Wild Tea Qi

i was curious to see how many steeps i got out of one of these coins, but after 4 steeps western style i threw in the towel. this is my first puerh, and i got a definite fishiness through all 4 steeps. this made me think of walking along a boat dock with its taste of ocean air, and some seaweed flavours. also some flavors of stock for me. definitely caught a bit of a buzz from this.

edit: i think next time i try this i will rinse x3 before the first steep, and see how this affects the fishy funkiness.

edit 2: tried airing it out, and rinsing it and i couldnt even bring myself to try a cup of this afterwards the fishiness is just way too gross. to say im bumping my rating of this down is an understatement.

A very nice, easy to drink, green tea.

A nice oolong

I don’t normally tend to go for black teas, but this one was excellent. It was warm and comforting, with soft, honey notes.

These purple buds remind me somewhat of Ya Bao in their appearance, though they are smaller and less downy and plush, much more dry and crispy, and of course a deep reddish purple color. After sitting them in a preheated gongfu style teapot they smell quite strongly of mesquite smoke. The first infusion is a pale yellow and the liquor smells like wood, smoke, and black pepper. In fact, if you blindfolded me and had me smell this I might think I was smelling jerky.

The flavor of this tea is a lot more rich than I expected. I was expecting a mouthful of sawdust, to be honest, but this flavor is rather savory. It’s mostly a woody flavor but it has a strong umami component to it that I did not expect and there are the faintest hints of persimmon in the background.

The third infusion is a more visible yellow now, and flavor-wise it is about the same as the second infusion. The fourth infusion is a little more sweet and mellow. This would be a really calming tea for people who like predominantly woody flavors. For me, this is not the type of tea I would drink other than when offered to me. The texture of it is juicy and quenching at first, but leaves a bit of a dry feeling in the mouth at the end of the sip.

First off, I tend to go for bold, mostly heavier roasted teas. But I was intrigued by this tea’s back story, and the puerh-type processing. I started with a brew in my gaiwan, but that was not really as satisfying as I expected. For my tastes, this needs to be put in a glass, and steeped and re-steeped all morning long. I let it brew for a good 3 or 4 minutes (with boiling water) before I drink the first bit. The fairly complex flavor has a gentle sweetness that lasts as long as the tea, but there are also herb and soft-wood notes – and something else I can’t put my finger on. The energy I get from this is truly uplifting. and I can get a lot of work done.

I found the flavor of this a little woody, a touch nutty, and sweet from the first smooth brew. Simple and satisfying. This soothes and nourishes, and left me with a gentle energy boost.

I brewed this at 180 degrees using short intervals. It smelled very roasty, like a genmaicha. The best steeps were between 2 and 3 minutes. Shorter steeps didn’t have enough flavor, and longer steeps had a sharp taste I didn’t like. But in the goldilocks range, the tea had a pleasant aroma and flavor. I didn’t taste much past the roasty rice notes, but I’m into that so it was fine with me!

This is an odd one. I haven’t seen leaves like this before. They look like that white tea with big crescents, but here, the crescents are smaller, green, and slightly less curved. Interesting! The instructions say to use a tablespoon, but I went with a teaspoon and a half.

Steep #1 // 40 min after boiling // 1 1/2 min
The cup is a mellow yellow color. The flavor is kind of like a mao feng, the creamed corn that I love in those sorts of teas, but I could swear I was getting hints of pine needle. Sipping the cup when it was cooler, there was a ton more pine needle flavor! I wonder why. The flavor is on the lighter side, but it seemed like if I had let the tea steep longer, it would have been too brisk. But this cup was good as is.

Steep #2 // 30 min after boiling // 2 min
This cup is sweeter, it still has a creamy flavor, though sometimes the mao feng has a second steep that tastes like strawberry for some reason. Still pine needles! I really like this, but I’ll leave the last couple teaspoons for others in the teabox.

