TeaSource

The look of these leaves are incredibly unique. I have never seen or heard of Ya Bao tea before, which is one huge reason I signed up for Select, so I could learn about new teas. After an initial steeping, the buds have a very strong scent of peaches and a bit of cut wood. I prepared these in a gaiwan. The liquor is very pale, almost clear like water but with a gold sheen. I love white teas like this. They just look so ethereal.

Steeping Notes:

1. Notes of dry grass and very subtle earthiness at first, then becoming a sugary sweetness with a very pronounced peach flavor. There’s a very subtle spiced note like clove or cardamom.

2. More like the first steeping, a little deeper and more well rounded, more full-bodied and creamy. Lingering peach aftertaste. Slightly dry finish.

3. Mellower and softly sweet, more of a dry prairie grass background and less of the fruit flavor, though it is still present and lingers a bit at the end still. Still a very subtle spice note.

Aside from the qualities already mentioned, this tea has a sort of fizzy or “sparkling” quality, that’s hard to describe, but it was evident in the scent even before I tasted the tea itself. The only con for me at all is there is a bit of lingering dryness when drinking this tea. However, is is really quite a unique tea in so many regards and I am so happy to have had a chance to try it. I will definitely be adding some to my collection soon. Oh, and by the way, if you steep it gongfu style with short infusions, you can get many more steepings out of it before the flavor wanes.

Whoa! This rivaled my favorite oolong teas and really opened me up to something new and worthwhile! There were so many layers to this tea, it took me through quite a journey through 5 steepings! I brewed it gongfu cha style in a gaiwan for 1:30, adding 30 seconds each additional steeping. The aroma overall is of vanilla and a really sweet dewy floral. There are forest notes in there as well.

Steeping notes:
1. Floral and nectar tastes dominated the brew and it ended in a fruity peach or nectarine taste that lingered quite a while.
2. Now the overall flavor is of honey, a slight vanilla hint and with a slight astringency
3. More of the nectar flavor, lighter and sweeter than any of the steepings before with a hint of fruit flavor and a dry finish.
4. Even sweeter now and very mellow! There’s a lingering aftertaste like cantaloupe.
5. Sweet all around, toasted sugar and nuts.

This tea is simply wonderful. The diverse bouquet of scents and flavors is just tantalizing. There was so much diversity from one steeping to the next, and though the only downside in my opinion was the slight astringency in a few of the brews, overall this tea was very enjoyable and very unique.

I’ve been drinking this while practicing this afternoon. It’s a fermented tea, & I want it to have the chi stirring energies of a Sheng, but it doesn’t. Flavor-wise, it’s red grape peels, maybe a little molasses, & a few sips reminded me of canned condensed milk, but a little sour, kind of like buttermilk in a way. It has a very dry quality to it as well.
Sipdown: 351

Here’s another tea from the Steepster Select box. For some reason I thought this might resemble a sheng puer, but it really doesn’t. I followed the steeping parameters suggested by SS. The initial cup has a grapey brightness, more like grape peels to me, a creamy vanilla taste, & for some reason reminds me of waffles. There is really nice fruity aroma too. The 2nd cup is more ‘dry’, but not in an astringent way, and a little more savory. I’m not done with it, but that’s all I have for now. I’ll try to do a gongfu session with the 2nd serving of this.

I’m not new to Yabao (anymore), & although I don’t hate it, I admit that it’s not something I will ever crave.

It always brings to mind a bowl of cooked cream of wheat. There is also a mild fruity sweetness, & a pleasant creamy texture.

I don’t enjoy most oolongs and hate the charcoal taste that most of them have when they’re inexplicably roasted. This one, however, isn’t roasted and retains wonderful flavors and aromas, even when steeped for a 3rd and 4th time.

When I opened the sample from Steepster Select, I was awed and confused by the look of these leaves. A 3 minute infusion yielded little change in color and I knew I was in for an extremely delicate white tea. While I tend to like my white teas a bit more potent, this was delicious. The subtle flavors and aromas are intoxicating, and I plan on purchasing quite a bit more of this stuff in the future.

