1112 Tasting Notes
Another tea from the ADV.01 class. This one is simply titled Kenya Lelsa Estate Black tea but judging from the appearance of the loose leaf and the flavor profile. It matches up with this one. The loose leaf is very rugged. A mix of leaves and stems and CTC in every which way. Dak brown leaves with light brown stems. The aroma is slightly sweet. Somewhat attributed to the packaging but also slightly woody. The infused leaf adds a nutty aroma with a hint of veggie spaghetti sauce. While the liquor aroma is reminiscent of wheat bread and spaghetti squash. Professional infusing reveals quite the astringency with a puckering like one would get from eating an orange rind. The flavor is bitter but also reminds me of burnt marshmallows. Mainly just the burnt part. There is a hint of fresh bread from the oven as well as an amalgamation of woody notes. It leaves the palate feeling a bit leathery and dry. When I infuse this differently I will come back with an update.
The tea I am currently drinking is called China Golden Tip Yunnan for World Tea Academy ADV.01, which I assumed was the same as the Gold Dian Hong Jin Hao on the main website. Based on the appearance and the description anyway. The dry leaf is twisted, dark brown with a mix of golden fuzz. The aroma is like a pine chest or maybe closer to a small mahogany box. The infused leaf turns milk chocolate and now you can really see the standard pluck of bud, 1st, and 2nd leaf. The wet infused leaf is woody and musty and kinda reminds me of a log pile. The liquor is clear, brownish rust. Slight orangeish rim on the cup. (If you ever drink black tea in a white cup look for the color where the water meets the cup side.) The liquor aroma is unique. That pile of logs turned into a pile of twigs and sticks and a pile of wet leaves with hints of apricot and rose. The mouthfeel is mostly smooth with a slight astringency and is coating. Dark woody favor with dank forest floor and hints of cacao. But when cooled it changes to squash, composting wood pile, and slight malt.
Valhallow. You win the advent tea gift-giving season. These are some amazing samples! And it’s my 1,000 tasting note! Huzzah! Though I’m sure it’s actually much higher than that since there was a year or two of Steepster bugs. Anywho. Silvery white fuzz and a mix of greens and a few browns in the dry leaf. Clear, light amber liquor. Wish the website would give info on the tea. They provide some really fantastic teas but provide no info on there. At the 30-second infusion mark, nothing was noticeable. At one minute there is a note of ground apple, Chamomile. Earthy notes. Slight barnyard. A hint of summer florals, specifically the common tansy. When steeped longer there are some burnt bread notes. But otherwise I can’t say I really fancy this one much ^^;
Random side note: I found a genealogy of my ancestors from my dad’s side and they have a copy of it in the MN Genealogy society near me. I am beyond excited to go and look at it. It’s 400 pages long _
Another amazing tea from Vallhallow. The loveliness about pue teas is the vast amount of flavors you can find and the subjectiveness makes it an adventure each and every time. At first, I really wasn’t a fan of white teas. I only had one from Whittard I enjoyed but most of the barnyard flavors just didn’t do it for me. However, it is growing on me (English is so weird). The delicate leaves in the cake are a mix of browns and a few greens with golden fuzz. Earthy in flavor. Not entirely pleasant when steeped for too long. Weird flavors of sawdust and tarnish? Even when steeped for a proper amount of time the flavors fully remind me of a woodworking shop. Various smells of different types of woods. A pencil. Leaves the mouth feeling kind of heavy and somewhat dry. This reminds me of a cross between pure and a white. I feel that if left to mature for a few more years it would develop some nice notes.
Oh dear. I realized I should have consumed this a while ago. I did not. It is now over a year old. I can tell by the pale green color that it is past it’s prime. But even when I first tried it, cough last year cough it wasn’t remarkable. But based on what I have been learning about Long Jing / Dragonwell, I can tell based on the leaves that this is a lowe grade. Not as many large leaves. Not as consistent. The first aroma I am receiving is decent. Stone fruits and bright veggies. The flavor is a bit dull though. As is the wet leaf aroma, though also with a bit of nutty and bready notes. I am only giving it 60 because I liked the first aroma. The flavor is metallic. Green wood. Like the green wood you try to burn at a campfire and can’t. The rest will be fed to a plant. >.<
Random pick from the goodies from Valhallow. A bit giddy and overwhelmed with tea. Makes me happy like Scrooge when he woke up ready to become a better version of himself. Ah, but they didn’t have fancy tea like this in his part of the town. It was around but not where he was. This seems like a typical dancong. Has the usual qualities but I wouldn’t say it’s a superior version. Good aroma with minerality and wet stone and a mix of different rocks which also translates into the flavor. The mouthfeel smooths out with each infusion.
The name for this one on the website is Chinese Peony but on the package I received, it says White Peony. So I decided to combine them. This is a very delicate tea. Not a good tea to drink on the go or while making the kids their eat breakfast. This is a sit-down and drink a few infusions before writing anything tea. The green notes in this are quite a bit heavier than I have experienced with other peony teas. Green branches and twigs. Small summer florals. Baby’s breath I think they’re called. And leaves, a big pile of dried leaves waiting to be burned. Very dry, with no dampness. The mouthfeel is light. The dry leaf is very pretty. Lots of trichomes. Barnyard and summer field aromas.
I will come back and revisit this one in a few days to see is my palate changes.
OH boy oh boy oh boy. I opened this last week in the midst of my sinus infection and was wondering why this smoked lapsang was so delicate on the smoke. Wow, do I appreciate my sense of smell more than ever. This is a wonderful lapsang. This is an incredibly smooth mouthfeel. The smoke flavor is perfect too. Strong enough to compete with the earthy tones of the base tea but not so strong that it’s overpowering. Woodsy notes. Bark. Deep woods. Campfire. Fire in an old house (not old house on fire). Leaves quite an everlasting impression in your mouth.
