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It’s in the high fifties with gushing sunshine and gushing winds. Spring is coming prematurely before Michigan decides to revert back to cold this weekend. In honor of the weather, I brewed this up gong fu with a few extra leaves. The grass and lime notes were especially present, but pleasant like a matcha can be. Otherwise, people who read my notes already know how I feel about this tea. Now I’ll put a number. 95 in terms of taste, 100 in terms of flexibility in brewing and 100 in quality for price.

Now, I have a dilemma tied to greedy curiosity. I want to restock on Spa Oolong eventually, but I also want to try What-Cha’s Kenya Gold Needle and Berylleb’s other oolong offerings. Never mind I have Zhangpings in the exact same caliber as some great Taiwan oolongs. My Green Teapot also had a few flavored oolongs that looked in line with Naivetea I wanted to try, but their sample sizes are 25 grams and over 8 bucks. #Problems of a spoiled tea addict.

Backlog. A dear friend sent me hers and she was not as much as a big fan as I was. I looked at this tea and hesitated on buying it worrying that I’d only get a general char tasting Yan Cha with a hint of apple, but I got a SOLID quality yancha with a sweet and savory apple aftertaste. Almost buttery for me. If I were to guess, the base was probably a Shui Xian, but closer to a Dahongpao overall because of the fruity roast. It might border on the chocolate note for some, but otherwise it was a nice warm roast overall. I personally tasted the cherry bark and loved it, but not everyone will notice it.

The first three steeps were solid gong fu starting with 30 seconds, 55 sec, and a minute and half, then the later three steeps took 4-6 minutes. Going with the recommendation of 120 sec or 2 minutes, you get a better rounded cup Western.

I always recommend Andrew’s teas, and I personally recommend this one if you want a solid tasting Yancha or something with Dahongpao qualities, hence someone with intermediate tea experience might prefer it. My main criticism is that it is not too long lasting, but I was delighted with the apple that I could actually taste.

Holy crap, thank you Nicole. This one definitely appeals to my tastes. It’s a shame they don’t sell it on their website.

I got multiple brews Gong Fu and Western. As I figured, this tea was a cross between white silver needle and a Dan Cong in taste. Juicy overall with a bit of a honey aftertaste and a lighter floral character. This was sweeter honeydew menlon more than flower though which made me think of a white, but the honey scent with the wet leaf and the honey aftertaste remind me of the Mi Lan Dan Cong. It did not change too much and on average yielded me five cups.

Here’s to oolong, and here’s to opportunity on Steepster.

Man, you really appeal to Dan Cong lovers Andrew. Though you’re the reason why I’m an oolong lover in the first place so it should be no surprise.

I actually liked the combo because the Dan Cong was what lead the taste of the tea with surprisingly bright florals in a midst of some woodiness. I’d have to try it again to figure out the woods, but it was on the bamboo side with a slight citrus touch. The amacha with the mi xiang of the tea matched really well, and it did well enough that my roommate who does not drink tea all the time thought so.

Though I liked it, I’m not sure how often I’d drink it or if I would buy it. I probably would have bought this when I was on steepster early on because I enjoyed Dan Congs a little more than I do now, but I do not mind having it in my cupboard at all. If I had more money, I’d buy a small amount and reserve it seasonally. It did really well on a cold day in the late evening. Otherwise, this tea is hard to place. The idea of this blend is incredibly unique and that will be hard to market. I would emphasize this being an oolong that has the sweetener without the guilt, maybe even a sweet iced tea in flavor…never mind sweet tea is usually black. I don’t know what I’m saying on here anyway lol. Dan cong lovers, at least try this.

Thank you so much Nicole!

I need to brew this again because I did not like it as much as I thought I would. This tea was thick, buttery and savory throughout with a grassy edge that I did not like. The first steep was like buttered corn followed by a rise of florals from the honeysuckle, but the honeysuckle did not have so much honey. Second steep tasted like popcorn butter. I got three more cups that were much the same fluxes of butter and florals. Maybe I’ll be better next time.

Way old backlog.

This was a solid white silver needle-esque white tea that is incredibly floral and herby. If I brewed it longer or with more leaves, this had a sweet potatoe malt against its overall wheat and hay like dryness. Its dryness is what threw me a curve ball especially if it got astringent, but if I brewed with a bit more delicately with 2-3 grams of leaves, it was a good balance with the dryer qualities with a hint of the softer profiles popping out. There was some melon notes here in there, but melon is one of those weird ass notes to start with anyway.

My criticism is that this tea was dryer and herby than the usual white. I am so glad to have tried it, but I think I’ll stick to Kenya and Fujian until I have another Himalayan or Nepali tea that wows me-which I know will probably happen. This is also more for a tea snob who knows what they are looking for, or for someone expanding their palette.

Andrew, this makes a great cocktail, or good infuser tea with alcohol. If that’s a way to describe what I did. Anyway.

I decided to see how this would blend with an alcoholic beverage. I steeped some of this tea with the New Zealand Starborough Sauvignon Blanc and it turned out beautifully. It took about two days to fully develop, but I got a gush of florals and blueberry that played into the natural crispness of the wine. It might have been better with a sweeter wine or some honey, but it was great with the semi-dry one.

In conclusion: this is a great tea to blend with other ingredients and to make cocktails.

Thank you so much Nicole!

This tea was lovely, emphasis on the grain, rose, and lychee qualities in the aroma and aftertaste. The body was clean and sweet considering the dark amber of the brew. I can dig it. I gong fu’d it the first three steeps starting at 15, 20, 35, then two minutes and three minutes later. I could have maybe pushed it further with longer minutes, but I was getting the same thing. The first two steeps left the greatest impression and made it stand out from a Dianhong, which this tea matches the most for me.

I actually preferred the Bai Lin because it was more unique personally, but this is still an EXCELLENT hong cha that I am so happy to savor. And like the Bai Lin, everyone should try this tea at least once.

Backlog.

I’ve had this tea a while via Phoenix Tea as the vendor and I was thoroughly impressed. It was one of the sweetest black teas that I’ve had, possessing a woodsy maple quality throughout each brew kung fu. I’ve used increments of 15 seconds mostly, though I’ve began with 30 seconds and worked my way up to longer minutes. I still have yet to try this western, but I prefer short steeps anyway.

This tea was on the lighter to darker end that I like and its white tea origins were fairly apparent in the body. I did get a little bit of the specific earth and autumn leave quality I associate with some whites in conjunction with the overall maple character. Dark wood, grains, sweet cocoa, and molasses pop up overall. The cocoa is sweet enough for me to count as the elusive chocolate note. I still think it’s more maply and molassesy personally.

I like this tea better with less leaves at around a 3 gram to 6 or 8 oz ratio because its surprising strength for smaller leaves. If I brew it stronger or for longer, the maple wood quality dominates making it a little bit dry. The shorter steeps or minimal leaves prevents that.

If the price were ever slightly cheaper, this could rank as my favorite hong cha because it has all the qualities I like, and it was less bitter than some of my Dianhongs. At the same time, I could get it cheaper in bulk from Phoenix Herb Co. I recommend that everyone should try this at least once because it is a great quality tea.

Gong Fu’d a sample and was surprised that I enjoyed it. I did not get the rocky, sea weed salty roast that I normally associate with this tea and instead got something juicy and floral. It made me think of hot apple juice with roast only coming in the later, longer steeps. The floral edge was something that I did not see coming and that made me pretty happy. So my appreciation of this roast has been reinvigorated, but at the same time, I do not see myself getting this tea for its price. I do recommend it as a Gui Fei to try if you are exploring some avenues.