Nothing new to share. I enjoyed this one during the early evening. It was my reward for the official ‘start’ of this year’s garden. I inventoried all of my seeds, took a garden walk while making a to-do list, & then picked one thing to do, which was pruning my apricot tree, & I did it. I feel pretty good!

Years ago, when the internet was young (yes, children, there was such a time), there were only a few tea companies I knew about that actually had real full leaf teas. Republic of Tea was one of them, & for awhile they had a ‘rare teas’ page (or something like that). These were teas that weren’t offered on their displays at the Natural food store. Did I order from there, way back when?
YOU KNOW I DID!
This was my first introduction to Oolong teas, & I ordered them like I do everything else, with wild abandon! I fell in love with Orchid Oolong (& some others).
This is a lovely cup, gently floral, smooth, lightly roasty, with a sweet & slightly nutty taste. I steeped 4/5/& 7 minutes, & I don’t think a 4th cup will be happening. I can’t tell you if this orchid oolong is the same as the one they carried. That really was a long time ago. R of T was amazing to me back in those days, so amazing that I wrote a song & dedicated it to them. Here’s the link, if you’d like to hear the song, called “TeaMind” http://harpsinger.net/Terri_Langerak/My_CDs.html

Second tea out of Steepster Select box this month. I have been drinking more oolongs lately, so I am feeling a little more educated in giving a review on one. This one was on the fruity side. It had depth to it, not sure if I tasted honey, but it was very good. I resteeped this twice, the third one was too weak for me, but the first and second were great. I don’t resteep much, once at the most usually, just preference I think. I like the full flavor and feel deprived a little when it is not as intense on the later steepings. Nice oolong, would definitely recommend.

First tea to try out of Steepster box this month. Tea itself is really neat looking. Taste was very good, light. I resteeped this twice, which I hardly ever do. I can say that I enjoyed all three times. Really nice tea, nice way to start out the box!

I’ll preface my review by saying I have never had a loose leaf hei-cha before and after trying my best to find steeping suggestions from multiple sources, I decided just to brew this like a pu-ehr. I used the gongfu method in a gaiwan and steeped for 10 seconds, adding 10 seconds each time for infusions 2-4. Infusion five got a minute and then I added one minute each time for infusions 6 and beyond. Due to the shorter steepings, the liquor color is a golden-orange.

Immediately I notice the scent of grapes, smoke, minerals and something very creamy, like buttercream or vanilla. What a complex start!

- The first steeping has a mellow, slightly sweet flavor with just a slight bit of tartness, much like grapes. There’s a honey-like flavor on the back of the tongue and almost no astringency.

- Second steeping I’m smelling lots of mineral and french vanilla. Wonderfully creamy aroma and brew. The taste of the brew is just creamy and luxurious, less tart, more smooth. I’m reminded of a melted vanilla malt. That may be a stretch, but this is seriously creamy. There’s a malty finish and just a bit of dryness, more evident as the brew cools.

- Third steeping was quite mineral, still very smooth but less creamy and with a very long lingering aftertaste that is somewhere between salty and metallic. No astringency.

- Fourth steeping, I’m falling in love with the “vanilla & mineral” smell. It’s really a nice combo. The flavors at this point are all quite mellow and hard to individually discern. Things are backing off a bit, but still an enjoyable brew. Light aftertaste like dry grass.

- Fifth steeping, creamy and light, slight malt and honey flavor. That sort of tangy lingering aftertaste is back. I’m surprised how varying these steepings are. Sometimes an element of the taste will hide for a steeping or two then come back!

- About 8 steepings in it developed this really nice sweetness that reminded me of a Jin Shan Yin Zhen yellow tea I’ve had. I’m thinking kind of like funnel cake with a bit of the fried dough flavor and powdered sugar sweetness. Again, maybe a stretch, but that’s what comes to mind for me!

