Silk Road Teas

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again I’m sure, but I am having a mango summer. I pulled this one out over the weekend and it was the perfect cuppa! Brisk black tea with a milder ripe mango note accented by hints of vanilla, honey, and apple. Not too sweet at all, but definitely the warm tropical feeling that contrasted against the subtley astringent base. Very good afternoon sipping.

Definitely still kind of tastes more peachy than mango to me, but this was a nice cuppa. Brisk black tea with a soft, floral undertone and the ripe fruit notes. It had a familiarity to me, but I couldn’t exactly place what from. I really liked that the black tea had such a clean finish but the soft fruit notes lingered ever so slightly. Kind of like biting into a perfectly ripe peach and having that initial taste of peach skins – that’s what the end of the sip tasted like. Peach skins.

One of the blends I picked up while in BC!!

In a lot of ways it’s very similar to the Almond Peach Galette from Dessert By Deb that I had earlier this week since both taste like “just peach black teas”. However, there’s much more body to the black tea in this blend and the peach is less bright/juicy and sweet. I think, maybe, it’s actually supposed to be mango but it definitely tastes more peachy to me. Still very pleasant and smooth, but just a little bit more “mature” tasting, if that makes any sense at all? I quite liked the briskness of the base, and the deeper stonefruit notes.

I brewed this up this morning for the monthly prompt “drink a pu’erh tea.” I bought these back in 2018 at a co-op Derk told me about located in San Francisco, on a trip to visit my friend Todd.

I’m just not hugely a fan of mini tuo shou… so far all that I’ve tried have pretty much tasted the same to me. It’s not bad, but not really my thing, either. I used a whole mini tuo in 12 oz. of 205F water and let it steep somewhere between 5-10 minutes. There is a bit of that “marsh water” flavor I’ve never been fond of, but it leans more mineral and smooths it out a bit into more of a petrichor note, which I find more appealing. The expected dank, wet earthiness is present, and just a hint of a peppery smoke.

I purchased this sample at a co-op in San Francisco that derk told me about, back in… 2018, I believe? (I don’t think I’ve even been able to get back out to California, where my best friend lives, since that time…) I drank a cuppa western yesterday morning, but decided to gong fu brew it this morning (What?! Two gong fu sessions this month?!) Just enough leaf left for one more western brew, as well.

Using as my (final!) March sipdown prompt, “a tea with spinach/artichoke notes.”

180ml (mini pot) | 10g | 205F | Rinse/25s/30s/35s/15s/15s/15s

The leaf after the rinse has a strong sour vegetal aroma (an amalgamation of kale, spinach, and basil), and the leaf has expanded so much it fills my tiny pumpkin teapot! The tea on the other hand smells sweet and floral… lilacs, honey, and cream. The flavor tastes a bit perfumy on the first infusion, with a strong sharpness at the end of the sip and a coating, somewhat oily floral left on the tongue. Second steep was the same, leaving me to question if I just haven’t figured out leaf ratios for gong fu correctly since my western cup was smooth smooth smoooooooooth without any sourness or overly-obnoxious floral. Third steep was a bit more mild, but still more astringent than I prefer… the floral, however, had subsided a bit and vegetal notes started to come out, a bit of a spinachy/garden peas note. On the fourth infusion I decided to cut back the infusion time rather than increase it, which helped some, but I still wasn’t a fan of the thickly floral aftertaste.

I finished out the water I’d boiled at six steeps. Perhaps I botched this gong fu session, but I preferred the western cup, which was a very smooth cup with that lovely lilac cream aroma, with a warm garden peas/spinach vegetal note followed by honeyed cream and soft lilacs, and absolutely no sour or astringent notes. Rating is based on the pleasant western brew rather than this lackluster gong fu session. I’m glad I still have enough leaf left to do another western brew cup!

