Norbu Tea

I received a generous (10 gram) sample of Hong Yu Taiwan Ruby Black from Norbu and have been looking forward to trying it.

The very dark dried leaves are beautifully twisted and elongated, and they unfurl upon infusion into fairly large leaves. The liquor is orange amber, and the flavor is nice. I would describe it as somewhere between a Ceylon and an Assam. I drank my glass au naturel, but next time I may try it with cream.

second infusion: this was so tasty and much better than the first! Perhaps I should start heeding the advice of those who advocate tossing the initial infusion. The real question is: could I knowingly dispense with all of that caffeine????

third infusion: it is virtually unheard of chez sherapop to do a third infusion of a black tea, but tonight’s Taiwan Ruby Black Tea proved to improve with each successive steep! I really loved the third infusion and was tempted to do a fourth, but the evening slipped away from me. It was only after three steeps that the leaves had expanded to their full size—wow, they are really huge!

I’m probably going to buy a supply of this excellent black tea before it disappears, now that I have discovered how excellent the later infusions are. Who would have guessed? Well, perhaps a true black tea connoisseur, but I for one had no idea!

I have increased my rating of this tea and suggest that those who are unhappy with the first infusion, simply move on to the second!

(Blazing New Rating #32)

This tea seals the deal for me. Thanks to the lovely Dexter3657, I think I will now place my first Norbu order.

It’s a beautiful one, but very hard to describe. I think I’d have to borrow yyz superhuman taste buds to give it a proper review!!

It’s malty, woody and chocolaty. What makes this tea very distinctive IMHO, is a mineral saltiness that coats the mouth, it creates such an unusual mouthfeel.

I’m tempted to say there’s notes of hay but it’s a bit more fragrant than that, reminds of dried flowers, straw and light perfume. Nothing offensive, it just adds another layer of complexity.

I’m at steep #5 gungfu style and it keeps on giving, very potent.

Thank you so much Dexter3657 for allowing me to try such a high quality tea. (Now I highly recommend you start drinking it for yourself, lol!!)

The last sipdown until later this evening, as I’m gonna be leaving to play at a wedding in a little while, & I need time to dry out a little, if you know what I mean!
The wedding is at this neat old lodge in Grafton, Ill, & I was thinking it was about an hour away, but I just realized it’s actually more like an hour & a half, so time to get moving! Here’s the website of the place, located north of Alton, IL, & also north of Elsa, IL (big attraction for Christian Scientists, they have a college there), along the Great River Road (big tourist attraction, especially for Bikers). It’s a gorgeous day, so there will be hundreds of motorcycles along the way. By the way, anybody wanna buy my Harley? 1200 Sportster, 05. Her name is Ruby, kind of like this tea, & she is lava sunglow red. I never have time to ride anymore…
http://www.pmlodge.net/

The tea: Another one from Sil. It’s tart, rich, & spicy, but again confirms that although I enjoy some teas from Taiwan, I much prefer teas from Yunnan & Fujian more. There is this underlying taste to some Taiwanese teas that doesn’t always sit well with me. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t drink a cup of this, if offered, however.
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This is a sample from the wonderful Dexter3657.

Oh, this is a good one.

I keep Bailin Gungfu from Teavivre in stock at all time, I drink it often and it’s easy to compare the two for me without having to do a side by side. Teavivre is more chocolaty and this one more caramely.

It’s grainy and bready with very sweet notes. It’s almost a dulce leche kind of caramel, it lingers in the mouth. I made a strong infusion and there’s no astringency whatsoever, very smooth.

How do I know I really, really enjoyed a cup? In no time, it’s empty, so I run out of words for a proper description cause it’s all gone.

Thank you Dexter3657 for allowing me taste such a wonderful tea :-)

Ah, Ya Bao, a tea so unique that it’s on the “must have” list of teas that I must keep at all times.

I came cross this particular Ya Bao because the one I have tried before and hoped to purchase (from Verdant) was out of stock, as well as the other one I have tried and really enjoyed (from Teasource). I could only find Norbu and Adagio selling Ya Bao at the moment, aside from some obscure looking websites that were overpriced. Norbu Tea has this tea on sale for a really fair price for 100g of it right now, so I figured I’d give it a shot.

