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Well, Steepster just magically lost my very long tasting note for this one. The first full-length one I’ve wrITTEN IN A WHILE, THANKS, STEEPSTER. To recap:

I’m starting my seventh steep now. First four were 10 seconds long, after that, 15. Brewed proper in my little koi gaiwan this time, 80°c. Leaves smell vegetal, but the liquor is sweet, like magnolia. Strongest infusion was probably the third, and each led with flowery notes, with a vegetal, broccoli or asparagus body; magnolia, maybe a vanilla-like orchid, sorta trails and lingers in the aftertaste. It’s a pretty even balance of the two; didn’t get anything particularly buttery, although the floral sensation tends to coat the mouth.

Around the sixth steep I started eating my dinner, but it was still going strong. Once the leaves fully opened (around the fifth steep), I found a good mix of broken and full leaves. Mostly broken, but still a few whole leaves.

I actually went into Cultivate because I wanted to grab their tieguanyin (was shared some and actually really quite liked it). But they didn’t have any that I saw, so I grabbed this.

A nice reminder of why I love Chinese black teas. They’re always nutty and sweet, rarely astringent. I always enjoy them. Wouldn’t say this one had a whole lot of depth to it—drinking it Western in my owl mug—but it’s pleasant, wouldn’t quite say chocolate, package says cocoa which I can accept. Maybe brow sugar in the context of baked treats, I think.

Sipping this today, just a few grams in my clunky shiboridashi pot for something like half a minute. You get grass in the forefront, not anything too strongly vegetal. Floral in more the trail of each sip, but not the honey or fruity notes the tin boasts.

On a different note, I was shared some of Cultivate’s tieguanyin and adored it; I have to remember to pick some up myself at some point.

Did another steep with boiling water, and it brought out more vegetal notes, and almost masked anything floral. There is a bit more sweetness though; like a very green fruit.

Sipped this at a club meeting and scribbled some notes down while I was there. I brewed it in my travel gaiwan, didn’t have my scale but filled about 1/3rd, and it expanded to fill my gaiwan. Didn’t really count seconds for steeps, but less than 30 seconds.

“Light, coats the mouth; floral mainly, lightly vegetal. Magnolia, lightly sweet, almost buttery. Very smooth. Pick some up for me, I think.”

“Mostly lost count of the steep (>5); floral topnotes dissipated, vegetal and buttery body. Butter still lingers as an after taste, & breathe out.”

I did quite like it, the leaves were mostly green, some red oxidation on some leaf edges but not all; I might pick some up next time I’m over there.

I’ve fallen back on not reviewing many teas again because I feel like my tastebuds have just faded and there isn’t much I can do about it.

But I sat down with a notebook for this one. Tossed the first rinse.

First steep was very thin, mineral, almost metallic, bitter but smooth, not drying on the tongue; maybe faintly vegetal.

Second steep was more vegetal, still thin but smooth, still felt it was almost a metallic bitterness, but not wholly unpleasant. Bitterness lingered on the tip of the tongue.

Third to about fifth steeps (15 seconds) it evolved to more steamed vegetables, and evolved to a more drying astringency on the tongue, which stuck with you after each sip.

When Soko stopped selling tea to go and let the coffee shop across the street from them take over serving their teas, this was the one I usually got (since they didn’t carry their whole line and Soko’s has since stopped carrying most of my favourites…) to go while studying at the library. There’s nothing much to it, it’s just simple vanilla over a ceylon base. There’s actual pieces of vanilla bean, and I feel like it relies more on the dried bean than flavouring oils, because the vanilla was never particularly bold. But I like simple pairings, so.

I’m coming down with a cold (courtesy of my sibling—I just got back camping with them), but today while sipping this, I made a second steep (first at 3 minutes, which I overleafed I guess because it ended up being VERY strong, astringent, malty with the usual cherry-like berry taste I tend to get). I did a second steep at about 1 minute, getting again malt and cherry, not as astringent this time, but I got a very distinct menthol flavour in the middle of each sip; it didn’t linger, and was quickly overtaken by astringency at the end, with a very dry mouthfeel.

Sweet, nutty, almond flavour that gives way to wood and hay. It reminds me strongly of a mellow Keemun. Smooth and delicious.

Okay, didn’t have the BEST experience in Teavana today. I’m told they’ve demolished that upselling/overselling tactic, but it still occurred, and he either ignored me or didn’t hear my meek little protest, and I ended up with more tea than I wanted. It sounded like the manager told him off for it though when I left…

But in the end, I’m not complaining because I’m liking this tea so far. He said it finished with caramel, and he wasn’t wrong; it’s a sweet, even-bodied tea that starts with honey and finishes with toasted honey/caramel. It’s bright, sweet, slightly nutty, not brisk, no astringency (granted I took the packages’ recommendation for three minutes to steep). I really have gotten worse at describing teas. This is a very mellow, sweet tea though. It reminds me of some Taiwanese honey blacks—specifically the one Davidstea offered for a short time. That one had a bit of smoke on it though, which was odd. I’ll play around with the steep times for this one in the future, though, since I do have a lot to experiment with.

Teavana has been ushering in a number of single-origin (or country/region specific blends, at least) teas lately, under their ‘Micro Lot’ tab. If their Taiwanese honey wasn’t $30 I would have tried that, although the curled, small leaf makes me think it would be quite similar to Davids’.

Just finishing off Harler’s second handbook, Tea Manufacture, and will be posting a review of it soon on teatra.de, with some comparisons to Werkhoven’s Tea Processing. General “Tea Guides/Handbooks” only offer a summarized view of tea processing and manufacturing techniques, so if you’re interested in processing in India and Sri Lanka, with some brief looks at other areas such as Georgia, I’d pick it up, as well as Harler’s other tea books.