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Brenden gave me a 5g rolled ball of this to try out (The Spring 2016 harvest, I imagine). And holy cats this is good. It has a very sweet syrupy scent to it mixed in with the malt. Almost like a pancake and syrup breakfast. The taste is just as good. While not quite as sweet as the scent on the nose, it still has that signature malty sweetness. I would venture to say the taste of it is close to a honey than syrup. Still delicious either way. And it lasted a good 6 or 7 infusions with solid flavor while brewing gongfu style. This is what I look for in a black tea.

This is actually a special review for me. I had been in contact with Brenden back and forth recently and we had discussed getting together for tea, being fellow Michigan based tea lovers. This past Sunday, that day came. We met up at a local park and talked and drank tea for a few hours.

This tea was among the teas we took in. Maybe it was the fact that I had the owner of Whispering Pines brewing tea for me while we sat in a park but man… this tea was spot on. Sweet, nutty, clean. Completely delicious.

We ended up getting rained on a bit after finishing this tea. It was pretty awesome. And certainly an honor. So, get this tea. My next order will definitely have this in there.

Thanks again, Brenden. Until next time! Cheers.

Getting ready to brew up a sample of this that I took from the Beginners Puerh TTB while I wait for some tree trimmers to come take down about 6 dead Jack pines I have in the back yard among a grove of other Jack and Red pines. My wife and I just bought this property a little over half a year ago and these trees have been dead since we bought the place so it is time for them to come down.

I have a nice chunk of it and it does look a bit like a clump of dirt, as someone had previously described it. I gave it a ten second rinse and the wet leaves smell like wood and petrichor.

First steep at 15 seconds brews up dark for a first steep. Hazelnut brown, perhaps. First sip and yup. This is going to be good, you guys. A smooth earthy sweetness coats the mouth and throat. It is very light and subtle this steep but it is there, promising of more to come. Makes the eyebrows perk up on the first few sips.

2nd steep at 20 seconds and 3rd steep at 25 seconds. Both are smooth with a light woody/earthy profile.

4th steep at 30 sec and there is a little more punch to this one, in a pleasant way. A bit stronger, more rounded and full.

Going into the 5th steep and the Tree service people arrived. I continued to drink this session, lost track of steeps and time for each. But what I can say, as I’m still sipping on brews of this is that it is a very forgiving tea for when you are distracted. I am able to not pay this tea too much mind before getting it into my mouth and it is still pleasant. That is a fairly good compliment, I believe.

Wow, this tea while steeping smells super sweet. Almost like a chocolate. The first steep, I went 30 seconds and I think I could have let it go to 1 min but it still has a nice malty flavor to it. I am picking up a very slight green grass bitterness to it but not in an off putting way. Bittersweet, perhaps? I let my son have a sipper and he enjoyed it.

Second steep at 45 sec and I’m getting a bit of a citrusy note alongside the malt.

3rd steep at 1:30. No bitterness here, seems to have steeped out. A very smooth and delicious tea is left behind. Thick, rich mouth-feel and a satisfying slurp.

4th steep at 2:15. Yup, still delicious. This tea isn’t missing a beat. I’m not exactly paying the closest of attention to it but it is still performing enough to grab my attention.

5th steep at 4 minutes. Still getting really good flavor from this tea. More than I would have expected. It’s very impressive.

Speaking of not paying attention, 6th steep, 15 minutes. Haha. I do believe I have extracted the last of this tasty treat. Even the last steep of 15 minutes was flavorful and smooth.

This tea is really fun. The scent out of the bag is strong and made me question if this would be something I was going to enjoy but the smokiness blends very well with the cinnamon and it was a smooth drinker enjoyed by many in my tea and book club.

Update: As I went through and got to about the 6th steep or so that lasted 10+ minutes, I was able to reflect on the journey that I had while drinking it and reading American Gods. This tea is better than I gave it credit for originally. It is a smooth drinker and it has a good flavor that lasts far longer than it has any business doing. So, I am bumping the rating up.

This tea is fairly good. A very fresh vegetal/green flavor. Very low on the bitterness factor. I’m getting a pea/green bean type of flavor with perhaps some fresh grass. I wish I could say more about it but… I’m really starting to realize that greens are not my favorite. Give me a roasty, toasty oolong and I am pleased. Whenever I drink more green oolongs and teas in general, I am more often than not left disappointed. I wouldn’t say I am disappointed with this tea as I can tell it is good for its style but it certainly isn’t my favorite BECAUSE of its style.

Every time I have this, I’m so glad that I have it in my cupboard. I really hope this comes back in stock at some point. I would buy up most of it.

I should preface this with the fact that I am probably not a good person to get advice from regarding shengs. I’ve only tried a handful and have only found one or two that even agree with me. Having said that, I’m not a quitter and I keep trying new shengs to see what I might enjoy.

I sampled some of this from the Beginners Puerh TTB. I drank some of it with my wife while we were playing cribbage. There was definitely an apricot/stone fruit type of scent to the dry leaves. The wet leaves exacerbated this effect.

The flavor on the first few steeps was light and slightly sweet. However, it turned a bit bitter near the 3rd or 4th steep. Not overpoweringly so, just enough to let you know it was there and detract from any of the lighter sweetness present. We did not see this one through and ended our session fairly early on with it. It just didn’t speak to us. For the half session or so that I did have with it, it provided a warming energy that I imagine would have gotten stronger if I had drank more. Also (and take this with grain of salt as I have a temperamental tummy), I noticed it made my stomach a little sour. Nothing too horrible but again, I only drank half a session and the stomach pangs were present.

Overall, I can see how this is a quality tea and many people would enjoy it. But, with my unrefined sheng tongue, it didn’t do much for me that was worth it. Having said that, I do have a 4 or 5g sample left if anyone would be interested.

I used this tea to pair with The Mists of Avalon in my tea book club, titled Steeply Scared. It was such a hit. Velvety smooth, the flavors blended perfectly. Out of about a dozen or so teas I have introduced to the book club thus far, this one seemed to have the biggest positive reaction with a couple of members wanting to get the information on the tea to order some for themselves. I think that says more than anything I could write up here.

I had ordered another tea from Zhi Tea for a book club of mine and saw that this tea had a great rating so decided to pick up a sample.

I can see why this has such a good rating. It is a smooth, balanced black tea with yummy malty notes. Very drinkable and tasty. It is a very solid black tea that would be a superb choice for an everyday drinker.