Chinese Tea Shop

Gongfu!

I got a little mini tong of this back when I was in Vancouver earlier in the summer, and I’m only just now getting around to trying it. I thought that there was an interesting and almost unexpected semi-smokiness to the finish of this mid-aged sheng, but otherwise the flavour was pretty characteristic for something from Yiwu. Syrupy liquor with lots of fruitier flavours – banana being among the more prominent ones.

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0H1GnfRlGd/?img_index=1 (1st Pic)

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0ul5l_t3b8

This is one of the stronger teas I’ve tasted. To me it has a very strong almost fermented kind of taste and smell. There are notes of honey and almond in the flavor too. Personally this tea was too overpowering and a bit bitter. It’s not my favorite.

Color was yellow, very intense smell, floral notes, can still smell the tea in the teacup after consuming it all.

I first tried to brew this at two minutes, but it tasted like nothing. Plunged it back in for another minute and I finally getting light notes of malt and sugar in the raw. Still, it is flash-steeped green tea level of lightness! Put it back in for another minute and the ball is finally expanded fully, the liquid is a darker amber, and the smell is delicious! It is like sugared, generic black tea. The taste is still on the light side. I always think of black teas as smacking me in the face with flavor, and this one has the lightness of my favored oolongs.
I personally love how sweet it is, with very little of the bruskness that makes my tummy ache in most black teas brewed this long. An enjoyable cuppa, thanks MissB!

I didn’t really following the brewing instructions, but I did enjoy these pearls, which don’t look like the picture at all, and are really blooming black tea flowers, rather than pearls. The taste in sweet, mellow, & chocolatey, with a croissant kind of breadiness in the background. Thanks to Miss B & Sil!

3/28 Sipdowns

missB sent these my way and i apparently forgot to write a note when i had them before. I’m sending 1 of these babies over to Terri to try out since i think she might have fun with it :) I really like the way these look as well as the honey sweet chocolatey taste they produce. While i tried it the way the store recommended, i found i most enjoyed it when i use longer steeps :) thanks for letting me try these missb!

Well, I royally messed up the steeping of this. According to the directions on the bag (which differ from the website): 2g in 150mL for 30-60 seconds at 158-176F for the first few infusions, and increasing steeping time and heat thereafter.

I weighed one of the surprisingly large balls, and it was 3.38 grams. So I plunked two into a large mug, 200F water cooled to 185F, and steeped it for two minutes. As that wasn’t strong enough, I added another minute to the steep.

This tea smells like chocolate out of the bag and even more so as it steeps. It’s got a really sweet flavor to it, almost too sweet. That’s the majority of what I got from the first steep, although when it was hotter, it had an earthy cocoa quality to it as well as a malty flavor.

Do I like this? Yes. However I need to play with it a LOT more before I can say that I love it.

Got it here: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/wholesale-100g-Handmade-Black-Dragon-balls-Organic-Black-Pearl-3-5-OZ-free-shipping/487099430.html

I’m doing something new this time! Since I just finished up my sociology class I decided to celebrate by trying to do some kind of gongfu. :p I’m not experienced so these were all guesses on my part. I was using my tiny 150ml houhin shaped random piece I found at the Chinese store at my local mall. It could be something else, but I have no idea. It was just cute!
1st steep (1 min)
Buttery, soft and much more green than other times I’ve had this. My last sips were very sweet!
2nd steep (1min 30 sec) p.s. ouchies my fingers! lol
The liquor is much more yellow/green this steep. The smell is far more grassy and less sweet. Brighter flavor this time and the grassy notes are really peaking through this steep. Very, very soft mouth feel; almost silky.
3rd steep (2min)
The leaves have completely unfurled now! So very pretty! I’m really liking this method. It’s giving me time to relax. This time it smells much sweeter with almost no grass. The flavor is full on sweet; my favorite cup so far. Small amount of something almost spicy in the very back of this. Just as buttery as ever!
4th steep (2min 30 sec.)
Starting to mellow down again. Stronger hay smells with this steep. Much lighter liquor. So. Very. Tasty. Still very sweet and light (getting lighter!)
5th steep (3 min) Final steep
The smell is so light on this steep. Sweet, but fading. Very light and creamy as the very 1st steep. Lovely tea, really, I think this is a great introduction for people to unflavored oolong.

2nd steep!
I just realized what the color reminds me of; apple cider. I stepped up the temp. and time on this steep. (190F/4 min)
The smell of the liquor is just as floral as the last one. I am amazed! If I’m thinking correctly this isn’t flavored at all/perfumed. Which is what is so awesome to me. This smells and tastes like no other tea I’ve had and all that is included is tea leaves!
This steep is much sweeter than the first one. The floral taste is much more subdued, but still present. It is still very smooth and has no bite. This cup has almost no vegetal flavor in it; which was surprising. I am getting a lot of creamy notes. I love that this one just, in it’s own way, melts in your mouth.
Really solid 2nd steep. More to come!

I’ve been lacking in some of my updates..I got this quite awhile ago from Chinese Tea Shop as a sample. It arrived very, very quickly! I got this package before I got some of the ones I was expecting from in the states.
This is my first infusion of this tea. I used lower temp. water for a lower time. I’m a bit unfamiliar with oolong steeping; so this may have been a strange guess on that aspect.
This was my first excursion into Iron Goddess teas. The leaves were just beautiful. I have a certain love of oolong leaves and this one was just nice to watch.
The liquor is this beautiful yellow/gold color.
The flavor is so smooth and relaxing. I can taste very slight floral notes. I can’t quite explain what they are though! Shame on my young palate. :p But there is this distinct almost, hm, buttery note to it. It is very pleasant. There are some vegetal notes but they aren’t overpowering or unpleasant in the least. This blend gets high points for me because none of the leaves’ smell is lost in the liquor. That subtle floral aroma stays with it.
I highly recommend this tea; especially for people like me who are new to unflavored oolongs. It really is a nice oolong!

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me a bit of this tea.

It is really good. It is incredibly smooth and rich. Much of what I would expect from a Fujian tea. Sweet and mild, but has a boldness to it too. Delicious chocolate-y undertones.

Very good.

Of many of the teas I’ve tried, I think oolong has the biggest spectrum of flavors. Every oolong is very different from the next. This one is an example of my favorite kind of oolong. It’s a very nice light springy green color. The flavor is a lovely floral. I’ll be re-steeping this a few times, since I know oolongs are good for it! I’m already on the second steep and there is no difference in flavor at all. A perfect oolong tea!

I received a sample of this today and must say it’s a daring and darling tea! It’s sweet with a bit of pleasant sour notes underneath. There are also some fruity and floral hints as well. AND it ends with a malty-woodsy type taste! I did prefer the 2nd infusion over the 1st only because I thought it had more over-all flavor! I think I am going to try a 3rd infusion as well. This is very special! I like it a lot!