Various Artists

A review of tea. As presented to me by L. Proust, Esq.

The lineup:

a 2012 Haiwan amuse-bouche
2004 BYH Manzhuan
1980s some sheng, rather wet stored
2004 Tejipin palate cleanser
2017 CLT LBZ upside the head
2006 Wistaria Silver Medal Banzhang, 18g in a vessel that wasn’t rated for 18 (but it was mighty fine regardless)
1965 Jing Gu brick for afters
Cigars and brandy…. ahh, who am I kidding? More tea! Lp’s favorite Kunlu and a very fine oolong I can’t recall anything about because at this point they were picking my brain matter off the floorboards a la Pulp Fiction.

Review:

It was quite tremendous. I would recommend it. In fact, I did. See upper right.

Amounts are approximated and may bear little resemblance to fact.

Drinking a Gushu Hong Cha #2 from the same vendor in Minsk that I got the georgian hongcha from. I think this is sourced from TeaSide but I am not sure, so I’ll log it here. Supposed to be from trees 100-200 years old. Wish I had bought more than just a 20g sample!

Leaves are long and twisty, gold and black.
2.5g in 300ml for 3.5 minutes.
Strong but not bitter or astringent. Reminds of Taiwan Wild Boar (strong but not bitter) but more complex with a fuller body and better mouthfeel. Really enjoyed it, good for starting the day. Some malt and wood. Sweet after taste.

Makes me wonder if I need to give Indian Assams another chance but you know, I already have 25+ hongcha ordered that I need to try.

Second steep was meant to be 5 minutes but I oversteeped. Still good and not astringent.

Georgian hongcha from 2017. Picked this up in Minsk, Belarus. Not much detail known beyond that. I tend to look up teahouses and vendors when I travel and I found a pretty nice place in Minsk that did gong fu cha and had a pretty solid selection of teas.

The vendor was rather reluctant to sell me this as he had “much better teas” and told me that while the leaf material itself was solid, it was not hand processed. Had to explain how I’ve had some other really good Georgian teas (via whatcha) and I was curious to compare them.

Brewed this up western style, 2.5g in 300ml for 3minutes. As I sat down with a cup of this I got preoccupied and my first sip had me a bit confused as to what I was drinking. Very soft and smooth, almost creamy in the mouth. Rather monodimensional and not as interesting as say the Phoenix Georgian hongcha from what-cha, but a pretty nice and easy cup with no astringency at all.

I have another georgian tea on hand that I haven’t tried yet, via thetea.pl’s tea club. Will be interesting to see if that also fits the pattern of really smooth and easy drinkers.

This probably doesn’t count but I just wanted to yell into the void that I put some lemon vodka in a bottle of “Pom” brand pomegranate honey green tea and it’s doooope

Tried the 2016 Yibang Mao Cha from chawangshop today. This tea was in very limited supply and is now sold out. It was quite expensive at $1 per gram. I got a 12g sample. It was an outstanding tea. Very complex; fruity, bitter, wild tasting. It gave me hot flashes, which is very unusual. Took me by surprise. Does that happen for anyone else?

This is a rather unusual tea, its a tea from Kenya. I got this at the world tea expo and Ive been really curious to try it.

I started this by brewing it in a glass teapot at 205, 2.5 grams in a 160 ml of water. I got a very clear dark liquor, bit darker than the Ceylon tea. Its also slightly sweeter and lacking the citrus flavor. Its more like dark wood or dark chocolate. There is also a hint of creamy flavor as well. The aroma wasnt quite as powerful though.

I actually like this.. there is a bit of astrigency and bitterness, but its not overpowering at all.

Recomended

Adorned in red by mandala tea.

Another sampling of the shou bag in the puerh plus box. I brewed up 5 grams of this in 80 ml of water. Quick rinse given and then brewed with about 208 water, just short of boiling. I find it works a little better than bringing it all the way up to boil for shou tea.

This tea is smooth, sweet and chocolaty with a hint of vanilla, its not nearly as strong as the one packed in the orange. Just a hint of it at the end, its also got a stronger chocolate flavor.

This is a perfect after dinner tea..