Nice story about this tea,it goes without saying that the subjugated are indeed very resourceful in keeping traditions alive. I used 3 pagodas (4 grams)in a 200ml glass fair cup. I rinsed with water off the boil, and steeped for about 40 seconds until all the pagodas unfurled and released their liquor. The aromas are muted and soft,reminding of croissants baking. The flavors are equally as muted with the honey and caramel presence of usual black teas. There is a hint of bitterness on the aftertaste but not enough to discourage another three steeps to finish the pagodas offering. I wanted to like this tea more because of its provenance but it falls a little short in performance.

Ok, like, what? The Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat of teas. They’re all there brown, green, yellow, and best of all purple. Received this as a sample. Not bad at all, very smooth, no roughness or in your face pu erh boldness. Pale in the cup but the flavor is not so pale. The smokey, earthy,flavors are all there just not so bitter. Aromas of fine leather hit me the most. A good introductory pu erh like Wild Qi;s Wild snow oolong I had before this.

Super long leaves, had a hard time getting them into my sampling gaiwan. Soft gentle oolong tastes and aroma. This is not a fussy, precise oolong where you’re punished for even a 3 second over-steep, no bitterness noted. The leaves once brewed opened up into bright green, long, tangled, almost seaweed like strands. It held up to about 6 steeps in 130ml each steep. I didn’t get the citrus as the description but there is a soft peachiness. I passed on chewing a leaf as I am sampling other teas this morning. The Qi is also not as bright as described, but this was a sample and I definitely would have used more leaf for myself. This should be everybody’s introductory oolong, smooth and dainty.

Cool gray morning, what better time for a Big Red Robe. This was a sample from my order I placed last month. Used a 130ml gaiwan and 5gm of tea. The dry leaf has hints of dried fig, tobacco and chocolate. Wet leaf abounds with scents of the tobacco and fragrant sweet flowers. After the recommended steep of 30 seconds the flavors are already in full gear. Caramel, fig, date, flowers all with a backbone of rocky goodness. Subsequent steeps showed a general waning of flavors and aromas, this is the first time I have had a tea where the first steep was the best. I think I need to do a concentrated BRR tasting with someone who is an expert to help dissect the teas nuances. I really do like these Wu Yi teas as every sip has something to say.

This was another sample from Wild Tea Qi. I used a smaller gaiwan 170 ml and about 5 gm of tea. This tea is comparable to the Big Red Robe I had yesterday but I think the fruit flavor more plum like. There is also lots of perfume flavors as well. One of those flavors gave me fits yesterday when I drank the BRR. It was when I went shopping in the farmers’s market for southeastern Asian herbs for bulgogi that it hit me like a brick. It’s that minty menthol flavor that is nuanced in these Wuyi’s that I enjoy. Specifically when I tried a leaf of Vietnamese coriander. The one difference is this tea has a bit more of that perfume. Oh and the last of the scones was a great accompaniment.

Received this as a sample from Wild Tea Qi. Brewed 7 gm of this pretty leaf tea in a 200 ml gaiwan. I didn’t just want to taste the tea I wanted to be the tea.
1ststp for 30 seconds and the color was of a big red robe. I know how corny? The aroma part was difficult. I am making lemon ginger scones topped with Geranium sugar and coupled with my husband’s coffee brewing I escaped into the closet to get my first whiff. My first impression was of artichoke and vegetable garden. The flavor wrapped all around my tongue, not heavy but very smooth. The taste was of a refined wine, deep almost peachy and perfumy. Not a hint of bitter after taste at all.
2ndstp for about 20 seconds and the peachy flavors abound with a perfume that is sweet and gentle. Oh and the scones are out of the oven.
3rd-6thstp adding 5 seconds and the tea is hanging in, still giving its beauty. Paired with the scones, topped with some homemade current jelly,who could ask for a better morning.
This will be a great evening tea to serve friends and family.

Starting my tea journey with this brilliant tea. Used glass bottles spring water brought up to small bubbles in kettle then a quick wash of the tea in my 150 ml gaiwan. 1st steep 30 seconds as recommended. Calm, ethereal essence with a light grassy hayness with just a twinge of bitterness. 2ndstp 35 seconds and the tea took on a brighter dimension. 3rd4thstp 35 seconds and wow, #4 was the winner, the mouth-feel was just right not too heavy, but the sweetness of the tea exploded in the aftertaste and lingered for hours. I am impressed and as a beginner in the realm of artisan teas this was a great first experience.

