Yezi Tea

Yes, today is an Oolong day! Specifically Da Yu Ling Oolong by Yezi Tea. This tea is the highest grade of Taiwanese Oolongs (ooh fancy!) and grows 7,500 ft above sea level where they are frequently blanketed by fog. Apparently the fog and temperature gradient turns this tea into a veritable warrior of flavor, fighting the other Oolongs to gracefully bow to you and claim it is your champion. Why yes, I have been reading High Fantasy again, why do you ask?

The aroma of the dry leaves is so good I actually moaned, I have no shame, but I am glad I was home alone while enjoying this tea. Very sweet and yeasty, like freshly baking bread. There is also the intoxicating scent of honey and orchids with a small afterthought of allspice. Here is where it gets weird, the aroma reminds me of the smell of Amanita bisporigera aka Destroying Angel, the world’s most toxic mushroom, and that is awesome. How is that awesome, you are probably asking, because those mushrooms smell great! Sweet like baking bread and flowers, pretty odd for such a deadly thing. I really swear this is a compliment from an avid amateur Mycologist.

Time for steeping! Oh no, I did it again, I inhaled the aroma and moaned in joy, how embarrassing. The steeping leaves take on a wonderfully rich roasted chestnut aroma that blends tantalizingly with the aroma of honey drenched orchids. I am not exaggerating when I say the aroma of the steeping leaves is mouthwatering. The liquid once the leaves have been removed smells much milder, like a whisper of the original aroma from the steeping leaves.

Why is this tea so good? I took a sip and just spaced out staring at the backyard while the flavor transports me to a trance state. The taste is very mild and subtle but the flavors that are there are so good, it is like tasting tea in a dream where the flavors are very clear but muted at the same time because this is a dream. Those dream like flavors are heady orchids and sweet honey.

If you guessed that I was going to try a second steeping then you are completely correct! The liquid takes on even more of an intense roasted chestnut aroma and becomes even headier. I think I am getting dizzy. The flavor is still very mild and similar to the first steep but now the chestnut taste starts to stand out. I also notice a mineral aftertaste that I always appreciate in an Oolong.

The third and final steep brings out even more intensity in the aroma, all the other scents that were there before are still there but take on a richer tone. The taste becomes more mellow but with the floral notes take center stage as the chestnut ones fade out. The longer you sip the more intense the floral taste becomes. I could get lost in this tea.

Blog review and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/10/yezi-tea-da-yu-ling-oolong-tea-tea.html

I have now tried all 6 of Yezi’s black teas and they are all really good. This one is described as scotch like, which I didn’t get, but it is still a deep rich flavor. Hints of charcoal smoke, but not meat smoky. Chocolatey, malty, woodsy. Yum! I need to get some more of all of the teas and taste them next to eachother. They are all very similar, but each one has a different twist. Super happy with Yezi teas.

I brought this to work, which was probably a mistake. The first hit of the really fine aroma caused me to stop working so I could concentrate my full attention on the tea. It deserved it. several steeps took a big chunk of time out of my day, but this tea required my full attention. It’s one of the best teas I’ve had in a while.

1st steep (1 min): Rich aroma; spice with a bit of honey. Really nice. The taste is deep and rich in a spicy, medium-roast style. The flavor comes in waves, ending in a powerful, long finish.

I’m afraid that I was too wrapped up in the tea to continue writing. Suffice it to say that I had two more excellent steeps and a few others that were weak, a bit less exciting, but still very enjoyable.

Thank to Yezi Tea for the sample

I just got another round of Yezi teas in the mail and this is one of the samples I asked for. It’s definitely the lightest of all the teas I’ve tried from them. Still very flavorful but a little fruitier and less malty. A nice light afternoon tea. Super dooper smooth. Not smoky in my opinion. Definite hints of sugarcane. Overall yummy cup.

ETA: Second steep really strong peach notes! Can’t believe I can actually taste that. Really enjoying this one.

Smooth, sweet, and slightly floral. Very resteapable, 5g brewed my full kettle plus one more steep, which few teas do. This was enjoyable, but didn’t really “wow” me like the other Yezi samples have.

