Global Tea Hut

The dry leaves have a familiar smell I can’t exactly pinpoint. The first things that pop to mind is a mix of orange and bbq sauce. I know that’s really odd and specific.

It stays very consistent and nets you a ton of steeps. I have been drinking it for hours now. Its has a slight fruity taste and gains a malty undertone after a few steeps. Its to bad this is only available for the month is September with the magazine. Would be a great daily drinker.

Tea Gift

Threw a few grams of this in my 60 ML pot and shared with friends whilst play a variety of board/card games. ‘Twas a fun time with plenty of good company, food, and of course tea. I often drink tea alone, but when there are individuals who say, “Hey tea man, I hear ya have the good stuff,” I have no choice but to bring out the ’goods’ and ‘wares’ to celebrate my friendship with people. :)

Anyway, the overall frequent notes were: pie crust, apple (later steeps), and ‘charcoal dust’.

smells like baked apples, cream, yogurt, pie
tastes like plain frozen yogurt, sweet cream, fresh ricotta, coriander, and wildflowers with the tartness of tall dry grass
later scent becomes evergreen flowers and moss in the winter sun
delicately roasty throughout

Tea Swap
Sipdown

I’ve been taking more samples from the swap box to work lately, and trying to get the teas which I’d assume to be best western styled, down as much as possible. I have had this gongfu style, too, but I didn’t take any notes on the session though….However, I had decided to brew a variety of teas at work and note as much as I could during my 10 minute breaks….

On the packet I noted: A mild dark chocolate flavor, with a sweet note which lingers in the mouth.

Tea Swap Session/Sipdown

It’s too late to be having a black/red tea at the moment, but I’m also at the point where I’m fully tea drunk, as well as tired. I could easily fall asleep as well as stay awake….I’ve had 9 teas, in total, since 8:30 a.m., so this last one is only adding more to my overly hyper, yet, tired being. I need to end the tea session(s) and head to bed shortly after posting this review. I honestly have so many notes that vary in length, but my mental energy is nearly depleted; however, I could easily read a book, too (I may not retain it easily, but I sure could read something to ease the mind). My notes will be quick, though. I wasn’t 100% focusing on the note taking aspect of the session, but moreorless focusing on the book being read (The Eye of the World: The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, if you must know. It’s a fantastic series which will be apart of the next 6-12 months of my life. I had recently discovered that, after picking the first book up at the library, it’s book 1/14. So far, it has a nice Tolkien-esq vibe to it, so I look forward to geeking out for the next few months while reading the series….I was told that there’s a game based on the series, too, so with further research, I might look for it on the web….)

Anyway, notes: A bit mouth drying, sweet, slightly malty, smooth, creamy, zero bitterness, caramel (aftertaste), and slightly floral.

Tea Swap/Brief Notes

Another great tea had tonight while playing games…Silky chocolate…I’ll definitely note more with the next few sessions…

Tea Swap Sample

I was drinking this a few days ago prior to a weekend-long camping trip. I wanted to drink something “easy on the mind” to help me go to bed, so that I’d be able to wake up the following morning with ease, rather than struggling to do so on the account of having a puerh or something else that produces high energy.

Anyway, I had a few steeps that evening, taking a couple of notes as I sat and drank. I didn’t complete the whole session in one sitting, but I finished the remainder of the tea the following morning before packing….

Notes: Crisp, light, floral, and soft. There was a touch of astringency that happened briefly due to user error by increasing the temperature too much. However, once the temperature was adjusted back to the original (175 F), everything seemed to go back to normal. The last steep went for 4 minutes, but the notes were depleted at this point. I managed to go 8 steeps with this tea; which was overall quite satisfying.

Bought a one ounce sample of this when I went to Puerh Brooklyn for some Global Tea Hut events. They were not selling whole cakes or I would have bought one. This tea was very good but falls short of phenomenal. It had a sweet taste from the beginning with only a light bitterness that did not last too long. I am not sure if I think this tea is good enough to spend the $108 they ask for it online at www.gLobalteahut.org. I probably have to drinkn it again before I decide that. I did give this tea steepings and I did like it, I just do not know if it is worth that much money for what I believe is a 200g cake. If it were a full sized cake for the price I would be more likely to buy it.

I steeped this ten times in a 75ml teapot with 5.6g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 minute. I could have gone a few more steeps and perhaps will later on today.

So much has been happening and while I have enjoyed myself quite a bit, I really miss the higher volume of engagement within the tea community. Just got done at an anime convention where I cosplayed as Char Aznable; you can see here if you’d like https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154629015982361&set=a.439108127360.221932.714617360&type=3&theater what is awesome about this is that the setup that we are next to is a Make a Wish project (which is why this is the pictured I am using, it means much more than the others)

Anyways, recently I bought this tea that looks all crazy on Global Tea Hut’s website: Aged Mountain Gate. I am almost sure the tea leaves are different that are used because look at it!!!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BU7B2MfgCok/

So the taste is confusing… as I drank it, blindfolded I would have said this is a 1 to 2 year old maocha. The hand pressing on this must allow it to retain that maocha’ness to it where the depth doesn’t withstand as many boiling baths. I am going to store this in my pumidor and hope that it develops more depth or something because right now it’s a mystery; though I am still new to it.

