92 Tasting Notes
7g used.
Dry leaves are very dark brown – this may have been in humid storage. It has loose compression. It breaks apart easily, suggesting it has broken down over time.
Wet leaf aroma is warm pastry.
5s – The liquid is dark brown. My guess is this has been in humid storage. Aroma is dust and sweet uncooked pastry. Taste is dusty, earthy, sweet with no bitterness.
10s – Dusty, sweet. Soil. Flat. Not very interesting.
1 minute – It has a staggered flavour profile, that is, it has at least 3 different flavours running linearly. Sweetness, dust and a woody base.
This tea reminds me of the 90s Hong Kong storage by White2Tea, only this is a less flavoured, simpler version, and has none of the raw beetroot flavour.
Flavors: Dust, Wood
Preparation
7g used.
Tight compression. Green aroma.
5s – Complex. Fruit¸ green, herbal. Flavour lingers. Fruity herbal. Dark plums.
5s (again) – So much going on in the flavour. Bit of gunpowder tea smoke; this lingers in green darkish sweetness.
10s – Stronger. No bitterness. Has a treacle-like consistency. The herby taste is quite dry.
20s – There is no floral note an octave higher than the base notes – it has a shorter range (from low to high flavours); howbeit, they are well crafted.
Flavors: Fruity, Green, Herbs, Plum, Smoke
Preparation
7g used.
Aroma of wet leaves, after two rinses, is creamy, sweet and rich.
5s – It has a milk chocolate, sweetcorn likeness. This tea is moreish, similar to some Lattes (the coffee) I’ve had in the past. This is consistent with the seller’s description: ‘has a creamy body similar to that of warm milk’.
10s – Although this has had 12 years to air off, it still has a faint ‘fishy’ taste.
15s – The consistency is thin. The flavour is lingering, and the burst of flavour does not come until after the swallow.
Flavors: Chocolate, Milk
Preparation
Would you purchase this tea? I have had several people recommend it and the description sounds appealing so I might throw one in my next order rather than getting a sample and waiting another month after.
If you want something that is creamy, moreish, $49.50 (£34) and apparently Paul’s favourite ripe, then why not :)
sold
7g used.
5s – Aroma is light herbal on top of earthiness. Flavour is mild. It has a syrupy consistency with a soft finish. Tasted lightly of sweet dark fruits (dried apricots) . Not complex.
10s – Stronger. Slightly punchy. The flavour comes, then it goes. It is pleasant, soft and has a raison like fruitiness. The flavour profile is linear but it does have a short burst of flavour, but this disappears promptly.
15s – Aroma is thick herbal dustiness. The high notes have arrived; however, they do not sit upon a particularly dark base so they do dominate and they do give it a much longer ‘ringing’, sweet finish.
20s – Aroma is steamy dust mainly; herbalness in the background. The high notes are still there, this time accompanied by drying and sweetness. Sweet fruits, plummy sweetness. This is a mellow, not complex, but pleasantly fruity tea.
Flavors: Apricot, Dust, Plum
Preparation
2002 Little Yellow Mark
7g used
5s – Excellent – Full of flavour. Complex: Concentrated green, thick peppery-smokiness, herbal, no strong bitterness.
8s – Smooth but with the peppery smokiness it’s interesting and textured. It has a wholesome flavour.
12s – The concentrated flavour lingers on after swallowing.
20s – Floral sweetness sits on top of the concentrated green base – wow. The treble sweetness is an octave higher than the bass darker notes.
25s – It makes the mouth water and this contrasts with the sweetness of the tea – very good. The tea has astringency, bitterness, sweetness, smokiness, floral notes over a dark green herby base. It combines to something great: it sings in harmony.
Preparation
7g used
5s – Aroma of the leaves has a sweet green flavour as if it has just been steamed. Flavour is fresh sweet green on top of a stronger base.
10s – Very refreshing. Strong, refreshing base, followed by lingering sweet green finish. Has a bite to it!
15s – Leaves have expanded by three times their size. Flavour is sharper. The aroma complements the flavour, which has a green sweet flavour that is difficult to describe. It is not artificial candy sweet like a milk oolong I once tried, nor is it sencha-like sweetness. It does fade away slowly.
Preparation
7g used.
Very loose compression.
3s – Strong. Bright flavour on a dark base, which isn’t green. The bright flavour is interesting in that it lingers on with a honey sweetness. Fruity, plums, hints of fresh basil. Faint smoke.
5s – Stronger. High mountain Oolong (Dayuling) in the background. Bitterness, astringent. Green flavour sweetness has honey and high mountain Oolong flavour.
7s – Pleasant, warming.
?s – No notes.
12s – Lost most of the flavour, milky, going bland. Just bitter, strong high mountain Oolong now.
This tea has disappointed me in only lasting four – five brews; it has done this twice.
Preparation
7g used.
5s – Mellow, light flavour, something like oxo/bovril in the background.
5s – Getting stronger. There is a small amount of green amongst the mellow floral bit. All very faint. Pleasant: not too strong, floral and bit of green.
7s – This is not overly bitter like 2012 Ruiyan Nannuo. Tastes of stewed tea, after it’s gone cold. Not very interesting, unless it changes/open up :(
10s – Concentrated herbyness is there. It was there earlier, possibly as the green taste.
Preparation
I could discount this tea tea as not very good because it is unlike a dry-stored raw pu-erh but then I decided to take some notes anyway.
7g used. Mid/tight compression.
The dry leaf aroma is raw beetroot; an earthy sweet smell. Liquid is deep red/brown, like a cooked pu-erh after a few steeps. The aroma of the liquid is earthy and not as sweet as the dry aroma.
5s – It is unlike a dry stored pu-erh: instead of being green and herby, and concentrated, it is purple (like a mellow taste of beetroot), sweet and open. It has a lingering soilyness which is not simple, unlike another wet-stored pu-erh I’ve had. To hope it to be like dry-stored pu-erh, you are disappointed. This has a different flavour profile.
12s – The soil taste is not unpleasant as it is accompanied by a warm, raw beetroot (or how I imagine the skin to taste) flavour. There is dust. The flavour does linger.
The dark wet leaves do not have the concentrated, complex aroma of raw pu-erh but instead is much simpler, being between raw beetroot and mustyness.
20s – The liquid is darker; the flavour is stronger. It has a sour taste when swallowing. The beetroot, earthy aroma sparkles on top of a dark earthy base.
22s – More sourness in the swallow. Flavour has dark fruits.
