Tribute Tea Company

Brewed this at work today and was kind of unsure what to do with it as I brewed… pretty sure it tasted like wet wood clippings that the sun was trying to communicate with.

I ended up saying to myself, ‘just brew the crap out of this’ and then i realized it was dark brown so that phrase was 100% appropriate.

I can’t really say it was camphor at all because it had no spice to the wood, just a dryness. It’s got a good age to it, but it’s not for me as dry teas are bleh

I got this out to actually review last night and kind of forgot about it.
I got about 11 grams in the easy steeper to start with. This is a loose maocha and the aroma is of a sweet hayfield.
I dropped this in and gave rinse to start with. The tea-pet enjoyed it,
The aroma on the first steep, a bit tannic.
This one is a Jingmai so the citrus is expected. It is there but this has a good bitterness on the edge as well. It really compliments the cup. The color is darker than most teas from this age. I would say due to the storage being loose maocha.
It is a nice complex brew that give the body a good feeling on a cool Summer night.

Grabbing this one to wind down with. I grabbed 10 grams of this for the yixing gave it a rinse and let it sit a bit before brewing.
This one has a deep dark color to it, The aroma I get is peat moss or earth. I gave about a 10 second brew when I started. It has settled nicely. Wood, peat moss, camphor and earth are the notes I get. It is very similar to some older humidly stored shengs I have had.
It’s an earthy and full bodied on to drink. Very rich mouthfeel.

Sipdown #27- Still loving this one. Sweet floral almost peach candy like flavor. One I’d like to have more of one day.

This tea was part of a monthly service from ChaHoney. ChaHoney is a monthly subscription plan that sends you 4 teas from a company so you get to sample them before you decided to place a full fledged order. They don’t create the teas but more or less provide samples from tea companies that maybe you wouldn’t think about ordering from. I kind of like this idea.

This particular box from ChaHoney featured Tribute Teas. A company I had never had any teas from before. First one I tried was this one, 2014 Yunnan Moonlight Buds-White Tea. I am impressed. Sweet, stone fruit like, delicate white tea love hit me all at one from the first sip. I’m now on the 5th infusion and the tea is starting to turn more sour and I’m liking the contrast. Not sure how much more this tea will give, but I’m thinking I’m about at that point.

For more of my ramblings. . . http://www.cuppageek.com/index.php/2015/07/17/chahoneys-monthly-box-review-tribute-teas-2014-moonlight-buds/

Been drinking a few times on this lately. Hard to find the words for it. I started with about 8 grams to brew in the Gaiwan. I gave a rinse and let it sit about thirty minutes before getting to it.
The brew is a light golden color. It has the warm grassy aroma to it. The drink itself is a bit pungent , viscous with notes of grass, bitter and sweetness with some nuttiness in there as well .
The thing I like is this one seems to really make me relax a bit. I feel nice and calm after having a cup of this. It seems to linger a while in the mouth and the state of relaxation. The leaf quality is really nice as I think this is a loose stored maocha. I guess the Bulang stuff has fascinated me for a while and this is another in that category.

Tribute Tea sources many things from Jeff Fuchs, the same man whose 100g tea cakes form the basis for the Jalam Tea Club selections. This aged Yiwu arrived as maocha rather than a pressed cake. Perhaps this explains why I was a bit disappointed by the tea during my first session –loose tea does not seem to age nearly as well as pressed cakes. I am a fan of YiWu material and I have several aged YiWu cakes but this one does not compare to those teas. The leaves are quite attractive and appear to be whole. Not much scent from the dry leaves (a bit earthy) but that is not unusual with YiWu material. However, there is not too much flavor in the cup and I must say I expected more. A nice dark golden color is found in the tea soup which appears to be quite clear. Earth and leather flavors come through clearly in the early brews which is rather smooth. Eventually a little sweetness appears but this turns quickly to a woody tone. I do not doubt that this is authentic Yiwu leaf but, for my taste preferences, it has lost it lacks the oomph I find in most Yiwu Shan selections.

I got this out to brew tonight. Time to get after things again. It has been a hiatus but time to brew again. I got 10 grams of this out. The leaf is very full, not many broken pieces just good looking dry leaf. Dry leaf has a musky, and damp grass scent to it. I gave a quick rinse and let it sit a bit to open up. I brewed in the Gaiwan for this one short steeps to start. The brew is a light golden. Taste is much thicker than the brew. It seems to be an almost cross between Lao Man ’e and Mang fei. It has a great punch to it. Some bitterness can be expected as it is still young. It takes a few sips to get the full effect. The bitter and bite seems to go and lingers with evergreen and wood notes in the background. Very clear brew on this and the strength of this makes me enjoy it much.