Preparation method: 90ml porcelain gaiwan, charcoal filtered Toronto tap, about five grams of tea, 95c water. Rinse, 20 seconds, 12 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, 4o seconds, etc.

Dry leaf aroma: vanilla, slight ethanol, dark fruit.

Wet leaf aroma: damp leather, sweet, cocoa, cooked green vegetable.

Liquor: Mostly clear garnet. Slight evidence of oil.

Mouthfeel: strong hui gan, salivation, brothy, mellow, coats the entire mouth, lingering, splashes upper palate, swallows easily, coats throat. Very, very light fine astringency (tongue is slightly fuzzy)

Flavour: sweet, vanilla, baking chocolate, cooked plum, nutmeg, wood.

A very yummy tea! Brewed directly in the bowl, and it did turned out great. A light brisk flavour, mild and just the right amount of bitterness. The quality of the leaves were great! Almost every piece developed to a whole leaf in my bowl.

This tea was included with the June Global Tea Hut and is a very good tea. It was quite probably the smoothest semi aged sheng I have tried. It had what I would describe as a sweet note throughout all twelve steeps I gave it. Not the apricots of a young sheng mind you but more of a woodsy note, maybe mushrooms or something like that. The tea liquid was a little thin from age but it’s color was a dark reddish color. I wish this one was available for sale. There were no wet storage notes, no tobacco or leather notes developed from age either. If this had a little more body to it I would give it a 100%. It was very, very good. I didn’t feel much qi but maybe a little.

I steeped this tea twelve times in a 150ml gaiwan with 7.2g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 min.

Definitely the best Dian Hong I’ve tasted. Maybe because according to the Global Tea Hut magazine, the tea was not rolled as long as usual. Thus the tea might be less oxidized than usual, which would explain the Oriental Beauty -like flavour.

This is without a doubt one of the best green teas I have ever had. Global Tea Hut doesn’t send much but what they send is good. I figure I have enough for one more pot of tea. This tea was sweet and creamy in nature with vegetal flavors strictly in the background. It was good. I am not a big drinker of green tea but I would buy this if it were available that is certain. This was just fantastic tea. I didn’t gongfu this I was being lazy. Instead a brewed it twice in a 300ml Kyusu that I got from Japan. I only used 5g of leaf and probably should have used seven. It was a bit weak in the first steep. But I wanted to leave enough tea for another session of this sometime.

I brewed this twice in a 300ml Kyusu Teapot with 5g leaf and 175 degree water. I steeped it for 2 min and 4 min.

I’m surprised someone hadn’t put this in the catalog yet. I am at least a month behind on my Global Tea Hut samples. This one was from March. It was quite good. I would definitely buy more of this if it were available. It was slightly malty in the start. It was somewhat chocolaty. It just had a nice flavor to it, not too strong, not too weak. Global tea hut tends to send good stuff. I have been considering discontinuing my subscription because they send so little tea for a comparatively high price. Although the magazine is very nice. Once and a while they send a worthwhile gift but most of the time the gift is cheesy to say the least, usually some kind of postcard or photo. This tea was really good though. If you count the magazine as half the subscription price, then you are paying about 60 to 70 cents a gram for the tea as they send between 12g and maybe 15g if your lucky. Generally about two tea sessions worth is what you get.

I brewed this twelve times in a 120ml gaiwan with 7.1g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 5 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 min.

This is as close to perfection in a ripe puerh that I have ever tasted. This is another one from Global Tea Hut that I wish it were possible to get more of. It is a blend of five different puerhs, all I think ripe or at least partially fermented. Some younger, some older. The first thing I tasted was bittersweet dark chocolate. This taste was notable along with a certain amount of fermentation taste for the first four or five steeps. Around steep six I began to taste an older tea that definitely seemed to have been wet stored. I got a distinct note of wet wood for another four steeps. After that it just got sweeter. In the end I gave this more than my usual. I steeped it fifteen times and it was not quite played out. If I could allow myself any more caffeine I would go back for more. I may choose to save the leaves I have not yet decided. I got my moneys worth out of this tea anyway. In the last couple of steeps it developed a fruity note as well. This is quite possibly the best ripe I have ever had.

I steeped this tea 15 times in a 100ml gaiwan with 8g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min. 1.5 min, 2 min, 2.5 min, 3 min and 3.5 min. There was still some color in the brew at fifteen steeps. I think I could get another two or three steeps out of it. I am getting some cha qi off this tea, not tea drunk but quite relaxing. More cha qi than I usually get off of ripe.

This is another tea from Global Tea Hut. I think it is good quality. I picked up a roasted note only in the first infusion. This is interesting as I don’t think it was roasted. There was a bit of a mediciny note too. For several of the steeps I added fresh raspberries. The raspberries infused with tea, not so much the other way around. I of course ate the tea raspberries. For most of the ten steeps I drank it straight. It was smooth with little bitterness and an aftertaste I just don’t know how to describe. There is no point to recommending this tea. You simply can’t get it. This is in my opinion not the best Global Tea Hut has sent. It is good though.

