313 Tasting Notes
5.7g, 70 ml gaiwan
Smell is roast and chocolate
1. Taste is watery roast. Aftertaste is a bit astringent, grassy, and floral
2. similar in taste. Something sweet lingers in rear nasal cavity
3. Really astringent
4. Similar watery. Stopped here
Overall not a fan of overly floral teas so DC is already not really my favorite and this one is just not very good. should be able to finally finish the bag soon.
4.5g, 70 mL thin gaiwan
leaves in gaiwan smell super fruity, almost passionfruit like
wet leaf has a bit of smoke and a plasticky floral. standard DC territory. aroma from gongdaobei is tomato sweet like some light oolongs exhibit
1. green vine, floral. fruity notes linger on tongue
2. really nice aftertaste, with shifting florals in throat.
Did not take notes after but taste here was a bit light and did not linger as extensively as I expected from reading other notes and I felt like it was not fully extracted. I cold brewed the mostly spent leaves overnight and that was still a nice cup. Maybe both a water and ratio/size issue. My tap is decent enough, and I really don’t want to generate more plastic waste when I don’t need. Also am too lazy to customize water all the time. As for ratio/size, DXJD mentions 6-8g/100 mL as their suggestion, and have also personally had better luck with high ratios and flash steeps in a slightly bigger gaiwan (90 mL) for the last few DCs. i think 70 just does not hit critical mass for whatever reason, or maybe not fitting to my preference
5.4g, 90 mL ZZZ, water mix
wet leaf: medicinal, vanilla, sweet
1. dark, fruity, medicinal. sweet finish, a bit dank. weighty feeling
2. dark woody, medicinal, almost salty. fruity finish, a bit effervescent cherry somewhat reminiscent of the recent YQHs. serious, reflective, and a bit downing
3. bland medicinal sweet
was busy and also had to pick this up the next day after refrigerating so wasn’t quite the same and didn’t note those steeps.
5.4g, 90 mL duanni
lots of cobwebs, which I spent some time trying to pick out and then gave up because it was too hard to separate them from leaf bits. This is my shou pot, so I couldn’t distinguish if the wet leaf just smelled like shou because of that.
1. a bit gritty texture on finish from broken/powder-y bits. cocoa powder like taste and mouthfeel. bit of smoke? some bitter. mostly herbal. relaxing
2. grainy, herbal, slightly salty. last bit could be due to water though
3 and 4. similar. some happy feeling.
stopped here for work. Material is interesting, not really the bud-heavy or huge leaf ends of the spectrum for LB but sort of long gangly leaves on branches. kept leaves in fridge and simmered w 500 mL for 10 min the next day but have never had especially good results post-refrigeration or after sitting out. Tasted ok. anyway. Despite the price tag, enjoyed it more or less.
4.6g, 90ml ZZZ
wet: light fruit, smoky
1. soft woody sour. some background YQH taste. sweet cherry in finish, bitter taste when cooled a bit. same strange almost alcohol aspect as the CWS recently. slowed thoughts and motions.
2. similar. soft texture, woody, bitter, some storage.
I dropped after a few more steeps of similar notes about the texture in every steep because i was running late to something lol. Obviously have favorable thoughts on that aspect and wish I had a bit more time to sit with it. Never really reach for these, so it’s been a few years. Had tea with someone else recently and was reminded of the importance of pacing in evaluating and just waiting a bit between steeps. Have been used to chaining steeps in my routine drinking and so was often feeling overwhelmed and not picking up things as a result.
4.3g, 90 mL zzz
wet: sour, light smoke, fruit, plum. YQH storage surprisingly not dominant.
1. savory, with Yang storage undertones. medicinal and slight downing and heat. Very light sweetness on finish, w almost alcohol-tinged taste.
2. more intensely bitter and pill-like. coppery taste and subtle Yang storage note
3. very smokey and meaty. still sth wine-like. mushroom-y bitter finish.
4. a bit watery and mushroom-y. Leafy coppery mid notes and some sour medicinal taste
5. a bit sweet
6. leafy and bitter. stopped here to leave for work.
well, what a surprise. this wasn’t half bad this time, though it’s been a couple years. Very savory overall, with a strong bitter core, though it doesn’t resolve that nicely. was very alert at work all day, so the caffeine is certainly intact.
4.8g, 500ml porcelain pot
Wet: woody, shou like
Some spices, woody, sweet
Broadly a light shou like taste. Material is huge and so based on what ppl have said online too, wonder if this just needs a ton more heat than standard brewing usually gives. I guess the ratio was also very low here, but maybe will just boil some from the outset next time if I’m feeling lazy
4.8g, 90 mL ZZZ
Wet leaf: smoke, barnyard
1st: light, quick sweetness. Had a banana beforehand so maybe not as much taste. Scalp numbing
2nd: got distracted and steeped far too long (few min). Immediate strong bitterness and a bit drying. Some sweetness after
3rd: stewed taste, bit drying still. Something like mothballs in the aftertaste. Some wall staring
Did a couple more steeps and then it fades away to a leafy WS storage taste. Basically some neutral head sensation? But also had caffeine earlier this morning too. Lackluster taste was sort of my fault. Will avoid eating bananas beforehand next time.
