ZhenTea

Gongfu!

Started the morning with a smooth and smoky session paired with some just-ripe pears. I usually get pretty aggressive with my smoked teas, and this was just a bit gentler than I would typically reach for – however I think it would be PLENTY smoked for the average person. What I did really enjoy was the more sweet undertones of chocolate, leather, and biscuits. In particular, the biscuit note was very rich and golden, like a Lotus Biscoff cookie. Woody too, of course, as most pine smoked teas are. I just thought this was so nice and layered tasting, with some more unique tasting notes.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DBPTxfsyHRd/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItlqKzRT5mo

Gongfu!

I think I probably could have used a little bit more leaf here to get a richer profile and some more body, but I’m also still deeply enjoying the tasting notes that are present and the smoothness of the session. There are a few notes pretty consistently present in each steep: lush roses, toffee, nutmeg, roasted peanuts particularly as part of the finish, and a general minerality akin to licking a rock (in a good way, I swear). I always really love when a tea manages to find the perfect balance between fresh, floral, and bright flavours and darker, more cozy and warming ones. This tea does it well! Additionally, in a couple of steeps, I got a bit more of a woodiness to the other tones and a rich sweet potato-like starchiness as well that really seemed to exaggerate much of the toffee notes that swell in the mid-sip!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C_83LI_yY_q/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCSIP2IxBrI

Gongfu!

I had a chance to sample this robust and fruity black tea at the Toronto Tea Festival and, of course, I couldn’t resist bringing some home with me!! This is a full-bodied tea with brisk and ever so slightly funky notes of brandied and fermented red fruits and stonefruit, with a roasty and woody undertone and accent notes of leather, musk, and char, and Amaretto. Very coating on the palate, and yet the finish was crisp and finite. I probably could have squeezed a few more steeps out, but I was running a bit behind my morning commute. I look forward to picking up where I left off later tonight, though!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C2-1NcuOFwx/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfQ9WDKfaEk

The only 2012 pu er on the website is Qian Liang Cha 2012 but the package is uncooperative and nondescript. Way over-steeped the first round. It was a bitter mess of decaying wood, compost, and lacquer. Second infusion is better. Very smooth, silky mouth feel. Very little astringency. Slightly bitter but it flows with the rest of the flavors. Lots of deep wood notes. Decaying wood, somewhat savory undergrowth.

Gongfu!

Decided to revisit this unique bamboo wrapped tea. With a little help to open up this cute little dumpling-looking bundle of glossy black tea leaves, this was such a delightful session. Full bodied and just a smidge astringent, but also so rich and starchy tasting in the best sort of way. Zhen Tea describes it as tasting like shortbread, and with the natural sweetness and mouth coating buttery flavour I can absolutely see the comparison. However, I also think it tastes quite a bit like pandan or sticky rice too – glutinous and a little vanilla or coconut like in much of the top notes and aromas. I haven’t tasted a lot of teas like it, so it was a really great tea to revisit and if memory serves the spent tea leaves are pretty divine when simmered on the stove top so I’ll definitely be getting the most out of this tea by doing that later tonight!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8feaEbue4q/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esnhbIbQHgM

Like recommended, I made this super cute little reed wrapped parcel of black tea stovetop. The resulting infusion had the most delicious, cozy and comforting thick creamy mouthfeel with a super starchy sweet taste that reminded me of shortbread laced with something like pandan or maybe even just a hint of coconut. Super unique and distinctive, and something I could easily see going through pot after pot of in the colder months. Plus, with the way the tea is wrapped, this would make for one hell of a good option for tea made over the fire when camping.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/ChnJv0IuhKN/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNLFPkc69OI

I recommend using rather lower temperatures for the tea. It is quite bitter and abrasive at the 100 degrees mentioned on the website.

When dry, the leaves smell quite a bit like hojicha. There are notes of toasted bread, hay, salep drink and vanilla ice-cream. Once wet, the aroma reminds me more of yancha (Tie Luo Han in particular). Specific notes include toasted peanuts, cinnamon, popcorn, curry leaves, and roast beef.

The tea tastes very toasty, bitter and woody with a decent sweetness as well. Because of the somewhat overwhelming bitterness, I didn’t find many associations beyond coffee among the immediate flavours.