However I’m yet to find a white tea that does wow me, so this might very well be an amazing one. I picked this as a sample sort of hoping to find a white tea that would amaze me, but it may be that I just don’t like whites as much as other teas. :P

Thank you Yezi for this sample! Rarely do I ever steep a tea too long for my tastes, but this time I really should have listened to the suggestions. Don’t get me wrong it was delicious, but there were a lot of subtleties here that were masked by the strong toasted maltiness that I let overtake it. This would have been one that I would have really enjoyed using repeated small steep times for.

The first flavors I got reminded me of evergreen and citrus. There is a bright note to this tea that starts right away and stayed throughout the cup. As I mentioned before, there is a toasted malty flavor, as well as a hint of lilac that is the central characteristic of this tea, almost reminiscent of the smell of a furnace when it is turned on for the first time at the beginning of the cold season. I hope that doesn’t sound off-putting, for me it was very positive. It invoked a strong sense of nostalgia, memories of hunkering down for the winter, of my grandparent’s house as a child. I could easily see this becoming a morning routine.

I did go ahead and steep this a second time for six minutes, which is rare for me, but I had a feeling it would be good. It was good. Most of the great flavors were all still there. This is a tea I will remember.

Another “wow!” from Yezi. Deep cocoa flavors with a touch of caramel, sea salt, and musk. Slightly red-winey, like Verdant’s Laoshan black. The brew is full bodied and bold but smooth and gentle at the same time. Really really nice black tea for special occasions.

The final sample from Yezi Tea. Another good tea. I like this one a bit more than the Jin Jun Mei, but the first two I tried are the clear winners for me. This tea is slightly sweeter than the Jin Jun Mei and less earthy. Slight hints of cocoa and caramel. Very enjoyable.

I need to go order samples of the other black teas along with my orders of the Qing Pin and High Mountain one. I didn’t want to sample them before because they were described as smoky and I shy away from that, but this tea was also described as smoky and as I’ve said in previous notes, I would call it more burnt toast than smoke.

ETA: Just did a second steep and let it sit for a few minutes. This cup is much more chocolatey and caramely. Darn it. I may have to order a bag of this too!

While window shopping for new tea to try, yes it is a hobby that I partake in most evenings because either I am completely obsessed or…actually or nothing, I am completely obsessed with tea. It is a lifestyle. Anyway, while window shopping I discovered the website for Yezi Tea and their delightful ‘try before you buy’ promotion sending you three samples of their teas for the very reasonable price of shipping. Of course I chose three different Oolongs because they are my favorite tea to drink (maybe). They were kind enough to send me an extra sample and that is what I am reviewing today.

First off, you need to visit the website for the Li Shan Oolong because it is wonderfully informative! Not only is there really detailed steeping instructions, it also delights in telling me that this particular Oolong is from the Li Shan Mountain Range in the Nantou County of Taiwan, harvested at 6,600-7,800 feet above sea level. Those who follow my blog know how much I love this kind of information, I am such a collector of information that it makes me giddy! But I bet you are here for the actual review of the tea, so allow me to introduce this Oolong’s aroma! Why, hello delightfully floral Oolong, you are very light and reminiscent of a spring day. The main floral aroma is honeysuckles, not so much the heady summery aroma of honeysuckles but the late spring early bloom where the flowers are just starting to open their petals. Hiding beneath the freshly blooming honeysuckles are notes of sweet honey and a touch of rose.

As the tea steeps it first takes on the aroma of hay and strawflowers but very quickly turns into heady orchids. It fills the room up with the aroma of orchids and that mild chestnutty aroma I find in Oolongs, and it is lovely and sweet. The brewed liquid smells like honey and very mild orchids, surprisingly mild considering how heady the brewing leaves are.

The first steep is mellow and sweet! The initial taste is that of honey followed by the slight mix of fresh vegetation and mown hay. It gives a slightly tingly mouthfeel that is very refreshing and enjoyable. There are aftertastes of flowers that do not linger.

In the second steep we lose some of the sweetness and it is replaced with an intense richness. The taste becomes much more heady and floral, intoxicating, with a touch of vegetal green taste that blends well with the intense floral taste. The aftertaste is that of chestnuts and hay.