Recomended

I’ve been taking and studying for finals for the past few weeks, and though it didn’t go as I expected in the end it was alright. But, sadly at my school even if you have a 90% in all of your classes, if even one assignment is not 90% you will not get the credit. So, I will have to remediate my finals during the 3 days that make up “summer school”. In the end I don’t mind that much, for, I know that this semester was the first semester where I was proud of my work, and proud of what I have accomplished, even if that wasn’t enough.

Enough of my complaints let me talk about the tea! I ate a huge meal before fasting at a time called suhoor. After this meal I was absolutely stuffed, but I thought that having a cup of puer would definitely aid my stomach in the ordeal that it is going to face. This tea session was my most brief, and I think I am going to take the leaves and dry them with a paper town to save for the end of the day. I only had around 30 minutes to drink, as it was 4:00 and the start of the fast was 4:30.

In this time with myself sitting in the dark, this tea gave me so much more than it did when I first tried it. When I first tried it, I was so excited as I just received a box full of puerh, and was eager to taste what I have been hearing about for weeks. At first I only tasted pine apple, and nothing else. But, since then I think I have grown into puerh as this time I got so much more. I got apple, stone fruits, a black tea bitterness, it was absolutely wonderful. This tea is very enjoyable, but I wish it wasn’t so much of a mystery! It was very smooth aswell, with a nice cooling aftertaste. As I have found with many raws there is a bitterness at first that lasts for the first 2 or 3 steepings. However, this tea’s bitterness was more than tolerable, and it was actually something that I enjoyed in the tea. Just when the session was getting nice my alarm went off, and it was time to fast.

Ramadan Mubarak to anyone else who is observing the fast. Please, if you have any questions about Ramadan, feel free to ask!

Today I drank my first puerh! Thank you again to mrmopar.

This tea was labeled 2013 Mystery Raw from Yunnan Sourcing.

I did a wash and brewed up the first infusion. It tasted very very fruity, with tropical fruits being the main taste. But, the main fruit that stood out was pine-apple. It tasted very much like pineapple with a peach and mango blend hiding behind it. It was a very nice tea, I enjoyed it very much.

It lasted about 6-7 infusions, with the fruity taste going behind and a grassy taste going in front, but the weird thing is, is that these two tastes sort of switched. One infusion I would taste a very fruity taste, but for 2 infusions that died down and I tasted a fruity hay. But then the pine apple returned until the session was over.

Today I also realized what being tea drunk is. I am super tea drunk it seems, as I am ridiculously calm, and really struggling to write this tasting note. I also feel really really up lifted with sort of a light feeling in the head and arms.

Overall, a very nice first puer, and I am excited for tomorrow to try a sheng!

7572 from the Here’s Hoping TTB. Don’t know what year.

This is probably one of the most boring tasting notes I’ll ever have, but all I wrote down for this tea is that it tastes like shou. This being the classic, defining recipe that it is, however, I suppose that isn’t too surprising. Kept a very consistent and predictable flavor profile throughout the entire session.

Aged Kangzhuan Sichuan Heicha

So rhinkle and I are drinking this as a celebratory tea since she will be moving to Sichuan province eventually, and we spent a good bit of time talking about the aroma of this tea before trying the first sip.

Carrots, turnips, root vegetables, sweet dirt – her opinion
Earth and sour stone fruits – my opinion

Skipped a wash on this one so there wasn’t too much to pick up on in the first steep, mostly light hints of some of the aromatics. The liquor is a nice brown. The aroma offers up some pickled notes. The flavor remains really light. rhinkle likens it to golden beets. A cooling sensation in the throat kicks in after a couple minutes. Swishing it around the mouth results in a bit of a drying sensation and some dusty earth notes.

In steep three I get more of an assertive flavor, especially in the aftertaste and the exhale. A blend of sweet, sour and cream. It almost reminds me of goishicha but much, much lighter and without the umami soya-like notes.

More sweetness in steep four with some medicinal notes coming in and a more reddish color to the liquor. I do start getting some flavor notes that I would almost characterize as carroty.

Fifth steep, stewed stone fruits and root veggies with a sugary finish in the throat. Tea starts to give out after this one. I sift through the leaves and notice the variety among them. All in all, an enjoyable session.

2005 Green 99

Backlogged note. No longer going in order, but who needs order!

The golden colored wash of this tea smells of smoked wood and petrichor, and has a hint of sweetness and huigan.

The first proper steep is more amber in color with a sweet, smoky flavor. A couple steeps in the color becomes more brown and the smoke dissipates, creating a very nice balance in the flavor.

