Various Artists

On the 7th day of Sara’s Old Tea, Sara gave to me…
Greek Mountain Tea! From an unknown maker.

This is a tasty herbal! As suggested, I left the tea bag in my cup. It tastes like walking around the rose garden in Portland and hearing birds singing. Seriously, where can I get this stuff? Would drink more.

Coal!

In day four of my advent calendar from Sara, I got mystery cheap pu-erh. Labeled “Coal!”

I found Sara’s review of this tea, and it came in a sampler from Liquid Proust. She said:

“This one was simply labeled as ‘Cheap.’ Yup. Just that. No year, no sheng/shou differentiation, but I guess whoever got this didn’t pay much for it! Fair enough. I never judge a tea by its price anyway. Taste is what’s important!”

I boiled water, rinsed it for about 10 seconds, and steeped for two.

The aroma is neutral, very slightly eartly. The taste is kind of smoky, earthy, roasted, and like black tea. Not very good black tea… I’m getting a bit of a “Lipton” note. The aftertaste has an artichoke note.

With all the hype about this tea, I am shocked at how inoffensive it is. It’s better than plain Lipton (I haven’t tried their discontinued berry tea), and I’ve certainly had worse bagged tea in restaurants which I’ve gotten down. I wouldn’t recommend it, but I don’t hate it either, hence the 51% rating.

The taste lingers somewhat pleasantly in a “please don’t hate me” kind of a way.

November 2023 Sipdown Challenge – an herbal tisane

Last of the teas my aunt brought back from Istanbul last year. This is Pomegranate Tea – granulated fruit and seed. I think I did 1 tablespoon to 8oz boiling.

Came out very sour with a rich, juicy pomegranate taste and strong florality that I don’t get in either the fresh fruit or the juice. It’s almost like roses crossed with plumeria – a dry but fleshy scent at the same time. I can breathe it out of my nose. Quite nice. We do have a pomegranate tree in our yard but I don’t recall ever sniffing the flowers. Tastes better luke warm than hot.

I was surprised to find a small box at my front door several months ago – a gorgeous Jin Hou (Golden Monkey) black tea with bergamot oil. Blended by AJ, this tea was thoughtfully sent in return for a sample of Whispering Pines’ Earl Gold Reserve that was originally from beerandbeancurd.

The bergamot oil is particularly fresh and penetrating in bag but it is smoothed in the cup by the small-leaf Jin Hou black tea with its natural notes of dried currants, sparkling honey, caramelized sugar and sweet chocolate that come on stronger as I sip down this cup. Medium-bodied, somewhat oily and soft with a welcome briskness on the back-end. A hint of buttery caramel is in the aftertaste while the zesty flavor of bergamot lingers on the tongue and tingles the salivary glands.

Second steep has more malt than dried fruit and brown sweetness but still has plenty of bergamot that now tastes more like Froot Loops. I forgot about this cup so it’s a bit astringent but also heartier. Perhaps long and strong steeps like this would pair well with a touch of milk.

A pleasure to sip on a cold October morning when my body is sore and slow to move.

Thanks AJ!

“Lu Ya” brand Hefeng tea
Hubei Hefeng Zhengyuan Tea Factory

Little 5g packet from a hotel in Rongmeizhen, the Hefeng county seat. Brought a packet home and had grandpa style which is customary there. It did have the flavor of the region’s green tea (chestnut and soybean) but was pretty unremarkable; probably old.

The hotel room was more provocative than the tea. A tryst room in a government hotel. How convenient that the large red lights atop the hospital across the street lit the room such a sensual shade. The sheer curtains softly filtered the color of passion onto a painting of a half-naked woman, and below it, the round bed low to the floor with a gold fabric padded headboard curved to fit. I had never slept on a round bed before that. While comfortable, it was difficult to keep the fitted sheet on even without salacious activities.

Mulberry Tea from Istanbul, 2022. I sent some of this to Cameron B. a while back. She had more to say than I do (not because I don’t like it but I’m simply short for words):
https://steepster.com/CameronB/posts/435683

Instant ‘tea’ powder dissolves easily in hot water, then I add a touch of cold to get it to chugging temperature. Sweet-tart and mulberry. Candy! Turkish Kool-Aid. I don’t think this is flavored but made with actual mulberry powder, citric acid and sugar.

