612 Tasting Notes
Drank this multiple times over the weekend while framing and hammering up new wall art, making soup, and continuing my old lady pose (but I think spring is shaking me awake a little…I woke up this morning with “Dancing in the Dark” in my head, due to the sentiment behind it I imagine). I still think Shang’s Silver Needle King is far and away the greatest white tea I’ve ever smelled or tasted (aiee!), but this offers that thing good whites often do, an indelibly luscious mouthfeel. It has a lot of layers going on too. Hopefully I can sit down and write a proper note about them next time, ack. Been drinking my tea all willy nilly in the midst of things (busy beaver spring cleaning and scheming and all that), without good logging. I fear I may never return to being an adequate, potentially helpful logger. :/ (beavers…logs…spring…my head’s full of fuzz!) This is becoming more and more just another diary. Whoops.
Ohhh, all I can say is this is a nice, nice tea—so nice I’m too busy enjoying it to think. My gosh. I like how the brassy elements one might wish to have smoothed out in a typical Indian Assam are indeed gentled or just plain not there thanks to the (what’s often for me too subtle, mind) Taiwanese style, which in turn gets amplified when given the backbone of a substantial general tea type like Assam. Wow I didn’t write that well. Hrm. The second steep yields more chocolate, delicious.
I’ve been impressed with Taiwan Tea Crafts (and grateful as always to Steepster—ain’t no way I’d have learned of them otherwise)—I love that they offer fancier teas in reasonably small amounts that make them a possibility for me, and that they have promotions and fair shipping policies if you want to try before you commit. And even when one of their teas proves generally not something I’d reach for often given my own proclivities, I have yet to encounter any where the care and quality (indeed, the craft) in producing the leaves wasn’t readily apparent from dry leaf aroma to finished cup and unfurled leaves. And some have knocked me completely off my socks (that one Red Jade!) with qualities I’ve never tasted together in a single tea before. We’re so lucky to live in this age when incredible tea is being crafted so many places AND thanks to modern transport and the internet etc. someone in a place as un-hot-tea-focused as the US has ready access to some of said tea. AND can learn and trade notes with fellow fans to boot. Awesome.
Speaking of, the dry leaf aroma on this one is a splurge. It’s rich and grapey, deep without being cloying like so many sweet grape-smelling teas. And the appearance of the wet leaves! Big and gorgeous, with these ripples of brilliant brighter red streaks here and there. I am surprised sometimes how often big, beautiful leaves can sway me. Admiring them makes tea even more of a pleasure.
Really happy that you are enjoying this tea. I agree with your thoughts on how wonderful it is that we live in a time that we can experience and learn about all these wonderful teas.
Just when I thought I was beginning to understand, I see a name like this one. Sun Moon Lake is in Taiwan. Assam teas are from the Assam region of India. How can a tea from Sun Moon Lake be an Assam? It hurts my poor head. I guess it doesn’t really matter as long as you enjoy it. :))
my (admittedly patched together, mostly from the harney book and the internet, might be wrong/off) understanding is that in the last 10 to 30 years (partly thanks embargos with china lifting which forced them to switch from simply palely imitating the chinese tea not available from china at the time to using what they had already invested in re: tea making to create new teas not meant to compete directly with chinese styles but rather offer novelty and their own branding) taiwan has really become a game changer in terms of sharing innovative new tea styles and whatnot, and one of those new things has been taking varieties of tea leaf and seeing how they do in taiwan when “mated” with native tea plants (i could be getting the specs wrong there though; it’s been a while since i looked into it). so yes, it’s weird that assam is named after where it’s grown and yet they’re growing that in taiwan now too. be kinda like taking a darjeeling plant and discovering it grows well in, i dunno, florida once you melded it with something native to florida. ha. i know TTC mentioned how leaf and what exactly it is in more detail somewhere on the site, at least they did when i bought this but it’s been a while…
not the same type (i do feel excited the mint thing is recognized in the jade teas though! i thought i was crazy!) exactly, but a quick explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwanese_tea#Black_tea
Wow, ok – thanks so much for this. I feel that the more I learn, the more I realize how little I really know. I keep trying to take a tea class, and it keeps getting cancelled from lack of interest. I must be the only tea drinker here. I think I really need to find some time to do some research on my own. Thank you so much for posting this and nudging me towards learning more.
Couldn’t resist the Mandala sale, and as always the customer care was top notch—got samples and a wonderful, surprisingly long note from Garret tucked in with my tea!
It’s no secret I love Golden Needle. Golden Monkey seems more popular in general here, but for me it’s the needle all the way (ehrm, that came out wrong). I like the way it tends to balance sweetness with a thicker body, and this is a prime example of that—the body on this is exquisite, nearly brothy. I love it. I’ve still got Shang’s in my stash to try (and can’t wait!), but it’s so great to know I’ve got a really good version of one of my favorite tea types on hand. Yay.
