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I’m continuing to clean out the backlog with this one. This was yet another of the samples from What-Cha that I had accumulated since the summer. I cracked it open this past weekend and finished it last night. Overall, I found it to be a nice Darjeeling with intriguing aroma and flavor profiles.

Since I only had a 10 gram sample packet of this tea, I made a point to get as many sessions out of it as I could. For the first session, I performed a two step Western infusion by steeping 3 grams of loose tea leaves in just shy of 8 ounces of 203 F water for 3 minutes, and then followed that up with a second infusion of 5 minutes. For the second session, I again performed a two step Western infusion. This time I steeped 3 grams of loose tea leaves in just shy of 8 ounces of 205 F water for 2 minutes, and then followed that up with a 3 minute infusion. The third and final session was a familiar one step Western infusion. I steeped 4 grams of loose tea leaves in approximately 8 ounces of 203 F water for 5 minutes. Of the bunch, this final method was the one I preferred. I feel like it provided the best results overall.

The first method detailed above initially produced a liquor with a strongly fruity, herbal aroma. In the mouth, I detected notes of toast, Muscat grape, lemon balm, honey, butter, peach, apricot, and straw. The second infusion produced a mildly toasty, fruity liquor with something of a mineral tinge in the mouth. The second preparation method produced a milder liquor all around with pronounced butter, toast, and mineral notes throughout. The final preparation produced a rich tea liquor with pronounced aromas of Muscat grape, apricot, butter, lemon balm, honey, and toast. In the mouth, I noted flavors of Muscat grape, golden raisin, apricot, honey, peach, lemon balm, butter, toast, and straw with a fleeting mineral note on the finish.

This was a very nice and very unique Darjeeling. I feel that most of the brewing methods I attempted did not really do it justice, but I could still detect enough to realize that this was a quality tea. I hope to acquire more of it in the future.

Another of the What-Cha samples I am just now getting around to reviewing, this Nilgiri was advertised as deriving a unique fruity character from exposure to winter frosts. So, this tea was not supposed to be your typical floral Nilgiri. Well, score one for truthfulness in advertising because it was not.

To prepare this tea, I steeped approximately 3-4 grams of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 4 minutes. Honestly, I was preparing this tea in a rush and easily could have used up to 5 grams in the cup. I did not have time to attempt any additional infusions, but considering that I rarely reinfuse teas of this type, I do not see that as being all that big of a deal.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves gave off a wonderfully fruity scent. After infusion, I picked up wonderfully pronounced apricot and nectarine aromas. In the mouth, this tea was very smooth and mild, offering pleasant notes of apricot, golden raisin, nectarine, toast, butter, and malt. I also detected faint undertones of straw, dried flowers, mango, and papaya. The finish was exceptionally smooth, rich, and fruity, emphasizing a swell of honey, apricot, and nectarine underscored by a subtle malt presence.

This was a very nice Nilgiri. Not only did it smell and taste great, but it had a nice body with wonderful texture in the mouth. I can only imagine how much better this would have been had I not ever so slightly underleafed it, but at least I was still able to enjoy this tea and get enough out of it to provide a detailed review. With any luck, What-Cha will be able to bring this one back in the near future. I would love to be able to spend more time playing around with this tea.

I typed a review for this yesterday, but it seems to have gotten eaten. Oh well, here we go with the second take. To summarize my introduction from the previous vanished review, this tea is somewhat lighter than the Winter 2015 Farmer’s Choice Baozhong. I kind of like it, but I do have to admit that I prefer the tea from the previous harvest to this one.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. I tried to replicate the brewing methodology that got me such strong results with the winter 2015 tea, and I was mostly successful. After a very quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 11 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes. I do not recall explaining this methodology in a previous review, but in essence, I am most familiar with Chinese gongfu practices when it comes to brewing oolongs, and I am most comfortable brewing oolongs in this way. That is why I do not normally follow Taiwanese gongfu guidelines. As I learn more about Taiwanese brewing practices, I may try to switch things up a bit, but until then, I am going to stick with the methods with which I am most comfortable and familiar.

Prior to the rinse, I noted that the dry tea leaves emitted mildly floral, grassy aromas. After the rinse, I again noted mild aromas of grass and fresh flowers. The first infusion produced a similar, though slightly more defined aroma. I was able to pick out distinct scents of lilac, honeysuckle, violet, snow pea, butter, cream, custard, and sweetgrass. In the mouth, floral notes of honeysuckle, violet, and lilac dominated the entry before giving way to savory, smooth notes of cream, butter, and custard. Mild vegetal notes of sweetgrass and snow pea emerged on the finish and were underscored by a faint impression of tropical fruit. Subsequent infusions were both fruitier and more intensely floral on the nose and in the mouth. A distinct lily impression began to emerge, as did impressions of pineapple, papaya, and mango. Later infusions were mostly savory and vegetal, offering cream, butter, snow pea, and sweetgrass aromas and flavors underscored by a subtle mineral presence, though I could just barely detect ghostly lily, lilac, violet, custard, and pineapple impressions in the background.