More complexity is noticeable in the protracted aftertaste, once some of the bitterness subsides. Dominant flavours there are nutty predominately, such as hazelnuts, nutmeg, and tree bark. Later on in the session, a distinctive tree sap sweetness appears too.

Gongfu!

Enjoying a lazy afternoon of reading through the yellow tea article in the latest issue of Eighty Degrees while, of course, steeping up some yellow tea. The leaves smell of rich cocoa with a faint undertone of roasted peanuts. Steeped up, the tea is quite cozy with some especially toasty notes of roasted hazelnuts and burnt sugar as well as very distinct chicory root top notes. There’s an ever so slightly creamy chocolate note to the middle of the sip, and as some of the nuttiness wanes it feels like more of the focal point of the session! Can’t wait to get through the rest of this issue; they’re always so well put together and it’s just a highlight every time a new one comes out!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CrEfdDBupXs/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzSlq7HUh7Y

Geek Steep S1E10 – Squirrel Girl

Firstly, a shout out to my friend and coworker Red Phoenix for kindly gifting me this tea sample!! This was the tea I drank during recording for the episode – and I actually made a teapot of it and shared it with Marika, so this was the first episode where we drank the same tea while recording!

I don’t always love yellow tea, but in my humble opinion the best yellow teas are the ones with toasty peanut and hazelnut notes and when I opened the bag of this tea that’s exactly what it smelled like! Really cozy, roasty and perfect. Also perfectly themed for the Geek of the Week, Squirrel Girl! Both Marika and I went the obvious route with our “main pairings” by choosing super nutty tea blends, but this was sort of a less obvious way of approaching that nutty taste – and I loved that we got to share the pot and enjoy it together!

Also to give some insight of how far out in advance some of our podcast episodes were recorded…

We drank this during September, and the reason we ended up sharing a pot of tea while recording (aside from it just being a nice thing to do) was because the September Sipdown prompt for the day was to share a pot of tea with someone!

Our Website: https://www.geeksteep.com/
Our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geeksteep/

Listen to us on Buzzsprout:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1286036/podcast/website

DB topic:
https://steepster.com/discuss/42133-geek-steep-a-new-tea-and-fandom-podcast

If you want to get caught up on the Geek of The Week for next Thursday, the spoiler for our explored fandom is at the bottom of our latest DB post!

Gongfu!

I drank this over my lunch break today – it was the break up from a morning of bright citrus heavy tea blends and indecision surrounding what I wanted to be drinking. This tea is suuupppeerrr smoke forward with thick brothy liquor, and woody “umami bomb” flavours with just a hint of red fruit in the undertones. All day I’ve been in a fickle tea mood, just not sure what I was craving – but this hit the spot so perfectly.

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ9P-gXAgjZ/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XDvMqZ43fY&ab_channel=LimeCordiale

Gongfu!

Second tea session of the day! I opted for something VERY different from the one earlier this morning; some 2016 Tian Jian dark tea that I picked up at the Montreal Tea Festival last year!! This is medium bodied, but don’t mistake that to mean lacking in flavour. This tea steeps up quite savory/umami, with an overall profile that puts images like Applewood smoked bacon or BBQ sauce in my head, with an earthy undertone and brothy mouthfeel. However the start of the sip is quite crisp, and there is an underlying sweetness as well that reads as a mix of subtle sweeter woods, mild fruits, and a touch of maple. It’s excellent!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B7emGhVgXC4/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OkXFWkO6d0

Gongfu Sipdown (719)!

Picked this tea up from Zhen Tea at the Montreal Tea Festival – I was really intrigued by the tea description, and as most people are aware I certainly have a penchant for yiwu sheng. It was fairly pricey – $10CAD for 5g, but I guess that’s kind of reasonable given that it’s a sheng with sixteen years of age on it. I appreciate that the company was even offering sample/session size of it at all at the festival.

I’d normally have brewed this in my yixing pot, but 5g is too little for a session in that pot so I brewed it instead in an 80ml shiboridashi – even that was a little soft for me though…

This was a delicious tea though; very fragrant and sweet aroma. Plenty of ripe plum and penetrating florals. The taste started off very much like a salted plum with lingering sticky sweetness and a touch of smoke- that was the general flavour for the first three or so infusions. From there it was gradually getting more floral over time – but retaining that juicy plum note. Very, very mild and pleasant astringency; no bitterness.

