J Tea International

30s(rinse)/10s/8s/6s/8s/8s/8s/8s/10s/12s/10s/8s/8s/8s

Dry leaves look like silver needle (long and with occasional spots of fur), loosely packed into a cake just the way I like. There are still spots of green but its generally the color of shou with some lighter mink-colored furry threads. No smell when dry but rinsed leaves smell of wet wood and slightly of seaweed (not the curated kombu, but the long slightly dried ropey stuff you find on the beaches of the pacific). The first sip goes in another direction entirely— first impression was “cedar sawdust, but in a good way”. Mellow and warm with a citric undertone on the back end.

Broth is an agave-inspired red honey tone with some of that slightly thickened mouthfeel to match.

Brewed in an 80ml porcelain gaiwan.

30s(rinse)/8s/5s/10s/6s/7s/6s/5s/5s/8s/8s/7s/10s/10s/12s/15s

Dry tea is ragged when broken off the cake with lots of partial shredded whole leaves and twigs, appears to be machine processed. Rinsed leaves smells strongly of barnyard/wet wood with a strong vegetal bent. Broth is a strong glowing amber, no red or umber undertones but purely golden. I’m steeping quickly because of the assertive smell of the rinsed leaves and based on the J Tea description but the first sip is fuller and more mellow than anticipated— the first term that comes to mind is warm. The sip starts with the barnyard flavors around the tip of the tongue and then flows into something sweeter, maybe warm straw or even elements of honeysuckle on the sides of the mouth and back of the tongue. I recommend a swirl around the mouth. It hits differently everywhere it touches. There is definitely some hefty caffeine and a fair amount of astringency if this tea is allowed to brew for any period of time although that may be partially due to my high leaf:water ratio.

I don’t have much experience with Shengs, and even less with aging them but I suspect most sheng drinkers would be happy with this as a daily drinker and I imagine it might turn into something quite special if aged.

Brewed in 80ml porcelain gaiwan.

30s(rinse)/4s/4s/4s/4s/4s/5s/5s/6s/6s/6s/8s

Dry leaves are loose and delicately small. Dry nose is a little … acidic. It smells like its going to need to be brewed swiftly to avoid bitter notes. I feel like you all know what I mean but maybe its just me? Once rinsed, the aroma is a mix between wet old whiskey barrels and straw (but mostly in a good way haha). Once brewed, you can tell that the leaves include bits of twigs and the leaves were fairly broken up. Looks mechanically processed. Upon further steeping, flavor becomes spicy with hints of clove and leather and definitely can be over-brewed. I had a hard time brewing quickly enough and the flavor danced on the edge of bitter but it pairs with a really lovely smooth tea high. Broth is a deep amber with red undertones (syrupy). The acrid tones soften in later infusions and is replaced by a sweet finish that pairs with a lighter honey toned broth losing some of its red tones.

Steeped in 80ml porcelain gaiwan

30s(rinse)/10s/20s/30s/25s/20s/20s/15s/15s/15s/20s/20s/30s/40s

Cake is very compressed and inclined to dust rather than flake. Rinsed leaves smell woodsy—a very clean, spicy, earthy scent which is enthralling and fresh like a walk through fresh planed cedar boards after a rain. Flavor blooms in the front of the mouth against the lips and along the roof of the mouth and tingling along the sides of the tongue very much in-line with the scent. Flavor settles as a warm glow in the throat after the sip is completed. The Broth is a rich umber which settles into a red-amber with a deep glow. I never achieved the dark brew advertised by J Tea but Im pretty happy with the taste, and the tea seems pretty forgiving of over brewing. This would be incredible steeped cold overnight. It doesn’t seem to have the ability to sustain a huge number of infusions.