Saffron Tea from Istanbul, 2022. Loose chopped black tea and fannings mixed with loads of saffron and a rose petal or three. Claim written on the vacuum-sealed clear plastic bag: “Cancer Alzheimer’s Dementia”.

It has a bright and almost citrusy, peppery but not pungent scent. The musk of sun-warmed skin, floral, supple leather, fields of hay. Reds and golds and earthen tones.

The black tea is rich, dark and smooth, a touch coppery. Is it Turkish? Dark wood, tobacco, hay, a hint of honey-raisin sweetness. All that gorgeous, leathery saffron. A friend of the forgetful mind and heavy hand. Not comforting but Invigorating. All of this makes for an excellent morning cup that’s not too high in caffeine. Can be brewed light for a refresher.

Feeling: majestic, revitalizing, invigorating, restorative, calming, grounding, connected to earth and sun

A 100 for me. I can’t be anything but happy when drinking this tea.

From my aunt’s trip to Istanbul in 2022.

Another herbal mélange with ambiguous script. Kinda looks like “WiYhtee”. I figure it’s a riff on this “Winter Tea” https://www.grandturkishbazaar.com/product/turkish-winter-tea-mix/

Contains 1 cinnamon stick, 1 long finger each of hard-as-a-rock ginger root and turmeric, a few hibiscus flowers, lots of rosehips and pink rosebuds, chamomile, sage and I think these other tiny buds are jasmine.

I don’t like it one bit. Sour, some earthiness, some cinnamon and buckets of soapy perfume. Ugh. Hibiscus and chamomile do not play well together in my mouth, and that rose is like an overbearing yet stiff-upper-lipped grandmother. I’m refrigerating the rest. Hopefully it proves a refreshing and sense-awakening brew in the morning.

Another tea from a bazaar in Istabul, this one clearly written in English as “Relax Tea.” Looks similar to this https://www.grandturkishbazaar.com/product/turkish-relax-tea-mix/ but a little different. Contains whole hibiscus flowers, red/pink/white rosebuds, lemon verbena, orange peel or lemon peel, chamomile and rosehips.

Anything with hibiscus for me is not relaxing because of the sour flavor, though I do enjoy it on hot afternoons. I suppose in that context it is relaxing, but before bedding down, notsomuch. I’m not too keen on the mix in general, aromawise. Rose can either be heavenly or irritating, and I think I finally figured out why: I like rose to be tempered by warm spices or mellowed by creaminess, for instance, being incorporated into milk oolong. This herbal tea is too high-note, too perfumey. The hibiscus amplifies the citrus peel and I simply don’t enjoy that whole combination with all the rosebuds.

Made a glass pot of this mystery herbal tea my aunt picked up from the bazaar in Istanbul last year. The handwritten label starts with English “anti” but then morphs into what looks like Arabic script, but it also kinda looks like “anxiety.”

It brews a rich shade of dark blue-green thanks to the butterfly pea flowers. The other components are pink and white rosebuds, jasmine buds, orange peel and clove. No ingredients out of the ordinary to me, but the combination wafts from the cup as something soothing and divine, exotic. Taste is vibrant and sour thanks to the orange peel and without the weird notes that butterfly pea flowers can impart. The perfume, especially the soft and sensual clove and rose notes, lingers in the mouth and gently intoxicates. Mmmmmm. Would this be equally as excellent as an iced tea?

Seeing eastkyteaguy’s notes posted today for Zhang Ping Shui Xian teas prompted me to dig this out from a past LP group buy.

Unwrapped from its many layers,

The little pillow of black tea smelled like something I should not be putting in my body.

Sometimes you can’t help but entertain the curiosity.

Aromas: Melting Plastic, Burning Rubber, Petrol, Whisky, Burnt Almond Pits, Roasted Almonds, Dark Chocolate, Brown Sugar, Spices, Leather, Osmanthus

Flavors: Latex, Spring Water

That shit just ain’t right.

Made a really good pot tonight.

