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This baozhong isn’t the most nuanced but it makes for a good cup of tea. Its got a lot of sweetness and a thick, syrupy mouthfeel. The usual baozhong lilacs are there as well as violets, gardenia, and a touch of melon. I steeped this 4 times in a gaiwan with steep times of 1m, 20s, 50s, and 2m.

I’ve switched back to gongfu’ing my baozhongs and I’m starting to enjoy them again. It’s richer and the flavors are clearer than grandpa steeping which is probably better suited for the more expensive competition grade teas.

This was an interesting and unexpected tea. I was expecting a lush, flowery Ali Shan but was surprised by the Dong Ding like toastiness. Turns out I didn’t read the description carefully and this was in fact a baked tea. TTC explains that the Ali Shan competition requires teas to be lightly baked yet still maintain their aromatics. Indeed the fragrance is the most interesting aspect of this tea that sets it apart from typical high mountain oolongs.

Out of the bag, the tea looks and smells like a green oolong. Its got a fruity aroma that reminds me of cantaloupe. Following a rinse, there are new aromas of papaya, almond, roasted stone fruit, and daffodils. The tea begins with a mellow fruitiness and a little oats/grain like nuttiness. Wildflowers briefly appear during the second steeping accompanied by a very subtle roasted note. As it steeps, it picks up a honeyed sweetness and tongue coating mouthfeel. The aroma though is what stands out to me. Normally it would degrade over time but here it astonishingly builds up and evolves during the course of the session. In addition to the notes described above, I caught whiffs of lychee, cooked peaches, and nectar. Even as the tea started petering out around the 4th infusion, the aromatics remained strong and are partly why I pushed this to 8 steeps. The longevity of the aroma was better than that of its flavor.

Though the flavor was different than what I expected, I found this tea enjoyable. For a baked tea, it’s definitely closer to the green end of the spectrum. However, I don’t feel the light roasting added much to the tea. It loses the top notes in exchange for a vague toastiness and some warmth. Straddling an odd middle ground between an Ali Shan and a Dong Ding, it gives a nod to both while lacking the complexity of either.

Meh, this tasted like a generic Chinese green with soup/broth like characteristics. Its thin, spindly leaves closely resemble a mao feng in appearance and also in the way it steeps. Dry leaf has an incense like aroma. I detected notes of stir fried bok choy, okra, and wood. The wet leaf smelled medicinal and camphor like. This one steeps slower than a typical green tea. It needs hotter water and longer steeping times otherwise it tastes like hot water. After some experimentation, I settled on 190 F and 2.5 minutes. Despite the long steep the flavor was fairly subtle. The first steep produced an almost colorless liquor, vegetable broth like taste with a light sweetness. On the second steep I bumped up the temperature to 200 F and doubled the steep time. This infusion brought out more vegetal character from the tea including notes of zucchini, artichoke, and okra.

Despite the name, there’s little resemblance to a Jin Xuan oolong nor is there any milkiness to the tea. I like my greens grassy and robust. The just wasn’t to my taste and not unique or interesting in flavor.

Now this is my kind of black tea – malty, robust, and naturally sweet. The dry leaf has an intense brown sugar aroma, notes of toast and sweet potato, and a hint of tobacco. Wet leaf had an even sweeter aroma evoking molasses and balsamic vinegar. The first steep was rich and full-bodied with notes of malt, brown sugar, and cocoa. The brown sugar sweetness became more prominent in the second steep and was accompanied by a touch of earthiness. By the third steep, the tea mellowed a bit and took on a pleasant dark chocolate and malt profile. I western steeped this for 3 minutes followed by two additional infusions of 5 and 7 minutes.

I’ve written about my preference of 2nd flush greens and am beginning to wonder if I have a similar affinity for black tea. My favorite black teas by far have been flavor-forward low cost teas from Fujian and Yunnan. Taiwanese blacks and the “Imperial” grade versions OTOH just don’t do much for me. They are a little too delicate for my taste. This one is an outstanding tea that feels like a steal at $5 and some change for a 50g bag.

Teaware has come to play an important role in my tea drinking experience. With all of the tea ware I’ve amassed so far, I figured it’s high time I reviewed some on Steepster so here goes.

I had coveted this Sawa Houzan Shiboridashi ever since it began popping up on Instagram. It looked so elegant with its graceful shape, webwork of crackles, gemstone-like knob, and unique “rake” filter. Online reviews convinced me to get it and I finally picked one up during a sale at Yunomi. Having owned this for well over a year and half now, I have quite a few thoughts to share about its positives as well as its downsides.

