Various Artists

GCTTB
Shangri-La Oolong – Majesteas
I couldn’t find this on their web site, or in the data base – so I’m nit sure what I’m drinking. I’m going with Sangria. A little grapey, a little fruity, a little wine ish – or maybe it’s nithing at all like that and I’m just experienfing what I think it should be. Either way, I really like this and would be happy to have more of it. Reallynice fruity oolong.

GCTTB
Sencha Guava Pineapple – House of Tea
I cold steeped this one over night, and wasn’t really happy with the results. There is something in here that I don’t like. Definately fruity, definitely green, and then something odd. I’m thinking that I’m not fond of the guava flavoring that they are using. Dunno but this one isnt for me. :(

GCTTB
I couldn’t find this in the data base, so I’m just going to log it here.
Sencha Tropical – House of Tea.
I cold steeped this for about 6 hours with 2 tsp in a pint mason jar. It’s really nice. Tropical fruity, I’m getting quite a bit of pineapple – but what I really like is that it’s not drowning in coconut. In fact I’m not really getting any, that makes me happy. The sencha is present but not overwhelming. For me this is a really nice fruity green.

Moonlight comparison two. This time looking at loose leaf.

http://www.esgreen.com/yue-guang-bai-moonlight-white.html
vs
http://www.jkteashop.com/imperial-pure-old-tree-yue-guan-bai-tea-p-294.html

https://instagram.com/p/268QwyOEwa/?taken-by=dex3657

The esgreen leaves are huge and a nice white/black contrast. The jk tea shop – not so much. Smaller, not as black white.

I used the same teaware as the last comparison. 7g 80C 30 seconds.

https://instagram.com/p/26-V5PuEzU/?taken-by=dex3657

This isn’t really fair. These teas are not in the same league. The jk tea is closer to what I was drinking earlier but with a hint of pu’erh mustiness. The esgreen is was more refined, interesting, deep. Lots of honey notes, sweet, a little grassy.

I’m going to continue to drink them both through a couple more steepings and will edit in anything interesting, but this isn’t even close. ESGreen all the way.

I got the lost of my moonlight teas in the mail today, so I’m starting the quest to find my favorite. Or at least favorite of the ones that I have. I’m starting with two cakes that I got from different Aliexpress dealers.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/GRANDNESS-2012-YR-Chinese-Yunnan-JISHUNHAO-Moonlight-white-Pu-Er-Puer-Pu-Erh-RAW-tea/896777300.html
I’m calling this Grandness for simplicity sake…..

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/White-moonlight-puer-raw-tea-100g-yunnan-pu-er-sheng-cha-organic-chinese-puerh-brick-qizi/1883686482.html
And I’m calling this Teatime….

https://instagram.com/p/26pBIAOE-7/?taken-by=dex3657

The grandness leaves look larger and have a more distinct black/white quality to them. Both though do look like what I would expect from a moonlight cake. The Teatime cake isn’t as compressed and breaks apart easier.

I’m going to try to keep the parameters as similar as possible. For theses ones, I’m using 7g in my glass teapots – 80C water – rinse – 30 second first infusion.

https://instagram.com/p/26pQA5OE_S/?taken-by=dex3657

Interesting – both leaves don’t seem whole once they are steeped – broken mush is how I want to describe them. They looked so good in the cake but not once steeped. I don’t think I mutilated them that bad when I was breaking the cakes.
The teatime is significantly darker than the grandness.

Grandness is a little sharper, almost bitter – but does have the sweetness that I associate with moonlight. I’m not getting any earthy/musty pu’erh at all.
Teatime is smoother, gentler, sweeter and I’m not getting any pu’erh at all from it either.
At this point I’m calling both of these WHITE rather than PU’ERH….

2nd Steep – I upped the water temp to 85C and kept the time at 30 sec.

Same result the teatime one is still darker than the grandness.
Upping the water temp might have been a mistake, I don’t think it improved either of them. Both have some bitterness now and the sweetness isn’t as obvious. Putting it back down for next steep.

