Best tea(s) that you have ever drank?

Best shu pu’er I’ve ever had was Xingyang’s 1998 Golden Leaf. I still have some left for special occasions. Reminds me of an ancient library. The day I run out of this will be a sad one.

Best sheng would have to be the 2009 Mengku Jade Dew I got from Mandala. Hint of smoke, stone fruit, leather. Yum. Also a sad day when I finish this.

Best black tea is Butiki’s Premium Taiwanese Assam for comfort, Chinese Wild Ancient Black for complexity.

Strangely enough, while I adore oolongs (especially yancha and the more roasted/oxidised types), I don’t have one that really stands out to me as the best. Which, looking at my list, might be a good thing, since everything else on it has generally been long sold out. Sigh.

Best tea, hands down? I’d have to go with the Xingyang shu. I’ve had dreams of it.

Golden Orchid by Whispering Pines, closely followed by Cocoa Amore.

Hello TippysTea,

That’s a very interesting question to ask. It is also a very personal question in the sense that everyone prioritizes the different aspects of tea differently (ex. taste, smell. brew texture, body reaction, tolerances, etc).

Personally the best teas for me are aged teas, whether they are puerh, oolong, heicha or liu ann. This is because I assess how deep and penetrating the effect of tea is on me as a number one priority. How good a tea is, is based on how good I feel during and after I drink the tea. In China in the old days tea is seen as medicine, a component of Chinese medicine if you like. Additionally age teas have a relaxing and calming nature so there are people who would drink these teas to aide in focusing their thoughts as a meditation ritual.

Below is a list of the different aspects of tea listed in order of importance based on my impression.

1) Body reaction – A sense that your whole body has drunk and enjoyed the tea, a feeling of comfort and relaxation
1) Tolerance – This is subjective and personal. It is in reference to our body’s natural instinct and mental comfort zone that triggers a rejection mechanism. Any tea that triggers this is out so a tea would need to have characteristics deemed tolerable enough to slide by this test (which is unique for each individual). I am particular about a certain sour taste and sharp astringency that comes from stale Chinese green teas. Some people don’t like HK (wet) storage and so on.
2) Brew texture – A substantial feeling in the mouth (ex. full body wine and not light sparkling wine)
3) Taste/Smell – This is very wide ranging, all things pleasant and agreeable

In my mind a good tea would need to perform well in 1), pass the tolerance test and be able to reach at least a decent standard for all the others.

Best, VP