New Tasting Notes
July 7 Sipdown Challenge Prompt – International Chocolate Day: drink a chocolate tea or have chocolate with tea
I thought I was going to have to have tea with some chocolates (and I probably still will because honestly chocolate happens every day in my house), but I remembered that I have one chocolate tea! What a wonderful chocolate tea it is, too!
Reminiscent of a dark chocolate covered strawberry, this one pretty much stays on shelf. My first sample came from Doulton, a friend tried it with me and ordered some for us both, and now we both have it on shelf pretty much at all times.
Not a sipdown – a newly opened pouch.
This is Spring 2024.
TTB: I realized, like a dufas, that I have some tea that I forgot to add back into the TTB. There isn’t much left to this sample, though.
Dry Appearance. Glorious. Mainly golden and fuzzy (they call it golden, but honestly, it’s more like a shiny, creamy, golden-brown). Mixed with dark brown. Curling.
Wet Leaf: Less curly, but you can still see the fuzz. Golden chocolate brown.
Flavor: Creamy, woody, yum.
Wet leaf Aroma: Sweet cream, sweet wood, chocolate milk
This one is incredibly smooth. When your friends ask you why you drink loose tea instead of tea bags, this is why.
Jasmine Yin Hao. Adagio.
Lot no. 90535. FB: n/a.
Recently received this single-serving portions-pouch of a terrific-sounding green tea, scented with Jasmine flowers, though the flowers themselves were absent from the blend. Prepared the full 3 g portion as directed, Western style: in 8 oz 180°F alpine spring water for 2.5 min. The liquor was a light amber hue, scented strongly of lovely jasmine, both the dry leaf and the infusion. It was a pleasure to drink, though except for a slight astringency, I could taste nothing of the green tea itself. I might as well have steeped a jasmine-scented empty teabag with a few mg of caffeine. I steeped a second infusion, re-using the leaf, hoping the jasmine element might be reduced sufficiently to permit appreciation of the Yin Hao, which by itself is said to be good for multiple infusions or gongfu style prep. Alas, though the jasmine was much weaker, I still could not discern notes from the green base, which I now conclude to be somewhat less than stellar. Really, after reading about the qualities of Yin Hao green tea, it was a disappointment to taste nothing of it. In the end, nothing set this apart from every other jasmine green tea I’ve had. If you like jasmine aroma and flavor, I can recommend this, just don’t expect more. I’ll rate it at 60 for being nice but unidimensional. Still better than drinking plain water!
Flavors: Astringent, Jasmine
Preparation
Presence is everything.
I got to brew and drink this with all the time in the world today. And it becomes a completely different tea when I do so.
Having this for the first time while I was rushing to get to work, I could not notice a single thing about it other than ‘Chinese black tea.’ But today, I took a sick day and just sat with the tea and my experience of it.
100C, Western style with 1 tablespoon in 200mL for 3 steeps. Afterwards, I contemplated what tea to have next, and then promptly chose to brew another tablespoon of the Imperial Golden Needle.
Beyond words and descriptions, I simply enjoyed it without bothering the cognitive mind with specifics. I like when vendors are detailed with their tasting notes, because it gives me the option to search out those notes in the tea without bothering to go down memory lane to retrieve those impressions myself.
Power of suggestion. Which is what most of reality is, anyway. But sincerely, I agree with Brendan’s descriptions. The chocolate-covered strawberry note comes out more as the tea cools, by the way. It’s one of those teas where I notice that the temperature it is drank makes a change to the notes in each sip.
This Gyokuro is simply phenomenal! I’m at a loss for words. Definitely more seaweed/umami in this one, but still very unique for a gyokuro.
This is a den/hon gyokuro shaded for 20 days. No sweetness, bitterness, or astringency. Fairly potent for 4-5 infusions.
Harvest: Spring, 2025
Location: Hoshinomura, Yame, Fukuoka
Flavors: Cucumber, Seaweed, Umami
Purchased a sample from HouDe.
4.1g, 90 ml ZZZ
dry leaf: dark, sweet, dried fruit
wet leaf: strong smoke, incense, nutty
Some sediment on bottom of cup. started off well enough, but couldn’t seem to extract what I was looking for taste-wise. Strong smoke, some fruity in throat, bitterness, and astringency, and some depth, but didn’t extend further. I don’t know how to explain it, but usually this kind of taste for noted teas builds into something, like a crescendo? It never got there. Just approached it and then flat-lined. Good warming and caffeinating, but was expecting more from it. Longevity was not great.
The description says “No unwanted small[sic] like smokiness,” which was not my experience at all. This was quite smoky, and presented obviously like a factory tea.
From a new Kettl order. This shincha is very unique! One of the strangest tasting senchas I’ve had. I like the complexity and novelty, but it’s not my favorite combination of flavors honestly.
No sweetness, bitterness, or astringency. Basically no seaweed/umami that I usually get from Japanese greens. But it is still very savory, just in an herbal way. In fact, their tasting notes are pretty spot on.
