for me to try, I believe this is only the 2nd one that I have not liked; that’s pretty awesome since the number is somewhere around 20.

I believe it is the material used in this tea that I don’t like. For others I am sure it is great, but the taste is a little weaker than the ripe teas that I like and it doesn’t have the same earthy tones to it or the deepness from the first brew. There is some dryness to the tea, but that can be easily overlooked if the taste profile fits with what one likes, this one just isn’t for me. I will say that it does resteep quite consistently though which is a plus.

Never had anything from Tea Trekker before… but someone is buying http://www.teatrekker.com/tung-ting-aged-27-years :)