New Tasting Notes

I really don’t like hops. This tea basically tasted like pure steeped hops, but I dumped in a bunch of French Vanilla creamer and drank it anyhow. I might have found it more redeeming had the base been more prominent, but it was not.

This may be an unfair review as I am just getting over a cold, so I will try the tea again in the near future. But for now, my opinion stands. And btw, I got this sample with my second order from TSR, where I bought a tuo of 2007 V93 and a cake of 2007 Haiwan.

Given the fame of this recipe, I was expecting much more. There’s nothing wrong with this tea, it’s just bland and simple. Sure, it tastes like a shou puerh, but without much positive going for it. The primary flavor is death/decay and not much else.

Somehow I completely forgot that I had purchased this one with my last YoT order! I found it when rummaging through my cakes. I definitely like this one more than the other Liu Bao I had previously tried. Still haven’t ever tried betel nut and don’t plan on it, so hard to say if that’s the flavor I get.

I wouldn’t say I get the medicinal notes that others get, however. I think the predominant flavors are earthy and root vegetables. Nice mouthfeel and good longevity.

2025 sipdown no. 6

The base here was too sharp for my liking, finicky and quickly becoming astringent. I tried this hot at various temperatures and cold steeped, to no avail. The base was so bothersome to me, I barely noticed the flavour, but the spices and pumpkin were there, but nothing to write home about. Finally, I mixed some Wild Quince (from Georgian Tea 1847) into what was left and that mellowed it enough to enjoy this as a work tea.

Sipdown! But only of my taster size.

I have recently been on a 52teas favourites kick as the world (well, a specific part of it anyhow) descends into nonsense. Delicious, rich, and comforting. Seriously, Anne makes the best and most perfect flavoured teas.

I had no idea what to expect for this one. The flavor was mostly slightly celery-ish chamomile plus a hit of ginger. Plain, I didn’t love the combination. Sweetened with milk, it was better, though not great. I considered adding flavoring syrup since it was a little plain.

My recent acquisitions from Tealyra included Surajamukhi Assam Orange Pekoe. I find it rather pleasant to sip, even if it doesn’t knock my hat off. 1.5g in 8 oz boiling spring water for 2 min produced a deep amber infusion with the expected Assam flavor profile. Notes of malt and raisin, with a caramel nose, enough astringency to tickle the tongue, decent aroma, pleasing aftertaste and a little stewiness as the cuppa cooled. Reasonably priced and better than grocery store CTC Assams. I’ll rate it as 75 and recommend it, with the caveat that there are richer and smoother Assamic options out there.

4.7g, 90 mL ZZZ

wet leaf: YQH storage, light smoke, sweet, dark fruit, slight barnyard

1. sweet, slight cherry, effervescent alcohol tinge to taste and finish like the other YQHs recently. some woody and underlying bitterness though nowhere to the extent of the CWS and DJYS recently. light sugary quality like watermelon

2. herbal tea. some sweetness alongside oversteeped astringent bagged tea taste on rear of tongue. relatively strong bitterness here

3. similar in taste. bitter lingers on tongue.

4. sedative. woody. YQH dark marshmallow-y taste

took a long break in between to watch the snow outside since was super lethargic already. steeps 5-7 were mostly similar, and pewtering out. Outside of my earlier criticisms on taste (bitterness not resolving well, and fairly linear), I can’t drink this tea too often, because it is one of the most downing teas I own. There are some teas that are comforting and settling (e.g., aged BYHs and most older LBs), but this is not that. It feels forceful, like you are trapped doing nothing and unable to change that for some time. For an errand-free Saturday (yay for modern day grocery delivery), it is fine. For any other day (which is 99% of the time), it hardly fits the bill.