A light cooling sensation kicks in and lingers in the throat from steep four on, and one more steep in, a pleasant hint of bitterness and a slight drying sensation kick in and the sweetness becomes distinctly honey-like, rounding out the entire experience.

Received a sample of a roasted yerba mate recently, which I’ve never had in my life before. rhinkle and I drank it last week, if I recall correctly, and it was actually quite good. Steeping it was interesting, but it ended up being quite houjicha-like in flavor. Sweet, roasted nuts, smooth. And, fortunately, there was no jittery caffeine high.

After having recently randomly spent a night when I couldn’t sleep reading up on yerba mate forums and now having finally tried it, I’d definitely be interested in exploring it more.

2006 yiwu from curated puerh box.

Had a couple of sessions with this sample over the past week. Fairly sweet aroma comes off the of dry leaves with a bit of smokiness becoming apparent once they’re wet. First steep pours a surprisingly deep amber with a piney, floral flavor and a bit of a drying sensation in the mouth.

2004 date aroma ripe from curated puerh box

Been making a point to drink through more of my shou samples lately and gave this one a try after it’d had plenty of time to rest following its travels. This shou is sweet-smelling when dry and sweet and mushroomy when wet.

Gave this one a wash to start, and the first steep poured a light red. Flavor profile was sweet with prominent mushroom notes and a hint of something vegetal at the end. A cooling sensation developed and extended well into the aftertaste.

Overall, this one was creamy and clean, with a sweetness that built throughout the session.
creamy, clean,
sweetness comes out more after a few more steeps

Received a sample of a tea friend’s own matcha blend. First and only flavored matcha I’ve ever tried, and most matcha I’ve consumed in a sitting (though some of that weight was from the sugar).

This was a pumpkin spice blend and tasted just like that—a sweet blend of pumpkin spice and matcha. It was a unique experience!

200x traditional qingbing from #white2teaclub

Finally, a tea I took some decent notes on! Would have really been a shame if I hadn’t!
Sniffing the dry leaves of this sample, they smelled a bit like sawdust, and after being hit with water, they smelled a bit like sawdust and basement. rhinkle thought they smelled like hot cucumber, and then hot salad. We agreed to disagree.

Anyhow, this steeped out to a red amber liquor and the wash actually did taste a bit like hot salad or warm cucumber water. Guess rhinkle was onto something.

The color became much deeper in the first proper steep, with a smooth texture and persisting flavors of warm, but fresh, vegetables with a sweetness hitting the back of the throat and the slightest hint of coffee trying to creep in.

The next steep became much darker, like as dark as I would expect shou to get, and it brought with it a hint of bitterness and deep, woody flavors. More sweetness and coffee notes emerged over multiple steeps, and the flavor must have evened out a bit more after that, because that’s all I got noted!

A very interesting session!
more sweetness and coffee notes emerge over multiple steeps

So this was the one tea I started Sunday, as I also had leaves from a couple other teas I continued with from the day before. This was the 2005 Menghai area wild material raw brick from Curated Puerh Box 0003. I used 8g, quick wash and a bit of a rest before getting going with the session.

At around 12 years old, this sheng produced a golden liquor and a soft, sweet aroma. It was smooth and oily in the mouth and sweet on the tongue, with just a bit of dustiness that revealed itself as it gradually opened up.

This was an easy one to enjoy and I will enjoy further exploring its subtleties in a future session!

This was the “hush hush” tea from Curated Puerh Box 0004 so I’m not going to list it. I’ll just say it was a Taiwan stored 2006 sheng. I did 7g of this in a 100ml gaiwan on Saturday, and I was so not ready for the wonderful experience it was about to pull me into. I drink tea on homework day to keep me fueled, but this kept trying to claim my entire focus!

These tea leaves have a very slightly smoky aroma that I found very comforting. The liquor steeped out to an amber color and was thick, viscous and mouth-coating from the very first steep. The flavor had a light smokiness to it up front, along with a bit of camphor and light fruitiness that gradually pushed its way in.

The thing about this tea that really draw my attention was its depth. Something about it pulled me in, and I didn’t want to make it let me go. As I continued with the session, a bit of fluffy airiness developed in the texture, bringing with it a nice sweetness, both up front and in the form of huigan.

