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Thanks, Cameron B. :D Only a couple more of yours to go. What a beautiful sample box you sent me. I got to try all kinds of goodies from all kinds of vendors I’ve never experienced.

It’s almost midnight here so I skipped the gongfu and put 3.3g in 10 oz boiling water, let it steep for 4 minutes. Easy peasy. It was malty, good flavor with notes of caramelized sugar, raisins, brown sugar, dark cocoa notes. No faults in it, it’s a very smooth black tea. I just usually like my black tea bolder, maltier, breadier than this one. On a positive note, of the ones I got to try, A&D does seem to have good tea. :D

Thanks, Derk :D.

I often make ochazuke (Pour green tea over rice, add seasonings and toppings) on a cold afternoon, and I constantly thought of that while sipping this tea because it’s so flavorful.

The dry leaves had a sweet, vegetal aroma. After the rinse, the wet leaves had an intense vegetal – soybean aroma. The first few infusions, it was a thick, comforting, extremely vegetal, brothy, savory soup. Throughout the infusions, lots of different notes entered the picture: edamame, spring peas, umami, broccoli, spinach, seaweed, bamboo, sweet grass, cream, butter, sugarcane, roasted chestnuts, and honey notes. It had light mineral notes and some wood. Throughout the infusions, there was slight astringency but like the bitterness, it was balanced.

This tea embodies what is so great about Laoshan green. It is creamy, has a buttery smooth texture, has a plethora of complex and potent flavors and aroma that I just know I missed hehe. Vegetal, sweet, savory, soy, mineral and the umami flavor that lingered in my mouth long after each infusion. Derk had written on the sample that it was past it’s prime but it was so good that I’ll definitely go for this coming year’s release to compare.

Porcelain gaiwan, 5g, 175°F, 110ml, rinse, 11 steeps: 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 120s

Thank you, Derk :D

Cute little compact square, ~8g. The dry square wasn’t too aromatic, a very light orange aroma, no barnyard aroma or any other fermentation aroma. The rinse liquor was light amber. The wet square had earth and citrus/orange aroma. It was still pretty much in square form after the first four infusions… And even though 3/4 of the brick was pretty much intact, the liquor had gone from light to dark orange amber color. The infusions from the beginning albeit light had really flavorful citrus notes, clean earth, some wood, and citrus rind. After my 7th infusion, it is still ~60% formed lol and this is when the earthy notes peaked. After that, the citrus flavors incrementally went to the forefront… The tangerine, mandarin orange, citrus notes. It was smooth, no astringency nor bitterness. The only changes were earthy notes versus the citrus notes and the orange notes became more distinct as I went.

While it wasn’t a complex tea, I really enjoyed it. I still prefer TeaVivre Aged Chenpi Ripened Tangerine Pu-erh but these would be great to put in my little tin can which consists of a variety of mini tuochas, and mini cakes when I want something convenient.

Porcelain gaiwan, 8g, 205°F to boiling, 110ml, rinse, 11 steeps: 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 120s.

Watching SuperBowl 2019 and had a gongfu session. Nice way to stay relaxed during a tense time lol.

The first time I tried this, I really liked it but the notes were on the light side. It was a busy day, and I had brewed it Western style, as per the suggestions. At the time, I felt it didn’t do it justice. Tonight I went gongfu style, and I prefer it this way. Very creamy, rich, decadent, malty, with strong cherry-chocolate notes. The first couple of infusions were of dark cocoa, but as I progressed I got more and more fruit, cherry-chocolate, some caramel notes, a hint of licorice, vanilla and cinnamon spices. Remained creamy till the end.

7g, 205°F, 110ml, rinse, 10 steeps: 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 30s, 35s, 40s, 45s, 50s, 55s

P.S. The team I was rooting for… Didn’t win. lol

Happy Chinese New Year all. :D

Classic aromas, classic taste. Interesting name. I like it lol.

It has a super dark liquor, thick and almost looks like black syrup. The taste though was surprisingly mellow although rich, full-bodied. I was apprehensive at first looking at it. It’s smooth, earthy, mushrooms, little sweetness, typical fermentation notes, light leather. No fishiness, no bitterness. Lots of flavor throughout, no serious change in notes from steep to steep, just steady and pleasant… But am stopping here, for now, it’s 2 a.m. hehe

Daily drinker.

