Camellia Sinensis

Gongfu…

The first steeps have a touch of puckering astringency, and the taste is very “pumpkin brittle” with subtle spices, a mineral-y vegetal hint (green bell pepper?), and nutty sweetness. Something about the finish is reminding me of herbed butter…

This is my last day of staycation. I didn’t get as many sipdowns in as I wanted, but I sure did drink A LOT of really good yancha over the last week, & roasted teas in general. So, it’s hard to be mad at that!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9SUvAug2Lq/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el-ZrpQybXM

I took a sick day today because I woke up and not ten minutes later threw up all over my kitchen floor as I was making breakfast. No warning or funny feelings prior to the incident – just, sudden vomit. Sorry if that’s TMI.

Anyway; for the rest of the day I continued to feel pretty unwell and I did have another moment where I got sick – but at least I saw it coming and was able to get to the washroom. So, I didn’t do much in the way of tea drinking.

I add this earlier in the afternoon following a nap though; I woke up and for an hour or two everything felt alright. I seized the opportunity for tea. This was really nice; I think the choice to brew something up with a mild to medium roast was a good one; heavy roast would have been too harsh on my stomach, I feel. However this level of roast just felt warm, toasty, and comforting. Main notes were toasted/roasted walnuts and peach jam, with a sort of maple-y undertone and sweetness. Maybe a tiny hint of cinnamon, too? Or some other sweeter, soft spice.

This is just a consistently nice tea, IMO.

Tried something a little more different with this tea.

From what I could recall, this is a really toasty/nutty tasting oolong so I thought those element might be a really nice compliment to the pumpkin agave that DT released for the fall. I didn’t want a hot tea though because I was working in our back stockroom unpacking boxes so I iced this tea and then added the agave.

I think it actually worked really splendidly! I didn’t add much agave, so the flavour of the oolong was definitely still the strongest element of the brew. It was very roasty and nutty tasting like I remembered: definitely that sort of “grilled nut” flavour that CS uses in their official description of the tea. Apart from that, I thought there was also a nice mix of wood/oak notes, mineral, shea butter, and cinnamon notes as well. Deep in the undertones was a hint of something vegetal but not overly descript. All in all, the amalgamation of all those different flavour notes really came together to create something very nice and natural to compliment the sweet pumpkin/squash notes from the agave. The cinnamon, nuts, wood, and roasty elements kind of played in to make this feel more autumnal and ‘Harvest’-y and that deep vegetal undertone almost seemed to exaggerate the squashiness/vegetal aspects of the pumpkin.

Really, it was a great match up and a perfect example of added flavours in tea that don’t mask the taste of the tea itself, and which play off one another to elevate the profile to another, more nuanced and elegant level.

It’s been off and on raining all day, but nothing super heavy. Drizzling, really.

I’ve been waiting literally all day to head outside in the pouring rain and drink a cup of tea, but honestly it’s getting so late now and I’ve kind of given up on waiting for the rain now so I just kind of went “fuck it” and brought my Gong Fu tray and a carafe outside, set up my laptop in the boot room with a good album playing and just enjoyed my tea outside with a journal to scrawl out some notes.

I started with a wash, and then each infusion afterwards I increased by seconds starting with five seconds for the first proper infusion. I think I got a pretty good session out of the tea, and most importantly it was very peaceful and relaxing.

- 1st infusion:
Roasty/nutty with clean profile and no lingering notes in the finish

- 2nd infusion:
The same but with lingering plum-y sweetness on the roof of my mouth

- 3rd infusion:
Roasty, nutty, wet wood, mineral, sweet, raisin, malt, plum (in that order)

- 4th infusion:
Touch of astringency/pucker, more mineral and raisin with aftertaste of leaves and bark

- 5th infusion:
Sharp decline in liquor colour; surprised at the lack of longevity this is showing

- 6th infusion:
Moving away from the roasty/nutty/woody side of things towards sweet, mellow fruit

- 7th infusion:
Plum, raisin, apricot, fuji apple, banana peel and hints of almond/marzipan in the finish

- 8th infusion:
Liquor is almost running clear – faintest notes of plum, marzipan but not much else

- 9th infusion:
Oversteeped this one but even still it brewed up like water; leaf is officially spent

And for anyone curious, the album I picked out was Jack Johnson’s In Between Dreams album. It’s just such peaceful, easy going music – and I feel like his voice perfectly matches the soft, soothing roastier aspects of the tea as well as the sweetness of the fruit.

