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Yay, first fresh green of the year. Thick, sweet, smooth and round. My smart-ass boss asked what the phluck I was drinking (grandpa in a glass cup). I think he said something about seaweed. My work partner-in-crime said it looked like an anemone in the cup. For all the marine references, it’s amusing in a tea snoot way that I think this tastes like fresh, sweet scallops. Maybe I’m not crazy? I felt so crazy this morning, though, that I left work 2 hours in. Turns out the vaccine is kicking my ass 2 days later. Shame I’m glued to the bed with fatigue and aching arms and legs – it’s a beautiful day and the garden needs working.

Tea & Trumpets is a local-to-me Sonoma County tea blender who sets up shop regularly at the farmers market in town. A coworker gifted me, among other tastythings, a couple large bags of their teas for my birthday.

I made a few hours’ long ambient temperature brew yesterday with as much leaf as would fit in my steeper basket. How big is the pitcher? I dunno, 2 liters? Drinking it cold today, it has a really strong flavor! It’s very thrist-quenching and tastes a lot like The Teabook’s Impeachmint Tea which was a very similar blend. Mango Peach Fusion eschews the political snark for great flavor. It’s fruity but low-pitched and sweet because of the red rooibos but also has this thick, slightly herbaceous basil-licorice dimension from the tulsi. The mango flavor is a bit of a mystery, as it usually is in flavored blends. It’s never quite mango, you know? Really digging this one. It’s like a summer sunset.

If you’re out there, Sean, thank you!

It is not often (enough) one is in awe.

Thanks to White Antlers, I was able to have a full pouch of green tea to serve as the herald of spring before any fresh harvests could arrive at my front door.

The dry leaf of this smells a lot like Caramel Creams – those Cow Tales candies. I don’t recall ever seeing those candies in this area of California. I’ve mostly been cold-brewing this because the tea is old (though in fantastic shape!) and it makes a nice cold cup that tastes like the quintessential iced green tea in a bottle. Kinda sweet, kinda nutty, kinda ‘green’ and kinda bitter. I’m having a cup grandpa style today. With all the pollen doing its sticky business, my schnoz is stuffy so today this smells like peanut butter toast when brewing.

Little personal edit: Large gatherings leave me milling about looking for people to chat with one-on-one. My cousin had her wedding shower this weekend and because of my tendency to stray from the crowd, I of course chatted with the tender of drinks. I have a date after my second vaccine, the first of which I received this morning.

Honestly, I can’t tell much difference between this and regular Sleepytime. It feels a little cooler in the mouth from that sweet and strong Pacific northwest peppermint. Mint forward but balanced by florals and citrusy lemongrass.

Tastes like chopped Chinese sencha. It’s okay. It has that toasty-biscuity flavor of generic Chinese oolong with buttery dry grass and minerals, some astringency. It makes me feel warm. Not a green I’d want to have to cool off.

I found myself kind of at a loss for how to brew this tea so I opted to empty the entire 4g sample in my 150mL glass gaiwan and do somewhat short steeps.

This tea, while a past year’s harvest, has so much more character than the Huoshan huang ya I had a few years ago at Imperial Tea Court. It is subtle, yes, but it has a slick and oily medium body that carries a sweet and alkaline taste, like a mix of corn husk, gently roasted buttery nuts, some kind of mild, sweet seafood like squid, quartz-like minerality and hint of anise. It’s a little cooling-spicy in the throat, too. Short, sweet, buttery and flowery mouth-watering aftertaste. Gentle nourishment with no bitterness or astringency.

Thank you for the sample, Mandala :)

Edit: It’s on sale right now.

A packet of rock oolong that came from an aged oolong group buy orchestrated by Liquid Proust several years ago. Disregarding my Chinese character illiteracy, all I can read on the packet is “Ye Cha.” I don’t know if this translates as “Wild Tea” or something else.

Had this lackadaisical morning before a breakfast of chorizo and eggs (tea and breakfast made me 15 minutes late to work, whoopsie), I don’t remember much. It seems the roast was light and there were absolutely no lingering roast notes, just a nice warm toasty tone to the mineral sweet and dry woody deal. The flavor persisted for many infusions, which was a nice change of pace from so many rock oolong that seem to give all their life within the first few short infusions. Pliable and healthy spent leaves. A very friendly tea that I think would be great for beginners to rock oolong.

I created “Unknown Oolong” to house my many upcoming notes for teas from that group buy.

Kiki:

“Ok, I though it was strawberry at first and grape candy but it tastes like, uh, bergamot and black tea. It tastes berrylike. That’s good. It’s got a little tartness in there, too. Maybe it’s a little hibuscus or something. I like it, it’s good. I could drink it again. I’d say it’s an 8.5. It’s got that exotic smell, you know. Can I have another cup?”

derk:

This smells really good. I see where Kiki is getting grape candy, it has that tone but lacks the sweetness. I interpret it more as blackberry. It’s a smooth, dark woody but mild black tea that transitions to some tartness and astringency. Seems mostly like a Ceylon black. Bergamot is definitely there, stronger on the swallow, but I think it melds well with the berry and black tea. Dang pleasant. This tea oozes French. I’ve never been to France, but I think about its Mediterranean coast and while there is no lavender in this blend, my mind keeps wandering there. I enjoy this one. (Edit: except now I have a headache.) Thank you, Cameron B. :)

Spring 2020 harvest

Dry — dark chocolate, peanut butter, malt, slight rye. Warm — dark chocolate, oak, osmanthus, vegetable oil.

Western has a very forward, sweet chocolate-honey-apricot taste for me with a delightful and drawn out powdery white floral and osmanthus finish. Overall, the tea is rich and deep upfront but a little thin-textured for my likes.

Gongfu, this tea has a good, viscous structure with balanced astringency and tannins. More tangy than western, less sweet. There’s also a nice swallow that I get from a lot of Old Ways Tea’s Fujian blacks – it’s squeaky, full and satisfying and I can feel it cool my throat. The tea is a bit drying but I think that allows the aftertaste to continue developing in the minutes after finishing a cup. Floral, rich and fruity notes of osmanthus and honeyed apricot-orange-peach with touches of caramel, chocolate and sweet potato linger in the mouth and sinuses. These aromatics are more apparent than the actual taste of the tea. Bottom of the cup retains a very sweet and deep osmanthus note supported by chocolate and red cherry. Comfortable energy. This tea is currently on sale.

Nice tea. Happy Easter :)