First, I just want to say that I had been dying to try this tea for some time. White tea fans have said it was a wonderful, complex, subtle, white tea capable of multiple infusions each with varying experience for the drinker.

I am fortunate to have so many amazing tea friends such as Nicole from TeaForMePlease that was kind enough to send me a sample of this tea.

Warning: I had this tea knowing I have never been a huge fan of white tea but because it was so unique and there were so many rave reviews I just had to try it. I have written an entire blog post if you’d like to see how the story goes.

http://iheartteas.teatra.de/2013/08/giggles-fun-moonlight-tea/

When I first opened the package I thought, is this a fermented tea? It had the rich earthy aroma of a Pu Erh and the smokiness of a mild Lapsang Souchong with just a hint of that ‘Asian Market’ smell that you get with Pu Erhs. It is delightful and unfamiliar, certainly a new aroma from a green tea.

Once the leaves have been brewed their aroma changes drastically to mildly smoked chestnuts with hints of the vegetal green you expect from a green tea.

The flavor of the tea is very mild and it feels like it cleanses my palate. The flavor is evocative of distant campfires and summer evenings on a lake.

Each infusion brings out something a little different. Sometimes you get more of the vegetal green, other times a grassy green.

This one is a decent/good Puerh to me, Slightly “fishy” aroma at first in the rinse and first steep that was gone by the second steep(perhaps i’ll break one and air it out next time). The color is quite very dark almost completely black and “thick”. The flavor is nice a solid, earthy and slightly sweet with a pleasant “doughy” tast that is reminiscent of Pie Crust which was very nice. Best of all to me was the leafe itself, intact, large leafe pieces, no crumbling and very little stems. Good Tea!
I added this Tea here but No Photo, Sorry Steepster just ain’t gonna let me add the photo, oh well at least the tea is logged :)

There it goes, finally posted :)
I received one of my orders today, this Ancient Puerh Tea Crystal was one of my items, I made this and I must say that I was not very fond of the taste at all BUT the “feelings” I get from it is just unbelievable. Very very Happy feeling now, taste like a medicine or something but it must be good medicine and once ya start feeling good it don’t taste so bad anymore.
It get a High rating for the High feeling it gives me Like a drug, Chinese Black Magic :)

4th infusion for 45 secs
only because it was super SUPER dark and bold at 45 secs

My last attempt at my infusion test before moving on to another tea!

SUPER DARK in color. Much of the aroma has faded away…a little bit of black pepper remains.

The taste is REALLY Hardcore BOLD almost near bitter…but a burnt leaves type…also tastes a lot like coffee.

Still mysterious and fun – this pu-erh is! YAY!

3rd infusion
the same two pieces of brick
1 min 15 secs or so

Color is even darker…much like coffee. Aroma is a black/cracked pepper and earthy-woodsy combo.

The taste is strong and sturdy black/pu-erh combo. Earthy and woodsy – not sweet like previous infusions – a little like burning leaves flavor-wise.

SO far I like the 2nd infusion the best but this 3rd is so different it’s hard to compare as it tastes like a completely different tea!

Thumbs up!
More infusions coming soon…

2nd Infusion
2 parts of brick
1 minute

Color is a lot darker this time around. The aroma is less fishy and more earthy but still identifiable as a pu-erh!

The 2nd infusion is a little less sweet but more bold all-around. It’s malty and tastes like a cross between a black and a pu-erh not just a pu-erh. I like this! Upping rating a tad. More infusions coming soon!

Special Thanks to The Purrfect Cup for this! It’s Massive!

I couldn’t for the life of me chip off just one so I’m doing two and at half the time.

1st infusion – 30 secs

Smells like a fishy/earthy pu-erh. Color is a medium brown. The taste is pretty nice…a mellow sweet

More infusions coming soon…