New Tasting Notes

I’m drinking it Western style today in a big ol’ mug, and it’s been interesting. A little bit of a lighter body than expected, with top notes a little on the more dark and fruity side but with a bit of molasses in the mix, too. Raisins, dates, fig jam, and jujube. The body is smooth almost to a fault, with clean earthy notes and a woodiness that makes me think of the pine-y sawdust smell of my grandfather’s workshop. It’s not bad at all, but I am finding it just a little bit flat. The fruit could be richer or more syrupy, and the earth and wood notes more dank or mineral-rich. Instead, everything comes off a touch too polished. Perhaps it’s the brewing method, or maybe it needs to keep chilling for a while before it’ll come into its own. For right now, though, this ripe pu’erh is really just leaving me rather “whelmed” feeling. Has anyone else tried this? What were your thoughts?

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DGRRdTaSmlF/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc1MzpV1XcI&ab_channel=IndiETrap

Gongfu!

I’ve been really into Taiwanese teas lately, and Ruby-18 was one of the first styles of black tea I truly fell in love with, so it’s been especially nice surrounding myself with them as of late. This is an exceptionally smooth and full-bodied one that practically feels like it’s dripping with that hallmark refreshing and ever so slightly cooling wintergreen note. It makes for such a round, mouth-coating brewing experience with carefully interlocked notes of sweet malty breads, candied yams, lush but darkly sweet red fruits, and just a hint of carob after the initial wintergreen passes. I do very much love though that, because of the lightly cooling menthol finish, you really get this sort of “wintergreen sandwich” that bookends the sip. I’ve purchased from Cha Gloriette the last few years, though usually oolongs. This is the first black tea of theirs to make it home with me, and I am nothing short of impressed!

Also, I know I’ve had a lot of TO Tea Fest posts lately, but I’m really committed to sipping my way through everything I picked up, which was, frankly, a lot! So thank y’all for coming along on the post-festival tea review journey!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DGT6vb8yrsT/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHtkrEwk8ps&ab_channel=ToneTreeMusic

Gongfu!

Such a soft, silky mouthfeel with a flavour that sits on the line between creamy fresh churned butter, White Rabbit candy, and coconut milk and more cooling, crisp cucumber pulp and skins. With a bit of age on it now, I find this brews up with a bit more body and some deeper, slightly brown sugar tinged peachy and nectarine-like stonefruit notes in the mid sip. It’s still that irresistibly smooth and milky flavour that stays with you post swallow, though, and makes for such a calm way to ease into the day. But seriously, how has it been four years already!? It feels like just a few months ago that this white tea was pressed…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DGWhDJ3SSQy/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrkAfTz2iYk&ab_channel=CoolBand

2024 Advent Calendar #9
Hmmm looks like my prior tasting note didn’t save. Bummer.

I was kind of surprised that when I took the sachet out of the pouch it smelled of apples. My nose may have been playing tricks on me as there’s no apples in this blend. It is a mildly floral black tea. I don’t believe I’ve had catnip in my tea before. I wish I had woken up sooner to enjoy a bit of tea meditation but alas the rest of the family is up and they are never quiet. Enjoyed this mug but not on the must buy list

Cha Cha Tea is a little tea shop in Kingston, Ontario, run by a lovely Japanese lady (Kaoru Sato Miller). Most of what she sells is from Metropolitan Tea Co, but she does have a small collection of fresh Japanese green teas that she orders in directly from a Japanese tea garden. So this is one of those.

The dry leaf is gorgeous. The tea leaves are small, thin, a bit broken, and dark green. There is a generous amount of brown roasted rice. The scent of the dry leaf is sweet and fresh. After the hot water hits it, that’s when you get all the toasty aroma (I turned away to do something else while it was steeping, and suddenly noticed the toasty scent several steps away from where my mug was sitting on the counter).