3rd steep
80C 45sec

80C is for sure a better water temp
These are both mellower at that temp.
I’m not getting much of a difference between them. Teatime might be just a hint deeper more flavor but not enough to notice unless drinking them side by side like this.

4th Steep
80C 1 minute

Both are getting more grassy, less sweet – disappointed should be getting more honey notes.

I’m quitting on both of these. I’m sure you could get a couple more decent steeps out of them, but they just aren’t changing enough, aren’t interesting enough to continue. Both are ok but neither is special. I’m forcing myself to choose a “winner” and that would be teatime, but it’s not going to win this contest. Interesting experiment, but I have more to try so I’m moving on.
https://instagram.com/p/262hvYOE3N/?taken-by=dex3657

I wrote a tasting note earlier in which I asked “what is wrong with me” – I think I need to start this one the same way.
What is wrong with me?
Anyone who knows me, anyone who follows me, knows that I’m a dark tea kind of girl – Chinese blacks, dark oologs, shou pu’erh that’s my comfort zone – so why am I researching/buying moonlight white and why am I about to write this tasting note?

Soooo I spent the evening with a hexagon sheng coin I picked up from O5Tea while in Vancouver. About a week ago I drank and wrote about the shou version of this and basically that note reads – not for me. I really didn’t like it.
This one I like – this is a pretty nice sheng. Just a touch of bitter/astringent/dry your mouth out sensation. It’s pretty light – doesn’t really have any earthiness – it’s not grassy. Ok that’s what it’s not, but I’m not sure what it is. Savory – not really sweet – sorry back to the nots – not smokey. Whatever it is I like it, was a pleasant evening with this tea.

So what’s wrong with me that I’m liking a sheng better than a shou and why am I buying white tea? I’m afraid – I’m very afraid that my tastes are changing………. again.

https://instagram.com/p/08yn2yuEy9/?taken-by=dex3657
https://instagram.com/p/08zbI1OE0H/?taken-by=dex3657

Dinking a shou coin from O5Tea that I picked up in Vancouver.

Disclaimer – it poured rain the day I bought this and spent the day walking around getting soaked. That included these coins. They got “blow dried” back in that hotel room. The wrapper was not stained so I’m not thinking it wasn’t too badly damaged, but who knows.

The first couple of steeps were really mild, flat, not much going on. I significantly upped the steep time and found some astringency. By steep four it’s better but still not wowing me. It’s good, it tastes like shou – I would drink it again, but I won’t be buying more at that price. I don’t mind paying good money for good tea. This is pretty expensive to be just OK tea.
https://instagram.com/p/0wAaFeuE7q/?taken-by=dex3657
https://instagram.com/p/0wBuP0OE99/?taken-by=dex3657

Tooo lazy to put this into the data base.
This was a free sample from The Chinese Tea Shop – the label says: Aged Pu’erh Loose Tea years 1995 (green) – so that’s all I know.

First – if you are ever in Vancouver you HAVE to check this place out. Fantastic hospitality. Wonderful couple in the shop – she made us tea, he recommended tea, we drank tea and talked tea and yes bought a ton of tea – but it was just an absolute amazing experience. This is not how I buy tea in my world.

LOL having said that – I don’t like this tea. I rinsed twice and flash steeped. EWWWW it smells like dirt – not clean earthy – dirty swap….. It tastes dirty too – maybe not as bad as it smells, but dirty…. rinsed again and made two more steeps – better but no thank you.
Love the shop – hate this tea. :((

https://instagram.com/p/0oPo5TOE08/?taken-by=dex3657
https://instagram.com/p/0oP5IWOE1R/?taken-by=dex3657

I’m not quite sure what tea I’m drinking – this was in the amazing box that Sil sent me – thank you….
The package says “Temi SFTGFOR1 First Flush Black Tea Rep. of Tea” but I think it might be:
http://steepster.com/teas/rare-tea-republic/22809-temi-sftgfop1-first-flush-sikkim ?
Anyway – whatever it is – I went conservative with the steeping. There was about 1.5 tsp in the sample so I used all of it in my glass perfect mug, used 90C water for about 2 min.
That resulted in a golden (almost orange) liquor – this is probably a little under leafed and a little under steeped but I was afraid of the astringency. I’m still getting a little astringent but not as bad as I was expecting. This is a little straw ish (that’s my interpretation of somewhere between grass and woody) there is a little sweetness in the back. I’m not really familiar with this style of black tea – I had some bad experiences early in my black exploration and pretty much moved on over to the Chinese blacks. While this still isn’t to my tastes it’s not as bad as I remember them being….. interesting and happy to have tried it.