Been drinking my fancy straight teas in the evening while acting full on old lady, yeesh—I’m growing my hair out which has lead me down the well worn internet rabbit hole that is the Long Hair Community and next thing I know I’m on the couch drinking tea with cats on me while perusing video tutorials on bunning hair and looking up old fashioned dressing tables, all while Golden Girls serves as background noise. I’ve even had a recent resurgent interest in trashy historical romance novels of all things (trying to find someone I can stomach like Lisa Kleypas). Next I am going to wind up doilying the house if I don’t check myself, ee.
LOL. Just stop at the rat thing, ok?
Haha, but I SO want you to do the doilies! So underrated! So fancy!
oh god, hope so Morgana!
in lieu of doilies Anna, i think i want some old fashioned hollywood-y nightgowns. i think a pod person has come and stolen me in the night, don’t recognize myself.
You would pull one of those off! Seriously! I mean, uh. You know what I mean. (But feel free to post pictures either way, hurr hurr.)
you are the funniest, Miss!
Oh, man – nothing is worse than being confronted by really bad jokes you forgot you made days after the fact. If anyone needs me, I’ll be under the couch.
I had this last night. Really enjoyed this one; one of the best Amoda offerings I’ve tried so far along with the Butikis. Makes sense—I’m a huge fan of the honey oolongs-so-dark-they’re-practically-blacks like Honey Orchid and…I forget the other couple I’ve tried, but yeah (one was disappointingly weak IIRC but I don’t remember where it came from). I like how relatively soft but full of sweet honey aroma and flavor they are, a nice break from brisk breakfast blends and the usual malt and sweet potato of many Chinese black teas. If I didn’t already have plenty of Honey Orchid I’d consider looking into purchasing more of this. It’s a nice specimen of a tea type I love.
I’m happy you enjoyed it! I was looking at my Amoda box yesterday and I wasn’t sure how excited I felt about the selection, but this makes me smile a bit more. :D
it’s getting mehhhh reviews, and god knows my tastes don’t seem to often align with most of steepster for some headscrstching reason (maybe i’m a weirdo, ha), so take it all with a grain of salt! but i do like it, yes! and thanks for mentioning amoda and describing it in some detail on the boards a while back—it helped me go through with subscribing when they announced the holiday butikis. (:
Oh good! I’m happy you’re enjoying it!
I’ve been boring for what feels like months now, where I just want to dwell a bit on old favorites every day and rediscover why I fell in love with them in the first place. Means a dearth of logging but wonderful tea time as some I feel I almost appreciate more upon revisit. This is a good example. What an excellent tea. This morning was slow going for no good reason at all, and one of those where you wake up having to do approximately a billion little tasks before you can even make your first cuppa. When I finally had a second to do so I wanted it to be failproof satisfying and this fit the bill and how. I’ve had something like 6 cups—I figured I’d waited so long I deserved to do this in the gaiwan and set myself free for 15 minutes, whee—and it’s still going strong, smooth and sweet and clean but rich bordering on hearty. Present but refined. Delicious. Teas that offer so much flavor and depth in a matter of seconds when it comes to steep time still amaze me.
You could never be boring. Also, you’re totally fancy.
oh you! i love the idea of “fancy” becoming an injoke. :D
i am amazed someone who sees me prattle on on FB about hair buns and cat puke can say such a thing. but grateful too. <3 goodness knows it’s quite a shock coming from a lady who jetsets and gets her hair did splendidly and can talk theory and feminism with the best of ‘em. it’s been a pleasure running into you on the internets. (:
Aww. Aww. AWW!
oh, my heart ate my comment. this is what text cache is for!
oh you! i love the idea of “fancy” becoming an injoke. :D
i am amazed someone who sees me prattle on on FB about hair buns and cat puke can say such a thing. but grateful too. (heart) goodness knows it’s quite a shock coming from a lady who jetsets and gets her hair did splendidly and can talk theory and feminism with the best of ‘em. it’s been a pleasure running into you on the internets. (:
…ok. internet group hug with bouncy curls. ha!
OMG I DIDN’T THINK IT COULD GET MORE BEAUTIFUL BUT IT JUST DID
teaspoons all round!
You want to be the big teaspoon, the small teaspoon, or the middle teaspoon, keychange?
… is wondering whether the hair buns and cat puke were somehow related? Heh.
Best pet related hair styling product EVER.
I cannot stop laughing. Thanks, Anna.
Yes, this is how I like to introduce myself to new people on Steepster, Cheri – cat puke jokes!
