96 Tasting Notes
A real good Taiwan-stored Pu’erh, and only the first steeping had hints of earthy compost and fresh fish. Then it was smooth sailing through sixteen steepings of lovely, sweet, aromatic and tongue-pleasing tea, ranging from deep dark walnut to red oak to light copper in colour. Mine was a sample-size gift from BTTC last year, and I don’t know if it’s still available. You can see how the starting dry leaves differ from the spent leaves after the 16th brew in the photos I’ve posted & close-ups. I would buy this as a routine morning tea if I could get more!
Preparation
Woke up with this tasty tea today. Bought in mesh sachets and brewed western style, the leaves unfurled beautifully and the two steepings were golden yellow and clear, becoming somewhat cloudy as they cooled. Smooth, buttery, vegetal, energizing and fragrant. A great way to face a snowbound winter day.
Preparation
This tea was a revelation. Yes, grown in Taiwan, but the finest, cleanest, most enjoyable Assamica I’ve found, other than Tealyra’s Brandy Oolong 18. Both come from the Sun Moon Lake region of Taiwan. I buy this one by the half pound and enjoy every cup. The intensity varies from year to year, but it has always been great. More of a raisin-caramel-malt and honey flavor that I find to be the essence of Assamic. It’ a flavor of its own. Second steep is more subdued and woodier, but still good. Stop there. You’ll find huge, intact leaves over 2” long. Black Beauty #8 and Brandy Oolong #18 are my #1 favorites, hands down.
Preparation
Wow! This is good. I don’t usually dig herbals / tisanes, but this has a perfect balance of sweet and tart flavors and just the right amount of cinnamon. One can discern each and every voice in the choir, and relax with the beautiful melody. This gift makes me smile every time I brew it. Time to order more!
Preparation
Been sipping down my initial stash of this tisane, Western style, sometimes with a lump, sometimes straight. It has a pleasant and complex aroma both dry and brewed. The hibiscus is not so heavy as to make the brew overly tart, though it makes its presence known! I always like it, and it’s an afternoon drink because it lacks caffeine. Not getting much plum or licorice today; perhaps my stuff is a bit stale. Last year I bought a fresh supply of this cinnamon plum, at the Bentonville location, and boy was the cinnamon strong! When I start drinking it, I’ll make a new review thread. My first steeping today (1 heaped tsp/8z boiling/4min) was potent and deep brown. 2nd infusion looked weak and light purple, so I let it go for 20 min. Very different: sweeter, less tart, more woody, deeper soft fruity notes at the back and sides of my tongue and roof of the mouth. Very sweet lingering aftertaste (no added sugar in this cup). I’m getting a plummy finish with a hint of licorice. I might try a jug of this Western style, iced and sweetened someday. In an additional round with this tea, I cut the first steep to 2.5 min and the second steep to 5 min. This produced two excellent cups of full-bodied liquor, closer to each other in flavor and aroma. This blend might be a good candidate for grandpa-style brewing!
This was on sale, or maybe free. Apparently I’m succeeding at trying to erase its memory. I tasted it hot, and again lukewarm, then dumped it out and gargled with Listerine to remove traces of its unpleasant flavor. Yes, I’d rather drink mouthwash. Mind you, I do sometimes enjoy a tart straight hibiscus tisane, even if sweetened. But.Not.This. I’m storing it in the back of my cupboard so as to give it to a friend who praises rooibos, or perhaps to prepare for unwanted visitors, as I’m sure it would drive them away.
Surprisingly good! This was a gift to me 3 yr ago and has been in dry storage until the time of this tasting. Although it comes in paper wrap AND a decorative tin , the metal has vent holes to ensure proper aging. The vendor says the cake was compressed in 2014 from maocha from 2008, making it now 13 yr old and I believe it. The larger outer leaves pressed in the 100g tuo disguise a seemingly smaller chop inside, as I carefully pried apart the side of the tuo. I used 4 g of dry leaf and steeped in 90 ml boiling water after a 10s wash under hot tap water. I sipped across 12 steepings of gradually increasing length starting at 15 sec. Color ranged from a bright orange the color of the top of the tin, to a deeper orange matching the middle of the tin.
The tea had a very pleasant taste of light spice and modest astringency on the middle of the tongue with notes of chestnut and a pepperiness, and the leaves started as a deep olive green. By steep 6 a vegetal flavor had emerged, but distinct tea flavor remained and the leaves darkened. Although diminishing by the 12th steep of 2 min., the tea still had good flavor, but the leaves had turned to mush and the tasting concluded. Overall a stable flavor and good aroma, and I’ll buy more of this treasured gift.
Preparation
This is a very mild Qimen (“Keemun”) black tea from China. The leaves are large—about an inch long, dry—and wirey, with a nice lightly cocoa odor. I brewed a teaspoonful (actually a large pinch of about 1.5 g) in 8 oz boiling water for 4 min. In a fabric drawstring teabag. This produced a clear brown liquor with flavors of stewed vegetal fruits over top of a light keemun flavor. Not as strong in character as I would like. I’ve had better Qimen teas at lower price from this and other vendors. Just my subjective opinion, YMMV.
Flavors: Stewed Fruits, Vegetal
Preparation
Following up on my first note, I subsequently brewed another 2.5 g in a glazed tea pot for 4 min. Two steeping’s in that manner, virtually identical. I have attached a photo of representative spent leaves in a saucer, showing virtually intact small leaves and a few stems and a few buds. I stand by my original comments: smooth, muted, not as intensely flavored as I would like. Notes of dirty cardboard. I see no reason for this to be higher priced than the Keemun Mao Feng Premium, which tastes far better, unless a person really likes large leaves.
This is a good classic Qimen ( “Keemun”) tea, easy to measure, brew, and drink. The leaves are chopped to about 1/4 inch (dry), and are fragrant of cocoa. I noted the dry leaves seemed coated with tea dust, suggesting some rough handling or transit, or maybe the bottom of the barrel—LoL. Brewed a teaspoonful in a plastic drawstring teabag with boiling water for 4 min. Good, full mouthfeel (no discernible cocoa flavor) with the classic spicy-peppery Qimen taste on the back of my tongue and a long pleasant finish. Minimal astringency with a nice sweetness. Plenty of caffeine.