Tonight I ‘m drinking a pu’erh sample that I got with one of my Mandala orders. All the package says is “Personal Stash 2006 Ripe from Yong DE area” ?

Steeps 1 and 2 were pretty harsh – not bitter but in your face pu’erh – earthy, musty (not fishy) but strong pu’erh.
Steeps 3 and 4 were a little better but still quite strong. There was some sweet, woody, fruit tree something starting to come out.
Steeps 5 and 6 were starting to mellow – getting smoother..
This one is the type of shou that could turn off non pu’erh drinkers. While I find this interesting and really appreciate the sample this isn’t my favorite. Thanks Garret.

http://instagram.com/p/yk63GGOE8I/?modal=true
http://instagram.com/p/yk6dFduE7T/?modal=true

Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong of Wu Yi Fujian Black tea Spring 2014
http://yunnansourcing.com/en/wuyimountainrockoolongs/2939-zheng-shan-xiao-zhong-of-wu-yi-fujian-black-tea-spring-2014.html
vs
Spring 2013 “Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong” of Wu Yi Fujian Black tea
http://yunnansourcing.com/en/wuyimountainrockoolongs/2442-spring-2013-zheng-shan-xiao-zhong-of-wu-yi-fujian-black-tea.html

I got both of these in my recent Yunnan Sourcing order. Why did I order two versions of the same tea? I don’t know, I don’t think I meant to, wasn’t really paying attention. That’s ok, I LOVE Fujian black teas and I’m sure I will enjoy both of them, but are they different… Sil asked me to compare them – so here are my thoughts on that.

Again – same as before Davids baskets, Noble cups. I decided that since there are no steeping parameters on the packaging, I’m going to do this MY way. This is how I normally steep black tea.
1.5 tsp/8 oz 95C 5 min

Dry – the leaves are small twisted and BLACK – I think the 13 are slightly larger than the 14 but only SLIGHTLY. They are beautiful and both smell amazing.
Steeped – Both smell the same and both look the same to me. I can’t tell the difference between them.

WOW!!! This is interesting!!! I was fully expecting to write something like – I can’t tell them apart, they are the same tea. These are NOT the same tea.

2013 – WOW!!! hit me in the face with semi-sweet chocolate. A little sweet a little bitter – fantastic!!! This is everything I LOVE about Fujian black tea. This is a lot like Laoshan Black – maybe not quite as good (but then I’m not drinking LB so what do I know) but it’s along that flavor profile. I would be perfectly happy crawling into a corner with this tea and beating the world off with a stick – leave me alone to enjoy my tea..
2014 – This is good – don’t get me wrong, I will drink this. It’s not as chocolaty, more malty, more sweet potato, almost a little grainy, maybe even a hint of grape. I like it but it pales beside the 2013.

That’s my story – this is just my impressions, but in my world 2013 ALL THE WAY , no comparison. But that’s because I adore the chocolate notes, some of you may like the other version better it’s all personal taste.

ETA – I just did a second steep of both of these (95C 7 min). The 2014 is more chocolaty with the 2nd steep, but I still prefer 2013. Both are milder with the second steep but totally drinkable. These are good teas.

Golden Snail Yunnan Black Tea – Whispering Pines Tea Co.
http://whisperingpinestea.com/puretea/pureblack/golden-snail-yunnan-black.html
vs
Pure Bud Bi Luo Chun Yunnan Black tea Autumn 2013 – Yunnan Sourcing
http://yunnansourcing.com/en/yunnan-black-teas/2603-pure-small-bud-bi-luo-chun-yunnan-black-tea-autumn-2013.html

I haven’t drank either of these teas before so I’m going into this with no preconceived notions on what to expect.

