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This was a weird tea. I did it Western style at work and really liked the first steeping. I got all the buttery and fruity notes. Second steep was immediately dry and bitter. Figured I did something wrong so proceeded to 3rd steep. Still had flavor, but not as fruity and the buttery notes were mostly gone. Again, I likely did something not right to get something so distinctly different from the shop’s tasting notes. I used the full tablespoon of leaves for 8 ounces of water and holy cats, is that a lot of leaves, especially after steeping.

Did it in a gaiwan tonight. About 1 teaspoon in 140ml water for 30 seconds. Again, the nice buttery notes were back but not as much fruit but some floral appeared. Second installment at 45 seconds. Bitterness creeping in, very drying.

Then came the weirdness. Third installment at another 45 seconds. I’m getting that ginseng/licorice root lingering sweetness on my tongue and lips. Starting to wonder if there is something in my teaware or my kettle. I only get it on the greens and oolongs though, maybe the blacks mask it. Dunno. But I hate that sweetness. Is there an illness or something that can cause that?? I try not to look up health stuff online since everything you look up will kill you, according to the internet, but now I’m wondering. I’m at the age when the warranty has expired and everything is breaking this year. :)

This is a delicious EG, no doubt. I did oversteep slightly as I was vacuuming while it steeped and it kind of took longer than I expected. So it is somewhat on the downslope towards bitter but not intolerably so and I’m relatively certain that if it hadn’t steeped so long it wouldn’t even be noticeable. After all, Golden Snail rules – how could a combo like this go wrong? But yeh, it isn’t for the blergamot crowd. The berg is fairly strong with this one. :)

Plus, the photo of the tea would have made me buy this even if it weren’t two things I love. Just gorgeous presentation of a beautiful looking and tasting tea.

Ooo… this is so tasty cold brewed overnight. I totally forgot I had a pouch of this stashed away in the tertiary tea cupboard… :) I really, really like peach and apricot black teas cold. This one follows the last of my Peach & Apricot India Black from New Mexico Tea Co. I like both of them a lot, as well as Harney’s Apricot. Guess I’ll use this until it’s gone and then whoever has one of the three on sale I’ll restock with that one. :)

Full bodied for sure. But even when I took a deep breath, crossed my fingers and steeped for the recommended 5 minutes, I didn’t really get much astringency. Also not a lot of malt, compared to other CTCs I keep for that flavor profile. This still needs to be tested in the crucible of “hot” restaurant water in less than optimal conditions to see if it needs to be kept on hand. I suspect not, as I have a few others that do have lots of malt even in those conditions. But, I have a big pouch of this for now and it goes really, really smoothly with a dollop of cream so it will be a nice every-winter-day drinker until it’s gone. :)

So, I guess I need to figure out how to store this. This was a generous split on the Silk Road group order provided to the entire group by Liquid Proust.

I sat down tonight to try it out. I did rinse it, though I’m not sure it needed it. It has an initial scent with some smoke in it, which made me a bit nervous. But there is no smoke in the taste, whew. TBH, if I didn’t read on the site that this was a pu-erh, I’d have thought it was a green or a yellow. At 15 seconds, there is a sweet grassiness to it, clean and light. At 30 seconds, this is just more intensely grassy to me, turning to a mildly steamed grass with a bit of bitterness at the end of the sip. Others with more experience may be able to pick out more flavors. Guess I’ll put this one up and revisit it much later since it is a pu that I don’t mind so far. :)

Oh… This is a lovely tea all around. The leaves are beautiful mix of golden and black. The taste is malt, nut and that sweetness you get from buttery nuts like pecans and walnuts. A bit of hay note in the initial sip. Some cocoa and at the same time, savory overtones. I’m so glad I splurged on this tin. Hello, my precious. You will be… adored.

Up first for today in the long weekend of not waiting to drink the favorites is this delectable GM. A practically perfect, consistent, GM. Lovely leaves and superior flavor. Such a smooth way to begin the day.

In keeping with the theme of the day of not waiting for special moments for special tea, I’m revisiting this one. Still yummylicious orange and vanilla but now that I know more about what I’m doing, I can pick out more of the tea base. It is pretty light but balances well with the flavors. I underleaf and understeep this and I don’t approach an unpleasant bitterness or dryness. Now the choice is, since I can see the bottom of the tin, do I put this one with my Tealeaves order in 2 weeks or do I wait until October when I will probably go to tea at the Grand Floridian where I first tried it? I think they sell it there. But, it’s taking a chance that they are still serving it… Hm…

In light of recent discussions I’ve seen here about paring down to the teas you love but yet still not avoiding drinking the teas you love just for special occasions, I had some of my finite supply of this beauty today. Two steepings of a happy place. This truly is The Stuff.

I was honored to have a very limited pu-erh shared with me on Monday. I was at Shang Tea and Shang shared a pu-erh with me from one of his friend’s farms. It is called Meng Hai County Pu-erh because of the county it comes from. It is a shu from 2006. Fermented 6 weeks. It was the only pu-erh served in the Olympics Tea House in 2008.

I liked it quite a bit in the store. I told Shang it was pretty much the first pu I’d had that I could honestly say I really did like. I came home with some.

Making it here at home and I could not duplicate the flavor. Not even close. It was much more like what I expect of pu – earthy and musty but not in a way I enjoy. I could drink it but it would never be my choice. So I emailed to find out how it was prepared at the shop that day. Found out that by that point in the day, the pot had been mixed with Golden Needle King! That would explain why I thought it was drinkable. I lumme some Shang Golden Needle.

I didn’t make an entry for this tea as they only have a very limited amount in the store and it is outrageously expensive. If you are in town and interested, stop by the shop and inquire. :) I’d be interested to hear what a real pu-head thinks of this.