Breaking this one out to try tonight. I am very intrigued by this one as I like Bada’s a bit. This tea is packed cylinder style and I picked off 10 grams to try. The leaf is very nice on this one. It has a nice greenish hay aroma of the dry leaf.
I did a quick rinse in the easy gaiwan to brew this with. Very nice aroma, the green puerh aroma comes through and then an aroma that smells very sweet on this one.
The brew is a nice dark golden color in the cup. The aroma is very nice on this one, makes me want to dive in on it.
The brew is nice. It is very thick, almost syrupy thick. . The bitter is there but it goes sweet very quickly. It has just the slightest touch of the smokiness left , but just the slightest hint. The aroma on the brewed leaf is really fantastic. The aromatics of this one will hit you hard. Makes you want to toss back the whole cup at once. Really impressed by this one.
I have really enjoyed this and been glad got enough to have at a later date. Well done on the tea production and the one who found it.

Bought this a while back as my tastes are gravitating to the older stuff sometimes lately.
I opened the pack and got the aroma of soft hay like we used to stack in the barns in Summer.
The leaf was in good shape. Long twisty and wiry looking. i put it in the easy steeper to start out with. I gave a very quick rinse and the musty aroma of a tea of this age appeared.
I did two very quick steeps under 5 seconds each to start out. The brew gave a nice amber gold glow that spoke of it’s age. The sips gave a touch of mustiness of the old book many of these had that left quickly. The sweetness of this one came out very quick in the sips. The notes hinted at white peaches and stone fruits. I plan to steep this a while and sit back and relax a while with this one. No off notes of excess humidity or off storage. Just the hints at first that tell the story of this teas age. Nice, sweet with the fruit notes that make you keep sipping away. not an aggressive one but the nice subtle notes keep you going on this one.

Had this tea this morning. Saw that a lot of the notes mentioned chocolate being a main flavor. So I went in kinda expecting that, only to find I was totally off. xD
Definitely off in a good way though!
The steeping aroma smelled like sweet potatoes. And when I went to actually drink it, the taste itself was an amazing mix of sweet potatoes and malt. Think more malty than the other-but there was a good combo of both! Didn’t have the honey notes that a lot of teas have when they taste like sweet potatoes. But maybe that’s just because there was more maltiness and the malt might have made it less sweet…
But I dunno.
Either way this is a delicious tea! And in light of my last tasting note, it is another victory tea for my okay morning! XD
Thanks for the sample, Terri!!! So happy I got to try it! :D

I came home from work exhausted from dealing with asinine kids, & had about 30 minutes to recoup before my round of private students, who are much more well behaved & much more interested in learning. I knew I wanted a raw puerh long before I walked in my front door, & this one caught my eye.

Dry, there is a horsey aroma, but after a rinse that aroma was gone. The tea had an immediate dark amber color, even with a very short steeping, a pleasant light taste, & an instant huigan. I’ve been drinking from these leaves since 3:30, & have enjoyed every cup. The flavor built to leather, tobacco, caramelized brown sugar & vanilla. The sweetness is a stone fruit kind of taste, and the later steepings have a lemony edge.

I’ve reached the end of my sipping for today, but I feel like this will go on for many more cups. The color is still rich, the taste sweet, the energy rejuvenating…everything I needed today :)

It’s a very bold leaf with lots of stimulating effects if you drink it long enough… I’m able to get several infusions as the twisted leaves unravel, which is unusual of course for a green tea. I really think that this could replace coffee for caffeine addicts, as it’s boldness is no joke.

The appearance almost looks like a Guangdong oolong, albeit a bit on the greener side… It’s flavor definitely nods to some Chinese greens: roasted, buttery, corn notes… For people that think that India only produces good black teas, think again… This is a great and unexpectedly delicious green tea with medium-higher astringency and again, an unbelievable ability to provide several infusions.

I came at this with too much time in the pot the first time, and perhaps a higher temperature than is necessary, and since have dialed back to find my personal sweet spot at about 175F and no more than 20-30 seconds per infusion. This allowed me to prolong my sipping session, as well as gradually introduce the caffeine into my body, which is not a problem for most of us, but something to rightly consider….