2 tsp organic linden leaf/flower Rosemary’s Garden/Starwest Botanicals
2 tsp organic peppermint two leaves and a bud
1.5 tsp organic lemon balm Rosemary’s Garden/Starwest Botanicals
0.5 tsp osmanthus flowers SF Chinatown
1 organic hops cone Rosemary’s Garden/Starwest Botanicals

1L boiling water, steeped for 10 minutes

Very fragrant. Thick and syrupy body, plenty of sweet linden floral at the forefront with a mellow dose of savory-fruity osmanthus. It has just the right amount of pure, crisp peppermint to cleanse the palate of the linden and bring a sweetness out in the throat. Green and citrusy lemon balm finish. I added the hops not for flavor but for sedative effect.

It’s lovely <3

Huh. It’s a typical rainy winter day. Citizen protesters storming the Capitol. I think I’ll have a cup of tea, a smooth one for an unsettling day.

The leaf smells like it was fired with sugar – intense fruit aromas and deep sweetness.

Tastes of the smell of red grape juice concentrate – the stuff used to make wine – and that soft kind of malty-baked bread flavor… those loaves of soft honey wheat brown bread with scattered oats on the top. Very smooth, lightly sweet, easy-drinking mystery black tea with a mineral finish. Simple but sparkling.

Also reviewed by Martin: https://steepster.com/Martin-CZE/posts/412416
And possibly the same tea reviewed by Daylon: https://steepster.com/daylon-r-thomas/posts/410442

“Trip to Changtai, vol. 8”

This is the final tea in my Changtai journey. The label says ‘2005 Changtai Lao Ban Zhang’ so it’s not really a Random Steeping but I can’t find any information at all about this tea. I’ve never had a tea claimed to be made of Lao Ban Zhang material. (Does the 2006 Changtai Lao Chen De Cha Ban Zhang contain LBZ? It’s awfully cheap if so.)

With the rinse and a few minutes of steaming, the leaf quickly separates from the chunk and opens up. I can see it’s healthy and resilient when pulled upon. When the leaf does pull apart, it reveals strings of ‘sweet fibers.’ I remember seeing those in a dragon ball from Crimson Lotus before. This leaf has similar characteristics to the Lao Man E tea I’ve had — many very fuzzy, shimmering chopped and whole leaves and buds.

I don’t have a whole lot to say about the flavors of this tea. It’s rather robust, round, clean and engaging with wonderful bitterness and tingly mouthfeel. The sweetness is evident in the calm aroma such that I get some of the flowery caramel on the sip but not once the tea has moved around my mouth, which I love. In general it’s spicy and bitter-medicinal with an initial mellow viscosity and maybe a hint of citrus zest? While I don’t notice an aftertaste, I know something is there. When I breathe out, I can tell a delicate aroma is moving from my throat and passing beyond my lips. I want to drink cup after cup in quick succession. I guess that means it’s tasty and thirst-quenching :) This tea amplifies the sweetness of bites of sauteed scallops had in between steeps.

The qi is fantastic and adds to the desire to brew successive cups quickly but not in haste. With the first steep I can feel the tea flowing in waves through me, relaxing my arms and legs. I slow down, time dilates slightly and my visual acuity both softens and sharpens such that I get lost in the steam rising from the cup, like a 2-dimensional figure being plucked and stretched into 3-dimensional wafting strands of silk. The sound of pouring water on the leaves becomes very soft and textured. I become flushed with heat in the face, neck, shoulders and chest. So comfortable.

Around the 5th infusion, I begin to notice the returning sweetness, an amount that is proportional to the other qualities of the tea. This lasts throughout the remainder of session as the the liquor becomes softer and thicker, the next day still spicy but now mostly nuts and flower nectar with wet rock/wood, kind of forest floor tastes. I lose count of the infusions as I move into minutes-long steeping times. The normally slightly loose lid is sealing to the pot because of stickiness.

The scent of the dry leaf and liquor color make me think this was fairly dry stored. I actually don’t pick up any humid notes until the end of the session. Whatever this tea is, whether it’s real LBZ or at least partial, it’s a pleasure to drink and a hell of a tea to end the journey.

Wave of Regret?

