Norbu Tea

Medium roasting – not too strong to overpower the flavor of the tea, but enough to get the added Wu Yi smokiness. Very strong smell of cinnamon =)

Very nice with a rich fruity taste =)

This was a really interesting experience. So, I already tried Norbu Tea’s Yamakai Sencha, and I’ve had Mellow Monk’s Top Leaf, but this was an entirely different experience than either of those.

I opened the bag for the first time, and was a bit surprised by how astringent the aroma was. It was also interesting that it wasn’t as grassy as my other senchas, which was rather unexpected. Then, I did my usual 2 minute steep, and was pleasantly surprised by the complex aroma, with only hints of grass. I had a really hard time figuring out what it smelled like, but it was rather pleasant on a chilly morning like today.

The first steeping tasted very unique in that it had a very complex flavor, but nothing really dominated the taste. There was definitely some grass flavors, but they was subtle and a bit mellower than I would have expected. Also, the tea was a bit sweet, especially the aftertaste.

The next two infusions were done as flash steepings, leaving the tea leaves in for only 30 seconds, and produced tea that was virtually identical to the first steeping, but a bit sweeter. Later steepings (2 minutes each) resulted in the flavors becoming more subdued, and a general increase in sweetness, leaving behind a subtle tea with subtle notes of grass and a pleasant sweet aftertaste.

When it was all said and done, I’m rather glad the guys at Norbu Tea included this with my order, and I actually look forward to purchasing more in the future.

I haven’t been able to reproduce the awesome-ness of the first time =( Or maybe I got used to it or something.

WTF HOW CAN A TEA BE THIS GOOD
I bought this because I wanted to taste what a “real” dragonwell was like – I feel like many generic tea companies sell low quality versions of this or ones from old seasons.. or maybe not even real dragonwell at all.
This was beyond what I expect from green tea – there was so much fruitiness.. I picked up most on apple!!
Very highly recommended

Once again, this was a rather pleasant tea. I accidentally over steeped the first infusion, which resulted in more bitterness than usual, and it was harder to taste the grassiness, which was kind of weird as the grassiness is usually the source of bitterness in green teas. I wonder if that was because of how careful I was with respect to water temperature, or because of the inconsistent water quality in my dorm (which, for the record, was exceptional today). Regardless, the only downside to this tea is that I only got 4 infusions out of it.

I actually drank this yesterday, but didn’t end up having time to do a review (CURSE YOU PHYSICS LAB REPORTS!!!!!!!), but I figured, better late than never.

As usual, this was a very pleasant tea, but I did accidentally over-steep the first infusion, and that was a little unpleasant. Other than that, it was pretty much the same as my previous experience with this tea.

This was actually my first time drinking Sencha, so I was actually rather excited going into this. After picking up the packaged that contained the tea this morning, I opened the resealable bag and was greeted by a wonderful fresh vegetable aroma, with a bit of grassiness mixed in. The first infusion was an wonderful balance of vegetative flavors with hints of grass and subtle hits of sweetness.

Unfortunately, this tea very quickly loses it’s flavor, and I only got four infusions before the taste became bland. On the bright side, it did not become bitter in later infusions, and it didn’t become overly grassy/vegetative like some green teas do. I’m really glad that I bought 100 grams, as this is a tea that I will definitely need to keep in stock.

Aged Fo Shou Oolong – 2001 Fujian Oolong Tea
3 grams of plummy, chocolate-scented dark twisted and compacted leaves in a small unglazed porcelain pot; flash rinse; about 120 mL water 205 degrees, first infusion 20 seconds
strongly earthy, but also fruity and tart—not in the sweet dark almost prune notes I usually think of as plummy, but more like a tart, barely ripe plum, yet very mellow—needed to steep longer, despite sitting a few minutes after the flash rinse—seems like it wasn’t yet releasing as much flavor as it was absorbing water for this infusion
(this tartness seems to distinguish it from an aged puerh)
But it might in part be extra bitterness from fresh roasting….so I’m putting it in one of the yixings to air out a bit.
[I suddenly have a reason to buy a couple of nice ceramic tea caddies, just for times like this, when I want the tea to air out just a bit.]

And a week or so later, I’m drinking it again, and less of the bitterness is there—it DID need to air out a bit, and Greg had told me the sample he sent had been just re-roasted the day before. It is still fruity and tart and dark but the bitter is muted, and I’m enjoying it more. This is not a mellow, sip-while-working-on-something-else tea: a little slip with the infusion time and I’m back to bitter char.
It’s very interesting stuff, and I’ll enjoy working with the rest of this sample, but it’s not going to make it into my regular rotation, because there are too many teas I like better, that are not so demanding. But given how dilute I’m preparing it, I anticipate many, many more infusions before I’m done.

Editing to add: still getting interesting liquid from this packed gaiwan after at least two dozen steeps. Impressive stamina, but I did overstuff it.