As far as spring harvested baozhongs go, this one could have been much worse. It definitely made for an interesting comparison with the winter 2015 harvest. This one was much lighter with a very unique fruity character. Still, if I had to pick between the two, I would choose the winter 2015 baozhong over this one. My nose and palate tend to naturally favor teas from the later harvests, and I also felt that this baozhong faded just a little earlier than it should have. All in all, I found this to be a pretty good baozhong, and I certainly would not hesitate to recommend it to fans of this type of oolong, but given my preferences, it suffered a little bit in comparison to the tea from the previous harvest.

I’m still working my way through a lot of the samples I have accumulated over the course of the year. I ended up with a 10 gram sample of this black tea over the summer, put it on the back burner, and then broke it open last night. I find that I dread Christmas more and more every year, and as usual, I had difficulty sleeping last night, so I ended up staying up late and drinking tea. When I finally did manage to drag myself out of bed this morning, I paired this tea with a late breakfast. I found this one to be a very smooth, enjoyable black tea overall.

I prepared this tea Western style. Rather than shortening my initial steep time and attempting multiple infusions, I decided to keep my approach simple and performed a single extended infusion as recommended by the vendor. I steeped approximately 3-4 grams of loose tea leaves in approximately 8 ounces of 203 F water for 5 minutes.

Prior to infusion, I noted that the dry tea leaves emitted a mild aroma of raisins. After infusion, I immediately noted smooth aromas of apricot, raisins, sweet potato, and brown sugar underscored by faintly herbal, woody scents. In the mouth, mild notes of malt, wood, sweet potato, brown sugar, herbs, raisin, plum, and apricot gave way to a wonderfully smooth finish dominated by notes of raisin and brown sugar that lingered for a substantial amount of time.

As mentioned earlier, I really liked this black tea. Its aroma and flavor profiles are unique compared to many of the more widely available black teas on the market. While it may not have the most robust flavor, the aftertaste is simply heavenly and worth the price of admission alone. My limited experience also indicates that this tea can lend itself to pairing with food, so it is not a tea that is necessarily limited to being consumed on its own. I think that I can safely recommend this one to fans of smooth, fruity black teas or those looking for a rather unique drinking experience.

Alright, it’s time to celebrate another sipdown. I started working my way through a one ounce sample packet of this tea a couple weeks back, but only managed to finish it a couple days ago. I found this to be a nice green tea for everyday drinking.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a very quick rinse, I steeped approximately 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 175 F water for 10 seconds. I followed this infusion up with 10 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I picked up on a slightly smoky, grassy aroma from the dry tea leaves. After the rinse, I picked up more clearly defined aromas of grass, corn husk, and smoke. The first infusion produced a similar, though slightly stronger aroma. In the mouth, I was able to detect mild notes of corn husk, hay, grass, wood, malt, and smoke underscored by a hint of minerals. Subsequent infusions saw nutty and fruity qualities emerge. I began to pick up on aromas and flavors of roasted chestnut, hazelnut, tangerine, green apple, honey, and lime zest. Cream and oat notes also began to emerge. Later infusions were very malty and vegetal. I mostly noted aromas and flavors of corn husk, grass, hay, malt, cream, and oats underscored by roasted chestnut, minerals, citrus, and smoke.

This was a solid, approachable Yunnan green tea. It was not the deepest or most complex Yunnan green I have ever tried, but I still found it to be respectable. As mentioned above, I think this would probably work best as an everyday green tea, though I could also see it making a great introduction to Yunnan green teas.

It seems like I have been working on this one forever. I bought a tin of this tea on Amazon back in late April and received it in early-mid May. I was on a big Kusmi kick at the time and was going through their Russian blends like a fiend. I know I cracked this tin open sometime before the end of May-this blend seemed so unique that I just had to try it. At first, I was not impressed. I found the green tea base to be weak and the spice notes to be overpowering. As I have worked my way through this tin, however, my opinion of this tea has mellowed a bit. It’s sort of strange (okay, really strange), but it is not without its charms.

I prepared this tea Western style. I normally do at least two infusions for green teas and green tea blends, but opted for one infusion here. I have gotten a second infusion out of this tea in the past, but I feel that I got the most out of this tea performing a single extended infusion. For this review session, I steeped approximately 1 teaspoon of the loose blended material in 8 ounces of 175 F water for 5 minutes.