Skysamurai’s TTB Thank you!
Pu-erh. It is always hit or miss. Especially when flavoured. And tuo chas? Some were better, some were awful. Well, well…
Tea #8
Decided to brew it grandpa in 300 ml cup. It is actually good! Very “dark” taste, but not fishy, stinky, whatever. It was clean shu aroma.

Taste was strong as well, but on the other hand it was mellowed with floral notes from chrysanthemum. It is earthy, but so good taste. Surprising. I had such a low expectations and it is over them so much.

I like to be surprised. This tea is one of those teas.

2021 Homemade Advent Calendar Swap – Day 2
From Skysamurai.

Starting late today. Having this highly caffeinated puerh at nearly 4pm probably isn’t my best idea, but here we are. After a quick rinse, this steeped up a lovely shade of red. As my husband said, it almost looked like hibiscus. Maybe not quite that red, but it definitely turned pink once I added my requisite cream (or in this case – half & half).

My first thought when opening this little nugget is that it smells just like chamomile. So interesting! It also has that earthy puerh aroma as expected, but it’s definitely not fishy like some I’ve had. The flavor is rich and also tastes a little like paper (?). But not in a bad way, if that makes any sense at all.

Overall, I really liked this one. Adding it now to my ever-growing wishlist which, much like my TBR, will likely never be completely whittled down.

My toes were cold so I made miso soup for lunch, which made my toes colder because I ran outside barefoot to pick greens and chives for the soup. With miso soup, I always try to have green tea, although if it is a red miso I will do oolong.

I was feeling ashamed of myself for opening so many new teas (and for buying new teas) so I decided to finish this sample of Pearls of Jade. It is a green tea but based on appearance I would thought it was an oolong.

Sometimes I fail pretty spectacularly at multi-tasking. I was trying to make the soup, make the tea, and prepare omelettes with turmeric and thyme for the dogs at the same time, and without thinking I dumped the remains of the sample into my Kamjove. (Sam is having allergy issues again. Thus the turmeric.)

Fortunately, I did steep for the right amount of time at the right temperature. I didn’t even think about how much leaf I used until after the meal.

During the meal, the first sip was KAPOW cinnamon. I wondered if I had made a Christmas tea in this basket but I could swear I haven’t. It was really good. It was after the soup was gone that I noticed the tea was super strong. And then I realized I had used almost enough for a whole pot in a little Kamjove. Good thing I had resteeped and combined or this could have been too much.

As it is, I have a nicely brisk green tea that is making me feel a little more energized. My tongue is tingly, there is a little sharpness to the last bit of tea, but nothing unpleasant. I think if I had leafed it correctly it would far less brisk. I am getting some lovely floral aromas from the cup.

This tea is at minimum three years old and probably older, so I would say it must have at quality to hold up so well. But I expect that from Silk Road.

Starting with a 5-second rinse and a 45-second steep. Slowly making my way through all of my open green teas. I don’t turn to green tea often, so they tend to accumulate while my favorite black teas get picked time and time again. Turning to Oh, How Civilized yet again for tips on making a good cup. I normally steep longer so maybe that’s why my green teas typically turn out bitter.

https://www.ohhowcivilized.com/green-tea/

2020 Lot, but drinking the last of it now January 2021. Back in 2020 Silk Road Teas did a tea Zoom in which they featured three different teas. Dragonwell, Silver Needle, and this one. The Black Fragrance I am currently drinking is not labeled, nor does it say kung fu on the page anywhere, so I’m assuming they changed the name. I was going to make a page set aside from this one and label it, Black Fragrance – Hei Xiang – Rare Lot, but because they are the same farm, same nameish, and same processing I figured it would be better to compare notes here. This is one of those teas that you could rate simply based on the price. Price-based ratings are, in my opinion, not the true opinion though because you could really not like it but force yourself to say you do because of how expensive it is. That being said even without knowing the true price still thought this one was stellar and I am grateful to be able to taste something that is not exported out of China, generally, (I guess though now we can say it is? Albeit in tiny, tiny batches.)

