1113 Tasting Notes
Had this tea about 5 different times at this point and retried it while I’ve been sick : (
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRqzwWTggFX/
I find that the 45% roast is not enough. There needs to be at least 1/4th+ more roast to this to give it a nice pop of taste inn the high notes and bring about the steady taste throughout. This tea is not one for aroma, but that’s generally my thoughts when it comes to semi roasted oolongs as they tend to all be the same. Light cups with some hints of floral underneath the complex dark roast that isn’t finished on this; which I wish it was!
The leaf is somewhat small. Wondering if that is due to this being a winter harvest or not. Will continue to play around with this tea, should have another 10 sessions or so :)
Quite the tea… some nice woodsy notes going on with that steamed vegetable taste that settled but not aged raw puerh gives off.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRl_RHBA_58/
Worth trying and I now that I know how easy going this is, I will have to compare to the 2015 Bang Dong : )
Alishan black tea from the Da Bang village that was rolled like a black tea… excuse me, but why haven’t you bought this is a question for you and your wallet to discuss.
I have always found Taiwanese black teas to be superior to Chinese; and here’s more proof of that. Between my Sun Moon Lake, Shan Lin Xi, and now Alishan, black teas… I find myself drinking more fully oxidized tea.
This stuff is my every day drinking tea at work. Went through two ounces in less then two weeks, which is fast because I have a decent selection of teas at work throughout the week.
This has a very mild taste to it with some notes of honey and then wet cinnamon. Small hints of toast if you sit there and close your eyes and let it work through the mouth. Easy to brew, solid taste, and decent rebrew ability on this unique tea.
Purchased one of these to send out to all the newbies last year and I sent out about 130g of it and kept 70g for myself.
I’ve had quite a few sessions and enjoy the leaf assortment in this cake, however I have a huge issue with how tight it was compressed because it doesn’t really make for a tea to leave the leaf intact which is something I want in my midtier teas.
A little sweetness, not particularly fruit but somewhat like sugarcane with a hint of bitterness that faints away into an old blade of wet grass. Not sure if my taste buds have changed or if I have been drinking stuff beyond this in quality or just taste in general, but this didn’t ‘wow’ me. If this was a recipe for poundcake I would probably give a 7 out of 10 as it provides what I was looking for, however it wouldn’t be party popping dessert.
Pretty sure this is something that will age beautifully because there are some wonderful leaf within this cake that are assorted in size, shape, and color. Really like the small leaf with thick stems which I will say gives that sweetness as I have noticed with most teas; maybe they are just like fruit and vegetables, bigger does not mean better.
There was a lot of shouting about this tea for a while, which left me sort of mystified. I guess it is easy to like, if young sheng appeals.
I also think the fact that it’s labeled as an Yiwu-outlier tea,the W2T brand, and TeaDB promotions around their teas in general creates significant bias in many tea drinkers in the West. Yes, this is a decent tea, but not worth the price IMO.
Really excited for this tea, I was.
http://i.imgur.com/rpIymsv.jpg
Unfortunately, my spoiled taste buds and refined palate for aged oolong had me finding the faults in this tea so it wasn’t as enjoyable. There is a little storage issue in this as I can tell that at some point moisture was around this tea, but it had dried out over time. Not reroasted, but there is no touch of any nuttiness in this tea. The liquid looked great, but the taste and aroma (when brewed) were quite off for what it should have been. This tea did have quite a few stems and less buds/leaf than normal, but the ongoing argument regarding stems and sweetness of roasted teas is still debatable so the stems is probably intentional rather than low quality.
This tea was enjoyable and others liked it, but for myself I couldn’t justify storing more of this at all because it lacked character and mentionable aspects to set it aside in my collection like an aged oriental beauty or an aged muzha might have.
Sour mushrooms floating in some discarded liquid.
Not for me, that’s for sure.
I have to be 100% honest: I buy oolongs from BBTC, but some puerh has been coming in to their shop… this is a 9 to 10 gram ball and I am very pleased with it. Probably the best valued tea for a daily drinking or all day work session tea. Brewed 92to95 c in 120ml for 15 seconds over and over. Semi orange color with a developing depth from the start. Some after bite in the touch as it pulls from your mouth with that astringency. Some mild texture to the tea which tells me it’ll get thick over time.
Literally, nothing I can say about this would be bad. I expected it to be harsh to drink with 10g for a session but 10 steeps in and I was like “people should buy this” and thus, here is a Liquid Proust recommendation which I rarely do.
If you like those younger raw teas that will grow into something beautiful over time but are already a crowd pleaser, well here you go: https://beautifultaiwantea.com/collections/pu-erh-teas/products/2015-bing-dao-balls
My second ta from Hawaii and I have to say that nothing set it apart other than being a novelty since it came from Hawaii: https://www.instagram.com/p/BRPI_uOA5Fi/
Wish I had more to say, but it’s pretty typical for what you would expect from a higher end green tea that pleases you but doesn’t illicit a response that must be voiced to others.
Drinking the 2006 ‘hush hush’ from Toby in this last curated box from Taiwan because I want to see if it’s something I want to buy and store myself.
Water hit 100c and I washed the tea. Let the tea sit for three minutes and then smelled it. There’s a clear smoky note to the tea as it opened up so I went ahead and rinsed it once more so the brews are more consistent. Another three minutes of sitting to open up, dropped the water down to 95c, and we are all set to start!
Steep 1: The liquid has a wonderful color to it. The brew came out clean. The smoky smell is still there. Some good legs on this tea. The leaf is a bit darker than I thought a 2006 would be at this point. Up front tang (like the tart of a raspberry) that isn’t as noticeable as the smoky aspects creep in from the taste. From the first steep there is no dry mouth stuff going on which is a plus. Pretty strong brew that captures your taste buds, however I want the smoke to go away and give me something of an aged sheng puerh.
Steep 2: Took a few sips and was surprised that it was bitter after a 3 second brew. Letting the cup sit for a minute to see if that dies out.
Yeah, no thanks. That tea got bitter after only 3 seconds. On to the next brew.
Steep 3: Flash brewed. Not bitter, but some astringency in the mouth feel now. The smoke is still the main aspect to this tea which isn’t as enjoyable :/
Some mouth dryness coming through at this point. Hoping that this all teeters off and gives me something that isn’t so palate killing in terms of astringency and smoke.
Steep 4: Dropping to 90c for a few steeps. Not much progress though just yet. Color, aroma, and taste still the same; this is a good sign because the leaf is strong and committed to being what it is.
Steep 5: The hue of the brew at this point has actually changed. Whether it is to do with the water or the leaf, who knows. A tad easier to sip down, but still a bit rough. Going to stop for a bit for a water break.
Water break thoughts:
Steep 6: Dangit.
At this point I am going to brew it for 60 seconds, discard, and restart this whole experience.
Steep 7: Tonight, 7 is not perfect. Going to call quits on this tea at this point.
This tea is for someone who likes that strong mouth feel, medium astringency, and smoke. Beyond those notes, I’m unable to make any remarks because it zapped my tasting ability for a bit.
