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This tea sums up why I don’t buy much shou, but why I still keep trying it.

After two rinses, the tea smelled wonderful. In fact I wanted to go back and drink the rinses. There was a lovely black raspberry aroma, with a hint of chocolate. While this flavor carried into the taste, it was accompanied by an underlying bitterness that I didn’t care for. I found myself dumping the tea because the bitterness overwhelmed the fruit. I kept steeping and while the fruit faded the bitterness faded much faster.

I’m on about my 9th steep now and it is really pleasant. Next time I’ll try 3 rinses.

Xiaguan teas can be very heavy, so I decided to go for a series of short steeps with this tea. One issue: it was hard to break up. I wound up with three pieces totalling about 2.4 grams for my 2-ounce gaiwan.

It took several steeps for the chunks to dissolve. These initial steeps were light, with obvious smoky character, which I like. There are wood and straw behind the smoke. Despite the short steeps, I’m getting a nice relaxed feeling from the cha qi, helping me to ease out of my work attitude, and into my relax mode.

Not really a special tea, but a good value for 8 years old, and just what I wanted on a lovely spring day.

I’m not generally a fan of shou, but this is the kind of tea that keeps me trying them.

Started with 2 5 s rinses. 1st steep at 210 degrees: Wow, this is potent. Filling the room with a powerful earthy aroma: wet loam with an undercurrent of ash. The taste is amazing: that loam/ash flavor with hints of fruit underneath. The finish starts with raspberries, but ends in bitterness. Sadly, as I drank, the bitterness seemed to overwhelm the fruit. I decided to use shorter than usual steeps and reduce the water temperature to 200 degrees: I love the smell. Taste is more subdued; I no longer sense the berries, just an earthy taste, but the bitterness is more acceptable. 3rd (10s): More fruit, less bitter. By the 4th steep (15s): The raspberry flavors seem to be winning the battle. I got another 6 steeps, which were pleasant, but not special: both the berry and bitterness faded.

I was really excited by the fruity flavors, but put off by the bitterness. Overall, it was an interesting and enjoyable experience. Someone who likes a bit of bitterness might love this.

I’m not certain this is the right tea. It is the tea that I ordered, but I received a sample envelope with “2011” written on it instead of “2008”. I think the error may be in the envelope, since 1) CWS doesn’t sell a 2011 version, and 2) the tea seems to have more than 4 years age.

The aroma is straw with some smoke. Fairly rich taste makes me think that 2008 may be the correct year for this. Good, somewhat earthy finish. It makes an attempt at good texture, but is too astringent at the finish to carry it off. 3rd and 4th steeps were too astringent to enjoy, so I shortened my steeps. The astringency went away and I was left with a pleasant straw flavor with a bit of wood underneath: not exciting, but enjoyable.

I’ve been just enjoying my tea lately rather than rating; a combination of allergies and too much else going on. However, I need to catch up on my reviews of these samples from Wymm Tea.

I usually try to drink teas that are older than this. My first attempt I really enjoyed the flavors, but the tea was acidic and bothered my stomach. My conclusion was that it needed a lot more aging.

Shortly after this experience I read the review by Boychik saying she was careful not to oversteep the tea, so I tried a second pot with shorter steeps. This second pot was much more to my liking. The tea was smooth and sweet and very enjoyable. In both pots, the cha qi was so strong that I had to space out my cups in time or I would have been in such a fog that I couldn’t give an accurate review. (My unedited notes say : “Hard to tell where the finish ends and the strong cha qi takes over. I’m just sitting, enjoying the buzz”)

The flavor was a mix of wood and straw but at various times I detected toast in the aroma, and a bit of mineral. After about 4 steeps, it settled down into a very pleasant smooth straw flavor with caramel highlights. I’m at about the 10th steep now and it is still pleasant.

I really enjoyed the tea but hesitate to recommend it because it is quite pricey.

I decided to do the full mystery box thing this evening, and just chose a packet at random. This was the one that came up. Funny, because if I had selected one to try, this is probably what I would have selected. Fate?

I can understand the reference to cane (sugar?) though I would call the dominant flavor straw. There is a pleasant sweetness riding on top of the straw, which reminds me of sugar cane. As the cup cooled, the flavors became stronger, and more woody. The nose is very light, almost non-existent, though if I strain I can detect a bit of grapefruit. The flavor isn’t powerful, but is sufficient. It feels very full in the mouth but with an acidity that I found refreshing. Good, very long finish. As the tea cooled, it seemed to become more powerful, although that may be an interaction with the finish. I would say the flavor is interesting, but not complex.

There is a powerful cha qi, which is just perfect for sitting around on a Saturday night. The combination of the cha qi and the long finish encourages me to just sit and enjoy the experience.

From the sheng and shou TTB (10s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 60s steeps). 2 grams in 2 oz.

Lovely nose: I think floral, but can understand people calling it apple or apricot. This is a very nice tea in a light style: slightly acidic with layers of light flavors. Good cha qi. As it cools, there is a darker edge. 2nd steep: Mild, slightly grassy aroma. The taste starts woody, but an undercurrent develops that starts like citrus but quickly becomes a different kind of fruit. It’s hard to separate the taste from the qi: I think I’d enjoy just about anything when I feel this good.

4th, 5th steeps: I was just about set to buy this, but suddenly the taste just went away!. Bland. 6th(2m): Soapy.

I don’t know what happened. I was really enjoying this tea, but it just quit on me. It is probably a fair value just based on the first three steeps, but the disappointment from the later steeps kind of put me off. I gave it a fairly high rating because the first three steeps were really pleasant. You have to enjoy the lighter style of pu-erh; if you like power, look elsewhere.

Wow: This is really good. This is one of 9 samples I bought recently from Marzipan.

Starts with a strong grassy nose and taste, but the taste has an undercurrent of darker, richer tea. Initially, the two flavors don’t blend, but interact: weaving like chamber music. Long, sweet finish. Later sips are better integrated, but the different flavors are still there, with the nose especially grassy and the finish darker. As it cools, the flavor seems more like straw than grass, and the finish becomes more prominent.

I was going to bring this into work, but the quality is too high! I wish I had more of this than just a 10 gram sample but it is no longer on the web site, so I presume it has been sold out. No surprise there.

The first steep has a very interesting flavor: first time I thought citrus, second time was Dusty and metallic. This flavor gradually disappeared behind a more woody flavor. All steeps were relatively smooth with decent finish and some cha qi.

My overall impression was a tea that was well-made and pleasant but has nothing that lets it stand out from the crowd. not a bad everyday pu-erh, and probably fair value.

This lacks the smoke I usually associate with Keemun teas. Just a strong leafy flavor. Not too different from the Darjeeling teas I was drinking earlier today. A good enough tea but not what I am looking for when I drink a Keemun.