In case you can’t see my profile picture, it’s one of my furry kids. In fact, he’s the pukey one. I know all about cat puke and cat puke jokes.
just last night i found out something i kind of wish i could unknow, that all those bouffanty ‘40s hairstyles were accomplished with the use of something known as a “hair rat”—women collected their shed hairs and made them into a little sponge like filler for their up ’dos! i mention this weirdness because now i’m imagining cat puke as a result of one finding one’s hair rat and taking it as a snack. eugh.
cat puke. it’s what brings people together. that or an immature/gross sense of humor.
haahaha, “the pukey one”…oh feline terms of endearment.
Does every home with more than one cat have “pukey one”? And here I thought we were the only ones.
I think so, yes.
I think every home with no cat also has a “pukey one”, to be honest.
Our two share the pukey duty equally it seems. Luckily they don’t do it very often. Mostly during shedding season.
ours share it too. unluckily all the time during shedding season. and worst of all, their favorite time of day to do it is while we’re asleep at night at like 3am, either right on the bed or right where i put my feet when i get out of bed. :b the first time that happened, husband was in the shower and heard a loud curse word from the bedroom when half awake i stepped in it. now i know to check before getting out of bed. oh cats. “you’re lucky you’re cute!” i only-half-jokingly tease at them.
Our pukey one is majorly pukey. The others do it much more rarely. We took him to the vet and the vet said there’s really no medical explanation. I suspect bulemia.
A friend was just telling me that she read somewhere that if you raise up their food bowl up about 6" or so, so that they don’t have to bend over all the way to eat, and it helps with the puking. She said it worked for her. I’m thinking about trying it. Pukey Penny was puking only occasionally for a while, but he’s back to puking a lot again.
Interesting. We’ll have to try that.
yeah, thanks for the tip! i will try that…
It could be over-eating, maybe. Luna has done that when she was younger, eating far far too quickly and then the whole thing came up again and you could easily see how some of the pellets had just been swallowed whole. They have a ‘food maze’ now, where I pour both their portions in at the top and then they have to use their paws to get the food out. Slows down the eating pace a lot and entertains the cats. It’s a bit noisy while they eat, but it’s cute to watch.
“Good for you you’re so cute!” Oh I know that statement well. It was directed at Luna when she attempted DIY surgery by removing all her stitches two days after having been spayed so that we had to go and have her re-stitched. By the emergency vet. On a Saturday evening. In the next town over. By taxi. And pick her up again the next morning. By taxi. (We didn’t have a car then and public transport would have taken three times as long) That little adventure cost almost as much as the intial spaying and ear tatooing of two cats!
Afternoon tea today, with lemon ice daisy cookies and an assortment of jams, spinach spread, and pimento for crackers. Using my new fleur de lis condiment spreader I nabbed in NOLA. It’s the little things…
You don’t see mint earls very often, at least I haven’t, so I was intrigued but also a little worried it’d prove a case of “well, now you know why!” But this is pretty good if you’re up for a little medicinal mint tang with your afternoon refreshment; the mint gives it a planty earthiness and tingle I like, and the bergamot leans toward the flowery type which normally I’m not down with but works with the earthy cleanness of the mint here. I think it would be excellent when you’re feeling slightly under the weather or queasy—not ill enough to make black tea a bad idea, mind, but just a little funky from, oh say, a heavy lunch. And I reckon this will be wonderful iced. I think I may, a year later (!), have finally cracked the code to Sazerac’s Garden District cocktail (it’s got earl grey infused vodka, honey, lemon, mint, and—the secret ingredient I only discovered last week!—pear brandy) and when I try to perfect it at home next go round I’m going to use this to infuse the vodka/gin. Mm.
I do imagine this could get unpleasantly bitter steeped longer than I went with, so I’ll have to remember to keep playing gentle with it.