In the third steeping we get something that I absolutely adore in Oolongs (other than all the other tastes that have graced me with their presence) a mix of copper and minerals. That may not sound very tasty, but it is, every time I drink and Oolong that has these flavors it reminds me of a mountain spring, it is very clean but the undertones of minerals and copper are delightful. I should note that the mineral and copper taste are just hints, the main taste in this steeping is an even more intense floral with rich nutty notes.

In the final steep the sweetness from the first returns, delightfully mild with a touch of honey. The floral taste also is much more mellow and a sweet chestnutty aftertaste is present. A wonderful last cup!

Photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/09/yezi-tea-li-shan-oolong-tea-tea-review.html

This tea never stood a chance. The only other Jin Jun Mei I’ve had was from the Verdant Reserve club and it pretty much blew my mind. No other Jin Jun Mei will ever compare. This tea is still enjoyable for sure. It’s not as sweet as I’d like it to be, more of a dry flavor and more woodsy, but still very smooth and complex in flavor. I like the Qing Ping and the High Mountain ones better, though. I have the Jin Pin left to try. Overall, I’m very pleased with Yezi teas.

I am brand new to loose leaf tea and this was my first cup. I’m sure part of the joy came from the novelty of brewing without a bag, but I really enjoyed this tea. I love the smell of jasmine and this tea was sweet with it, even after several steepings. I spent a lot of time with my nose over my tea cup. The taste was sweet and smooth, and I look forward to trying it again after I’ve had a bit more experience.

Took advantage of Yezi’s three free samples, and got the package in the mail yesterday with a surprise pouchong sample.

Very fresh and sweet with mild spinach and honeysuckle flavors. Just a small sip fills the mouth with its buttery flavor and aroma. Really nice, and one of their more affordable teas to boot!

I picked this tea from my Yezi samples simply because of this line: “A brew of Gao Shan is ideal for firing you up on a dreary day when you could do with a burst of acceleration.” Okay, Yezi Tea, let’s see what you got…

Wow, these Yezi Teas are a kind of blowing my mind. I’m starting to think that any tea company that gives away free samples without even requiring you to purchase something, must have a lot faith in their product, and Yezi Teas is definitely evidence of that.

This tea isn’t super aromatic when dry, but once I steeped it and took the lid off of my glass steeper, my house was instantly filled with roasty honey and cocoa. It has similar notes as Laoshan Roasted Oolong. Once again, the Yezi website references smoky flavor, but I wouldn’t consider this smoky at all, but maybe I need to change my definition of smoke flavor to smoked meat flavor. This isn’t meat smokey at all, a slight hint of burnt toast maybe. It also describes the tea as a bittersweet. I get the sweet for sure, but the bitter is less of a bitter flavor and more of the tea just saying, “the end”. Nothing astringent about it, kind of like the flavor of a door closing, no lingering around. All around awesome.

I am in love with this company. Are they new? Or just new to me?

Yummy, chocolate, deliciousness as always. The perfect lighter rich dark tea!

Brewed up a big mug of this. Don’t think I got my proportions right. Still very tasty. But a little bitter. I think I’ll stick to gongfu, tough to mess up proportions. Love the smell of this tea. I want a candle that emits this aroma all day!

I took advantage of Yezi Tea’s free samples and ordered 3 samples of black teas. This was not one of the teas I chose but was one I really wanted to try. Luckily, Yezi teas is super generous, because in my order of only free samples, they included an additional free sample! This was super smart of them, cause my goodness, this tea is good. And I must order more. I wish I had more to experiment with. I brewed it gong fu style and each steep was different than the previous. But I’d like to try this western style too. The first steep was kind of roasty and kind of grape nuts-y, the second, a sweet dark chocolate, the third honey. The description used the word smoky, which is why i originally didn’t include it in my order, but I wouldn’t say smoky at all, roasty more like. Burnt toasty. Bet it’s super good western style.

BBBB ladies, this will be in the box next round as I’m going to order more. And probably another from them, so don’t order anything yet!