Also, I have to say I was pleased to see many of my initial observations when I drank this one Western style still held pretty true for the Gong Fu method of brewing.

- Top notes of roasted nuts, wood, and cinnamon
- Very smooth with a silky mouthfeel
- Soft body and background notes of fruits; raisin, peach, plum
- Has a really well rounded sweetness to it overall
- Finish it mildly floral in a non distinct way
- Greatly enjoyed this
- Especially the marriage of darker oxidized oolong qualities and stonefruit notes

Sipdown (599)!

Finished off as a mini pot of tea, which was drank somewhat inattentively while I was also watching some Netflix (obsessed with a show called Limitless right now). I think I’ve had this Darjeeling for a LONG time and I’m not entirely sure what I’ve thought of it historically, but I did think this pot was pretty nice. Sort of a mix of florals, grilled vegetables (zucchini/artichoke), honey, and raisins. Nice!

Nothing like an early morning cup of Darjeeling to ease into your day with!

2nd flush is definitely my preferred flush of Darjeeling – primarily because of that lovely grapey/muscatel note that’s so prominent and unique. I think this one is showing its age because it lacks some brightness but it’s still really enjoyable overall. Very smooth, with muscat notes and notes of other red fruits like pomegranate/currant with honey undertones and really, really gentle malt and whisps of floral undertone. Not as much as you’d get from 1st flush, though.

It’s actually really lovely how I’ve been able to stretch out this sample – and there’s still at least another cup (possibly two) to come in the future even yet!

Hot cuppa.

Kind of sweet and muscatel, but more than anything this just had a really pleasant and smooth malt note throughout the sip. Malt isn’t something I often strongly associate with Darjeelings, but paired with the brightness/sweetness of the muscat I think it was a very unique flavour note duo that kind of highlighted the differentiating sweetness of each respective flavour.

Also, since astringency has been a button issue with this tea…

Not astringent at all, this time!

Iced!

I don’t know if I’ve ever had an iced Darjeeling before? I mean, part of me thinks that at this point I must have but nothing jumps to mind. This one was pretty nice, though! It was definitely a little tannic/astringent at the start so I added the tiniest bit of honey to sweeten it. The honey didn’t completely eliminate that astringency, but it tempered it enough to make it pleasant. Most importantly, the muscatel note of the tea was REALLY strong and delicious – it works very well as an iced tea!

I mean, I still think Darjeeling is best enjoyed hot and plain but this was a nice switch up to the seeming increase of hot Darjeeling I’ve been sipping on as of late.

Free sample that Camellia Sinensis added into my latest order!

I swear, they’ve added in Darjeeling teas a few times now – not that I mind, but I do find it interesting since I tend to order oolongs from them primarily (and Lapsang/blends) so it does seem like a bit of a weird choice.

I added a smidgen of honey to this one because initial sips were a bit too astringent for my tastes. With the added honey, that resulted in a pretty smooth muscatel blend with an overarching autumnal feel to it and a bit of a floral undertone. Relatively enjoyable, though nothing exceptional.

Gongfu!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C56uWTEuXEY/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar0OvXh7jLU

Drank this one Western style at work, and honestly I wasn’t paying attention to it AT ALL. I was so busy doing deep clean tasks, and helping customers and the before I knew it I had thoughtlessly sipped the whole mug down without making note of just about anything…

I mean, I did observe at little bit with my very first few sips but not a lot. Just that overall this was surprisingly smooth and silky bodied, which to me made very little sense given the company’s description of the tea. I also recall lots of top note sweetness. It made me think of nectarines which is also weird when you look at the tea description…

I don’t even know.

Sipdown (604)!

Feels like I’ve had this oolong in my cupboard for a long time, so I think this sipdown was a long time coming. I can’t really recall what I’ve thought of it previously, which is never a great sign about the tea. I don’t seem to have rated it particularly high or low though…

True to form, I don’t remember a lot about this session either apart from the fact I was also snacking on blueberries during the session and I recall getting a strong geranium note from the tea – which probably stands out because it’s a flavour note I’ve not naturally observed in a lot of teas. Thankfully my past self did me a solid by taking good notes though, so I can see that I had about nine infusions of this tea, during which I noted the aforementioned geranium note present in the first half of the session and a progressively strong astringency accompanied by a pine/resin note. Initially the pine/resin was just a finishing note, but then it expanded into the body of the sip until it overtook the entire sip. Usually I’m very into pine notes in tea, but I think combined with a strong astringency it was a little much for me.

