Kawaii433 Send Message

Had this yesterday and didn’t take notes (sorry >.<), busy day. I have more so I will probably add notes to this one. In a nutshell, it was a wonderful roasted Yancha but its quite expensive $22 for 25g and probably won’t get it again. There are some fine YS that I liked just as much.

As far as the tasting profile, there was a strong presence of dried cherries with wet wood notes. It was very fruity. As I progressed I got lots of minerals, some floral notes and roasted barley at the end. It’s very smooth, a good mouth and throat feel. The dark cherry and then stonefruit notes remained throughout all the infusions, although lighter towards the end. Has a strong and lingering fruity aftertaste. I “gaiwaned” it (starting at 20s) but after the 4th or 5th infusion, I didn’t time it anymore. It remained flavorful until about the 12th infusion. Towards the end, it did get astringent.

It was quite hard to break up, I only got the 25g sample so, in an effort to break up a small piece, I had to avoid stabbing myself. ^^ Much easier to break up big cakes hehe. The dry leaf aroma and dark liquor was earthy, a little sweetness. I’m put off by strong leather, and I didn’t detect any of that.

The early infusions were mild, earthy, tasty, light. It became rich and full-bodied once the leaves opened up. Even though it was hard as a rock, it opened up pretty early. By the third infusion, it starting having a maple syrup taste, a pancake taste. I suppose they named it spot on. :) I can taste burnt sugar, caramel, more sweetness but not sickening sweetness. On the 5th infusion, I got a lot of walnuts. It was like a walnut pancake. I don’t normally like walnut but this is really good. It’s a very clean, no strong fermentation notes type of shu. Daily drinker due to price but the taste, to me, is better than many I’ve tried.

Yixing gaiwan, 6g, 110ml, boiling water, rinse: 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25, 30s, 40s, 50s… Etc. (Still going)

This is a great GABA oolong. Thank you Derk :).

I didn’t try last year so I can’t compare it to that but I can compare it to other GABA oolong that I’ve tried, and this one is quite different. I would definitely put it up at the top especially if you’re into fruity tea.

Overall, It’s a sweet and fruity, not too floral oolong… Not too floral is always a plus for me. On the first few steeps (gaiwan), I got some strong fruit notes., mainly dried fruit notes, like raisins, prunes, berries with baked bread notes. It was malty and rich… And comforting, calming energy. It remained sweet throughout most of the infusions. It wasn’t stagnant, it changed from raisin bread to stonefruits throughout the infusions. In the end, it wasn’t as fruity sweet but yam sweet, then to slightly but pleasantly tart, spices, and some nuttiness as well.

I really enjoyed this sample. I wonder how it compares to the release from last year. Highly recommended if you like GABA oolong as I do.

Addition notes:

Upped the rating. I’m on the last of this, and while it was a bit too perfumy for me when I used gongfu style, it was so much better using Mandala’s suggestion. One tablespoon in 8 oz for 30 sec infusions. I didn’t have to go through perfume stages but instead got a full-bodied, lovely cup of roasted rock tea that consisted of sweet potatoes, stonefruits, honey, floral, roasted nuts and minerality and more.

I hope you’re all having a good Tuesday. :)

Thank you Derk :D

Autumn 2017 version:
If you like black tea but don’t like oolong, this is the oolong for you. :) I like both and so I enjoyed this interesting roasted oolong that had characteristics of both black tea and oolong. Throughout the infusions, it was never bitter nor astringent. I got sweet potatoes, malt, brown sugar, honey, spices (cinnamon, nutmeg), some cocoa. There is some fruit and also a slight floral background with minerality. Earlier infusions were similar to a good black tea, the malt, the breadiness, the cocoa, and sweet potatoes… As I progressed, the spices, a little citrus, and mineral notes stepped forward. Good stuff. :)

Porcelain gaiwan, 5g, 205°F, 110ml, rinse, 8 steeps: 5s, 10s, 15s, 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s

Really good TGY.

Little greenish balls with a nice floral aroma. Smells vegetal, orchid. The liquor is a yellow color with greenish hues. Although it has the classic TGY notes, it is a nice “sour”, and thankfully not sour as some. It’s just right, in my opinion, as far as TGYs. There is still mouth action in the back but some are over the top, this one is not. It has a smooth and soft mouth and throat feel. It’s brisk and has clear notes. The finish is naturally sweet, vegetal, floral, orchid but not perfumey. It handled boiling water with no problem, no bitterness present throughout all steeps. If you like TGY, this is a great daily drinker.

Porcelain gaiwan, 7 g, 7 steeps: rinse, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 80s, 100s, 120s.

Additional notes on this one:
Sipdown, and saw that they recently came out with a roasted version of this. :D I’m going to have to try that one. Instead of a full gaiwan session like I did before on this tea, I followed their suggestion. A tsp to 8 oz ratio (I did double) for 30 sec infusions. It was really good, and as I noted before, it really is like a TGY without that sour pull on the sides of your mouth. Looking forward to trying their roasted version. :D

This is yummy.

Roasted nuts, peanuts, lightly sweet, a little cookie-ish, slightly malty. I like the mixture of Assam, Ceylon & Yunnan teas. Nice and smooth mouth and throat feel. I really like this! It’s now one of my favorite of their teas.

Have a great day. Busy one here but a good one. ^^

Sipdown.

Notes of vegetables, broccoli, artichoke, spinach. Buttery popcorn, some cream, and light floral notes and sugarcane sweetness. Compared to Republic of Tea milk oolong, this is far better (no artificial taste) but compared to some of their other Jin Xuan that What-Cha offers, it is nothing exceptional. I used gongfu style before, but for this sipdown, I put the remainder in a teapot. I think it tastes much better this way. Maybe it just tastes better because it is a sipdown… That means I’m closer to be able to purchase some of my favorite What-Cha teas instead. ^^

This is the second note on this and it’s a sipdown but I just have to buy more. It’s one of my favorites. I had mentioned the banana nut bread taste and instead of using a gaiwan as I did the first time, I made a 18 oz pot with 15g of it with several infusions, starting with 1 minutes infusion and working up. That wonderful banana bread taste is stronger brewing it this way. The baked cherry aroma and notes are so yummy too. I’ve been drinking a lot of black tea and pu’erh lately and boom… Just like that my fickle tea self, fell back in love with a good roasted Jin Xuan. I upped the rating more to remind myself, this has got to be on my shelf.

Now I need to compare Vietnam Medium-Roast Jin Xuan Red Oolong Tea. That was my other favorite What-Cha tea (plus the sticky rice one, of course).