4.4g 4GC LB 90s, 90 ml duanni

Mothball, beet smell

1. Kind of thin. Just a general beet taste, some powdery sweetness on finish. Light headiness, maybe from a recent caffeine break

2. Pushed a bit for thicker texture. Still beet, powdery finish. Some touch of floral in the finish that some dankly stored teas seem to get (like the changtai 03 bamboo spring/jinzhushan)

3. Steep color lightened. Beet, hint of spice/peppery, light warmth in shoulders

4. Color lightened here as well. Flatly sweet taste. Decided to simmer the rest for 5 min.

simmered mug was decent, drinkable enough. Not a huge fan of this one, since I prefer the woody profiles to the beet heavy ones

Stumbled on an old Hou De blog post about brewing aged oolongs. This one isn’t as old as the ones mentioned there, but anyway, adapted those parameters a little with excellent results. Will try to stick to these going forward for older oolongs.

5.4g, 90 ml ZZZ

Leaves in prewarmed pot: caramel, plum

Wet leaf: roast, inky sweet. Lid has the empty cup smell of a roasted oolong

1. 30s: tea has sour plum and medicinal in the cup. A bit bitter medicinal in taste and sweet grassy roast/smoke/plum in the finish w a strong celery/mineral note that I usually get w apparent zhengyan teas. Lingers in the throat
2. 35s. Sour plum aroma. Bitter medicinal taste and some sourness. Some aftertaste lingering smoky mineral
3. 40s. Mostly plummy. Not as much aftertaste as steeps one and two, but some sweetness on finish that builds into the lingering notes from those
4. Forgot about it but prob 1 min+. Lightened. Finish has shifted into mushroom-y and tire smoke
5. 2 min. Plummy hint

The first time where the cold remainder of the first cup didn’t actually taste chocolate-y or that great. But, over the course of steeps, the aftertaste continues to build and linger and is really lovely. A cursory glance at my notes on EoT offerings probably makes clear that I have a general indifference towards most of the teas I sampled from there, i.e., not terrible, but not worth chasing down. Happy to report then, that though this is pretty pricey, the tea is quite pleasant. Am I going to buy the full pillow pack after sampling though, probably not. One can dream about winning the lottery, but not healthy to do so too often.

Thermos’d (500ml) the rest for 2.5 hr. Was a solid but not outstanding cup the usual roast oolong thermos profile. Warming feeling that I didn’t feel during the active brew session, but tbf my apartment is sort of cold bc winter heating costs are borderline outrageous.

Simmered the rest for 10 min or so. Mostly dead but is the sharp floral of oversteeped light roast oolong w barest hint of plum on finish

5.7g, 70 ml gaiwan

Smell is roast and chocolate

1. Taste is watery roast. Aftertaste is a bit astringent, grassy, and floral

2. similar in taste. Something sweet lingers in rear nasal cavity

3. Really astringent

4. Similar watery. Stopped here

Overall not a fan of overly floral teas so DC is already not really my favorite and this one is just not very good. should be able to finally finish the bag soon.

Sipdown! I have been drinking this for a few days straight now and although I don’t think it grew on me enough to want to buy it again, I do like it and would for sure drink more of if I came across it. It almost has a savory coconut way about it that was really nice.

4.5g, 70 mL thin gaiwan

leaves in gaiwan smell super fruity, almost passionfruit like

wet leaf has a bit of smoke and a plasticky floral. standard DC territory. aroma from gongdaobei is tomato sweet like some light oolongs exhibit

1. green vine, floral. fruity notes linger on tongue

2. really nice aftertaste, with shifting florals in throat.

Did not take notes after but taste here was a bit light and did not linger as extensively as I expected from reading other notes and I felt like it was not fully extracted. I cold brewed the mostly spent leaves overnight and that was still a nice cup. Maybe both a water and ratio/size issue. My tap is decent enough, and I really don’t want to generate more plastic waste when I don’t need. Also am too lazy to customize water all the time. As for ratio/size, DXJD mentions 6-8g/100 mL as their suggestion, and have also personally had better luck with high ratios and flash steeps in a slightly bigger gaiwan (90 mL) for the last few DCs. i think 70 just does not hit critical mass for whatever reason, or maybe not fitting to my preference