Yixing gaiwan, mini tuocha, 212°F, 110ml, rinsed twice, 6 steeps: 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 35s

Thank you Derk! :D

First A&D tea! Thank you Cameron B. :D

The dark leaves had brassy orange-ish-gold tips. The first couple of infusions had quite a bit of smoke, campfire as someone accurately said in another review. I got very little malt flavor at this point and became slightly dry, different spice notes like pepper and cinnamon. In later infusions, I got some malty sweet notes, slight sweetness in the finish. The more infusions, the more malt came out, some cocoa notes. I’m thinking that this would be better as A&D suggested, a long steep like 5 minutes vs Gongfu style.

I don’t know how pricey or whether it’s inexpensive but I would classify this as a good daily drinker type if it’s not expensive.

Porcelain gaiwan, 4g, 212°F, 110ml, rinse, 8 steeps: 10s, 20s, 30s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 120s

Well, you know that Mandala glass Thermos I just bought a reviewed a few weeks ago? I already broke it. Um, yeah. It fell to an ugly death. I’m wondering when my new Lupicia mug will join it. lol On a good note, I have never broken a teapot or gaiwan but that’s mainly because it remains on my tray. Thank goodness :). Sigh.

Tons of reviews on this. My two cents: The dry leaves were pretty with twisted black strips and golden tips. It had the aroma of hay. After the rinse, the liquor had a strong sweet potatoes aroma. The liquor was a very bright orange-reddish color. The first infusion I got notes of cocoa, caramel, sweet potatoes, honey, baked bread. The second infusion there were cream notes and floral notes, almost perfumey but not quite. It still had the notes from the first infusion, just more floral. That aroma also was more floral too, less sweet potatoes. The third infusion was a little astringent, more honey sweetness, not as floral. Dried fruit notes became more pronounced in the later infusions. Throughout the infusions, it was sweet, malty, smooth, toasty, with caramel, sweet potatoes, and cream notes. The flavor was relatively rich and satisfying. No bitterness in any of the infusions. Subtle and sweet aftertaste, soft mouthfeel. It gave me good energy… Let’s see what else I’ll break running around. o.O

I didn’t go with the recommended parameters. I opted for a longer steep time this time around.

Porcelain gaiwan, 7g, 200°F, 110ml, rinse, 7 steeps: 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 120s

Thank you Cameron B. :D for today’s daily sipper choice.

At first, I was apprehensive trying this tea. I only like mint if it’s mild… This is subtle and it’s well balanced with the other ingredients. It’s creamy, slightly minty, with a spearmint taste more than peppermint, only because it has a less cooling effect and because of that, it melds really well with the other ingredients so one ingredient isn’t standing out. It’s not strong like Wrigley’s Spearmint Gum (thank goodness). I also feel and taste a little spice, like black pepper or something which really makes it interesting. It’s slightly sweet, I can’t really taste the vanilla. It was a nice surprise.

Thank you, Derk, for this sample. :D It gave me an opportunity to compare it with the other two What-Cha GABA Oolongs. I really wanted to do this! Already great reviews on this so I’ll add a little, then move on to other thoughts.

So this is the same as their Taiwan GABA oolong but with an added: “medium roast to bring out the sweetness in the tea”. It did indeed seem sweeter than the zero roasted one. It also had a nice light roasted flavor, not overwhelming nor overshadowing the fruit and vanilla notes. It had a clean finish, distinct notes of apple and pear. In the later infusions, it became slightly more minerally, less roasted flavor, and got a few spice notes in addition to the fruit. Overall, it was an excellent GABA oolong.

I had a lot of fun trying to compare the three. I’ve come to the conclusion that I still prefer the Vietnam GABA High Mountain Oolong. Mainly because the cultivar is Jin Xuan versus Si Ji Chun. The Vietnam GABA had milky feel vs a clean feel, it had a longer finish vs a clean finish. I also like the baked bread, buttery, black tea-ish notes in the Vietnam GABA. To me, there was a larger spectrum of fruit notes and was a little richer too.

So there you have it. All were excellent. Thank you again, Derk!

5g, 205°F, 110ml, rinse, 11 steeps: 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 30s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 120s

Additional notes on this one:
Got my smell and taste abilities back. Not sure 100% but I’m much better today. Only lasted 3 days or so. I rarely get a cold/flu. Maybe once every other year but this is the second time in the last month or so. It must be a bad year cold-flu wise…

So last time I tried this I used 5g and thought maybe I needed to add more to get the rich full taste of it. Even at 7g (gongfu cha with roughly the same parameters as the first time), I didn’t get want I was hoping for. I think their Medium Roast Da Hong Pao is far better. This is a sipdown by the way. I’ll try the Medium Roast again soon.

Additional note: 7g in 12 oz for 5+ minutes was best I think for this tea. One more thing (I keep adding, sorry lol)… Preparing it this way, it was more floral (that part I didn’t like).