This tea brews clear! Most Ya Bao do that, though some have a slightly gold tinge. I’ve always loved that about this tea and it is one of the traits that immediately draws me to it. This Ya Bao from Norbu Tea tastes different than the other two I’ve had. It is noticeably less fruity and where the others had hints of pine this one seems to have notes of cedar. The taste is woody with a very subtle sweetness and subtle notes of apricot. I imagine the reason the others I’ve had were more fruity is that they were aged at least 5 years or more, while this one is only a year old. The peach and apricot notes I am used to in Ya Bao are very dominant in the aroma of the dry buds, so I think with some years of aging those qualities would probably emerge in the flavor of this tea as well.

Overall it still screams Ya Bao any way you look at it, and those who enjoy less sweet and more savory brews will really enjoy this tea!

1.5 tbsp

Very robust white tea flavour. Celery note. Strong floral note in scent of dry leaf does not seem to have been translated in the flavour

I drank the first half of this sample quite a while ago but was distracted while doing it so I didn’t write a tasting note, vowing that I would do better with the second half of my sample from Sil. Then yesterday it came up in my chronology so I drank it, but was again distracted. Augh!

See, it’s quite a tasty tea so I wanted to do it justice. But I was distracted so I can pretty much just tell you that it was tasty. It hit the notes that I look for in a Bailin Gongfu tea. Honey, grains, molasses, check. I would very happily drink this one again. I also happen to have 100g of Teavivre’s Bailin Gongfu so I’m pretty much set on it for now, but this is also quite good. Thanks for the sample, Sil!

The amazing Dexter3657 sent me a large sample of this. Thank you! I was such in the mood for a good Darjeeling!

This one was not in the data base, so I’m the first to review here.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a hand rolled Darjeeling before. It is so well crafted, a beautiful tea.

As a blind taste, I would not have guessed it was a second flush, it’s missing some boldness. I think this is the Darjeeling that could convert the non Darjeeling lovers. (Dexter, you should have given it a shot before sending me so generously the full sample!)

It’s very close to a white tea, so delicate and it’s got that juicy feel quality to it. It’s very sweet and gently floral. It’s fruity but without the heavier muscatel normally found in SF. I don’t even find any of the usual brisk astringency, no bitterness factor whatsoever.

An unusual Darjeeling, but so spring like, refreshing and refined, like any good Darjeeling should be.

No wonder Darjeeling is referred to as “le Champagne des thés!”

I could totally have a cocktail of this mixed with champaign. I think I would call it a Champeling!

Thanks again Dexter3657!

sipdown! this one is from this morning and the rest of this is going to live in boychik’s box until it ships out :) This was a pretty great end to the week in a VERY non productive work day…

also…SOUP DUMPLINGS! ahem..that is all.

Soooo steepster is for sure eating reviews. I’ve had this many more times than 3 including today and this is only showing 3 entries for it. grrrrrrrrrrr Love this tea and love Norbu as a company for interesting teas! Just need to drink some more so i can get around to trying more of their teas!

mmm i need to get on top of trying and drinking through my Norbu teas. They were a guilty pleasure when i ordered them so i’ve been hoarding them for too long. this was the last of the 3 teas i took with me while travelling today and it too was a great choice. bready, cocoa-y delicious strong tea. yum yum yum

this tea needs another review from me. This will not be a good one. Long story short? Norbu teas make me happy. Happy in the same vein as yezi teas and a few others. I love nofarS for introducing me to these teas via terri. now to go have ice cream for lunch and dinner.

I am really enjoying this wild black tea from Norbu – smooth, sweet and fruity. Deliciousness in a cup! Beautiful long twisted dry leaf; rich red-brown tea liquor; a very mellow sip. This one is a keeper for me.

I needed some caffeine as the sis, niece and I plopped down to watch American Hustle. No idea why I felt a white tea was necessary for this viewing, but I’m glad I went with it. First off, it’s a resilient white tea. There was even a steep that I forgot about for an hour, and the brew still turned out good.

Second, the taste: Holy whoah.