After several steeps over a few hours, the leaves had a warm, comforting, foresty aroma. I steeped them a few more times the next day to enjoy that a little while longer. Fantastic all around!

Well I’ve got quite a few notes to catch up on since last Friday, so let me start with this one. rhinkle and I drank this one at work last Friday.

This was a blend Steph made and sent in the swap we just had, YS Laoshan Black with cacao shells and vanilla beans.

First of all, just let me say this has an incredible chocolate aroma, both dry and steeped, and it is so well supported by the vanilla. We can taste the flavors waking up in the first steep, but they really came together in the second one, a purely delicious blend of chocolate, malt and sweetness that melded together and persisted through the few steeps we had time for.

We still have a bit left, fortunately, so we are saving our next steep for home, where we can truly savor it! Thank you again, Steph!

Tea: white2tea May club box: 2017 Lincang fresh puer green tea and 2017 Lincang fresh puer maocha. Reviewing them together since they’re “related” and this seems to make more sense. I’ll call the first “green” and the other “puer.” They’re both extremely green and not surprisingly somewhat similar.

Prep: 60cc gaiwan, 3-5g. I’ve used both boiling water or cooler ~90C water. Mostly flash steep x2, 10s, 10s, 20s, 20s, etc..
Sessions with th(ese) tea(s): 5+

Taste: The green has a very open and round flavor to it. It has nuttiness and vegetal notes, I suppose as expected from a fresh green. I can’t put my finger on exactly what the note is but it somehow reminds me of a breakfast cereal? The puer is very similar, but it doesn’t have as much “roundness” in the flavor. It has more bitterness and I guess I can see the beginnings of a young cake. Both are extremely aromatic, both last around the same number of steeps. 2dog notes fruitiness in these teas, which I’m not really finding, and he notes the green has more bitterness than the puer, which I find to be the opposite. He also notes the green has a cooling sensation, which I do find to be true, and is very pleasant.

Body: mouthfeel starts medium, eventually turns thinner. Moderate energy, I keep clenching my jaw after drinking these. It doesn’t sit as heavy in the stomach as a lot of fresh greens, which is a nice thing.

Summary: is interesting to note both how similar and how different these teas are. I enjoy the green tea processing more than the puer. This was a really nice club idea from 2dog.

Tong Qin Hao 2007 shu. Some tea sent to me by a friend.

I steeped 4-5g in a 60cc gaiwan with boiling water, had 2 sessions so far, which is all of this I was sent, which is unfortunate. I got really excited about this tea, in my relatively limited shu experience. The taste was a deep, rich, creamy nuttiness, almost coffee-like. Most of the shu I’ve had so far have had a relatively thin texture and mouthfeel — this was thick and slippery on my tongue and gave me a buzzy feeling in my mouth and jaw. Teas like this make me sad I’ve neglected the shu world for so long while drinking sheng. Very enjoyable, no clue how to acquire more, may have to investigate.

Review for some “90s blue mark” sent to me by a friend.

Wet manure, grass clippings piled and left in the heat to compost in the Carolina summer sun. Absolutely unappealing. Pleasant buzzing in my jaw and good warmth in my shoulders and upper chest, but I could not continue drinking this post-lawnmower wasteland.

Tea: Handmade Shui Jin Gui by Tea Yuan, sample
Prep: 100cc gaiwan, full, boiling water, 10s, 10, 30, 30, 30, 45, 60
Sessions with this tea: 3

Taste: Opens with heavy-handed roast, which quickly fades into a dark fruit/cherry/raisin flavor with a sticky sweetness. Some floral notes in the background, then settles into a cinnamon-ish vibe, which abruptly ends. Sweet cherry/almond aroma. My second session with this I leafed lower, is generally the same but overall has more of a floral vibe, no cinnamon or cherry notes, but heavier on the nutty/almond aroma.

Body: Thick mouthfeel. Early playful feeling on tongue. Leaves a pleasant sour tang on the cheeks, similar in sensation to the cherry flavor. Extreme energy. I had to stop drinking this for a while because I got so over-caffeinated and jittery. Use caution. Second session same thing, I was through the roof after 5 steeps. Not sure why this is.

Good flavor, good aroma, but I really hate the jittery feeling this one gave me. Maybe I can try seriously underleafing to see if same flavor/aroma comes out without the feeling of impending doom? Edit: nope