Because I bought this in a Zoom package I didn’t see the original price so my opinion wasn’t influenced by it. My initial reaction was it was good but had way to many hay notes. Fresh hay is fine but I’m not really a fan of those hay in stable notes, though I did have a silver needle from Ceylon the other day that was very good with those notes.

This time around I’m smelling clean earth. The flavor still has those farm hay notes but I realized after a few sessions that I liked this one best within a minute of steeping. It then revealed light molasses and sometimes brown sugar. The mouthfeel is very soft with no astringency.

Mastress Alita’s January sipdown challenge Tea #3: New tea

additional notes:  Since sipping down a NEW tea would be near impossible for me, I decided that “new” could mean a tea from the first three pages of my Steepster cupboard if ordered by ‘recent’, so here we go.  This one counts as “new” to me? Yes? Sure.  It was a lovely sendoff- somehow I was tasting mostly almond, actual almond.  I’m glad I could finish this great green before it was years old.
2022 sipdowns: 5

SkySamurai’s mystery advent tea #3 – backlog from 12/16
The leaves here look very much like Dragonwell to me – flat and wide!  The fragrance of the dry leaf at first was sweet then somehow became very vegetal, almost like sauerkraut which I don’t really like.  But this was an odd association with this tea.  The flavor is fantastic – a very high quality green – smooth, sweet, creamed corn, hints of veggies (but luckily no sauerkraut.) A great green.  The second steep is extremely sweet and creamed corn! My guess is still very much Dragonwell green.  Was I correct? Yes.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons // 45 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 35 minutes after boiling // 2 min

An Ode to Tea challenge – K Redux

Another letter revisited to get to a sipdown!  Only had a half teaspoon remaining of this, so I went with half mug steeps.  It’s fine, but too light for me to love it.
2021 sipdowns: 60

SkySamurai’s mystery advent tea #2  – backlog from 12/15
This is an interesting one – it almost looks like the lighter tea from yesterday, but with a darker leaf.  Like a black silver needle – big and fuzzy leaves with maybe a hint or two of gold.  The scent of the dry leaf is like lychee but also with that aroma that keemun has that I can never describe.  I was debating on using two teaspoons, but went with one.  However the flavor is very light and the brew looks light as well.  But the flavor definitely seems like keemun and definitely not lychee.   My guess is that it’s a very fancy big leaf keemun!   Sadly I prefer the less fancy (cheapy!), very dark and strong keemun. Was I correct? NO.  I have never heard of “Black Fragrance” so there was no way I would guess this one. :D I wish I had liked this better. Maybe it needed more leaf.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 min

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – December Tea #5-A white tea

I was reluctant to finish this one, but I will for this sipdown challenge.  I guess I’m still a bit of a Last Steep Session Hoarder. (I’m trying not to.)   This is just a fantastic white tea.  A solid representation of a very lovely white tea full of flavorful trichomes.  I don’t think I have enough white teas in the cupboard, which is another reason I didn’t want to finish this…
2022 sipdowns:  126

Holiday Tea 2022 #19: Bird & Blend – Salted Caramel Lebkuchen
Holiday Tea 2022 #20: Bird & Blend – Irish Cream (Fairytale in NY)

An Ode to Tea challenge – S

Another I assumed would be a sipdown, but next time.  Since this is cheating (for my personal sipdown challenge), I should really be finding another appropriate lettered tea that IS a sipdown for each letter.   I wanted to drink this lovely tea while fresher anyway.  It’s so delicate and fluffy!  Like a healthy cotton candy, maybe lemon flavored.   A very unique white I wouldn’t mind stocking up on.  Uping the rating from 84. Thanks again for introducing me to it, SkySamurai!

