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I’ve had one first flush Darjeeling white from Ketlee which was freaking fantastic and I’ve always wanted more of that tea. Thanks to Martin, I’m able to try a second flush from a different estate.

Oh heck yeah! I’ve recently given up booze – any amount, any kind – since it’s not complementing this stage in life. That makes me sad because I love red wine and Fernet Branca bitters (what a weirdo) and the occasional beer. Here, I get a tea that’s almost like a cross between white wine and a mild pale ale without any yeasty flavor or, obviously, carbonation. It’s complex and engaging but it doesn’t need to be analyzed. There’s just so much going on – all parts in harmony, mind you – that I’m having fun picking out notes. Pine sap and spices, mineral, clear fruity aftertaste, clean. Two excellent steeps, then top off the brewing jar with water and into the fridge overnight to extract everything.

This is such a great tea and a reminder that I need to get a Darjeeling white when I start serious buying again.

Thank you, Martin!

While this was a small sample-from-a-sample, just 2.5g of leaf gave me a clear picture of this tea. It’s indestructible — boiling water and long steeps do no harm. It tastes so much like an oxidized and aging Fujian white that if I hadn’t known this was grown in the Netherlands (assuming, since there’s no description for the tea), I’d be none the wiser. Darker character, sweet and dry but not drying, this is a pure expression of Camellia sinensis. Very neat!

Thanks so much for my first Dutch tea, Martin!!

Bought a 1-serving sample several years ago to give Vesper Chan puerh a try.

Right now, it’s a little too brassy for me, but I can feel a steady strength to this leaf that might indicate an ability to age into something very nice. For a young pressing, it’s also very balanced.

Two nights in a row of 2013 Chen Sheng Hao Na Ka sheng — from mrmopar 5 years ago? Hope you’re well tea friend.

Plastic baggie California storage ain’t no thing to this tea. Champ leaf. Roasted barley nose. Starts moderately date-sweet, then quickly moves astringent with the second cup. That softens with the next 8 or so steeps as cactus bitters prickle my tastebuds. Bittersweet throat. Ends gently sweet with the long steeps. The sheng that end sweet make it feel like a complete experience. Only issue is it’s a bit thin some pours.

This had been humid-stored before it landed in my cupboard. Wet, decaying wood and some rain-filled ashtray notes. Sounds notsogood, but if you know what you’re getting into, it might be a welcome flavor. This tea, both evenings, has paired well with laying down in bed :)

Like sugar sweetness on the nose, orchids. Clean taste reminds of bamboo with a hint of lemon acidity. Very soft asparagus vegetal nuance. Brothy, silky. Delicate macerated peach finish leads into mouthwatering. The peach carries through on a breeze into the aftertaste. A stunning tea! In ways, it is very similar to another Anji baicha I’ve tried though this one is more to my preferences. It’s like mid-spring. Freshness and youth and clear skies.

I prepared it a few times western with high temp water, but this last probably 1.5g I brewed in a 200?mL cup with 185F. It sure is shining during a night of heavy rain.

Thank you for sharing, Martin!

Looks like maybe the formula has changed since Roswell Strange reviewed Enlighten Mint 9 years ago. It has peppermint instead of spearmint now. I do wonder if spearmint is part of the ‘natural flavors’, though.

I like this one better than Tropical Uprising. In general, this is mostly sweet with a grassy-earthy base note and a cool, mild generic mint taste without any menthol feel.

Certainly not the most forward yancha. This tea is not about tasting notes. I can’t even describe it besides heavenly and gently medicinal. If it had a bit longer aftertaste, this would be a 100 for me. Glad I drank the rinse as the first cup.

The Essence of tea said it best: “…a tea that is clear to drink, pure taste, with good thickness and minerality.”

I like other flavors better – this one’s flat tasting – but at 60 calories per can with only 11g added sugar vs the high 20s of other flavors, Tropical Uprising is my most frequent choice for demanding work days. In comparison, Peach Revival, which is another lower-calorie flavor, only has 3g added sugar but I can definitely taste the stevia in that one.

Not much has changed in 4 years. Four? Really?

This tea needs to be properly aged elsewhere. Lazy bones storage in California has almost entirely arrested the potential transformation of this brash leaf.

When, from first sip, the tea slips away without effort, like the cool stream that dips underground as it courses, and any thought that once occupied my being is now a ghost of the so-called caring self —

Yeah.

That’s good tea.