Inspired by new Steepster member tea-and-music, I’ve been brewing bowl tea the past several days with my two larger bowl-shaped teacups. It’s a method I’ve played with intermittently over the past few years, though I never fully appreciated it and have never logged any tasting notes this way.

In a past life, I was a research scientist in a very small lab in which I had almost sole control and authority over my work. I had to do everything from the ground up, from the dirty work of set-up and breakdown and tending to creatures, to designing research methodologies, sourcing materials, designing and building prototypes, product formulation, data collection and analysis, writing, working with the big and scary multi-national partner companies to test iterations of their products. What I wrote sounds like a resumé (and maybe it is, maybe I’m pumping myself up to set foot in the tea business), but it’s really a reflection of how my education, training and one of my past lives have influenced my current approach to tea.

I left that line of work for two reasons: one was that I was naive (still am!) and moved to the city without a car, nor the money to buy one and pay for parking. I had to ride my bicycle to the lab via various modes of public transportation. What normally would have been an hour+ commute one way took 2.5 to 3 hours. I was miserable because I had no life and was broke because working for a small lab paid chicken scratch in the most expensive city on the west coast. The second reason I left the lab: science is tedious. I went back to school to pursue a degree in engineering because I realized I enjoyed the design process more than the necessary detailed work. I felt like the line of science I was in didn’t really allow for discovery so much as pumping out effective products and fighting a literal evolutionary arms race. Cue more life happenings, and I’ve ended up in retail (again)(at least I’ve managed to weasel my way into a set schedule)(and I may be without a livelihood soon if I don’t quell my inner uppity woman).

What this probably unnecessary glimpse into my life comes down to is how I’ve approached tea drinking since I’ve been on Steepster. If I weren’t so self-absorbed and verbose in writing, I’d probably just say… I wouldn’t say anything. No preamble to drinking this tea (this tasting note was originally meant for White2Tea’s 2013 Shoumei, but I realized by the end of my keyboard tippy-tapping that this note was a bit too long and mostly unrelated to deposit there). But here I am and here you are and if you haven’t given up by now (this site doesn’t really possess the architecture to be a blog nor does it attract people looking for such)(but like science, I find following multiple blogs scattered about the internet a tedious task, not to mention the accumulation of comments, meaningful or otherwise, is glacial), well I’m sorry because conclusions have never been a forte. So how do I get to the meat of this drivel?

….By breaking up my thoughts with a two-word statement and line spacing.

Bowl tea.

My approach to brewing and drinking tea is methodical and detailed, though it may not come across that way in my tasting notes. I like to impress the persona of subdued quirkiness to keep things interesting and light-hearted because I am waaay too serious in day-to-day function. Other sipping sessions and tasting notes are truly off-the-wall and posted at the behest of my hormone fluctuations. I know my controlling, detail-oriented self bleeds into the majority of my tasting notes and even into some of my sillier loggings. I can’t help but include the minutae of leaf amount and water temperature and vessel size and steeping time because well, I keep track of this stuff whether I want to or not. Reproducibility and manipulation of variables — it’s ingrained. Thank youuuu, science! And besides, the little sliders and toggle buttons offer a tiny bit of interface interaction when my easily sidetracked mind can’t figure out what to type.

So this recent foray into bowl tea finds me still weighing out the tea and logging the temperatures because variable temperature kettles are the perfectionist’s dream (use of calibrated thermometers are the control freak’s dream). Sometimes I wish I never knew the volume of my teapots and gaiwans and teacups, not to mention using Ball jars with volume delineations for much of my Western brewing, because constantly relying on such detailed knowledge takes away from the essence of tea.

Bowl tea.

I feel like tea-and-music stepping into our show is a catalyst for my own transformation. I don’t know if tea-and-music will stick around, like so very many others, but thanks for making an appearance regardless. I like what the past four sessions, spurred by their presence, have done for me in terms of mindfulness. May future sessions in this manner be weighed by the feel of the leaf in my hand and the water deemed hot enough by the rushing, metallic sounds produced by my long-forgotten shittily-gauged steel stovetop kettle (an “It’s about time you got your ass out to California” gift provided to me 10 years ago when I moved out here by the old woman I somehow, someway ended up living with. funny.) May future sessions in this manner help me absolve myself of the desire to control all the things, to once again find wonder and amazement in the discovery process, and right now to firm the integrity needed to, in the midst of a pandemic, continue confronting the decisions, or lack thereof, of the provider of my livelihood… and ultimately to live the notion of uncertainty. Did I mention I’m naive?