Fourteen infusion session in total. Wow.

I’d definitely purchase this again is the opportunity arose…

Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/B4sN9djgh3s/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_K0t5x4_3w

This was one of the best teas I tasted at the Toronto Tea Festival, so I got a 5g sample (for a very steep 10 CAD) to try it out at home. I got a piece close to the middle of the cake, but it’s not overly compressed. The leaves look quite coarse.

It is clear that the tea is aging very slowly, I was told it has been stored in Beijing since production. The leaves look somewhat green and the liquor is dark yellow, it hasn’t even properly started turning orange yet. There is a slight hint of fruits in the aroma, which is sweet and reminiscent of some cakes.

The first infusion after rinse is still very light with no bitterness and only a touch of astringency. It has a really nice sweetness, nothing overpowering. There is also a vegetal and floral character to it and the aftertaste is surprisingly strong given how mild the taste was. Second one is so smooth and already thicker. The taste I would describe as sweet grass with a bit of herbal bitterness. I can also feel its effects, clearing and focusing my mind. I have to say though that I am by no means in a standard state of mind, having just returned from a 90km long bike ride (the first one this year – spring seems to be pushing the winter away, yay!).

Third steep is a proper one. It’s such a nice mix of sweet and bitter taste, buttery texture, and a long floral and numbing aftertaste. Fourth and fifth are strong, but not as distinctive. I tried various types of brews next. The lighter ones are tasty and easy to drink, while the stronger ones have a heavy, peaty moss note to them and a much more interesting mouthfeel, which numbing and drying without being very astringent.

All in all, a very nice example of a dry stored Yiwu tea. If it was 4 times cheaper, I would even consider buying it! :P

Brilliant. This is the type of Oolong I love. Truly. Bright and friendly. The kind that if it was a person, their smile would light up a room. Grassy sunshine in a cup.
The package says there are dandelion notes in here. Suddenly I have a new appreciation for the scraggly weeds. I had no idea what they tasted like, but if this odd floral note is it, I want to collect all the dandelions and find recipes they work in. People make dandelion salad, right?
Heck, there’s a good chance they’d be organic, if I get them before anyone sprays to kill’em. I mean, nobody wants to preserve them, and lack of pesticides is what makes up “organic”, for the most part, isn’t it?
Sorry for the ramble. I’m on the first steep so this review may expand shortly!
My only qualm is that this tea is quite expensive.

western brew today and while this was a pleasant cup – slightly malty, a little bit of mineral and just over smooth and tasty, there are other teas out there i’d prefer to pick up that are a little less expensive.

mmmmm this was a shared purchase from the toronto tea festival between Cavocorax and i. I’m only just now getting a chance to try it out, but i swore she had it before me. Seems like steepster ate her note or i’m imagining things. :)

I’ve been brewing this gonfu this afternoon….im’ not getting a citrus note…just a sweet mineral like note that turns almost cocoa-y…maybe? I think i need a few more steepings..haha more to come but i’m happy with this pick from zhen tea!

My mom requested a green oolong. I have surprisingly few of those in my cupboard, but saw this and immediately felt it was the right choice. The instructions on the packet say to use 9g (a whole cake, I’d guess? I didn’t weigh it) and brew at 100C for 60s. Annoyingly, no info on water volume, though I see now that there’s apparently “more info” on their website.

Anyways, I fake-gongfu-ed this, kind of, I think. Did a series of consecutive 1 min brews at about 95-100C in ~8oz. I feel like either I needed to have used more water, less leaf, or a shorter infusion, as it had that flavour that suggested brewing error as opposed to low tea quality. But, it was still fairly tasty, especially the first infusion. Floral (but not too much), and creamy. Reminded me of a pouchong.

I think I’ll brew up the last little cake in a teapot or something (I don’t feel that breaking it up to brew multiple smaller cups would be advisable).

Picked this adorable tea up at the Toronto Tea Festival – my only purchase there, in fact! (Go me!) I just couldn’t resist green oolong pressed into a little tiny square cake.

Anyhow, I found this tea to be pretty enjoyable. A bit frustrating to steep, because it was too large for my infuser, and the water didn’t cover it all, but the flavour was good. Smooth, creamy, fresh-tasting oolong, with some floral notes, but not a dominant flavour. Again, more detail to come in future notes when I have a life again.