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Hmmm I probably have to cake thissss. Pretty darn good. The earlier infusions show signs of past harshness that has been aged away (thankfully). The later infusions are pure gold.

A really lovely tea. Not super complex, but a wonderful puerh with no other issues. Mildly sweet. No bitterness or astringency. Lasts 12+ infusions.

Flavors: Smooth, sweet, earthy, wood.

Sample from YOT. Not too bad, but perhaps not as complex as the first sample I tried. Not sure exactly what to think of it. More camphor and cooling. A lot less intense than the first cake I got as well.

Fairly sweet, especially in 1st and later infusions. Lasts 10+ infusions. No bitterness or astringency. Cooling mouthfeel.

Dry leaf: Cardboard
Wet leaf: Camphor
Flavors: Cooling, sweet, camphor

So THIS is camphor. Never smelled camphor before, but this MUST be it. A very cooling vibe in the back of the throat. Hmmmm. Not at all what I was expecting. After trying the HK stored 1985 maocha from LP and loving it, I wanted to try other examples of HK storage. Naturally, I was led to Yee On Tea. Caked this tea because it was so cheap. Hard for me to put a number to it at this point. I need to sit through a couple more sessions with it as I’m really just trying to work through this camphor thing in my mind.

Sweet, absolutely no bitterness or astringency. Tolerated boiling water perfectly well. Would last 15+ infusions I’m sure, but I stopped early.

Dry leaf: Cardboard
Wet leaf: Cardboard, camphor
Flavor: Camphor, wood chips, sweet, cooling, thin.

First hojicha and the last of the samples I have from Dobra. This is a kukicha hojicha (fun to say out loud haha) that was surprisingly nice and complex! I’ll have to try some more hojicha in the future for sure.

Dry leaf: Barley
Wet leaf: Barley
Flavors: Barley, burnt toast, wheat, sweet, smoke, roasty

Holyyyy mother of pearl this is phenomenal! Absolute perfection. Nothing at all is wrong with this matcha. Just WOW.

I have never had a sweeter matcha than this. Only very occasional hints of bitterness that complement rather than detract from the tea. Incredibly smooth and creamy. So much umami. I love love love this omg.

This one comes from Horii Shichimeien. The first half of the company name is the family name. The second-generation owner of the company was named Fusakichi Horii. He submitted a tea in 1879 to the “1st Tea Manufacturing Competitive Exhibition” in Yokohama. The last half of the company refers the seven famous gardens called Uji Shichimeien designated by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358-1408) in the Muromachi Period. This is the same man who made the famous temple Kinkakuji. Today, the store’s garden named “Okunoyama” is located on a small hill near Uji Byōdōin Temple as the only existing garden of the seven.

Flavors: Sweet, umami, creamy, smooth, bitter, vegetal, grass

Solid tea from LP! Some pretty classic Xiaguan characteristics without any bitterness or astringency. Could probably steep this at boiling haha.

I can tell the storage has been pretty good for this one – definitely tastes semi-aged with only 12-13 yrs.

Dry leaf: Smoke
Wet leaf: Smoke, tobacco, grapes
Flavor: Smoke, tobacco, dough, sweet

Bought a cake of this just cuz it was cheap and I like huangpian. It serves its purpose well! Sweet, brews easily, calming, and no fuss. Not super complex, but it is a cheap tea and it is certainly good for the price. Some quite large leaves with big stems in this cake too.

Keep the good stuff coming, LP.

Flavors: Sweet, fruity, apple.

This is the first matcha I’ve tried from MK and it’s beautiful. So smooth and soft and mild. Haven’t tried this as a koicha yet, but I think it will be phenomenal.

Not really vegetal IMO like other matchas I’ve had. Definitely get some umami, but not a ton either. Super light flavor and very easy to drink. This is much less intense compared to Ippodo’s Horai.

Harvest: 2023
Location: Kyoto

Powder smell: Smooth, thick, creamy
Flavors: Smooth, creamy, umami, buttery

Another one from Sazen tea for Christmas. First Marukyu Koyamaen tea I’ve tried and I’m quite impressed. This is the most unique sencha I’ve tried, and tastes more like gyokuro than most senchas. It has less umami and more vegetal notes than gyokuro, but is similarly rich.

No bitterness or astringency brewed at 60 C. I brewed the tea side-by-side with water from my electric kettle and my new cast iron tetsubin. The tetsubin-brewed sencha had a very pleasant mild sweetness that the other brew lacked. It also had the slightly off aftertaste removed in the tetsubin version. The only drawback was a slight loss in complexity of the tesubin version. Regardless, this is the most “pure” sencha I’ve tried. Can’t reallly describe it otherwise. Lasted 4-5 infusions.

I love this tea and will enjoy drinking the rest of it quite a bit. However, I would not purchase it again for the price ($0.88/g).

Location: Uji, Kyoto

Dry leaf: Grass, umami
Wet leaf: Grass, umami, egg
Flavors: Grass, umami, egg, vegetal

The last of my WFT samples to try. This one is super super fruity on the nose, less so on the palate but still with a good bit of papaya. Another really good tea from WFT. I love love love this company and they will for sure be getting many repeat orders. Best tea company. Period.

No astringency or bitterness. Mild sweetness. Lasts 7-8 infusions. Great balance of flavors. Fairly complex. Mouthfeel is nothing remarkable.

This one is the third cultivar among the batch and it is also a “dong pian,” which means it was harvested in winter. Finally, the tea is grown at 500 m. Surprisingly, this tea still tastes like a > 1000 m Qing Xin. Most similar to Shan Lin Xi teas IMO.

Harvest: Winter, 2022
Location: Bagua Shan
Elevation: 500 m
Cultivar: Siji Chun

Dry Leaf: Papaya, cream
Wet Leaf: Papaya, cream, vegetal
Flavors: Papaya, cream, fruity, sweet, vegetal, floral.