Daylon R Thomas Send Message

The first I tried this tea was a bust due to bad water. But now I have good water and some time to enjoy it.

The dry leaf smells like black tea, and not to be too obvious, but old wood. Wood from an old tree holding books. That part is not so obvious-my imagination cooked that up.

So 2 min with 190 F water, and pure malt layered by a woodsiness and chocolate hints. It’s dry overall, but sweet and smooth enough towards the end of the taste. It’s also got some fruitiness bordering between something like berry or cherry. Or the common weird fruity aftertaste from iced black tea. The same goes for steep two at 3 min, and three at 5 min.

This is definitely an old tree because it has that dry wood profile consistent with the aged black teas I’ve had (not to be confused with Pu-Erh), and the complexity comes more from the gradation of tastes upon drinking each cup over the cups in unison. As in it tastes pretty much the same in each cup with some variation, but most of that taste variation comes from the liquor moving down your tongue and throat.

I’d say it’s a stellar example of a black tea, but it is a black tea. Easily drinkable by anyone’s standards, it might disappoint people looking for something to Gong Fu with fewer leaves-although that’s totally possible with high gramage. I might add my notes gong fu, but for now, the short western is what I have because it is simple and easy.

Rasseru Shou

Very smooth liqour with a ink quality black lightened by auburn hues. The taste is just as smooth making me think of mushroom oats: as in, something with a weird mushroom musty sweet dry quality with the dry after taste of steel cut oats. Or maybe I’m a fanciful sensualist- who knows. Very minimal astringency and a little bit of bitter sweetness like black coffee sans the acidity. It definitely woke me up and relaxed me all at the same time well settling my muscle sore stomach.

As for the first Sheng, I’m really surpised how sweet this is. Normally the green shengs have a sour quality, but this is more sweet than anything else resembling something of the smell of cut ginger. I know-a taste that resembles a specific smell. But it seriously has the dry spicy sweetness compacted into a ginger piece. There some moments that make me wonder if this is a white or green tea because the fruity notes head that direction in a tangerine, apricot, or lemon spectrum. Same profile in steep two but more of spicy ginger thing going on. The fruitiness becomes more floral like orange blossom.

I gotta remember these parameters: 5-6 oz 190 F first steep 12, second close to 13. I am really digging it. Wasn’t this one the Yiwu? Either way, i really enjoy it because I get more sweetness than a sour astringency that I usually dread in shengs. Could this be in my head? I’m glad to savor the small amount that I can, though I’ve discovered that Pu-Erhs are more enjoyable in sample sizes for me anyway.

I was lucky enough to have a sample of this tea, and it is a fantastic Darjeeling. Or it is a fantastic first flush in my opinion because it exhibits some characteristics that I’m not used to.

As much as I enjoy Darjeelings, I find myself liking summer, autumn, or second flushes the most, especially if they have some spiciness, muscatel qualities, and the allusive cocoa-chocolate notes. First flushes for me are usually very grassy, almost like a herbal spice such as basil which is why I hesitate with them. Though they exhibit floral qualities like an oolong, they are usually more drying which is why I wait for highly recommended ones to come along before I purchase them.

I took the $39 budget as an opportunity to try this one, and unlike other first flushes, this tea has more of a bready, chocolate quality along with the more herby and spicy tones. Smelling the leaves gives me the impression of basil and butter smothered bread, with a few pieces of chocolate covered raisins waiting in the background to cleanse my palette. The taste produces a similar effect, but with a buttery smooth body of a mildly sweet dark chocolate with a heavy herby and spicy aftertaste for a tea sans astringency. That profile persists, and the tea is even better when you eat a chunk of 70% dark chocolate for company. The first time I tried this I did exactly that, and then finished off my decadent experience with a Tawny Port Wine. Yes, I’m a snob and enjoy the hell out of that fact.

I’m not sure that everyone would find the chocolate qualities, but drinking this tea straight would definitely find a sweet and savory profile dried up by the herb spiced aftertaste. It’s a black tea with a black teas sweet body but a first flushes green profile. I would highly recommend a try of this tea, though I think that people newer to tea might not get the same impressions that I do, and I am not sure how a Darjeeling connoisseur would think of it.

Sipdown 2016 and it tasted like Green Tea Lemon frosting. This makes me happy.

I finished a cup last night. I needed it. I have a leak in the heater core of my 1997 Pontiac Sunfire, and it will be a bitch to fix. Luckily I met an angel of a mechanic that will help me. I am still antsy about transportation to work and volunteering, but God is really blessing me right now as the deity screws around with me. Nevertheless, this tea was a great comfort last night against the onslaught of homework analyzing Critical Race Theory, hosting a report of my hometown’s history, figuring out how to deal with my car and transportation, and the bull crap associated with this year’s ugly election. Flower nectar did its work.

I have so many backlogs to write. Namely an awesome Darjeeling What-Cha offers.

Anyway, this is basically all chai herbal which I like. Cardamom is a good thing for me, and so is cinnamon. I was pretty happy with how this turned out, and was kinda glad that the spices were the main body of the tea. Rooibos is too hit or miss for most tisanes. But yeah, this tea is masala/chai spices with a Christmas feel for relieving stomach aches in short. Good once, good for occasion, but I did not pay full price so I cannot judge fully.

Andrew was generous as always and handed me an Aged Japanese Black tea. I hesitated to try it being sick and sensitive to any beverage with the least amount of unsweetened tannin. So I tell myself: this will at least boost your immune system, and you can actually taste it.

190 F, 5 oz, and 12 second steep. Pure thick malt with a strong lychee after taste.

Steep 2 at 10 seconds of approximation, and the burning sticks taste is coming through. I still get malt and lychee in the back ground body, but thick smoke covers those two up. The smoke cools down as the water cools down. More tannin present.

Steep 3 at 5 seconds, and the same thing with a hint less smoke. More later.

Still one of my top favorites, and I am so happy I can taste it while sick. I don’t know if my mucus is doing this, but I’m getting a little bit more coconut in the savory body. The lovely confused yellow fruitiness between apples, pineapples, and “Asian Pears” remains.

Thank you Andrew! I’ve been meaning to try this.

The other two reviews are pretty close, though this is not quite sweet as I thought it could be. It’s a little bit drying, and it’s fairly vegetal along the creamy plantain body gong fu. Think banana leaves vegetal with a typical Jin Xuan texture. I am getting the first flush Darjeeling taste big time in its grassiness, which is pretty impressive though that taste is hit or miss for me. The smell is fruitier than the taste, though not by much. First steep was 10 sec, and I’ve been in the tens all morning. I liked it more in the first few steeps. Next time, I should do it western to see what I get. I also should not be sick. Maybe then I might get more dessert and fruit qualities.