Bowl tea.

The times, they are a’changin’.

Used a tsp of this: https://steepster.com/teas/alvins-of-san-francisco/36266-persian-choice-royal-earl-grey

and a pinch of this: https://www.rosemarysgarden.com/collections/herbs/products/lavender-organic-1oz

steeped in a cup of hot whole milk for 10 minutes. It smelled like milky Froot Loops cereal and lavender. Awesome!

Then I added 6 Tbsp of this: https://www.coracaoconfections.com/products/cacoco_80-extra-dark-1-75-lb-790-g that I found in our baking chocolate drawer. It had a BB date from 2014. A few tsp of Costco OG shugga and stirred over medium heat until most of the cacao mix melted.

Decadent! but the cacao nearly overrode the Earl Grey and lavender.

I’m so pumped right now.

Via White Antlers, a 5g bag of “Wuyi Black Tea.” Perfect amount for a casual gongfu session.

The almost entirely intact leaf was very large and crispy dry but still had a good smell of brown sugar and baked stonefruits. Warming the leaf brought an addition of raisins. First steep was pure unsmoked lapsang souchong in character with raisins and straw soaked in apricot brandy and touches of sophisticated lady (floral perfume), soft cinnamon and minerals. The aftertaste was quick to arrive with cream-drizzled honey-baked stonefruits. The tea, perhaps due to age, was very drying and produced thick saliva. Combined with the aftertaste, I really had the impression that I had drank heavy cream. The tea was clearly old but still provided for a nice session. Dang, do I love Wuyi black teas!

Dittany tea from Crete, also known as dictamus or diktamo. Fresh and fuzzy whole leaf with random twigs and a chunk of dirt-encrusted wood. Used as a culinary herb, though I believe more often as a tea with medicinal benefits. Brought to our house this week from somebody who visited the motherland.

I’ve only ever had dittany in teabag form where the leaf was pulverized. This is so much more aromatic and flavorful. I brewed a pot for us, pretty strongly and it’s magnificent. Floated a dried lime slice in my own cup and it’s providing a hint of lime florality and tartness. Dittany is very soothing for me, with an aroma and taste much like Greek oregano: somewhat savory, mildly bitter and sweet, not as pungent or spicy… but also refreshing. It has that cooling feeling from thymol, which is a compound in other herbs like thyme, oregano and marjoram.

The small jar is going to go quickly. I wish we had enough for me to send out a few samples.

“Sencha Origin Unknown”

Today has been a day of data gathering.

Confusion abounds again. It certainly doesn’t look like a Japanese sencha. Maybe it’s Chinese or Taiwanese. It looks dead whatever its provenance. Mixed in are very thin stems all cut to the same length. Closer inspection reveals the stems to be small bunches of pine needles I guess, blanched in their age. The dry leaf smells like sweetgrass and perfume. The aroma once brewed contains the vestiges of fruity jasmine. There isn’t much taste — dry sweetgrass I guess and a whiff of perfume. Certainly no pine so I question the small tufts of needles — it’s some kind of shrub. Almost no bitterness and no astringency. Butter on swallow. Undefined lingering stonefruit aftertaste with a hint of butter.

The tea’s not entirely dead but it shall remain a mystery.

addendum: after sniffing the wet leaf, I’m pretty the tufts are pine.

An unmarked tea from White Antlers.

The leaf is flattened and brown. Is there such tea as black Dragon Well?
Dry, it smells like raspberry caramel chocolate. But the leaf shape and delicacy is not like a Da Hong Pao?
It tastes like Houjicha. Light bodied, roasty, caramel, hazelnut and rather mineral with a dry woody, lightly bitter caramel finish. But it just doesn’t look like any Houjicha I’ve had? No stems, all whole leaf.

Stumped but satisfied.