I’ve had wild and semi-wild white teas before, but this was the best of the lot. It was fruity, herbal, and just altogether robustly awesome. I can’t think of anything more fitting or flowery to say other than that. The perfect nightcap tea.

Now, if only I could find a way to go to sleep.

Pic: http://instagram.com/p/l8l-zoknSo/#

Okay, so I fell off the wagon on buying tea. But my Mom wanted some of their Pudina Darjeeling Chai and when I got there to check the prices, the Darjeelings were ON SALE! It was practically a moral imperative to order something.

And I’m very glad I did. This is a super good Autumnal Darj. Beautiful dry and steeped, delicious scent. Very, very low astringency, subtly sweet and musky. That said, I did err on the side of Darjeeling common sense and didn’t steep very long just in case. :)

I do however, have 250 grams of it since that was the smallest amount as this is on clearance. So… I can and will share. Or, until the supply is gone, it is 60% off at Norbu and you can get your own 250 grams. :)

After a fairly rough weekend at work, I collapsed on the bed at around 7:30PM last night. Which…unfortunately prompted my body to roust around 3AM, thinking it was well-rested. Instead of trying to force it back into submission, I chose instead to sip-speriment.

This is the first hand-rolled Darjeeling I’ve ever encountered. The leaves, frankly, resembled an oolong – only not as tightly ball-fisted. Because of this, I made the twilight decision to “gongfool” the sucker- gaiwan, three cups, and one-minute steeps each.

The results were subtle, sweet, floral- no over-arching spice flavor, to speak of. Very unlike any other Darjeeling first flush I’ve ever tried. At times, it was almost too subtle, but I blame that on the wacky approach I used. A three-minute steep later on turned up a bolder profile.

Instagram: http://instagram.com/p/l-6o3oknbq/

Sipdown.

I decided to try this one tonight since it’s been staring at me whenever I rummage through my sample bin.

After reading the few notes, I decided to do a super short rinse (maybe 5 seconds?) then a shorter steep. I’ll resteep this later.

After wetting them, I definitely get a cedar smell out of the buds. Not cedar chips, but crushed cedar green “leaf” part. It’s quite gentle. The steeped tea is barely greenish. But it tastes so nice.

It’s a little sweet, thick, a tiny bit green, with a hint of cedar. I like this one. Verdant’s is really piney, which is interesting, but I think I like this one better.

Thanks, Sil!

(1.5 tsp 12 oz)

Sipdown no. 103 of the year 2014.

After reading some of the notes, I’m going to try using less water this time for the same amount of tea and see what that does. I don’t want to go hotter with the water or longer with the steep, because teaddict warned against this as a way to encourage bitterness.

Less water most definitely makes a difference. The flavor is stronger, and I’m getting an almost Darjeeling-like note, a small amount of grapey sharpness to liven up the overall smoothness. It’s not at all like a silver needle as I’d said in my first tasting note. It has none of the dewy, nectary notes I associate with silver needle. Instead, I’m getting more buttery flavor that has a little of something almost like asparagus.

I wish I had more so I could keep fine tuning. I’m putting it on the shopping list for after I come out of lockdown, if ever.

A couple of weekends ago I waded through my tea and pulled out some samples to put into the “to be drunk soon” sample pile. This was one of them.

My first thought was that the leaves are just really, really gorgeous. They have a lot of color variation from medium-dark green to silvery white, and they are, as the description says, for the most part long and twisty.

The sample was in a sealed packet, but the plastic made it difficult for me to distinguish an aroma from the dry leaves. I find that to be the case with all plastic packets, not just the one this was in.

The liquor is a very pale greenish yellow, and the steeped tea’s aroma is faint and a little like sweet grass or maybe clover, slightly floral.

The taste is very light and mellow, not as vegetal as the only other mao feng I’ve had. I almost wonder whether the sample is suffering from age or whether my taste buds haven’t yet adjusted back from the lapsang souchong I had before this (I did attempt to clear my palate, but I might not have done a sufficient job of it). It’s tasting almost like a white tea to me, like a shade or two more intense than a silver needle. But with the same “fresh water” taste. The other notes on this found it to have a more robust flavor, so I suspect user error.

I am going to refrain from rating for now and try it again on a rested palate.