Curious concept, a GABA oolong cake.
Dry leaf aromas of violet (strongest), red grapes, brown sugar. Warmed and rinsed leaf present baked bread, buttery grape jelly, violet, baked cherries and berries, fresh blueberry, orchid, brown toast, wood.
Brewed 3 ways:
1) Gongfu. Zee best. 5g, 100mL porcelain teapot, 200F, great longevity.
Thick and oily, coats the whole mouth. Tasted like cinnamon raisin brown toast, highly mineral plus salivation, tangy, ridiculously smooth. Consistent in character until the end. Later turns nutty and woody, a bit salty with a light bite in the throat. Liquor develops a neat purple hue. Very content energy. Rating: 87
2) Grandpa. I like. 2g, 8oz, 200F, 5! top-offs.
Thick, full-bodied, roasty-toasty, floral grape, raisin, wood, sweet lemon tartness, still lots of salivation. Leads into dried fruit flavors of sour cherries and berries. Rating 85.
3) Thermos. Basically stewed about 9 hours. 2.5g, 20oz, 200F.
Tastes like a highly mineral shou. Toasty, thick, salty-umami, sometimes strong notes of rye. Not bad. Rating 77.
Average: 83
Maybe worth buying a small cake for Sheetz und Kegels. I mean, I haven’t seen a GABA cake around. This is an opportunity to see how it holds up over the long term. What’s the purpose? Ease of storage like a shou cake? It’s already highly oxidized and there aren’t strong roast notes so I doubt it would transform much. Would make an excellent fall/winter tea.
Song pairing, I’m going to refrain from linking but it’s Milli Vanilli — Girl You Know It’s True
Lord, why.
Flavors: Berries, Blueberry, Bread, Brown Sugar, Brown Toast, Butter, Cherry, Dried Fruit, Floral, Grapes, Jam, Lemon, Mineral, Nutty, Orchid, Raisins, Rye, Salty, Smooth, Tangy, Thick, Toasty, Umami, Violet, Wood
This is intriguing! I will not go look at TTC’s site….
Ah, I haven’t heard that song in ages. Milli Vanilli used to be a guilty pleasure. I have a thing for one hit wonders.
Awesome experimental tasting note and interesting flavors!