4.3g, 90 mL gaiwan.
wet leaf: smoky, barnyard, medicinal. WS storage note, sour, leather (?)
1. bitter/astringent upfront, some sour. smoke in aroma that reminds me of smoked kurobuta mini hot dogs at asian groceries. sweet finish, woody middle.
BBQ-y taste. quieting. did not steep for too long or take notes after since had guests over. Overall, I think it can still settle a bit. Some warmth.
Tongmu charcoal roast black tea
5/90 ml gaiwan
Wet leaf: dry smoky, sweet, fruity
Free sample from a forgotten order that I’ve been meaning to get around to… label says 2022 lol.
1. Oversteeped. Sour upfront and a little malty. Hint of bitter and florals somewhere. Tiny amount of sweetness on the finish
2. Unassuming. Probably understeeped. Just a bit sweet and slightly astringent
3. Sweet
4. Sort of dead. Stopped here
So a rinse probably wasn’t necessary here and took away from the tea. This is also 3 years old now, but certainly did not stand out here.
2017 wild LCSX
6g, 90 mL gaiwan
Wet leaf: sweet, baking spices, graham cracker, smoke. Gaiwan lid once cooled is a dark inky sweet smell
1. Having finished these cups, something in the lingering aftertaste is a dead ringer for not-sweet bland purple dragon fruit. Sometimes those are duds with a particular taste that is also here
Octagon cup: Medicinal, smoke, sour, sweet quickly after. Slight cooling and green taste in finish
Cup F: more woody sour. Not as rich, but maybe just from having cooled more?
Kangiiten tall cup: also more sour woody. Maybe taste buds just saturated now
2. slight bitter, medicinal. Drank quicker and i think previous differences are due to temp. Oops. Sugary aftertaste lingers a bit and somewhat extends to throat
3 and 4. Woody
Ended w half cup of steep one that brought back all the highlights: inky florals, minty, sweet, wood. Nice way to finish
thermos’d the leaves and ended with a nice mug. nice tea, though not quite berry forward as the notes I saw online. maybe those are fading? it is approaching year 8 after all…
I also wonder how much the differences noticed in cup comparisons are due to temperature. I have a bunch of cups now, so I should do one myself. :)
@Leafhopper You should! It’s fun to bring things out in rotation, and you’ll probably figure out general preferences. I mostly use a hagi ware cup that I really like for almost all teas, and then sometimes bring out the Kangiiten and DXJD cups. One antique Japanese cup I own makes green teas taste kind of sharp, so that might be something in the glaze reacting, and kind of interesting. While others don’t usually taste too different, I learned I don’t like most teas in the really beautiful but thin lipped hand painted Korean cups I have from TShopNY. A shame because they were rather expensive…
Oof! You really do have more cups than me. I have some big, inexpensive porcelain cups that I use regularly, as well as a Buchangqi Gaoyibei and 1980s wood-fired porcelain Ruoshen cup from DXJD. I also have a very small blue line ROC porcelain cup that I hardly use at all. I don’t have any clay cups for comparison. I should have rectified that when I made my big Hojo order recently.
@Leafhopper Porcelain is king for good reason anyway, haha. The gaoyibei is nice! (As are the smaller vintage cups from DXJD, though I find those impractical for solo drinking outside of saving a small amount of the first steeps of oolongs.) Have since stopped amassing cups, having learned my lesson w costs + space to stop buying either a ton of cheap cups or a few expensive cups and just be happy with the few I gravitate towards.
I didn’t know Hojo sold cups. I mostly see people buying teapots from him. The Japanese clay cups I have are glazed, so other than the reactive one, they’re mostly very neutral. I bought some off eBay and my favorite from Tezumi. Tezumi still has a few nice Hagi options if you’re interested, though shipping from Thailand can be a bit pricey.
I also tend not to use my smaller cups, such as the ROC blue line porcelain and the wood-fired one from DXJD. I’ve basically stopped buying small cups for this reason.
I just checked his website and Hojo sells Kobiwako, Mumyoi, and Nosaka cups, though you’re right that people mostly buy pots from him. I did a bunch of research a long time ago about which of his clays are best for gaoshan (Mumyoi, Iga, and maybe Nosaka, I think). I don’t want to spend a bunch of money just to learn I can’t tell the difference!
For me, some Dancongs seem to be overly roasted, to the point that it’s basically all you taste. Glad I’m not the only one to feel this way.
@Leafhopper I guess DCs are usually delicate enough that the roast can easily overpower the base? Tea Habitat and DXJD have some nice ones, but for some of those too the roast needs some time to settle. For this one, neither the base tea nor the roast are very good.
You’re right, that’s probably what’s going on. I haven’t had Dancongs from Tea Habitat or DXJD, but have samples of four Dancongs from Hojo burning a hole in my cupboard.