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This came as a free sample with my last What-Cha order (thanks Alistair). I’m not much for dark oolongs but this one was pretty good. It has a comforting aroma of toasted nuts and warm bread. The taste is a cross between bug bitten oolong and black tea. I got a lot of spice and toasted nut steeping it gongfu. Grandpa steeping smoothes it out and gives the tea a honeyed edge. The fruitiness here sorta reminded me of GABA oolong.
Overall, a pleasant oolong with a nice fruity flavor and no char.

Another sampler from Verdant. Their tasting notes are on point here. It has a rather savory flavor profile. It smells and tastes of steamed buns and sausage which sounds worse than it actually is. The malt is light and there’s a bit of cocoa. It’s more of a savory flavor than sweet. The taste wasn’t bad, but just not my style of black tea.

Really excited to discover this tea room near my house. On my first visit today, I picked up an ounce of bao zhong and a mini tou-cha. I tend to be a little wary of buying loose leaf tea from local shops because in my experience, the quality usually isn’t as good as online stores. However, wanting to support a local business, I set aside my reservations and decided to give it a shot.

The first thing I noticed about this tea was the smell. It smelled strongly of vanilla bean and incense. I wonder if that’s was possibly due to cross contamination from another tea? After a rinse, I steeped 5g of leaf for 1 minute at approximately 190 F. The tea brewed up amber so apparently this is a baked oolong. The taste was quite different from other baozhongs I’ve had. The vanilla were there, along with sandalwood, cedar wood and some spice. There’s a tingling, minty sensation left behind in the aftertaste after each sip which I found oddly satisfying on a hot summer afternoon.

This was a very atypical baozhong. It wasn’t the flowery, lilac bouquet I was hoping for. It could have been a good tea, but unfortunately the off flavors spoiled it for me.

I’ve discovered that I prefer the 2nd flushes of most green teas over the softer, more expensive first flush teas. This tea is a case in point. The leaves are beautiful dark green blades pressed flat like dragonwell. On the nose, I get aromas of dark leafy greens, cabbage, spinach, and stir fried vegetables. When brewed it has a green bean-ish taste and with notes of spice, cooked vegetables, and a bit of smoke. Occasionally I can detect undertones of melon and fennel. Being a shade grown tea, there’s a hint of umami as well.

The flavor isn’t bad, but compared to regular laoshan green tea it’s not as zesty nor as satisfying. The mouthfeel is thin and the spice can be too strong at times. For best results, brew with a light hand.

Picked up a sample of this with my recent Verdant order to see how it compared to regular TGY. My initial impressions are there is little difference between the two.

The pale green, loosely rolled leaves have the aromas of orchid and lilac. The tea has a nice, classic TGY taste. It’s heavy on the lilac, and also has notes of orchid and crème brulee. Mouthfeel is a little thin and it doesn’t resteep as well as other TGYs I’ve had.

A solid TGY overall but nothing spectacular. It doesn’t really stand out from their regular version which is a stellar tea in its own right.

Backlog.

This was one of those teas that smelled amazing but the taste didn’t match the aroma. The plump dark green nuggets have the fragrance of creamy vanilla orchids. Following a rinse, there’s a sweet aroma of custard, coconut, and wildflowers. Sadly, none of the aromas come through in the flavor of the brewed tea.

The first steep is thin and vegetal. Sweet buttered peas with floral undertones. The florals become a bit brighter in the 2nd and 3rd steeps but the flavor is still mostly vegetal and there’s just very little to it. No mouthfeel to speak of and it tasted weak, making me think that I underbrewed. Overleafing and increasing steep time and temperature did little to improve the flavor.

I would describe the flavor of this tea as closer to a green tea or four seasons spring. Not a bad tasting tea, but very light and not as good as other AliShans I’ve had.

Second Yunomi shincha of 2017.

I followed the packet instructions which say to steep at lower temperatures like gyokuro. The resultant tea is very umami-heavy and briny. It has that brothy quality I associate with matcha. I liked it better at around 175 F where the umami was toned down and flavor a little more balanced. The mouthfeel is light and there is no astringency even at higher than usual temperatures.

Being partially shaded, this tea has elements of both Sencha and gyokuro, though not necessarily the ones I seek out. It has the umami of gyokuro but without the sweetness. There’s grassiness but it’s too earthy.

While I usually love Japanese green teas, this one was really not up my alley. Both of my Yunomi shinchas this year were misses, but thankfully I only got samplers. I do appreciate the ability to buy sample sizes of teas at Yunomi rather than committing yourself to 100g packets that most Japanese vendors offer. That said, I hope I have better luck with the teas arriving from Yuuki-Cha this week.

My first shincha of 2017. This tea promises a unique flavor that’s rich in orchid florals. The orchid flavor makes a brief appearance but is muddled with persistent bitterness which reminded me of sheng puerh.

I steeped 2g of leaf in a 120ml teapot.

Leaf appearance: dark, broken leaves that turn an unappealing yellow after steeping. barely any aroma.

First steep: 60s @ 160 F. Light bodied, pale yellowish liquor. it has some gyokuro umami and melon like fruitiness.

Second steep: 20s @ 170 F. A nice hint of sweet orchid clashing with the tea’s astringency.

Third steep: 85s @ 170 F. Sharply astringent

At $8 for 10g, this was the most expensive sencha I’ve ever tried and not worth it when a quality gyokuro can be had for half the price.

Backlog.

This is the most coconut-y tea I’ve ever tasted. It’s like eating a delicious coconut cream pie or coconut macaroon. Intermingled with the coconut are notes of tropical fruit – pineapple, passionfruit, and lychee – and a burst of sweet flowers. The body is rich and the mouthfeel buttery. I got 8 excellent steeps out of it.

Shibi tea might just be my favorite tea from TTC. It’s consistently good and although the coconut was a little more intense in this harvest than usual, it had the juicy fruit and floral tones that really set it apart from other teas.

Dragonwell sample #2 from Verdant.

This is a second flush longjing #43 with a stronger vegetal flavor than the first flush. Leaf appearance is similar but not as aromatic. I detected notes of creamed corn and light vegetable soup in the aroma. When brewed, the leaves produce a liquor that is light golden, almost clear. The taste is vegetal, notes of asparagus and cabbage. I also get a little matcha type chalkiness here and there. The mouthfeel is thick, smooth, and clean. It’s got a stronger toasty flavor as compared to the first flush with a touch of astringency.

This one worked better grandpa steeped than gongfu. It’s a decent dragon well but nothing to write home about.