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Being in search of a good blackberry tea I decided that maybe I can give it a go at created my own. The first trial run made me realize how bitter and bold a keemun and sage blend is on its own. With that discovery I added some oolong and marigold to the mixture to keep the integrity of the keemun and blackberry sage taste while lowering some of the bitterness. Still not a fan of black teas so it is hard for me to blend them. Really hoping that someone who drinks black teas will enjoy this one.

Not sure how this blend came about, but I do remember the curiosity of having a roasted tea with a mate. Thankfully I had some charcoal roasted tieguanyin available to blend with. I wanted something that would also resteep with a complete difference so I added some orange. The outcome is quite pleasing to me as this tea is sweet for the first steep and each steep after it becomes more roasty in taste and aroma. A rather enjoyable experience since mate holds up to multiple steeps and so can the oolong.

As my first blend I was probably too ambitious in regards to my abilities. I finished my last trial with this tea and drank the final product that is going out in sample sizes . This was a good first experience; I created a tea that isn’t great but also isn’t terrible. I will probably come back to this blend when I start to work with flavoring and oils rather than blending and balancing.

Morning brew let down…
This was like an oolong oiled up in a bit of salt and then given to me in a warm cup.

Tea #6, 2015 Asian Tea tasting event hosted by me:
This was the 2014 Winter harvest that came with the rewards from their Kickstarter. This was a tea I was REALLY looking for :)
The buds have two to three leaves on them and look beautiful :)
I need to tinker with the brewing of this one, but at the same time I can tell that in regards to taste it did kind of let me down some. I was expected a winter harvest to really have more power behind it and compel me to only buy winter harvest oolongs but this did not do that. It is still good, but I am still in search of that one oolong that befriends and converses with my tastebuds in a way that I experience.
p.s. I am happily sun-burnt holding a pot with the leaf all over for your amusement https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/11108869_10152900756937361_2761049267117210011_n.jpg?oh=09d3dbbcfc369d352501ef2eb079ad59&oe=55FD413B

Tea #5, 2015 Asian Tea tasting event hosted by me:
This was the 2015 harvest that came with the rewards from Kickstarter and I must say that it was very tricky to identify or figure this tea out. I used water at 210f for 300 seconds and the liquid was lighter than a black tea should be. While I hate Assam tea, there is a clear Assam like taste that is present in this tea but it is much smoother and leaves behind that bitterness that the coffee drinkers can have because I don’t want it. Not something I would drink often but it is something to expand my tea drinking choice habits. Rather pleased that this wasn’t a dark, strong, bitter tasting tea even if I expected that.

Tea #4, 2015 Asian Tea tasting event hosted by me:
While these leaves have lots off potential to resteep many times… it doesn’t have a taste that was as good as the other two oolongs I have had from this plantation.

Tea #3, 2015 Asian Tea tasting event hosted by me:
While I could express how refreshing this was in comparison to today’s selection of tea, I will simply say one thing: I am repurchasing this tea.

Tea #2, 2015 Asian Tea tasting event hosted by me:
I am happy to announce the first straight tea to receive a 100 from me. The only negative to this tea is that I am unable to purchase it. This is the best 2015 shincha I have had before, so pure …
Sadly the wind picked up my mat and blew away the only 4g left of this tea I had. I am only okay with it because of how wonderful it was to sip this under the sun and really just embrace spring as it went through my entire body via Okinawa 2015 shincha.

Oolongs being my favorite tea, I was very curious when I found out there are a few Japanese oolong teas :)
I actually bought the last of Yuuki Cha’s supply of this tea for my group order and it was the only one they even had left.

This is a treat though. I can’t even compare it to other oolongs, it just is its own thing. The aroma was not that strong but the taste was pure. Nice difference in taste between different brews :)