55

Hey, I finally found some time and motivation to get some new tea reviews posted. Of course, it also helps that I have now been able to log in to my account for two straight days. As with everything else I seem to post these days, new is relative. I have such a huge backlog of tea reviews now that I have stopped counting and dating them. This one I think comes from either March or April, but I cannot be certain. Those of you who read my reviews probably know that I am a huge fan of unsmoked lapsang souchong. Since the only other unsmoked lapsang that I had tried from What-Cha was great, I had really high expectation of this tea. Unfortunately, it proved to be something of a let down. It was not exactly bad though. To be fair, it really just struck me as being mediocre.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of baked bread, pine, honey, sweet potato, cinnamon, malt, and chocolate. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of smoke, brown sugar, and roasted peanut. The first infusion introduced a hint of straw to the nose. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of baked bread, pine, cinnamon, malt, sweet potato, chocolate, and brown sugar that were balanced by touches of lemon zest, smoke, grass, straw, red grape, honey, and roasted peanut. The subsequent infusions introduced scents of mineral water, red grape, earth, fig, orange zest, and plum. Stronger and more immediate notes of red grape and grass appeared in the mouth alongside impressions of minerals, earth, cream, plum, red apple, fig, orange zest, and pear. I also detected hints of cooked green beans, and black cherry. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized lingering mineral, earth, baked bread, malt, lemon zest, orange zest, and brown sugar notes that were balanced by hints of red grape, pear, grass, chocolate, pine, sweet potato, and roasted peanut.

This tea had a lot to offer in terms of aroma and flavor, and it did have a surprising amount of longevity in the mouth for what I’m guessing was not as high grade of an offering compared to some of What-Cha’s earlier offerings of this type. Unfortunately, the texture and body of the tea liquor were nothing to write home about. Furthermore, the qualities this tea offered were nothing new for this style and have been much better highlighted in other offerings I have tried. In the end, this tea struck me as being a mixed bag. It was not terrible, but there are better offerings of this type out there.

Flavors: Bread, Brown Sugar, Cherry, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Earth, Fig, Grapes, Grass, Green Beans, Honey, Lemon Zest, Malt, Mineral, Orange Zest, Peanut, Pear, Pine, Plum, Smoke, Straw, Sweet Potatoes

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML
Teatotaler

Have you ever tried Teavivre’s non-smoky Lapsang Souchong Wild Black Tea (Ye Sheng Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong)? Very rich and sweet. It’s like drinking caramel candy! One of the most delicious teas I’ve ever enjoyed!

eastkyteaguy

Unfortunately, I have not. I always tend to think of Teavivre as a place to go for green tea and Tieguanyin. I keep forgetting that they carry a large number of highly rated and popular black teas. The only black teas I have had from them are their Bailin Gongfu, Tanyang Gongfu, and Yunnan Rose Bud Black Tea. I have enjoyed all three and plan on trying more once I free up some more cash. I’ll definitely keep that one in mind. I also hope to try some of their Keemuns because I have been looking for a great Keemun for ages!

Martin Bednář

And I have this one still sealed and un-opened. I have really lots of teas, moreover I tend to buy black teas and then I don’t have tooth for them. I really need to start drinking tea as thirst-quenching drink.

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Comments

Teatotaler

Have you ever tried Teavivre’s non-smoky Lapsang Souchong Wild Black Tea (Ye Sheng Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong)? Very rich and sweet. It’s like drinking caramel candy! One of the most delicious teas I’ve ever enjoyed!

eastkyteaguy

Unfortunately, I have not. I always tend to think of Teavivre as a place to go for green tea and Tieguanyin. I keep forgetting that they carry a large number of highly rated and popular black teas. The only black teas I have had from them are their Bailin Gongfu, Tanyang Gongfu, and Yunnan Rose Bud Black Tea. I have enjoyed all three and plan on trying more once I free up some more cash. I’ll definitely keep that one in mind. I also hope to try some of their Keemuns because I have been looking for a great Keemun for ages!

Martin Bednář

And I have this one still sealed and un-opened. I have really lots of teas, moreover I tend to buy black teas and then I don’t have tooth for them. I really need to start drinking tea as thirst-quenching drink.

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Bio

My grading criteria for tea is as follows:

90-100: Exceptional. I love this stuff. If I can get it, I will drink it pretty much every day.

80-89: Very good. I really like this stuff and wouldn’t mind keeping it around for regular consumption.

70-79: Good. I like this stuff, but may or may not reach for it regularly.

60-69: Solid. I rather like this stuff and think it’s a little bit better-than-average. I’ll drink it with no complaints, but am more likely to reach for something I find more enjoyable than revisit it with regularity.

50-59: Average. I find this stuff to be more or less okay, but it is highly doubtful that I will revisit it in the near future if at all.

40-49: A little below average. I don’t really care for this tea and likely won’t have it again.

39 and lower: Varying degrees of yucky.

Don’t be surprised if my average scores are a bit on the high side because I tend to know what I like and what I dislike and will steer clear of teas I am likely to find unappealing.

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