Preparation
That cocktail sounds amazing :)
it haunted me for a year! i went home and tried to recreate it thinking it couldn’t be that hard given it’s recognizable basic building block ingredients that i know how to balance usually (re: the lemon and syrup and mint, i mean), but getting it right eluded me no matter how many times i tried. there was always a roughness from the tea tannin and fresh mint mixing with the lemon. pear brandy makes sense as the solution; i’ve used it before in rum and bourbon cocktail recipes and it has a nice softening, smoothing effect and a subtle delicate depth plain syrup doesn’t. when i figure out the proportions i will probaby post about it somewhere on steepster, ‘cause goodness knows i’ve been obsessed, ha. (:
Hit the ground running with our return post-snow week and spring break (out of town twice, sorry I was absent guys), feeling weirdly pretty good about it. Refreshed and ready to roll up my sleeves and work a while without complaining, ha. Last night getting ready for the work week I was contemplative but not broody, realized just how much I feel dreamy and restored. It’s a good mood to be in. Also been feeling really nostalgic lately for music—this comes and goes and when it’s here, it’s like a tidal wave—so loud goofy Siamese Dream and metal-shoegaze and Siouxsie and older Neko Case early this morning and this tea (in my new Cafe du Monde mug! Contributes to the dreaminess :), which is like some all-purpose morning security blanket/bowl o’ Goldilocks’ porridge, not too anything to startle me first thing, always just right. Are there louder, more interesting, more special or complex teas out there? Yeah sure. But this is so reliably pleasant and easy to enjoy. Didn’t even realize it was St. Patrick’s Day and thus a fitting choice ’til I hopped on Steepster and saw all the Irish Breakfast logs in the stream, ha. Ours is meant to be a close and enduring friendship, I think.
Preparation
Yay you are back! Glad you had a good time
aw, you are too sweet boychik. and thank you. (: missed you guys!
I JUST listened to NEW Neko Case 10 minutes ago. Love Siouxsie too!
it sounds like if we ever had tea together, Tea Sipper, we’d have plenty to chat about, ha. (:
Maybe it’s the unexpected snow day (complete with yesterday’s late night Criterion fest, this morning’s sleeping in and making out and cuddling bewildered-by-snow cats, and the promise of beef stew with collard gratin and cheese biscuits for supper tonight) and the fact this is my favorite week in the Catholic calendar (up next: pancakes and ashes), but I’m in good spirits today and I’m guessing that’s making this cup even more delicious. Perfect. It’s great at a low maintenance boil, smooth and satisfying, but at this lower temp it’s even silkier and more divine. Yum.
Preparation
I want an unexpected snow day! well, I don’t actually, but I want to be abel to stay home when it’s frigid out and there’s tea to be had!
it’s one of the few winter perks to living in the south—we almost never get any real wintery weather, so when we do we get to live it up because the whole town shuts down. and it never sticks so there’s no shoveling or tire chains or REAL worry to go with the lovely snowy mood. on the other hand, we suffer 105F summers that last 9 or 10 months. sooo. ha.
A Criterion fest! Some of my favorite movies!
I drank this today, which is wild! What’d ya watch last night?
husband got to pick since it’s his precious snow day (: his snow day turned into 3 days!! he’s watched seconds, insignificance, antichrist, and tv-wise the beginning of enlightened. such couch potatoes!
i’ve been drinking this one every day with him in the morning—we never get to have breakfast tea together because he has to be out the door by 6am and that is just way too early for me to be fussing with that, ha. it’s been a great way to start all of this week’s so far unbelievably lazy days.
I must be a couch potato, too, because that sounds like an awesome day. I also picked this tea out for a similar reason. I wanted something robust to start the day, and I was up early enough without having to go anywhere to want a breakfasty tea.
It’s 70F today, gotta get something spring-y in before tomorrow’s supposed winter storm! A nice mellow weekend spent mostly indoors scheming and dreaming for spring break travels in a week…
Sweeter than most greens, and brothier, with a silky heft that makes it feel like some sort of magical healing elixir, an ouchless soup when you’re feeling funky to help you get better. Satisfying. And like always, resteeps like a dream. I have yet to be disappointed by any of the stuff I’ve tried from Shang, and if this keeps up they’re going to become one of my very favorite purveyors of whites and greens. Yum!
Preparation
I was testing 3 Shang tea as well. All are exceptional. Didn’t have time to put them on Steepster. Now I write down on post it to not forget. I really liked Loose Aged White Tea. I’ll review them later, weekend is crazy. So jealous about 70F We had 24F and expecting another snow storm. It’s so not Brooklyn weather:(
Thinking about this tea makes my mouth water. Did you get the honey aroma and flavor. I have been brewing this during the white tea part of my tea classes for sometime and everyone always swear they get honey. I know I do. This is one tea that works incredible well steeping a good long time. I do a first steep of 5 to 8 and then just keep adding hot water as I pour out a cup from the pot.
Enjoying your diary, I am!
definitely lots of honey, yes! that was beautiful. i think that element works really well with the amazing body, yum. i’ve been on a big honey kick the last month or so—my shampoo even smells of honeycomb, ha.
i steeped it 5 the first time, then resteeped a couple times adding a minute each time. definiely could’ve kept going but it was time to go out. (:
BTW, thanks for all you do. the note in my package was very sweet, it startled me how nice it was. you’re tops. (:
It is my privilege to count you among our customers/friends. Thank YOU!
Just stay away from the Honeycomb cereal :)
i’ll have to add this to my next order to try out