Prior to infusion, a sniff of the dry blended material reveals a slightly grassy scent that is quickly overpowered by orange, vanilla, cinnamon, and licorice. After infusion, I noted powerful aromas of cinnamon, licorice, and vanilla underscored by orange, grass, straw, and a slightly oily marine scent from the sea buckthorn berries. In the mouth, I immediately picked up on orange peel, though this note quickly took a backseat to powerful notes of vanilla, licorice, and cinnamon. I could also detect underpinnings of straw, grass, hay, and buckthorn. The finish was heavy on vanilla, though the buckthorn, orange, licorice, and cinnamon continued to linger in the background.

Overall, I rather liked this blend. That kind of surprised me too because I absolutely loathe licorice. Here, it did not bother me all that much because there were other aromas and flavors on which I could focus. It was easy to tell that the green tea used for this blend was not all that great, but considering the focus was placed so squarely on the interaction of the other ingredients, it hardly mattered to me. It was there to provide a subtle backdrop for them and it fulfilled that role admirably. Though this is the sort of blend I would not want to have every day, I do feel that it does what it does very well. Moreover, it has aged gracefully and there are perhaps few blends that replicate its formula. I think adventurous drinkers and fans of spicy blends may enjoy this one.

I can’t believe I didn’t try this one sooner. I love Earl Grey, and I love Harney’s Earl Grey Supreme, but their standard Earl Grey just fell through the cracks with me. I was always aware of it, but for some reason, I never made a point to try it. Obviously, that has changed. I ordered a sample of this tea with a recent order and worked my way through it during on-call duty. I found it to be a very respectable traditional Earl Grey.

I prepared this tea using the one step Western infusion process I tend to favor for non-Chinese black teas and many black tea blends. I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves gave off a wonderfully clear aroma of bergamot. After infusion, I continued to note a pronounced bergamot presence that was joined by traces of malt and toast. In the mouth, the bergamot was very clear from the start. Around mid-palate, I noted subtle notes of malt, toast, leather, and wood coupled with what may have been a touch of caramel. The finish was tart and zesty, continuing to emphasize the bergamot flavor underscored by subtle malt and toast.

I’m a little perplexed by some of the other reviews of this tea. It seems that a number of other reviewers found this Earl Grey lacking in a distinct bergamot presence, but I did not find that to be the case at all. In my experience, the black tea base was mild enough to clearly highlight the bergamot while simultaneously being just strong enough to provide some balance. As far as standard Earl Grey blends go, I found this one to be very solid and to skew toward the fruitier, tarter end of the spectrum. To be clear, it does not pack the bergamot punch of Harney & Sons’ Earl Grey Supreme. I do not, however, think it is all that much of a step down from that blend. I think that fans of traditional Earl Grey and/or flavored black tea blends may find quite a bit to like with this one.

This is a tea that I have been meaning to review for a number of months. I bought a one ounce sample of it back in March, but it ended up sitting at the back of one of the upper shelves of my tea cabinet until late October when I finally cracked it open. As I finished other teas, I would occasionally play around with this one. It was not until this week that I got serious about finishing the packet of this tea. I finished the last of it yesterday. After trying it both Western and gongfu style, I found that I enjoyed it both ways. Unfortunately, this tea is now either out of stock or discontinued. I’m not sure which. If I had to guess, I would say that it has been discontinued since The Tao of Tea normally leaves a listing for teas that are either out of stock or out of season on their website, but with this one, I could not find any mention of it anywhere.