All in all, I LOVE that Hari Muskan has more flavor than some of the finer, lighter Chinese greens, and I love that India is producing some real quality these days as a distinct alternative to Chinese and Japanese greenery (NOT that I don’t love them, but who doesn’t love some variety).

My girlfriend claims that this ices well in a cold-brew style of preparation, but I haven’t ventured there – especially now that it’s chilling out in Chicago!

thank you terri! for saving some of this for me. I am really enjoying this version of snaily tea. It’s sweet and malty and mostly just really great this morning. It’s got a pastry, honey sort of thing going on, that is just the thing to kick off my really long day. I’ve got an overnight tonight with work, and if things go the way they usually, do… i’ll have been up since 5:30 this morning and won’t be sleeping until 9am ish on saturday. I’ll try to nap but it never seems to work.

This is a sample provided by Brett, & although I don’t really have much to say for it right now, I don’t have anything to say against it. The truth is, I think I under leafed, so its just not all that exciting, however, its me, not the tea. I happen to enjoy this one, in part because it is probably the most beautiful presentation of all green teas, with its long flat buds. Absolutely beautiful, both dry & wet.

I went ahead & added the rest of the sample to my test tube steeper, & now its much better! Sweet & crisp, like a salad of greens & pear. I taste lightly roasted pepitas too.

no rating on this one – another from Terri. This type of oolong is not my favourite even though it’s a roasty oolong. There’s a taste to these that just never works for me, no matter how much i try. This is a smooth tea though, so i recommend giving it a try if rui gui oolongs are something you enjoy :)

In other news, my creamy basil tomato soup with tortellini is delicious! so happy :)

mmm another tea from terri. As most of you know, oolongs and i don’t really get along, though the roasty variety does better by me. I’ve found a few that i’ve really loved, but on the whole if i had to eliminate them from my tea cupboard, it wouldn’t kill me :)

This is a roasty oolong, but there is a really sweet note in this brew that i quite like. I had a few infusions of this and rather enjoyed them. I would recommend this to anyone who really likes roasty oolongs with a little sweetness :) (f oolongs were my thing this would likely be closer to an 85, but i can still taste OOLONG…which i’m not a fan of)

another from terri! I’m attempting to get to 115 teas today while i work on making soup; cleaning the house; seasoning my first teapot and possibly baking something delicious to go with our homemade mac and cheese tonight. All our friends are off visiting family for the holiday so we have a grand ol’ day of doing nothing at the house…no commitments,just relaxing and enjoying things. Sadly this tea is not my favorite. there’s a note i’m getting here that is just meh… boring and meh. I’ll pass the rest of this off to cavo and see if it works for her heh

I’ve been sipping this one over the late afternoon. I got a sample with my Tribute Tea order. Looking in the envelope, I found 2 dense chunks, each about 7.5 grams, looking like chunks of dark chocolate. I used one of them.
It’s one of those woodsy, aged forest floor kind of teas, kind of musty, with a taste of cedar, tobacco, peat, & leather, and a little smoke. It has a strong kind of savory & peppery quality, with a sweet after-taste, & it tickles my sinuses! I’m not sure how many steeps I’ve had, but I suspect I can have quite a few more.
I’ll have to drink them later, it’s time to go to Taichi class.

oooh, so sweet!
This is a beautiful fresh looking green tea. The thin grassy looking leaves have a savory edamame like aroma, with a hint of spice.
They open to become lovely spring green leaves, and the tea tastes of sweet chestnuts & freshly picked white corn. Did I mention that this tea is gentle & sweet? There’s also a light floral quality, & it’s a very refreshing cup.
Thank you to Brett for sharing a sample of this one with me. It’s not currently listed on the site, but here’s the link for his other teas, which have all been of high quality!
http://tributeteacompany.com

Delicious! This is reminding me of an earthy oval tine on the 3rd steep! Peat, milk, light chocolate. An aromatic wood, maybe cedar, joins the ensemble after a few steeps, gradually building, with a lingering sensation in the front sinuses, & a building third eye energy. My mouth & throat are all a tingle, with a vics vaporub camphor/eucalyptus sensation too.
It’s a very potent 5th, 6th, & 7th chakra opening mind blower.
And now I think I’ll go play my Harp for awhile.

I got a sample of this with my last order from Tribute Tea, and although I enjoyed it, I can’t really say much about it, because I was teaching & perhaps not as attentive as I could be.
I can say that it was good! I can say that it was a little tangy, a little on the savory end of things, with a slight bitter edge, kind of like citrus peel.
This is a lame review, I know, but thus is life!