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Drinking this again and I have to say I am even more impressed than last time, especially in terms of the taste, which I actually enjoy as well. And as I mentioned before, the floral aroma is just incredible, like the cha qi, which put me in a very pleasant state of mind.

What a wonderful smell this tea possesses. It is very floral and sweet, reminiscent of some high quality honey.

The liquor is medium to full bodied with oily and slightly drying mouthfeel, which becomes minty and cooling afterwards. It is a very refreshing tea to drink and the taste is fairly complex. It took me a while to appreciate it though, at first I wasn’t very fond of it. There are some vegetal, buttery, floral and astringent notes, but nothing really stands out. The aftertaste transforms the sensation into somewhat fruity, sweet direction and lasts for a very long time.

One other thing to mention is a very noticeable and calming cha qi, probably my favourite among the oolong teas I have tried.

P.S. Originally I was going to rate it around 75, but with the aftertaste and cha qi kicking in, I had to reconsider the rating and change it significantly.

This is an enjoyable white tea that is very affordable. It is also very forgiving and easy to brew. As such, it is extremely suitable for a casual drinking kind of white tea.

Dry leaf smells like some pastry whose name escapes me right now. It reminds me of Provence for some reason too, I think there is a bit of lavender and dry grass in the smell. In the wet leaf I get some brandy notes as well.

As for the taste, honey sweetness is very present, as well as (phyllo) pastry, nuts and mediterranean shrubs (I can’t quite tell which one). There is literally no bitterness when brewed like this (85°C) and only a little astringency that one can control by adjusting the other parameters.

The mouthfeel is mouth-watering, bubbly, cooling and fairly light bodied overall, although it can get a little thicker and coating when brewed for a longer time obviously.

What a wonderful tea this is! I am a novice in the world of pu-erh, but I am already a big fan.

The smell of dry leaf is fairly floral, while in the wet leaf tobacco seems to be very present. The smell is very thick and sweet and induces somewhat cooling sensation in my nose.

As for the mouthfeel, the tea is medium to full bodied and oily. At the start of the session, it seems to be drying the throat only, but develops a more allround astringency later on.

Taste wise, I found it to be pleasantly sour with nice fruitiness along the lines of gooseberry and apricot. The aftertaste is very protracted with returning sweetness on the tongue and a bit more sour in the throat. It seems to have a balanced taste even when the steeping time is pushed longer, the bitterness is fairly mild generally.

The effects of the tea seem to appear very quickly, but the cha qi is not overwhelming. I found it to be slightly warming and with a numbing effect.

I love the mouthfeel of this tea, but I am not overly fond of the strong bready aspect. It’s still a very good choice for when I want something savoury and complex, but I think I will be searching for a different Gyokuro next time.

I feel like the more I drink this tea, the more I like it. It fares well with various different parameters. This time I tried a high leaf/water ratio and cooler temperature for first two steeps. Namely, 1st steep at 80°C, 2nd at 86°C, 3rd straight off the boil and 4th was a 10 minute simmer, now my standard ending of Hojicha sessions.

All infusions were very thick, but also very different from each other. It started off mild and roasty, yet complex and finished with a dark woody brew with competing coffee bitterness, green tea astringency and caramel sweetness.

I got some of this tea from a wholesaler in Kathmandu. It is quite unique, definitely worth trying out. It has been lightly roasted as a result of which the tea is different from standard green teas. There is very little of the vegetal aspect, it is more herbal and smoky on the other hand. The closest taste is probably sage, but in the aftertaste some mint appears too. I found some nuttiness too, but I can’t quite categorize it right now. Due to the roasting process, the astringency is lighter, but still present for sure. When brewed gong fu style, the mouthfeel is decent too. All in all, an interesting tea that I am glad I tried out.

I tried less leaf and cooler water this time, yielding a lighter and less complex, but definitely very tasty tea. The lower bitterness and astringency allowed me to focus more on the mouthfeel of the liquor, which is oily, thick and effervescent. There is still some powderiness from the astringency, but fairly subdued.

[Some zheng shan xiao zhong I received from a friend]

Starts of very light with strong smell of longan fruit and fermented apricots. The fruitiness is definitely present in the second infusion’s taste, which is also more crisp and medium to full bodied. There is some coffee bitterness and in the smell I noticed nettle, strangely enough. Third infusion has more sweetness, akin to sweet potatoes. Starting from fourth, but especially in fifth infusion, astringency appers fully, changing the mouthfeel again.

I feel like this is a fairly unusual black tea, it reminded me of the “Longan Nectar” oolong by Taiwan Sourcing, but it is more sweet and not quite as fruity as that one.

Very strong smell of buth dry and wet leaf. It is unlike anything I have ever smelled, but it does remind me of fresh sawdust a lot. On top of that there are fermented fruits and some strawberry in the aroma. It is strong and I kind of like it, but it can be overwhelming.

The taste is sweet with some bitterness and astringency that is a little different from tea astringency. It is quite medicinal as well and not super complex, definitely much less so than the smell. Finally, the liquor is very thick and coating, especially once it cools down a bit.

Overall, I am not quite sure how I feel about it. For sure, it is different from any other drink I have had, so maybe I will change the evaluation as I drink more of it in the future.

I should definitely use less leaf though, the 6g yield a lot of liquor. I am on 3rd 300ml infusion right now and it is still very strong. Especially at night that’s too much liquid to drink before sleeping.