For the gongfu session, I quickly rinsed the dry tea leaves and then steeped around 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 205 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 12 additional infusions. The steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes. For the Western session, I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 205 F water for 5 minutes. This review will primarily detail the results of the gongfu session, though I will briefly comment on the Western preparation as well.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted strong aromas of juniper, pine, cedar, char, smoke, and cinnamon. Looking over the dry leaves, I could easily tell that this was mostly broken leaf. Initially, I was not certain about the smoke and char aromas. They were very strong. I wondered whether something synthetic may have been added (lower quality lapsang souchongs sometimes have a smoke flavoring added to them in order to make them seem smokier and cover up the aromas and flavors of lower grade tea leaves). The leaves, however, may have just been very heavily smoked. Who knows? After the rinse, the smoke, wood, and char aromas remained oppressively heavy. The cinnamon scent was a little stronger. Prior to the first infusion, this tea’s aroma was still all about the wood, smoke, and char, though the cinnamon was a touch more prevalent. In the mouth, however, things got interesting. It was not all that much like the nose. I mean I could detect very distinct flavors of smoke, pine tar, char, juniper, cedar, and cinnamon, but milder, smoother notes of cream, malt, and toast expressed themselves as being far more prevalent. I even caught a fleeting impression of leather and some kind of fruit. Subsequent infusions saw the tea remain deceptively woody, spicy, and smoky on the nose, though impressions of malt, leather, cream, and toast also began to appear. The mouth continued to display malt, cream, toast, leather, smoke, pine tar, char, cinnamon, juniper, and cedar notes, though it continued to subtly skew ever more toward the smoother flavor components. At this point, the indistinct fruitiness began to put me in mind of a combination of elderberry and dried blueberry. Mild mineral notes also began to appear on the finish. Later infusions saw the mineral character emerge more fully. The nose displayed mild smoke, wood, and spice notes beneath the mineral character, while the mouth continued to display malty, creamy flavors balanced by minerals. I could still detect a little smoke, spice, and dark fruit in the background, but these impressions were fleeting. The Western infusion produced a similarly woody, smoky, spicy nose. In the mouth, I again picked up malt, leather, cream, and toast framed against touches of char, tar, juniper, cinnamon, smoke, and cedar. I did not pick up on the subtle fruitiness I noted in the gongfu session.

I know this tea has not garnered the greatest reviews on Steepster-lapsang souchong very rarely gets much hype on here-but I enjoyed it a great deal. Though looking at the dry leaves will likely quickly confirm one’s suspicion that this is not the highest quality lapsang souchong out there, I absolutely loved the contrast between the nose and the mouth. Going into it, I was expecting a really heavy, smoky tea, but got something much more delicate and refined. That coupled with the fact that I found this tea to admirably withstand a number of different brewing methods moved me to assign it a high score. Regardless of what others may think, I really liked this tea. I could see it going over well with fans of lapsang souchong.

I am always happy to try a new Laoshan tea. Unfortunately, I am starting to run low again. After finishing the sample of this tea that I received from Verdant, I only have two more left (I have another spring green and a spring black from another vendor). I won’t be able to order any more for the foreseeable future due to upcoming medical expenses, but I guarantee that I will acquire more Laoshan tea as soon as I am able. This one is definitely on my shopping list.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a very quick rinse (I do not always rinse green tea, but wanted to make sure I washed away the grit and leaf dust with this one), I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 175 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 10 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I noted that the dry tea leaves emitted mild aromas of sweetgrass, asparagus, soybeans, and hay. After the rinse, the aroma became intensely vegetal with a hint of nuttiness. The first infusion produced a similar, albeit slightly more balanced aroma. In the mouth, notes of sweetgrass, hay, soybean, asparagus, and spinach were immediately detectable. I also picked up on an indistinct nuttiness that I could not immediately place. Subsequent infusions were more robustly grassy and nutty on the nose and in the mouth. I began to pick up distinct impressions of chestnut at this point. I also began to note aromas and flavors of corn husk, lime zest, and honey. Later infusions were mild, offering predominantly sweetgrass, corn husk, and chestnut aromas and flavors underscored by minerals, asparagus, and soybean.

Normally, I enjoy the later harvests more than the spring harvest when it comes to green teas, but here I found that I enjoyed the spring harvest more than the autumn harvest. Compared to Verdant’s Autumn Laoshan Green, I found this tea to be more robustly vegetal and grassy, but with just enough nuttiness and underlying fruitiness to keep it interesting over the course of a session. I like my green teas to be really vegetal, so this hit the spot for me.

I’m falling behind on reviews again. I finished the last of this tea a couple days ago, compiled my notes, and then just left them sitting. I’m starting to get really bad about that. Anyway, I found this tea to be a rock solid Dian Hong.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 200 F water for 5 seconds. I followed this infusion up with 11 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted mild aromas of wood, leather, and chocolate. After the rinse, I noted that the chocolate aroma intensified and was joined by a subtle scent of caramel. The first infusion produced a similar, though slightly more integrated aroma. In the mouth, I picked up on mild notes of leather, wood, caramel, and chocolate. Subsequent infusions were more robust and complex. I noted an increased woodiness, as well as the emergence of brown sugar, sweet potato, malt, orange blossom honey, and black pepper aromas and flavors. Later infusions were smooth and mild. Malt and minerals provided the dominant aromas and flavors, though lingering impressions of honey, brown sugar, wood, and sweet potato were just barely detectable on the finish.

This was a nice Dian Hong. This being a wildcrafted tea, I was expecting it to be earthier and rougher around the edges, but all in all, this was good. I would have liked to see more spice character and a little more robust flavor overall, but this was still a very respectable tea. I wouldn’t mind purchasing this one again at some point in the future.