I’ve never been one to celebrate anniversaries, nor have I ever been a particularly sentimental person. Don’t get me wrong, I have great appreciation for all manner of folks and events that happen their ways into my path and mine into theirs. I do experience weighty nostalgia at times. Reflection has always been a pastime, though instead of it being a conscious choice to take some time for processing, it is usually spurred by the anxiety of an overwhelmed and subsequently depleted nervous system. That is where tea comes in. Conscious reflection and centeredness.

I’ve been spinning in place lately. Every input from the reality that whirls around me sets me a little off balance and into unexpected territory but I come right back to this every time. This neglected website. Both the members new and those seasoned, some of whom have put up with my life happenings and musings and contributed their own. You’re all so very excellent and I wish that sometimes I were in the mood to communicate with you more, but damn, am I tired. Twenty-twenty, I’m trying. I’m trying to break out of this dizzying spin.

Here’s to 2 years of Steepster. I’m in awe of all that has happened in this short amount of time. Come what may. Hopefully a brighter future for the site and for us all.

Song pairing: Stevie Wonder — As
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLbmdG8U60E

I had planted Thai basil maybe too early. Most of the plants were eaten by slugs so I bought a starter to supplement. Well, the few surviving basil in the greenhouse and the starter have grown like crazy in the past few weeks. I picked off all the flower buds, roughly a loose handful and made a liter of tea in the French press.

The liquid is this beautiful clear blue-green color that looks like copper sulfate. Pure licorice-basil flavor. Oh my, that’s relaxing. Well received by the 2 adventurous palates sitting with me.

Getting blasted on some shou from mrmopar. Labeled 2013 Hai Lang Hao Bulang Brick shou. Is it this: https://steepster.com/teas/hai-lang-hao-yunnan-sourcing/56059-2013-hai-lang-hao-bu-lang-old-tree-brick-ripe ? If so, I’ll transfer it over tomorrow and update after I brew this tea out.

It’s a brick, so the material is compact. I’m drinking alone with 10g in a 190mL teapot. Combine those two with this being a strong leaf — I can’t finish tonight but I do feel like making a note. I feel chest-forward. Lots of caffeine!

Dry leaf is sweet and earthy with vanilla, caramel, leather and a red berry undertone. Warmed is earth, leather, a bit of smoked meat and baked bread. A twenty second rinse brings out old books/paper again with earth and leather and the smell of baked bread in the distance. After the first steep, the steam coming from the pot has a very pungent quality almost like vinegar such that I instinctively twitch my nose and turn away. I feel silly and keep going back for more of that tangy twinge.

Smooth, mineral beginnings with the baked bread, leather and earth of the leaf and some cheesy nutritional yeast fermentation taste left behind from the rinse. Like I said, brick tea. Light clenching in the throat, warming and cooling, a bit oily. I wrote for a while after the first steep.

Second steep is clean, much darker since the material is finally opening up. I notice some wet basement, vanilla and caramel in the aroma. Same tastes but camphor dominates when the tea is still hot. It loses that quality as it cools. Tangy aftertaste with brown sugar-caramel returning sweetness. I moved from writing to getting lost in NPR Music Tiny (Ass) Desk Concerts for an hour.

Music pairing: Lizzo — NPR Music Tiny (Ass) Desk Concert
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFiLdByWIDY
Watched her on Saturday Night Live last night.

Third steep is the same length as the second, 30-some seconds until the pot pours empty. The taste moves into a dominant starchy, potato-like taste and old wood with the earth and leather moving underneath. Returning sweetness develops into dates. This tea sits a bit raw in my stomach so I warmed up some soup. I read for another hour before deciding I should call it quits with tea tonight.

Book pairing: The Message Devotional Bible

And this is where I end for the evening. So far, recommended.

A mellow morning cup of genmaicha provided by ashmanra, thank you! It was noted on the paper tag inside the bag that this was either from Tea ’N Joy or Tea Queens.

ashmanra sent some tasty Blackberry Jasmine green tea in a swap that had a very strong syrupy aroma. Its aroma penetrated through the bag and into the genmaicha bag, so it was almost like having a surprise second steeping of the Blackberry Jasmine with a hint of toasty rice :)