When I first received it, I was disappointed that it looked different from what was pictured online. In pictures, its cream colored with faint pink streaks. However the one I received was all cream which looked rather plain and not as exquisite. I ended up keeping it though since it would have been too costly to ship it back to Japan. Another feature not as advertised was the capacity. It’s supposed to be 150ml but mine is closer to 120ml which actually works out better for me. The interior is glazed allowing you to brew any kind of tea in it. This teapot is designed for steeping Japanese green tea, but ironically I’ve found Japanese greens to be the worst suited tea for this vessel. The fine leaves clog the filter creating a huge mess and leading to longer steeping time and bitterness. And it’s a chore to scrape the small tea leaves off the lid, filter, and walls of the teapot. It’s the same story whether you use a full leaf tea like gyokuro or a fine sencha. But all is not lost because it works fabulously with Chinese greens, blacks, and oolongs. There are 20 or so fine grooves near the spout that effectively catch the leaves and minimize the amount of sediment in the cup. No need for an external filter when using this teapot. The pour is a little longer than a gaiwan though so it may not be ideal for puerh or other flash steeped teas. I find that Chinese greens and kamairicha taste better in my shibo than gaiwan which I attribute in part to the better heat retention from its thicker walls. In fact it’s my preferred teapot for steeping all greens but sencha which still works best in a kyusu.

I normally don’t like orange flavoring in tea but is this is a very nice blend as far as flavored teas go. While it does have a citrus kitchen cleaner like smell, the floral orange taste is subtle and natural. The tea starts off citrusy and slight sour before transitioning to an orange blossom honey like sweetness. It reminds me of an earl grey with its bergamot like flavor and dried orange flowers sprinkled throughout the tea leaves. I grandpa steeped this using slightly less than a gram of tea in an 8 oz glass.

First flush teas are supposed to be highly prized but for me, the taste doesn’t always live up to the hype. Second flush greens and darjeelings are often more robust than early picked tea. Take for example this Imperial Grade Laoshan green tea. I tore through 25g of the “Classic” second flush version of the same tea in no time but I haven’t been able to muster the same enthusiasm for its 1st flush counterpart. This has the familiar vegetal notes of soybean, fennel/anise, and green bean however they were washed out and the tea had little depth of flavor. The anise note in particular is a little too strong at times bordering on astringent. I also get fewer steeps from this than I do from the Classic laoshan green tea.

Lesson learned, higher grade doesn’t necessarily translate to better taste and I’m happy that I can save money by buying second flush teas.

Second tea from my Mountain Stream Teas sampler. This was a lighter Li Shan than I’ve had before. It’s described as having “clear beginnings to a sweet and sour stone fruit finish.” Tasting it, there is indeed a nice interplay of green apple tartness and sweeter, fruity notes. Slight herbaceous notes kick in in the finish. This tea is less flowery than your typical high mountain oolong. The florals appeared briefly around the 3rd steeping but faded rather quickly to vegetal notes.

It began like a green tea, peaked quickly and then flattened out as it settled back into a green tea. It didn’t have the viscous body nor the rich mouthfeel I’ve come to expect from this kind of tea. There were lots of enticing smells coming from it – custard cream, tangerine, clover honey, etc – but unfortunately very little of it came through in the taste. Overall, a passable Li Shan but far from extraordinary.

I was really excited when I saw this tea online. TTC once carried a pomelo flower scented oolong that was out of this world good. It’s still one of my top 10 Taiwanese oolongs of all time. I was hoping this could match the TTC tea but sadly it pales in comparison. The pomelo fragrance is just barely there and tastes like it faded a long time ago. Some unexpected bitterness was encountered when cold brewed and grandpa steeped. It was a little better when gongfued but still had a very faint pomelo flavor. The underlying Jin Xuan is thin-bodied and doesn’t contribute much to taste either.

I just saw that this tea was discounted on Mountain Stream’s website with a note explaining that it was now past its shelf life. That’s a little surprising considering it was harvested only a few months and sealed but would explain my experience. I do appreciate the vendor’s honesty though. May consider trying it again in the future if I can get my hands on a fresh batch.

This was an enjoyable light roasted TGY. Its got the familiar florals of jade TGY but they are far less intense and counterbalanced by warm pretzel undertones. I get notes of violet, sandalwood, plantain, a little lychee, and toasted nuts. The roasted taste becomes more prominent as the tea steeps but remains subtle like baked goods without any ashyness. The body of the tea and mouthfeel, however, were a bit thin and on the watery side. That may be due to having only steeped this grandpa style so far. Guess I’ll have to gongfu this to give it a fair shot. Lately I’ve been gongfuing less and have drifted back to western and grandpa style brewing. It also doesn’t help that my new Aliexpress glass mug with built-in filter makes grandpa steeping ridiculously easy.