Harvest: Spring 2025
Cultivar: Yabukita
Location: Minami-Yamashiro (150 m)
Flavors: Artichoke, Green, Herbs, Savory
TTB 2025
As the other tea notes say, this is very well balanced. I wish there was a bit more cinnamon, but nothing seems to be competing for my attention. I’m not sure I’d call it a chai, maybe chai adjacent or a spicy lapsang. Thanks for adding it to the box!
2005 Changtai “Bu Lang Mountain” Raw Pu-erh Tea Cake. Yunnan Sourcing USA.
The cake is loosely compressed and with only a little prodding 5 g. fell off the cake, enough for steeping. I gave it serial 30 s. infusions in 6 oz. alpine spring water at 195°F. after a 10 s. discarded wash in same. First steep was light amber liquor with soft fragrance of tea, flavors of aged wood, slight astringency and a drying sensation. Second was medium amber with stronger notes of same flavor profile. Some minerality and bitterness along the sides and back of my tongue. A soft, clean petrichor aroma, aftertaste with note of brazil nut and wheat bread and a caffeine kick. Third infusion was the same. For a twist, I turned the Fourth infusion into sweetened iced tea, which was quite tasty. My last infusion, the fifth, was much like the third in color and flavor, even though I’d increased the water to 8 oz., boiling, and steeped for 2 min. This was less tannic and had a smoother mouthfeel. This tea is still relatively young and I’m undecided whether to recommend or not. Overall I found it more of a challenge than a joy to drink, except when sweetened and iced. For now, I’ll only rate it at 50, but revisit in a year and see if it’s improving.
Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Brazil Nut, Bread, Decayed Wood, Dry Leaves, Drying, Mineral, Petrichor, Tannic, Tea
Preparation
Not that it really matters in terms of what your brewing experience was like, but I don’t really think a 20ish year old sheng would be considered young anymore. There’s not really a hard a fast “rule” for when a pu’erh stops being young, but most forums/tea communitys/etc I’ve come across seem to have a general consensus that 8-10 years is no longer young. So it’s maybe more like it’s in the later portion of its awkward adolescence phase before “maturing”.
That’s fair, Ros. Especially given that Yunnan Sourcing describes it as having been “Aged in hot and humid Guangdong…”. So perhaps middle-aged is a better way to describe the chronology, regardless of my impression of its sensory maturity. But since I don’t think I’ve actually tasted anything over 35 years old, it’s hard for me to know how serious and properly maintained aging should impact flavor and fragrance. Shortcuts like storage in Taiwan or climate-controlled conditions outside of Yunnan or Burma are known to accellerate the process, vs. Kunming storage but, again, I just do not have the experience or finances to properly evaluate that.
This now, is the second half of the portions pouch I started on 2 d ago. No food yet this morning, though I just finished sipping a slightly brutal 20 yr old raw pu-erh, and this Darjeeling in contrast is striking! It feels in my mouth like a balm to sore taste buds. The gentle spring flower aroma, the sweet liquor with flavor notes of honey and a long finish of molasses, the hint of malt and dandelion flower, and a smoothness in the back of my throat. Light but refreshing, and I’m raising my rating to 79. Sometimes deprivation helps one appreciate what can be had. Darjeelings are redeemed.
Flavors: Dandelion, Floral, Honey, Molasses, Smooth, Sweet
Preparation
Oolongs mean I’m having a day off at home where I can really observe how the tea changes across 10+ steeps. I lost count.
I also haven’t kept proper track of temperatures, steeping times, leaf to water ratios and the like. It hasn’t been a measuring kinda mood for me, and I love that.
But I do note a vague recollection of enjoying this tea more when brewed at 85C for a few steeps, then gradually increasing to 90C, 95C and 100C later on.
Shall try it at 100C with flash steeps at some point, because I’ve read that’s the way to brew Dan Cong. And it’s my first Dan Cong, so I’m open to all suggestions.
I loved this so much after only maybe four sessions, that I’ve dedicated a clay teapot to Dan Congs already.
The peppermint adds a slight refreshing element to the blend which makes me hungrier than chai normally does. It feels very nice to support digestion after a meal.
Brewed stovetop and into a tumbler to sip during client sessions. Hit. the. spot.
I mean, yes they’re talking about all kinds of trauma and challenging material, but the chai being thisss good at the same time.. life is still good y’know?
Idk what was up with me when I was drinking this, but my attention was so split up in a million directions. The tea wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t holding my interest either. Mostly smooth, medium-ish bodied black with some briskness and then a rather generic tasting fruity note that my divided mind decided kind of felt like strawberry? I don’t actually think there’s any strawberry in this tea though, and I certainly didn’t register the cocoa or lime in this particular mug.
Cold Brew!
I haven’t loved this tea in the past, but with my recent interesting/positive reception to Japanese green teas I thought I would retry it and see if I enjoyed it more. And, well, I did! It’s definitely still really sencha forward which was my biggest hurdle to enjoying it in the past, but this time around I really appreciated the smooth, mellow flavours. A touch grassy and a touch on the oceanic side, but mostly lightly umami with a hint of fruity sweetness (the persimmon?) and an almost starchy undertone that was a bit floral and a bit like cooked pumpkin or other squash. So light and fresh feeling though, without any heaviness or bitterness/astringency.