Brewed in 80 ml porcelain gaiwan

30s(rinse)/6s/8s/10s/8s/6s/6s/6s/8s/8s/8s

Rinsed leaves have a strong aroma of dried fruit, most prominently apricot. Sip starts off soft and non-definite but finishes with a faint impulse of roasted nuts married with some vegetal qualities. With middle infusions the vegetal flavor comes into greater prominence—straw with a hint of astringency but this tea is still soft. Broth remains honey toned throughout the session, but softens with later infusions. 10s steep was likely too long and allowed for some increased bitterness from the tea in the earlier infusions.

brewed in 80 ml porcelain gaiwan

30s(rinse)/8s/8s/4s/4s/5s/5s/3s/3s

Some twigs in the cake, and the cake is packed loosely enough to flake easily. Very little aroma from the dry leaves, but smelled pleasantly of wet rocks and a little of peat after rinsing. Broth starts as a rich honey amber that mellows into a softer warm gold (like apple cider vinegar). Flavor is pleasant but a little sharp, bitter with high minerality which sits on the tip of the tongue and roof of the mouth. This tea would benefit from higher leaf to water ratios and more concentrated steep times which might help it go for more steeps and allow for a subtler progression of flavor. I’m not sure the rinse was necessary. Leaves are mostly whole and of medium size.

Brewed in an 80 ml Porcelain Gaiwan

From the 2016 Sheng Olympiad.

I have a new year’s resolution that I’m trying to start early. In order to drink up all my samples, I’m going to sit down and have a formal session, with tasting notes and Steepster entry every single day. Lately I’ve been just grabbing something to drink while I work or watch TV so don’t really focus on the tea. Since I’m not paying enough attention to the tea, I tend to drink average-quality teas that I own a lot of, and leave the samples alone (all ~200!). So, let’s see how long it takes me to drink down all my samples – longer than I think: I have samples on the way from Farmer-Leaf teas, and intend to order the 2017 Sheng Olympiad (and probably everything else the Liquid Proust puts together).

So, after this long introduction, what about the tea? My first sip was very bitter. Usually I don’t like bitter tea, but this was also deep and rich with overtones of tar and fruit that I found enjoyable. The second steep lost some of the fruit, though it was still there.A short steep didn’t reduce the bitterness, so I decided to embrace it: think of this as the espresso of teas!.

Around the 5th steep, sweetness began to challenge the bitterness for dominance, but the finish stayed bitter. The interesting flavors faded along with the bitterness. An interesting tea, but not one I would purchase.

2016 Sheng Olympics

Are Dexter and I the only ones to try this tea yet? It looks like it.

I picked this tea yesterday because it was a silver needle puerh. I love the white tea pureh cakes. I didn’t see the age of the tea right away… Then I smelled the dry and it smelled faintly of that darned cow dung again. I figured “oh well, it’s pretty faint this time. Give it a chance.”

I gave it 3 rinses just to be sure and did a quick infusion after that. What a surprise! It was like floral fruit. I know that really doesn’t make sense but I kept thinking floral even though I wasn’t getting a floral aroma. We think of floral as a scent and fruit as a taste. At least I do but this was just like floral fruit to me. Next couple of infusions were the same. I took a break from the tea drinking and went back to it later. Somehow it wasn’t quite the same after sitting even though I did a quick rinse.

This was a pretty amazing tea and if I didn’t have too much tea already, I would buy a cake.

2016 Sheng Olympics

I took the little bit that I had left of this and just tossed it into an infuser/mug – did a quick rinse – and then did about a 15 second steep (80C)

I’m not sure what I did last time – but this is much better for my tastes with the less leaf – more water – lower temp and just a quick steep.
Last time I thought it tasted old and musty. This time it was pretty sweet, with a little hay, and a touch of fruity.
I wish I had done this the first time. Really prefer this tea today.

2016 Sheng Olympics

This tea read to me more as an aged white than a sheng. I’m generally a fan of aged whites to that’s ok by me. I have enjoyed Mandala’s Silver Bud Raw but it’s 2011 ? 2012 ? so not as aged as this one.

This tasted “old” it had a bit of a dusty – musty – something to it. Not in a bad sort of way – just it seemed old. Maybe I just prefer them not aged quite this much. There were some honey notes and some stone fruit – but it was also quite hay like.

I think this was a fun addition to the sheng olympics – especially if people haven’t tried this style of tea before. Happy to have tried it – but for my tastes – I have other aged whites that I like better.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BBvO8PAuE1a/?taken-by=dex3657