I steeped this tea ten times in a 120ml gaiwan with 6g leaf and 190 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min.

This tea came in October’s Global Tea Hut package and I’m just getting around to trying it now. It’s quite good. The teas from Global Tea Hut are usually very high quality. This one is border tea, shou puerh from Ban Payase, Phongsali, Laos. This tea has a lot of fermentation flavor but it is clean with no fishy taste. It was sweet with little bitterness. There were some notes of chocolate it there. I did develop that fruity taste that shou puerh often develops in later steeps. I gave this one twelve steeps and it’s still quite dark in color. This one will go some more and I may go back for a couple of more steeps. I think it’s not out of bounds to even say it has the flavor of dates, a flavor I think only the best shou puerh develops. I really enjoyed this tea. The only thing I dislike about it is the fact that I cannot get more. I have a few grams left but not much. Global tea hut only sends about ten to twelve grams of tea. I used just over seven grams for this tea session. That should leave enough for another session with my 60ml gaiwan. But that is it. This was among the best shou puerhs I have drank, without a doubt. Better than anything I have had even from Mandala, and I think their loose puerh is generally the best. It is even in my opinion better than puerh by Whispering Pines. It is that sweet and tasty.

I steeped this tea twelve times in a 85ml Yixing teapot with 7.3g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min and 2 min. Judging by the color of the brew in the twelfth steep I think this one might go twenty steeps, but certainly fifteen. I am almost certainly going back for a couple more steeps.

Global Tea Hut’s August tea arrived in July which was interesting, but it wasn’t until tonight that I drank it.

I drank 4 steepings of this tea because the first one was not very appealing as it was my first time drinking it. The second steep became a little more familiar to me and I was able to enjoy it’s brisk flavor that is similar to many black teas, yet there is something quite fresh and new about this tea that I find to be a complex flavor that one just has to experience. There is a malty taste that is somewhat like that of Yunnan teas. This is either a very unique tea or something I haven’t tried other variants of. While the leaf is beautiful and I can see and taste the quality, I’m not sure if this is a tea for me. Out of all the teas I have gotten from Global Tea Hut this year, this is probably my least favorite which is interesting because this is also the one tea they repeat each year and give out for free because of the different process they have the farmer go through. Maybe I’m not accustom to its liquor…

https://instagram.com/p/40IY5eRYMC/
This tea takes me places.
There is no bitterness in this sheng at all which is amazing for something so new. The wild taste is in there too, just tasting it feels like I am near where it was picked out in the middle of nowhere. Very inviting taste as it seems to speak to the drinker ; I will admit, I found it weird for the last few months reading Global Tea Hut talk about that connection with tea and the drinker, but I finally get it with this tea. I just wish the others communicated like this one does.

https://instagram.com/p/5DzZqAxYAZ/

This tea is absolutely fabulous! Allan raved about it on Instagram, and it turned out I was planning to try it today also. I agree with him that I would buy more if I could. Too bad they don’t sell it!

I infused the crap out of the leaves. ;) They were beautiful, big leaves too! They just kept going and getting sweeter and sweeter, but the most dominant character of this tea is how crisp it is! I mean, CRISP! Like crisp lettuce in taste and mouthfeel. Crisp, and sweet, and slightly vegetal. No bitterness, just loveliness! The crisp vegetal note seemed more like spinach in the beginning and then moved more towards endive or fennel, I think, but very very slight. The crispness and sweetness were the dominant notes. So good! I’m really glad I have enough leaf for one more session.

This month’s offering from Global Tea Hut is a sheng puerh maocha. It is Spring 2015 leaves. It is incredible. There was basically a total lack of bitterness to this tea. Within twelve steeps I found the traditional notes of apricots and stonefruits. But it is even sweeter than this. I would venture to say there are notes of honey and nectarines. I only wish it was possible to buy a pound of this tea. They only send about 10 or 12g of this tea. I used 6.1g of tea for this session and am guessing I have enough left for another session. Why Global Tea Hut doesn’t sell more teas I don’t know. I would buy this in a heartbeat. This is perhaps the best young sheng I have ever had.

I steeped this 12 times in a 120ml gaiwan with 6.1g leaf and 200 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min and 2 min. The leaves are not finished at twelve steeps. I will probably save the leaves for tomorrow afternoon.

After the movies last night my friend and I steeped this six times as we talked. This is very smooth and thankfully there isn’t a bitterness so I now know of a sheng that I like! This tea looks as dark as a shou which is interesting, but this is not true once it’s brewed. Even if there was only enough for two sessions included for May’s Global Tea Hut, I do really enjoy this because it taste quite good. Good tea for getting tea drunk at night :)

Mellow, yet not mellow… this is an interesting green tea that I mistook for a Darjeeling because of how it looks. I brewed it at 180 which might have burnt it some, but it tasted quite nice. The leaf came to life when the water took its time and I was able to see that it was indeed a green tea. Over the next few sessions I will find out if it deserves a better scoring, but for what it is… just a nice clean green tea that looks unique.