1113 Tasting Notes
I was excited to make this because I really enjoy the crazy things from ETTE… but, there was no difference between this tea and a hojicha some cinnamon to it. I was really curious to see how roast and osmanthus would go together :/
Unsure what might been wrong with what I received; though I’m skeptical of floral and roast going well together.
Oh well.,still waiting to finish my ETTE off before I get some Peach Perfect (still eyeing it)
Upon brewing this tea I noticed a scent that threw me back to my earlier days of drinking tea (which was only 2 years ago, I’m still new’ish) which already gave me high hopes for this tea. The taste is smooth with a splash of sweet aftertaste. With most yancha teas, dryness occurs after multiple cups. The brew that this provides is what makes it something that is high up there behind the 09’ oolong from TeaTrekker; which is still the smoothest rock oolong I’ve had to date. I think between the two different RouGui from Cha Ceremony, this is the one to be called premium and I quite enjoyed it.
These are absolutely huge pieces! I have to break mine into fourths to use some at work. With that being said, I get four different session out of each pieces which last me a nice 8 roasty steeps at work. Oolong is probably best when in loose form, but these cake are fun. As long as you use something that will catch the extra material that breaks off: This
provides a nice strong cup or a lighter one if you only go 15s on it.
The size alone makes me something to purchase and have on hand as it will last quite awhile.
I was drinking some Whispering Pines Jabberwocky and it went to steep 6 but I thought to myself, ’let’s play with this spent leaf’.
I went ahead and grabbed something labeled as ‘random pu’ that was sent to me and poured it ontop. Allowed each steep to hit 25 seconds and once I hit the third steep I decided I was done with whatever I created. For whatever reason, it was one of the fruitiest cups of tea I’ve ever had which blew my mind…. unsure what happened.
@oolongowl this Alaska Breakfast has to be one of the most strangest things I have ever had. The ‘fine weed’ in this tea might be what makes it so odd. Now sure how I feel about the stuff, but it’s not positive. Thank you this stuff, it was an interesting tasting.
While I try not to be negative, I will still be honest: This doesn’t taste any different than a green tea pomegranate tea bag. Now, Thao tea has such a unique product lineup with great marketing for the aesthetics of their company. I’m currently working through on which of the two I like most to stock up on right now since I can’t have ‘too’ much flavored around because 80% of what I drink now is straight
In the same week I drank this and the best darker oolong I’ve ever had; which will appear in the second LP group buy and it will not be rated so don’t try to look. While that was a good thing to do, I ended up not liking this as much as I should have. This is a great tea, no doubt, but compared to what I drank later that week… it was shattered by something very similar that also had notes of cream within the cocoa roasted oolong that has hairs. I look forward to the next lot of a Red Jade (any sort) from Taiwan Craft Tea. Nom Nom Nom, a fantastic stronger oolong that provides an almost black sensation to its taste.
I’ve read that GABA tea tends to have a tart note to it.. similar to hibiscus. Did you encounter that with this tea?
Well, GABA green does not. Some of the gaba teas have a funk to them, but from my observation it is from the roasting profile. I’ll know better as time goes on. I still have three different ones to try to see how they taste in comparison to the others.
The one I like from imperial teas of lincoln in the UK is so much honey lushness it makes me giggle. A beautiful tea, and the most honey I have tasted outside having it actually in your tea. But you can tell its not sweet.
The first of the gaba teas from TS I ordered from the sampler during Black Friday.
Ended up drinking three different sessions to get a decent grasp on how I felt about this tea. While I now great things are going to come from TS, this one just didn’t give me ‘wow’ I was looking for. While the third and fourth steep are quite enjoyable, something about the mild smell contributes to something I taste s mildew. I don’t believe all gaba have such a taste to it because I’ve had two more (one of which was also a TS tea). I think it has something to do with the roast profile of this tea. I’ll try the other s from TS and see how they compare.
I have a sample of this on the way. Will have to see if I detect a similar mildew note
It’s possible it is me; I am very picky with my roasted oolong.
I got the mildew. This one was way too brothy for me. I still have some and have yet to drink any of more. It might make a better cooking tea, though.
With that said, the GABA Oolong is less roasted and very muscatel. It actually tasted a lot like a Darjeeling. The GABA Green is a bit more like a golden lily oolong (Jin Xuan for a reason) but still more on that spectrum if you haven’t had it.
Kickstarter is such an awesome thing. Today I got the Dram Apothecary set in the mail :)
The little vials they came in didn’t break which is good because I thought that one of them might break being sent in just a bock basically. Since my brother is home I asked if he wanted to try the chai this came with and he said yes.
Cleaned out the french press from this morning an started the water. I’ll admit, loose chai is hard to enjoy since I have tried so many variations. In my opinion, out of all the chai there are (in my opinion) two good ones for the twenty that are tried. Upon brewing this I noticed it was a bit light colored, but I realized it was the ratio of tea and other material used in the blend. The black tea, which I am happy to announce, is quality leaf. The brew is warming and provides this interesting sensation of calmness. I’m actually surprised at how balanced this blend is. The background notes of cherry sweetness, not the tart, are alive within the black tea and not just put there for name/appearance. Now that I have tried this… I’m quite interested in their Early Gray tea, which I believe there are more ‘eh’ ones than good ones.
Since I lived in Colorado for a few years, if I ever go back to visit people I will have to drop by their store because I’m liking the vibe the company puts off.
Hopefully Phil and his friends don’t read this…
This morning I am pretty exhausted because I didn’t feel good yesterday. That led me to pouring hot water ontop of my matcha in a french press before. I normally do some hand whisking in the morning, but today I decided to do some…. what would this be? Hardcore pumping?
Anyways, I pulled up and smashed down quick about 50 times and poured myself a cup. It worked of course, after all it is a powder meant to be mix within water.
Fun times.
Try cold steeping it? Sounds weird, I know, but I feel like there’s more depth of flavor to it that way.
Well, that is the same method to enjoy nasty rooibos because it pulls out subtle notes in the tea and not all of the stronger ones that hotter water would pull out. Victor only sent me a sample with my order so I can’t try that, but do you think floral notes can exist in a roast or smoke flavor?
I found that cold steeping allowed more of the sweet, pastry notes to feature, and really downplayed the roasty-toasty elements to it. The floral is fairly light, but I do think you have a better chance of encountering it by letting the leaf open up slowly. I’ve also discovered that allowing the tea to “rest” for a bit helps tone the roasted flavor down. As in leaving it in the cupboard for a while. Something about giving it room to breathe makes it all the sweeter. Not that it helps when you only had a sample to start. Hmm. Send me your address and I’ll see what I can do?
Oh, no don’t worry about that! Roast and smoke are two taste profiles I tend to not go for, just was curious about floral and roast mixing together. I wouldn’t think of seeing a Lapsang Jasmine or Lavender Yancha