The blueberries were a nice added sweetness to cut out some of the astringency, though.

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxFtEianaNW/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXTrtYK1CNU&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=25&t=0s

Another artist that I really like – I’ve been basically playing this song on repeat since it was released in April and I have the entire thing memorized now. My poor coworkers have had to listen to me (poorly) sing along to this in the lab early in the morning while setting up lab testing/playing music…

Cold Brew!

Paired up with a good comic book, and some brown sugar, brie and plum topped crackers!

This was a delicious cold brew; notes of roasted nuts, wood, and florals in the top of the sip and then body notes that were more reminiscent of deep, overripe stone fruits like plum or dark cherries. I actually picked the food pairing because of the intense plum notes in the tea as well; it felt like a really nice carry over/tie in for that sort of rich, haunting kind of oolong profile that captures so perfectly the more earthy/natural flavour notes and fruit elements. The brown sugar topping on the crackers made the nut notes in the tea really pop in the top of the sip, taking on this sort of glazed charred toasted almond/hazelnut sort of feel that was full of life and exciting but not so whimsical/adolescent. If that makes sense. The brie was just creamy and delicious, and cut any astringent notes that may have been in the end of the sip.

It’s immodest to say so because I curated the whole shebang, but this was beautifully put together…

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/BguilbXAi4W/?taken-by=ros_strange

Man, I did such a good job keeping up with tasting notes while I was on vacation and then I got home and instantly just stopped. So, it’s my first day off now since getting back and I have a whole slew of things to write about. I’m cursing myself and my laziness so much right now.

This was a nice early morning cup; the kind of flavour that’s really smooth and relaxing with a medium bodied flavour. You know, just strong enough to have body/a presence that wakes you up but not full bodied enough to be a slap in the face sort of wake up/jarring. It’s a nice mix of soft roast, nutty notes, wood, honey, and floral elements with a touch of a mineral/vegetal kind of finish. A little green bell pepper-y, in a loose way? Mostly though I think the main flavours here were the honey and wood/oak notes.

It’s an oolong that just screams “nature” overall.

It kind of bothers me that despite having three cups of this one now, all made very similarly, I’ve yet to be able to produce a consistant/reliable flavour profile…

This morning’s cup was certainly pleasant/delightful but again just very unlike what I remember past cups tasting like! Light to medium bodied, this was very smooth with the sweetness of honey or fresh peaches, with a soft floral body and a touch of a roasty/woody element, with a finish that reminded me of puffed wheat!

Like, elements of that line up with the company’s description, and with what I’ve experienced from past cups but not the overall profile. It’s quite irritating, despite being tasty. I feel like I just HAVE to be more critical of this tea because of that. So, lowering the rating…

- I’d forgotten I’ve tried this one before! It seems very different from the last time…
- Just based on skimming the old tasting note; that is
- More roasty/toasted in flavour
- Has a bit of a peppery/spicy finish to it
- Body is sweeter; more like honey and rye?
- I suppose it does have some floral undertones
- And a woody quality though, like in the company description

I did enjoy this one initially, but just looking at the old tasting note it definitely raises a few flags for me just how wildly different these two infusions were considering they were both no frills Western style infusions…

So, since I’m living at my mom’s house now I’ve got a different tea set up than when I was at the condo. I actually kind of like this one better too – all my tea stuff is here in my room, including my kettle and mugs/teapots. I have water access literally right across the hall so I just fill the kettle when I need water, and I can make whatever I want in here.

That said, I can also easily bring a tin of tea upstairs too and make something there in the kitchen because my mom’s tea set up is there complete with her kettle and an assortment of infusing options.

Which is the long winded way of saying, I made this cuppa while snuggled in bed with my sister watching some That 70s Show – very convenient and relaxing!

- Sweet floral top notes and hints of cane sugar/honey and fresh fruit
- Like the sweetness of a ripe Gala apple?
- More mild vegetal body notes; crisp, clean, and sweet overall
- Finish is very lightly astringent, but pleasantly so
- Very refreshing/clean profile overall with pleasant natural sweetness

Gongfu Sipdown (799)!