Such a good day for a comforting pot of tea—it’s overcast and raining just enough to want something warm, a lazy Friday where I’ve gotten enough sleep for once, R only has a half day of work, and I’ve busted my butt all week so I can work slowly today, not too much to do. Tomorrow’s Courtney’s bridal shower, and soon I’ve got to put the finishing touches on our 2 final wedding trips for October. Yesterday’s news of the Pope has me feeling hopeful and surprised still. Working through Breaking Bad and reading today from the Times they’re auctioning off set memorabilia makes me sad and affectionate all over again about Gale’s notebook and Walt Whitman’s poetry—his books always seem to be inscribed and weirdly pivotal to people (Remember Monica Lewinsky’s copy? Right around when that was happening I was in the hospital for an extended stay and the one thing I remember my mom bringing me that helped me get through it was my well worn underlined and margin-annotated copy of Leaves of Grass. Then there’s Dead Poets Society…). Anyway, feeling pretty good.

These leaves are pretty dry, long and golden. There’s a satisfying quality to this tea that works really well with my mood and the weather. It’s got hints of woody astringency like a darjeeling/Nepali tea, but it’s also smooth and carby (while staying medium-bodied, not too thick) with a faint orchid thing going on. As it cools to tepid, it gets quite noticeably sweeter which I like.

Smells like a buttery TGY, but has a delightfully understated flavor all its own. The initial flavor is not exceptional, like a typical green oolong, but it’s very smooth and develops well.

Very interesting tea. Writing this drinking the second steeping, which is very similar to the first. The aroma of both is excellent, with a very smooth, wet, warm, organic character, and sets very high expectations for the tea. The flavor is something I’m not sure I’ve experienced before. It’s got an incredibly silky, almost oily mouthfeel, and with no bitterness it delivers a complex flavor profile that’s initially subtle, but develops through several layers that I’m not quite sure how to describe. It’s very slightly vegetal, but in such a tamed way that it’s almost like drinking steamed cauliflower. This is a totally new tea experience for me. Not sure if I’ll buy, but I’ll remember it.

Love this, a very welcoming introduction to Yezi; I can see now why they’re confident and proud enough to offer near-free samples. I love whiskey including single malt scotch (Oban 14 and Lagavulin 16 4-eva), and I was a little wary of such big claims of a tea being just like scotch (figured it’d likely be a standard lapsang souchong where smokiness alone would translate to deeming it scotch-like without any other depth), but lo. This had some scotch-y wonderful qualities hot, along with some rich Laoshan Black/Bailin Gongfu-ish grain chewiness. But the scotch flavor really shines once it cools to tepid. Smoky, spicy, sweet, woody…so good. Perfect as a fall and winter after-meal in-the-library, leather-and-paper treat. So happy and thankful Yezi offered these samples!

I’ve been so excited to try out these samples from Yezi Tea, so here goes another one! It’s the first time I’ve made oolong on my own, so bear with me. Forgot to smell the dry leaves cause it was so cold I just wanted tea right away!

First steep: Steeped for 45 seconds as recommended. Smells floral (maybe orchid like the description says, but I’m not good with identifying beyond “floral”) and a little buttery perhaps? Tastes sweet, smooth/buttery, and nutty to me. And one of the most important things to me, no bitterness through to the end of the cup!

Second steep: Not sure that my water was hot enough, but steeped for about 20 more seconds. Color is a lot brighter & greener compared to the yellow from before. A lot of the smooth/buttery taste and texture have gone away, but the other flavors seem similar to before. Oh, and there is a bit of bitterness that wasn’t there before, but not much.

Third/fourth steeps: Steeped 20 more seconds each. Pretty much same taste as second steep.

Overall, very tasty! I’m sad that the sample is gone, and I’m definitely considering repurchasing in the future.

Not updating the rating since the first cup was really good enough to keep that 90. The second and third steepings were a bit ghostly, and didn’t have the same impact as the first. Perhaps they needed more time. Regardless, I’ll be buying more, and experimenting with it.

Just what I’ve been searching for. I’m only on the first steeping, but I haven’t found any hint of the bitterness mentioned in the description. The flavor actually seems to improve as the cup cools, with each sip more quickly revealing the perfect mouthfeel and aftertaste. The aroma is very savory, with a slightly earthy and mineral undertone. It tastes a lot like it smells, but giving each sip time to develop on your tongue really cements this as an excellent tea. Only the second Yezi I’ve tried, but I think I’m fast becoming a fan. Will probably add another tasting note once I’ve resteeped.