I am again using Davids steeping baskets in my Noble Cups. Yunnan Sourcing doesn’t really give steeping instructions so I’m going with WP recommendation.
1 tsp/8 oz 95C 3 min

Dry – The YS version is more loosing rolled (less snail like) and has more golden leaves in it.
Dry – The YS version is more fragrant and smells a bit chocolate. WP is more subtle and I want to say fruity.
Steeped – the WP version is lighter in color but more transparent (clear) – YS is darker richer but more opaque.

This is really interesting to be drinking them side by side. These are completely different teas. YS is deeper richer but with less defined flavors. WP is lighter and sweeter, but has definite chocolate notes, smooth creamy, buttery is a good word.
I’m going back to my last comparison – YS is more adult not as sweet, somehow you think this is black tea – WP is more kid friendly sweet, what this black tea?. WP is easy to drink, really tasty, easy to pick out the flavors. The YS is deeper, more complex (in that you need to hunt and think about what you are drinking). I’m on the fence right now – like them both for different reasons. I’m going to re-steep the leaves and see what happens….

Second steep – water still 95C but upped the time to 5 min….

WP is darker this time – that’s interesting, not lots darker but some.
I think that WP re-steeps better – less flavor loss than the YS. Don’t get me wrong, the second steep of YS is still very drinkable, but it seems like a second steep – I’m not noticing much difference between the first and second steep of the WP. The YS has taken on some slight fruity notes – WP is still full of sweet chocolatey goodness.

IMHO – I like WP better. It’s just wins on the yummy factor (I don’t think I’m enough of a connoisseur to appreciate what is probably lurking in the YS version.) YS is bolder, more of a standard Yunnan black tea. It has some punch and would be my choice for a kick in the morning to get going. WP is more desserty – sit down for a quiet moment and enjoy some special tea.
Some people think that price doesn’t belong in reviews but unless you have unlimited funds it has to factor in somewhere. WP is about 3 times the price of YS. Is it fair to compare a Chevy to a Mercedes? Dunno – but with that thought in mind, I think YS is inexpensive enough to drink everyday, nice solid black tea. WP would be more of a special occasion tea for me. It’s not SO EXPENSIVE that I would never buy it again, but it’s a little pricey for every day drinking.
Both these teas could find a permanent home in my cupboard for different reasons.

Harney & Sons – Soba Tea, Roasted Buckwheat
https://www.harney.com/soba-tea-roasted-buckwheat.html
vs
Yunnan Sourcing – Himalayan Black Tartary Buckwheat Roasted Tea
http://yunnansourcing.com/en/flower-and-herbal-teas/2508-himalayan-black-tartary-buckwheat-roasted-tea.html

I adore H&S Soba Buckwheat tea. H&S is a bit expensive to ship to Canada. Was looking for another example of this tea. I’ve looked for roasted buckwheat at local health food store but haven’t been able to find any. So, when I saw something that looked similar at YS I was quite excited.
I’ve made a cup of each using the same steep parameters. 1 tsp/8oz 100C 5 min
I used Davids steeping baskets in my Noble cups, so each tea was steeped in the same vessel and I’m drinking it out of the same cup.

Dry – the H&S nuggets are a little smaller and a little darker in color than the YS version.
Dry smell – really they both don’t smell like anything.
Steeped – Again the H&S is slightly darker in color.
Smell – the H&S smells more toasted, the YS is similar but not as strong.

H&S is for sure more toasty/roasted. The YS is sweeter and more grainy. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to articulate how I feel about this. I like them both – if I weren’t drinking them side by side, I’m not sure I would think there is much difference. But I am drinking them side by side. H&S is more flavorful – I think it’s more fun, like a kids cereal. YS is more subtle and more natural – it’s more adult.
I think the YS version would benefit from a longer steep time – I think the bigger nuggets need a bit longer steep time.
All and all I am really happy with my YS purchase, I am going to be perfectly happy drinking this, and considering how cheap it is – that’s just a bonus. Do I like H&S better? yes I do, but only marginally better. I’m not sure what I rated H&S – but right now I’m thinking H&S 95 – YS 92.

