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Urgh. This is annoying me so much not being able to do tasting notes, I think i’m just going to review my cold.

This cold is an interesting one: initial steeps were very hot, ending in me sleeping only four hours last night which wasnt great. The body is medium sore, with the headfeel definitely strong enough to be in the ache category but not as strong as, say, a migraine. My nose is also blocked so im frequently having to bump this with sudafed.

The most amazing thing is the mouthy feeels & huiguan, I just cant taste anything! for three days! Oh how fun that has made drinking tea. They are on to a winner with that one.

medium to strong astringency

I steeped this in a 100ml gaiwan with boiling water

The leaves of this Mi Lan werent full, it was quite broken, although I had the bottom of the bag, and its over a year old now.

Its really perky! One cup and boing, i can feel it. I am comparing it with my benchmark Mi Lan which is the JingTeaShop one. This one has a bit more of a baked flavour – this is however very subtle, not smoky, and i think i can taste the years age on it – it has that slightly softer taste than fresh. Standard orchid floral aroma, less astringency than others. Probably the age again.

I get some butter, cream & honey. Its very pleasant – a bit like honey on toast. Also a lot of oil was released, with a drying mouth. Not super-fruity, more like some of the oolongs from the #OolongTimeAgo group buy.

Quite a mellow tasting cup but with a perky head – I can feel the caffeine. Recommended if you want something soft tasting but with a bit of punch to wake you up.

Got given this as a sample in my Mi Lan Xiang (Honey Orchid Aroma) order, which turned out to be Gu Jiaju Xiang (Ancient Furniture Aroma).

I like this TGY. Its not amazing but its ok for day-to-day drinking. You get the guan yin floral flavour and aroma, some creaminess and nuts in there. A soft vegetal thickness present too.

I oversteeped it a bit to test and it did go bitter, but nothing too bad. A slight astringency.

I would defo buy some of these to give out to all my mates as gifts, and then if anyone appreciates the taste I can go all tea mad on them.

My first AliExpress order, I thought I would try to find a cheap oolong that I could drink all the time so as not to delve into my good stuff, I thought that while it wont be remarkable it could at least be drinkable. I really wanted to like it and will try to be neutral in my review.

This is (apparently) the Autumn 2015 Mi Lan Xiang, which is a Dan Cong I really like.

I opened the bag to be greeted by a smell which I can only describe as a dusty old sofa. It really does smell like that. Perhaps a hint of pot pourri in there. okayyy.

On to the brew, I tried this twice before deciding I am just going to bin it. It doesnt just smell like an old sofa, it also tastes like one. Like, when you were a kid (or adult) and you ate the cushions of your sofa? it tastes like that. Barely perceptible aroma, and mouthfeel of sofa dust. drying and.. salty? I didnt even get much oily weirdness at the bottom of the cup where the leaves were.

Thoughts of how this stuff was stored, and/or how old it is running through my head. I dont know if im spreading misinformation as I dont have a clue how this is stored or if its old but it doesnt taste fresh and nice to me. It really smells like old dusty furniture, not a pu-warehouse storage smell at all.

I tried to brew my current fave Mi Lan to get the taste out and the damn stuff has stuck to my mouth permeating into my current tea with its pot-pourri & dust-flavour, erm, yuck.

Bin it goes :D

p.s. I could only list ‘dust’ as a flavour because ‘old sofa’ isnt on the list

p.p.s. Also, the bag wasnt vacuum sealed, as you can get with other teas, I dont know if that is ever relevant to freshness.

Had a random ‘turkish tea’ given me to try by a Turkish girl.

Tasted like Tobacco, specifically cigars and something slightly spicy. I couldnt place what type of leaf it was, I was listening out for hints but couldnt place it. Wasnt too malty and no sweet notes I could get.

Apparently it probably was Rize tea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rize_Tea

Nice of her to offer me some. :)

Ive Just been drinking this after the 2014 Thurbo, which has some really serious flavour & decent thick aroma, it didnt really stand a chance.

This doesnt have the same body, its lighter and thinner, more flowing. Deeper muscatel aroma (for a FF) but also woody and not as fruity, syrupy or floral tasting as I like.

Reminded me of Roobois a bit, end result was me trying to push the flavour, which is a recipe for disaster. When the astringency comes out the sweetness is still delicate, so there is no counterbalance & the sour just took over a bit too much.

Possibly nice if brewed for a delicate cup before bringing out something with punch.

I’m so excited about the 2016 spring flush its a bit silly. I cant wait to get some decent grade fresh Darjeeling.

I’m still learning about Darjeeling grade, leaf size, and other factors that make a good cup.

This Thurbo, to me, is nice. It has a sour peach fruitiness mixed with a green leaf & lemon freshness. It works really well, once you get the brewing right, as with most FF DJ. I hit it with 70-80c and just under 3 mins, 2.75g western stylee, 12oz glass.

A touch astringency, not any bad amount to shout about. Definitely not going to throw this out of bed, and Thurbo estate is on my radar for this upcoming flush.

I liked this one, nice if you want a bright cup of something citrus-y

Playing catch-up in LP’s 2015 Aged Oolong Group Buy.

These were supposed to be mini tuo made out of Oolong. LP did mention that it was actually a black tea pressed. I noticed sharper malty flavours, like dian hong. I dont drink a lot of black, and certainly not gongfu. It wasnt up my street to be honest! I’m probably making it wrong or something – I treated it like I would gongfu Pu or gongfu Oo – flash steeps etc. I dont think its that kind of tea.

The aroma from the gaiwan was really nice though, and having something fun to get our teeth into is always a welcome addition.

From LP’s Aged Oolong Group Buy 2015.

Totally agree with what others have said about this one.

I think this has been aged well &/or the aging process works well on DHP. I think it added some complexity and tamed what might have been once a bit too roasty for me. It was very much on the edge though.

Chocolate notes and thoughts of coffee were prevalent throughout the session (which has been going on since yesterday – a little bit goes a long way), and I didnt get any bitterness, it wasnt too sharp like some DHP, and wasnt too soft like some aged Oolong I have had from this Group Buy. I could taste some fermentation or storage flavour I get from Puerh, but quite subtly, and only in the earliest steeps.

This is defo something I would consider buying, (…aaaaand its gone, we must have got the last one) If only to share with any friends coming round mine. This wouldnt be my usual go-to for a dark roast Wuyi but I enjoyed the session a lot, and thats all that matters right?