Dry leaves smell like vanilla and cocoa but the tea steeping smells like vanilla flowers.
The flavor has a lot of dark chocolate notes with the floral being in the scent and not the flavor which is awesome.
This tea tastes like vanilla and 100% unsweetened bittersweet chocolate and smells like flowers. Very neat tea!!!!!!!!

From the Steepster Select box, March 2014

Second Steeping brings out a little more floral but still very dark chocolate flavors with vanilla.

Oh wow. I mean…WOW.

This is the first tea I tried from the March Steepster Select shipment and I’m blown away. During the first steeping, the large whole leaves unfurled beautifully and danced in my mug.

The flavor is of a very high quality mountain oolong tea, with notes of vanilla, honey, and flower blossoms.

As promised, I was able to get 4 flavorful steepings out of just one little packet.

I’ll be ordering more of this tea for sure.

Pretty moss green leaves when brewed and the liquor smells like grapes indeed.
The name is deceiving because this really isn’t a dark and roasted type tea. The liquor is a red color. I read that In China, the type of tea that Westerners call ‘black’ tea is known as ‘red’ tea, which follows the Chinese color system of the color of the tea liquor in the cup. So Hei Cha, also known as dark tea, is quite different than the ‘black’ tea well-known to tea drinkers in the West. So, when in China, if you ask for ‘black’ tea you would be given some form of Hei Cha – if you ask for ‘red’ tea, you will be given what most Westerners would recognize as black tea (from Tea Trekker).

Anyway,,,the flavor is delicious and does have lots of grape qualities as the package suggests. It is the flavor of a fresh grape just off the bunch not of grape juice that has been cooked to concentrate sugars. So it isn’t so sweet.
This tea is very good, I like it a lot and it is unique.

From the Steepster Select Box, March 2014

Second Steeping brought out the dry finish which wasn’t evident to me in the first.

I LOVE white tea so this is right up my alley!! This is so unique! I love the appearance of the dry tea leaves, they look like little dried white cone flowers.
Glad I have my tea temp kettle because this is a low temp and I didn’t want to hurt this delicate tea.
The flavors are subtle and they come together to create a dessert of cooked fruit with hints of nutmeg and honey. I detect mainly apricot or peach fruits.
Thank you Steepster and Tea Source,,,I love Steepster Select because I was unaware of this company and am super stoked about all their white teas!!!!!!!

From the Steepster Select Box, March 2014

6/11/14
Tasting a bit of the bag I bought from Tea Source. So fruity, zingy, and good. There is a sugar note, multi-fruits, Sweet Tarts, touch of licorice. Mike and Ike’s candies. Love the out of this world look and flavor of Ya Bao. I like to age it,,,it is getting sweeter.

I really enjoyed this, and I brewed a full pot so it was a little lighter than it would be in a smaller cup.

The primary flavor is very flowery, slightly earthy.
I don’t get so much of a fruit note as a wholesome woodsy flavor.
Very enjoyable, and was perfect to start my day at work.

Strong black tea flavor, notes of honey and fruit. Very delicious, will likely be buying more for daily drinking. Hard to describe how wonderful this tea is.

Tea #8 from Considering a new TTB
This ended up being much more astringent than I had hoped for, perhaps it would be less so with a lower temperature. I opted for 175 because it is preset on my hot water pot, but the recommended temperature on the package was 160 – 180.

Tea #7 from Considering a new TTB
I had meant to stop by TeaSource while I was in Minnesota last year, but ran out of time, so I’m happy to see a few more of their teas in this box that I can try. This spring oolong is a little more toasty than I prefer, I tend to lean more towards floral oolongs, but other than that I don’t seem to have much of an opinion about this tea. I would drink it again if someone handed me a cup, but I wouldn’t order it for myself.

No so bad but not so delicious either. It does not have a distinct taste, just a clear tea. Looks very light.