Both these teas make me happy.

1 tsp H&S Florance + 1 tsp Adagio Chestnut + 12 oz just under boiling water for 3.5 minutes = comfort and soothing for an emotional trying day.

I usually choose a tea in the morning and take it to work. Today I decided that rather than choosing ONE tea, I would take a few of the samples that I have lying around. I tossed a few in my bag and off to work I go.
Ont of them was this little red individual package that Sil had so generously sent me.
I’m at work, I’m not really paying attention. I rip open the package, dump the contents into my steeping basket, pour hot water over it, put the lid on, and go back to my desk. A few minutes later, I take the lid off and am immediately hit in the face with the unmistakable scent of fishy pu’erh. Oppps, This package was all in Chinese, and I just thought that Sil had sent me all black samples. Nope, this was a pu’erh – and I mistreated it BADLY. No rinse, over leafed, over steeped.
Sorry sil this was probably a pretty decent pu’erh – I drank about half the cup then added more hot water – but the damage had been done. Even the resteep didn’t really didn’t come out that good. It was ok, but not what it would have been if I had treated it right.
Moral of the story – if you don’t know what a tea is, drink it at home when you have time to watch, smell, investigate what you are drinking. :(((

I’ve been drinking genmaicha all evening, and needed something a little bolder. Dug though my sample box and found this little mini tuocha. I have no idea what it is. Sil so generously included it in the package she sent me. It’s a mini toucha wrapped in gold foil with Chinese characters.
Gave it a moderate rinse, and I’m frightened at this point. The rinse is really fishy. Dumped that off, and steeped it for about 30 seconds. I’m still smelling fish, dumped it into my travel mug – trying to keep the fish out of my nose. Hmmmm interesting. This is the type of pu’erh that scares people off. Having said that, I don’t really mind this. It’s a bit rough around the edges, but not bad and what I was needing tonight.
Thanks Sil for providing this mystery sample.

I received a package from Sil today. Thank you very much!!!!
In the package were a couple of mystery packages. I have no idea what this is. Little gold package with lots of Chinese characters. The only English on the package is “Refined Chinese Tea”, that doesn’t tell me much but I’m game to try almost anything. Cut the package open, took a look at the leaves. This is a black tea. LOL I know nothing, I’m not even going to guess anything other than that. I was a bit cautious with steeping. Might have underleafed a touch, and only steeped it for 2.5 minutes. Yep, this is a black tea. This is a decent black tea. Not the best one I’ve ever drank, but pleasant enough. I’m calling this light and bright, rather than the dark and malty that I really like. I’m going to add more leaf and steep it a bit longer and see what happens.
OK so I dumped the rest of the package into the infuser with the previously steeped leaves added water and steeped about 4 minutes. This still looks really pale to me. Better, but still not as bold as I normally like.
Thanks for the sample Sil, has been an interesting experience. I normally look up a tea before I drink it to have an idea what to expect. Going in “blind” as been interesting. I’m not sure what to compare this too, different than any others I’ve tried, but not completely to my taste.

Review is for “China – Black Tea Zhen Qu”, from Stacy at Butiki when she sent out a box with a bunch of unflavoured tea samples around the time Butiki closed up.

I believe I’ve had a Zhen Qu before, and my recollection was that it was pleasant and chocolatey, not overly strong or roasty. That’s about how this cup went – pleasant, hinting towards chocolate, and smooth. Nice, and on the side of my preferred black tea profiles, but I like others better (though age/storage could be a factor here).

2022 Sipdown 98/365!

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge March 2022: Tea that makes you happy

Review is for “Taiwan – Oolong Shan Lin Xi #1”, from Stacy at Butiki when she sent out a box with a bunch of unflavoured tea samples around the time Butiki closed up. I don’t know where that box ended up, but I did hang onto 5 or so 1-cup samples to enjoy later (didn’t intend to be quite this much later).

