400 Tasting Notes
Work Tea Swap
So, apparently there are ‘hardcore’ tea drinkers besides myself in the office. I was drinking some Taiwanese Pear (?) Oolong from a farmer on IG, when my co-worker brought it to my attention that she’s “pretty much into tea, too,” so we exchanged samples.
Now, I oftentimes rate a bit easier with tea swapped teas. But with this one, I can’t mildly fake it. I don’t like it. Too much jasmine or perhaps something else. It starts out okay, but it quickly turns into a bitter ball of jasmine as it cools. Maybe this would be and/or is okay as a near-boiling tea, but overall, I don’t like it.
Flavors: Bitter, Jasmine
Tea Swap Sample/Sipdown
What started out as a normal Wednesday evening of gaming and tea became just that, but with an added burst of energy after drinking this Liubao. I forgot how much energy comes from the leaf…
Anyway, this is has a nice pine/smoky note throughout the session. That’s the best way to describe it, really. It’s quite powerful and definitely packs a punch.
Flavors: Pine, Smoke
What sort of gaming?
PS4. Currently Monster Hunter: World. I used to play WOW, Diablo, Civilization & Elder Scrolls on PC, but I’ve not had a gaming computer since college, unfortunately. I’m just back to the “enough of a gaming computer to throw on Skyrim, but good enough to be used for college and day-to-day browsing.” xD
Nice!
Getting ready for work this morning while grandpa styling a random/unknown shou tuo that was given to me about a year ago via tea swap, wrapped in white paper. It’s quite unfortunate not knowing which tea this is, but I’ve got most of it chipped away and narrowing down to the last few steeps. I suppose the best teas are often left as a mystery and should be enjoyed while they’re in my stash….Now that I’ve got this noted, time to warm the car and face the snow covered roads on my way to work.
Notes: Dark cherry, earthy, woody, & smooth.
Happy Tuesday!
Having the last of the sample this morning. Currently drinking the last cup of the session at the moment, while going over the notes. Hot Brandy has been the tea that had me quite skeptical going in, unsure whether I’d like it, so I picked up the 25g sample, rather than the whole cake (despite wanting the wrapper).
I will state that I’m not over the moon about it, but it’s not bad, either. The pairing of the white/black tea makes for a solid chocolaty-floral combo. I think this would make a great grandpa-styled brew for the desk at work, but there are points throughout the [gongfu-style] session where it is rather weak. This is definitely the type of tea that cannot be flash brewed as well as it can be when steeped for 30-60 seconds each time one wants to drink it. I’m not a black/white tea fan all of the time—I’m pretty particular of which black/white teas are had—but, this isn’t a bad combo overall.
Sipdown
I can’t believe this was once something I had enjoyed….I used to dip into a cup of Russian Caravan and/or Lapsang quite often, but I don’t think this suits my taste anymore. Too heavy on the smoke/meat factor for my liking. Glad I finished this sample now while it wasn’t too old yet….
Tea Swap Sample
I’ve been trying to get the samples given to me throughout the past year out of the way, so I can really start to tackle the “purchase shelf” teas. When observing the leaf of this one, I was pretty skeptical about whether this would be an appetizing session or not, since the leaf was in bits and pieces. I assumed that it was probably the “dust” and bits left from the stash, so I gave it a go anyway…
The dry leaf didn’t really have much of an aroma to it. I heated the gaiwan and put the leaf into it, so as to illuminate the smell of the leaf. I noticed a small amount of a jasmine/floral notes, but other than that, it really didn’t have much of a smell.
First Steep: Slightly bitter, but there was a bit of a “fruity” note present; although, I wasn’t sure what the fruit may have been.
Second Steep: Bitter, a bit leathery, & mouth drying.
Third Steep: More bitter & more astringent.
I had stopped taking notes there, however, there was a note made that it “went like this for a while (noted @ steep 6)” and I felt like this tea wasn’t doing it for me. I stopped at steep 8.
I hope it’s not harsh to say that it could’ve been the bits and pieces that gave it such an unpleasant experience; however, it could’ve been the hype of getting to try a Mei Leaf tea, and it just didn’t live up to the expectations…No idea…However, thank you, dear tea friend, for the opportunity. I apologize that it wasn’t my cuppa tea. xD
Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Fruity, Leather
totally agree with your review! about 2 years ago i decided to buy the whole gushu experience (incl. Bloom Buster, Cone Bandit & Pip Killer), after seeing the videos about these.
yesterday, my girlfriend took out some of the Bloom Buster Leaves (NOT BROKEN) from my collection and my experience war pretty similar to yours.. disappointing .
Sipdown
Another tea had last night at work…’Twas a good one, too.
A nice sweet floral/jasmine note throughout the cup. I had let this one accidentally cool off during the busier hours of my shift, but the mere fact it became room temperature didn’t mean that it was a bad thing that it oftentimes can be with teas cooling off…It was just as soothing room temperature as it was hot. In fact, I’d say the pine came out a little more with the cooler liquid than with the hotter. Overall, this was delightful.Sipdown
I had the last of this tea at work last night. I briefly noted that the pecan might’ve become mildly “expired,” but it was still a good blend. Despite the pecan tasting a bit off, there was still a nice caramelized/sugary sweetness remaining.
I’m going to miss this one a lot, but I’m glad I’ve had the opportunity to experience LP’s blends when there was such a thing to be had. :)