Now. The brewing method listed on the package is as follows:
“Use 1 1/2 – 2 tsp/6oz cup. Pour boiling water. Steep for 1 min. Can be reinfused 2-3 times consecutively.”
I like to brew my tea in a 300ml mug with a brewing basket. I measured two “tea spoons” (the kind that actually hold 1.5 tsp) into the basket and that came out to 12g, which seemed like plenty, so that’s what I went with. Brewing green tea with boiling water is a bit taboo, but it totally works for this tea. I’ve done two steepings so far, first for 1min, second for 2min. The leaf expanded to half-fill my brewing basket after the first steeping and about 3/4 full after the second, so I don’t think I’ll try leafing any more heavily, at least not with this brewing method.

The tea liquor is golden in colour and has a light toasty/grassy aroma. The flavour is very smooth, almost no bitterness or astringency. The toasted rice flavours are nicely balanced with the sencha, which is grassy and vegetal, almost spinach-like. Very warm and comforting. Definitely recommend.

This tea coats your entire mouth and teeth with its acidic and piercing citrus flavor. Oily texture and truly unique. Do long steeps for a full experience.

The moment you open the package you know this one is a big-time winner. The grind is so fine the the electrostatic properties are super strong! When I opened the package the matcha went poof. And not wanting to waste any of the fine powder I, looking like an idiot in hindsight, started trying to lick the air. ^^;
Feel: So smooth it is almost like you aren’t touching it.
Aroma: The newest grass shoots. Sweetgrass. Bits of umami. Fresh grated, cold, high-quality parmesan cheese. If you don’t believe me go pull parmesan out of the fridge and grate it.
Color: Amazing. Vibrant green. Shamrock. Wow.
Flavor: SO FRESH! Some might call this bland because of the lack of facial punch you receive like some matcha but I quite enjoy the incredibly subtle notes this holds. Also I highly enjoy that the marine attributes slowly sneak up if you sip it longer.
Mouthfeel: Air. It’s like sipping air. Liquid air? That sounds weird but it’s the freshest air with spring qualities added. It’s so smooth it’s like the purest water with the essence of pure ocean water. As you let it settle a bit more on your palate the marine attributes come out more.

Makes a decent cold brew. Not bold in its flavor, but enjoyable.

2025 sipdown no. 7

Thanks Martin for sending this!

I had the first two cups of this at home and found it to be floral-bitter, like a lower quality Darjeeling perhaps. The last two cups I had at work and found it to be milky in taste. Neither version was for me!

I tried boiling and 200°F at both 3 minutes and 2.5 minutes.

I taste the cherry without it coming off as medicinal, which is nice. The base reminds me a bit of bark, but in a good way. It was all too mildly flavored for my preferences though. The second time I had this, I didn’t really taste any cherry.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – February 2025 Tea #6 -Your most “past date” tea

If only every tea had a “past date” on it, I might not have such a huge collection of tea.  It might be a reality check once in a while.  This is probably the oldest tea I have with me, so I thought I would include it for this prompt. It amazes me that a SMALL SAMPLE that I gave a rating of 94 to would take me TWELVE years to finish. See: reality check. This isn’t a tea I didn’t like!  I guess I was hoarding it, knowing it’s such a unique blend.  I was able to find another shop that has it: Eastern Leaf calls it Organic Lemongrass Ginger Carrot Apple Herbal Tea.  Maybe one day.
2025 sipdowns: 10
2025 unique sipdowns: 9

Quite a subtle black tea that is not as robust as most examples of the category on the market. Its aromas are very floral with rose being the primary association for me. The taste is bitter and has a woody astringency as well as coffee-like sourness. There are notes of sap, peanuts, earth at first. Later, more of a “Japanese” character comes forward. The taste has more umami and hints of shellfish and wheat, as well as molasses and allspice in the aftertaste.

I really like many Jing Gu teas and this one is one of my favourite ones among them. It also shows how well teas from this region can age, I am really happy with its progression in my home storage.

The tea has quite a vegetal and savoury character with plenty of bitterness, but its taste profile is really hard to describe. What I can say with certainty is that it makes me want to drink more. The aroma has a sage note. The taste notes include dry earth, bread, sunflower seeds, cocoa beans, parsnips, almonds and also a strong fennel one that persists into the aftertaste. The tea is thick, oily and a bit spicy.