SkySamurai’s mystery advent tea #1 – backlog from 12/14
These mystery teas will be a treat.  I’m actually writing this on 12/14 but can’t post until I look at the paper and know what the tea is.  Thanks very much SkySamurai!!   This looks to be a very fuzzy leafed green or white tea.  The aroma of the leaf is sweetly vegetal.  I probably should have done a rinse with such a fuzzy leaf.  I haven’t had one of these types in a while!  The flavor is like cucumber tea sandwiches.  Cooling to taste like clear minerals, a field of hay.  The second steep is more minerals and a hint of creamy lemon.  The brew color of the tea could almost be a normal mug of water.  It’s very good today and I’m happy to have steeped this today. I remember mostly having this type of tea from Teavivre. My guess: a silver needle white.  Was I correct? Yes.
Steep #1 // 2 loose teaspoons // 40 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 35 minutes after boiling // 2 min

Wonderful oolong, floral and honeyed. Drink it in the garden

Very nice puerh, I’ve been drinking this almost daily. Great in a teapot and delicious in the gaiwan with a 20 second steep for 2 or 3 times. Brewed stronger and/or in the first steep: rich red hue and cocoa nib like flavor. Candy cap mushroom and slight earthiness while still being very clean.

Brewed my last mini tuo of this grandpa style in a 16oz mug. I think I got 3 refills on top of the original pour. Good strength for 4.5g of shou.

This reminded me a lot of a freebie no-name mini tuo I picked up from the SF Tea Fest, offered by Imperial Tea Court. This one, though, was a different shape: classic birds nest vs the flat puck from ITC. I bought a small handful of these Camel’s Breath from bulk tea section at the co-op.

Dark, smooth, oily and briny, lots of leather and barnyard. There was a distinct finish to this tea, something almost gamey-musky or cheese-like in taste. Sounds gross but it complemented the brininess very well. I feel like I should be working in a horse barn at the edge of coastal cliffs when I drink this. Spent material reveals no fannings only finely chopped leaf. Daily drinker type of tea.

It’s done, it’s done! I have tasted and written a note about all of the teas in my Steepster cupboard! Huzzah!

And I’m still on track to make my sipdown stretch goal for February. Now, of course, I do have about 16 pu erh samples left to taste and maybe one or two random others. But when I started this taste-everything-in-the-cupboard adventure, it seemed incredibly daunting. And now it’s done.

And this tea is an interesting note to end on. I didn’t have it listed in the cupboard until last weekend when I discovered I hadn’t put it in there. And there is precious little information available about it online.

I had thought it was a sheng because of the “greencake” reference, but then when I opened up the cake, I found a Menghai Tea Factory description of Yunnan Chitsu Pingcha inside. When I Googled that, I was pretty sure it was a shu.

The cake itself didn’t give away much when I sniffed it. It was sort of that chocolate tree thing, but not clearly so — and it could have been earthy mushroom just as easily. If I was more of a sophisticate with pu ehr, I probably would have gotten clued in through the leaves, which were big and broad and flaked off the cake easily.

But after rinsing at boiling and letting the leaves rest 15 minutes, I went ahead and did the first steep as a shu, at 10 seconds.

It was then pretty easy to figure out this was a sheng. Lighter colored liquor than the espresso color of shu, rather an orange-gold (apricot? amber?) color, and a definite rich, buttery, caramel-espresso note in the aroma.

The first steep was pretty intense because it was 10 seconds rather than 5. Thereafter, I backtracked, and did 5/5/7/7/10/20/30/40/60 in the gaiwan.

And now I believe I am experiencing what it is like to be a little tea-drunk. Tipsy, really. I’m a little light headed after 20 steeps of sheng between this and the last. A weird, but pleasant feeling.

This is a tasty tea — actually I find it very similar to the last one I had today in terms of flavor, but without the fruity note. It is also less astringent, and has a really nice sweet aftertaste, which is what the note inside the wrapping said it would have.

I think I’ve become a pu erh convert, though honestly, I think I am far less likely to be forgiving of a pu erh I don’t like than any other sort of tea. The ones I’ve enjoyed are really enjoyable. The ones I haven’t are…. well, among the worst tea experiences I have had.