The Fragrant Leaf

Merry Snowmas! Picked this up from the Nob Hill local shop on Solstice. Turns out I already had some at home. Which is fine, since I like this as a Winter tea.

It smells a bit malty, with some notes of cocoa. Not really smoky once brewed. The flavour is really good dark chocolate, with mild fruit notes. Because I’m so festive, I’m having this while listening to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker and reading “Hogfather” by Terry Pratchett.

A quick morning cup before work. 80C, 2min. Light and sweet tasting, with notes of hay and honey.

The dry leaf is silvery green and very fuzzy. It smells faintly floral but there’s not much to it.

Steeped, it takes on a sweet, nutty fragrance with a hint of butter and hay. I sampled it at 3, 3.5 and 4 minutes and then ended up steeping it for 5 total.

The liquor is a medium yellow and very mild tasting. A bit sweet with hay and squash notes. Just a hint of vegetal tang on the finish.

I feel like this probably isn’t really anything special, but it’s so what I’m in the mood for right now and I’m enjoying it immensely.

PTS TTB

This tea is weird! First flavor I get is diluted dough! The more I sip, the more it fades. The tea is well balanced and nice with a little bit of grassy green in the aftertaste. It is nice, but isn’t grabbing me.

Pass the Stash TTB 2
I’m just not having luck with tea today. Maybe my taste buds are broken. I’ve been really enjoying white teas lately but this one was more vegetal than I expected. Reminded me more of a green tea than a white.

SSTTB #17.

Uhh, this tea smells kinda ammonia-like. You know. Cat pee and warm hay.

I don’t know if I can do this, tea friends.

…

…

Ok, I sipped. It tastes of warm hay and still smells like cat pee. Umm. I’m dumping this. Sorry the tea-appreciating part of me seems to be broken. :(

Pass the Stash TTB 2.0

I don’t have a lot of experience with white teas, so I figured I’d try the few that are in here! This one looks different than any other white tea I’ve seen – it’s a combination of fuzzy silver buds and small leaves of multiple shapes. Similar to bai mudan, but on a smaller scale. It smells of alfalfa and hay, mmm… For some reason I find that scent comforting.

Whoa, the brewed aroma surprised me. It smells very similar to sencha! Vegetal with squash and spinach, but there’s some hay in there as well. Interesting! The taste is quite similar to the smell. It’s like a combination of green and white teas! It’s vegetal but in a lighter way than sencha normally is. Then there’s also the white tea side of it – creamy, light, with hay and alfalfa notes, and maybe something a little bit floral. And even a little bit of sweetness! Overall, I like this a lot! :)

And of the 12th Day of Christmas Steepster gave to me Twelve Drummers Drumming…

Sipdown (154/159)!

First just let me say that I feel like a huge tool for not having logged this one sooner given that I got it all the way back in DECEMBER. I have had it a few times since then though, I guess I just haven’t taken the moment to write about it.

My bad.

Thank you KatieK for the very generous sample. Really I should say pouch though, because that’s what it was. At the time it was one of the first straight whites I’d had. And, I really like it actually! It’s very creamy and milky with sweet hay notes and maybe apricot or something else lightly fruity to it? It reminds me of Butiki’s Doke Silver Needle in a lot of ways, actually. Though I definitely prefer Doke Silver Needle, which is good because I just stocked up on that one.

The last little bit of this one will be going into the SSTTB to kinda try to offset all the black blends in it. Some variety is definitely needed! And, I just finished adding OMGsrsly’s requested teas so I think that officially marks the last of what I’m adding IN to the box – now to just finish up trying off the things I set aside to try and send it off! The goal is to get it out (as well as my stuff from VariaTEA) by the end of next week at the latest.

Wowzers, this tea IS fragrant. It’s very floral and I could be crazy but I also smelled hints of vanilla and cinnamon. As it cools, it takes on a more earthy smell but still tastes refreshing. Hubby took a sip while it was at room temp and said that it tastes like Nori. In all, it’s a very nice white tea, a different but pleasant break from the flavored teas that I’ve been drinking lately.

And finally to the last tea of Christmas (let me add I still have my Christmas tree up, oops.).

This was really good, it seemed a bit like bai mu dan and silver needle had a baby and it was this tea. Definitely had typical notes of hay witha bit of honey and some nuttiness. Since there’s so much in the bag I can’t wait to have it again.

This was the tea for the 12th day of Christmas! Thank you KatieK!

This is a very nice white tea. It was a nice sweet hay base. Sometimes with white tea I tend to want more flavor, and I get more of a water taste than I would like. This seemed to be the right amount of flavor. I had this before bed and it was a very nice calming tea.

Not overly coarse like some of its green leaf brothers at The Fragrant Leaf. No, this one is slightly sweeter, daintily fragrant, and quite subtle. I’d rate it higher, but that subtlety is indicative of a white tea, not a green tea.

I take this tea places. It has a silky texture and great depth of flavour: wild honey, dried roses, a hint of cedar, and a puehr-like moss and stone undertone. The aftertaste is mildly tannic, a welcome reminder that I’m drinking tea, not hot water! It is fantastic as a wake-me-up or bedtime cuppa, and right now it is accompanying a slice of not-too-sweet apple bread. Very flexible, this is my staple darjeeling.

Bi Luo Chun is definitely something every tealover should try out. The speciality about the tee is that a lot of fruit trees are growing in the same are as the tea is produced. The tea absorbs the fragrance from the trees during the growth and therefore has a great smell and special taste. The tea was once known under the name “astounishing fragrance” (or something like that), but later on it was renamed to a “more befitting” name by an emperor who loved the tea.
The tea leaves are small and curly with lot of white tips (depends on the grade). The frangrance is astounishing as the legend says – very powerfull and intensive. The taste is very deep with several layers. You can feel fruity tastes and the taste of a classic chinese pan fried tea. This is the one and only genuine fruitea!
The tea tastes better when brewed with not so hot water..about 70-75 degrees celsium. Steeping time should be about 50-60 seconds. Can be steeped many times 4-6 times.
I really advice to brew this tea using the gong fu cha method to bring out all the frangrances and tastes.
Highly recommended.