Taiwanese Wild Mountain Tea

Another sample (Thanks Sanne!)

Steeped leaves smell to me like bai hao/Dongfang meiren/OB (A favourite along with with various dan cong, so scores will be skewed in its favour, haha). Liquor smell similar, but with something darker running through it.

Obvious Cicada’s trademark has been left, that lovely thick ‘honey’ swish with ‘cinnamon’ aroma, wood & so subtle menthol something-or-other. But darker, more dark treacle than light honey? A slightly bitter/dry aftertaste, but oh so worth it for the initial complexity. subsequent steeps trail off. Next time I will try western style, as I sometimes prefer a big cup that changes. (I also like a big gulp with my eyes closed when the tea is complex like this)

A quick check on the website, and yes, wild tea, left to its own devices and harvested after Jacobiasca formosana has had their share. I had always thought ‘wild’ tea would somehow be inferior to other tea. Oh how wrong I was.

I must say there is a slight lip-chapping bitterness going on. But I did hit it with the recommended 100c, I think slightly off the boil and longer steep might do it for me.

this one gets a win.

Water: 8oz

Leaves: large long semi-twisted brownish-black leaves

Steep: 90s, 120s, 150s

Aroma: earthy

Color: reddish amber

Clarity: Great!

Taste: This tea along with the previous one arrived in good condition. I haven’t had black tea in a long time so this will be an interesting revisit with the tea type. The aroma was that earthy. Seeping this tea can go for 3 steeps, tea these leaves were large making it difficult to measure. On to the brewing I used boiling water not allowing it to cool. 90s red-amber color, taste i don’t know if i used too many leaves or if my water was too hot it provides a range of (200-212) I went with 212. I found this cup to be bland & quite bitter for most of the first sips i took. When i had 1/4th of my cup remaining the bitterness went away.120s This time i decided to let my water cool slightly & discard some of the leaves before steeping. Lighter amber color w/no hints of red most likely due to less leaves. No bitterness flavor same. 150s darker then the 2nds cup but still lighter than the first, flavor profile same as 2nd steep. I found this to be an okay tea w/ bitterness if brewed too strong.

When writing reviews do any of you listen to music? Today I listened to Nick Jonas- Chains, Selena Gomez- Revival & Ikon- Rhythm (Korean pop)

Jin Xhan Tea Soap

Package: square, sturdy, thin paper box w/ company logo sticker wrapped around the front
Inside: Soap information Card, soap sealed in hard plastic
Size: 1/2in thick & 1 1/2in wide
Type: Facial & body
Color: Dark beige w/ tea leaves
Smell: Ivory bar soap
Ingredients: Castor Oil, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Sodium Hydroxide(lye), Tea leaves, Tea Tree Essential Oil, Water
Production: Made in Michigan (USA)
Notes: All skin types w/ No artificial colors or Fragrance
Foam: thick white foam (very bubbly)
Skin Feel (After): Dry yet soft

Upon box the soap there were 3 holes in the plastic (top,side & bottom). It was nice that the soap came with an information card allowing me to know what the ingredients were. Although I would have like it to be slightly more specif in terms of if it was a face or body soap. i had to email the company first to figure out this information first before I used it. The scent was difficult to pinpoint but it did remind me of another soap I had in the past maybe an Ivory bar soap? It feels quite smooth in the hands despite there being tea leaves in it. As for the foam it produce a nice rich foam. One thing I didn’t like was it felt like it took a while before my hands felt free of the soap when rinsing. After my hands felt dry yet soft & has no scent. My hands also seemed to be a bit red on the inside. Although it’s made for all skin types including sensitive skin I’m not sure if i want to use it on my face just yet. This was my first time trying a tea soap~

Thank you Sanne Tea for this sample

Delicious Nicole! I was super excited to see this one in the sampling you sent me. I do love my taiwanese blacks for that honey note that tends to run through them. This one isn’t quite the same as the one from Butiki but it’s still really nice. I’d be hard pressed to decide on whether i like this one better than the TTC blacks…honey, sweet…hint of maltiness. Just a great cup of yum!

I have been doing a side by side tasting of this with Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company’s Farmer Lee’s Sun Moon Lake. My palate is not very nuanced, I know, but I don’t detect a significant difference between these two at 45 seconds or at 90 seconds. Honey, malty, sweet and sour at the same time. Neither will replace Butiki’s TWMB – lacking that bready, yeasty component. But both excellent teas. When I run out of BTTC’s and if they haven’t gotten any more, I’ll hope that Sanne Tea will still have this one!