I’m currently a bit out of touch of the different types of oolongs and which ones I actually like best, but I was pretty sure Shan Lin Xi was one of those – and I was right. Creamy and smooth, this was just a delicious cup. It has suffered from age a bit, and was lighter in flavour than I would have preferred, but the smoothness was just heavenly. Definitely one I need to get more of later.

The ingredients: Vanilla Orchid (DavidsTea) and Lady Lavender (Bird & Blend)

I used 3/4 tsp of each for an 8oz mug, brewed with about 200F water for 2-3 minutes.

Outcome? Apparently Lady Lavender is a very strong tea. I’m going to have to drop my infusion time down for it, as well as the leaf. This blend was actually pretty astringent, which seemed surprising to me, and actually needed more VO as opposed to the other mix I tried with Laoshan Black. The vanilla was hardly noticeable amongst the heavy florals and bergamot, and astringency. I’m more interested in trying this blend again as I think Lady Lavender is just a bit much for me to handle (whereas LB is perfectly fine on its own!)

Oh – baby’s up. I guess that’s it for note writing for the moment!

I finally did it! I remember to try “blending” a few teas together to create something interesting and yummy! (I did it twice, in fact. Other combo to be detailed in a separate note.)

The ingredients: Vanilla Orchid (DavidsTea) and Laoshan Black (Verdant)

I used 3/4 tsp of each for an 8oz mug, brewed with about 200F water for 2-3 minutes.

Outcome? Not too bad, but the first thing I noticed was that the mix needed to be a bit heavier on the LB, as it was almost drowned out a bit by the strength of the oolong + vanilla in Vanilla Orchid. That said, I think the combination of the oolong and LB was a little weird – while vanilla flavours pair well with roasty, chocolatey teas, green oolongs maybe don’t quite so much. I may try this again with less VO, but it was not quite what I was hoping for. An interesting experiment, nonetheless!

ETA: Ok, third infusion of this was fantastic. Tasted like burnt toasty marshmallows. Yesssss.

Random unlabeled tea sample from the 2017(?) Toronto Tea Festival. Can’t recall which company made it, but it was a blend of what looked to be dragonwell, with some sort of red berry that I couldn’t identify (not cranberry, goji, or anything else familiar). Didn’t taste like a great deal when brewed up, but there was a bit of flavour from the green tea. Wish I’d tried it when fresh, and noted down what it was!

Sipdown! 831.

Sil gave me the remnants of two of her matcha latte mix samples from Red Leaf (way back), and I finally got to trying one sometime a week or two ago. I made it with milk, because I’m silly like that (I assume it didn’t need milk? Or maybe I’m wrong), but anyways, it was pretty delicious. No need to add sweetener, because it’s already in there, and the powder dissolved beautifully. Since I wasn’t doing the actual taste test for Red Leaf, I didn’t feel the need to compare the two samples, so I wouldn’t be able to comment on differences, but I did find it enjoyable and easy to use, and honestly? If I didn’t have so much tea, I’d be tempted to pick up some of the pre-made mixes just because it was so easy to use. I didn’t sift my matcha, didn’t heat any water/milk (I used cold milk), and it was ready to go, and delicious, in a couple minutes. Yum. Thanks Sil!

So I bought a tea sample last month from Bulk Barn. But I neglected to write down the full name, thinking I’d try it before forgetting. Ha. SMH.
I think it was a holiday themed type? Oolong… the leaves are pretty huge, and balled up when dry. and kinda crinkly,which leads me to think they are old. Except the flavour is all there, and pretty good at that. I’m quite impressed. A really nice balance of spices. Nutmeg for sure, a bit of clove, cinnamon and I can’t really say what else. It all worked perfectly with the base. Very comforting. It tasted like a warm hug.
If I didn’t have a cupboard explosion on my hands here, I would seriously consider picking up some more.