I’ve had this sample for a while and built some familiarity with it, I especially like the anise notes I often get from this tea. However, this was my first time steeping in my newer, unglazed pot that I’ve been using for sheng and I found it pulled more herbal and medicinal notes notes from the leaf though there was still an underlying sweetness and huigan. Thick liquor with a pleasant texture, as well!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B8EzxXvAuKm/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVBDC3xhKoA

We just had a short little thunder storm, so of course as soon as I heard the rolling thunder I whipped together a Gong Fu set, brewed up some water for my carafe, measured the tea out and was on the porch bracing for the rain!

I got to witness that amazing first crack of rain as the pavement suddenly went from water free to drenched in less than three seconds. So satisfying! The storm stopped about two thirds of my way into the session, and after that I just basked in the petrichor until I ran out of water. I’m literally just back in from outside so here are my ‘notes’ from the session – or more realistically, here’s everything I remember before it vanishes from my brain.

First things first I started with a 5 second rinse, and then a rest.

7 Seconds/Infusion One
- Definitely some astringency; a rougher infusion
- A mix of grass/peat with a tangy soup

10 Seconds/Infusion Two
- Still astringent but less so
- Top note is this tangy “apricot” like quality
- Carries a bit into the soup, but mostly this mineral/peat/artichoke sort of flavour

15 Seconds/Infusion Three
- Pretty well smoothed out
- Light apricot tang/peat/artichoke/mineral/hints of anise
- The taste of the finish/aftertaste reminds me of licking stamps

??? Seconds/Infusion Four
- Totally forgot to time this one; I was mesmerized with the rain… oops.
- Smoothest infusion yet
- Same notes as above but add a faint cream/buttery quality to the list

20 Seconds/Infusion Five
- Has kind of lost the “apricot” note
- Has a really nice sweetness to the body though
- Finish is taking on a bit of a heady floral quality

30 Seconds/Infusion Six
- Repeat of the previous infusion, but we’ve lost the buttery quality

35 Seconds/Infusion Seven
- Same but milder overall
- With the exception of the sweetness which is really bright and noticeable

40 Seconds/Infusion Eight
- Lightest infusion yet
- Mostly artichoke top notes, sweet body, floral finish

And at this point I ran out of water, so I just ended the session. I feel like I got the best out of the tea anyway; and the rain was over. It was a very peaceful session all in all, though! I’m really enjoying these more regular Gong Fu sessions out on the porch!

Made this one, Western style, in store for my manager and myself a few nights ago. This was the first Sheng style Pu’erh she’d ever had and so I kind of challenged her to break down the flavour notes along with me, as well as compare and contrast it to Shou pu’erh that she’s tried.

As far as the compare/contrast goes she didn’t have much to go on because the only Shou she’s tried are the Silken Pu’erh we currently sell at DT and the Golden Pu’erh that DT used to carry. However, she said that the main difference was that this seemed lighter and less earthy as well as fruity.

My tasting note list:
Artichoke, Apple Skins, Peach Juices, Sweet Grass, Anise, Black Pepper, Moss(?)

Dani’s list:
Apple, peach, vegetal, a hint earthy

I enjoyed this one overall! I think maybe I like the other Laos pu’erh I’ve got from Camellia Sinensis a bit better though. It would be good to directly compare them, I think.

Nice orchid aroma, a light yet complex flavor came out by the 3rd run of 5minutes ( 1st run 15 seconds, 2nd run of 1minute) .Like a refreshing white wine on a summer day, this tea would be perfect for daily drinking from spring thru autumn.

Gongfu!

This is a half sipdown since I’m finishing off a bag of this tea, though I still have another 10g or so of a differen year’s production of this tea in a tin somewhere. Even though, at this point, the last bit of this oolong sample has been unintentionally “aged,” it’s honestly still really delicious! There’s an overall buttery mouthfeel and taste to this fresh-feeling medium bodied tea, with strong floral aromas of Spring lilacs that translate into the cup as well. It also tastes of midnight jasmine blossoms and coconut water, and in the finishing notes I picked up an atypical but very welcome flavour of orange marmalade.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C2AyyOQuWcR/?img_index=1

Peep the fancy new gaiwan!

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kam8VV2kzLc