1040 Tasting Notes
CrowKettle wrote yesterday " It’s an unholy merging of pure things that brings one to weeping in disgust and horror." LOL – ok – I just received my tin of this, so of course I had to try it.
While I may not be getting the same notes that she did – not getting the smoked bacon – I’m agreeing with the sentiment in that statement.
My first impression was charred black rotten mushrooms. As it cools that’s changing to 6 hour old burned to the bottom of the pot coffee.
I added a little sweetener and a splash (or more than a splash of milk)…. Now there is some banana in here but I’m not sure that’s a good addition to this party.
There is no doubt that this is an AU smoked tea, they all have something a little odd in the back. This isn’t a little odd…….
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bcdmd_Qhlda/?taken-by=dex3657
ETA: Because I’m a sucker for punishment I did a 2nd steep. I did 95C 4 minutes. I added sweetener and milk. The smoke has been shoved way to the back. There is some caramel banana in here (but some of that might be the sweetener). I’m also getting meaty/mushroom/umami something that I wouldn’t call truffle. This is better but still way too strange……
Jets lost the game tonight…. :(
I’m emotionally attached to this tea. It made me happy way back in the Teopia days and it still makes me happy today. I received my order of 250g today and I don’t think that was a mistake. I will drink this often.
I’m drinking it out of one of my favorite mugs. Yes there are a few small paint chips, but I don’t care – this is a happy mug for my happy tea.
I found an old tin of this at my sister’s but one of her friend’s ended up taking it home. It was so neglected, but still smelled amazing after all these years! One day I’ll have to try it again from this company :)
Also, that’s an awesome mug! Some of my favourites have paint chips too- it adds character :P
Delighted that you did the 250 grams. Invest in love.
My throat hurts tonight. Not sure if I’m getting sick or if I was just talking too much at work (training a student).
I love this tea, I really love this tea. It was on sale during Black Friday so I bought 2 tins. What I really like is that it’s different every time I have it. The first cup tonight was really lime. The second cup was more peach. Either way it’s just amazing. The base in most fruity oolong is normally pretty green. This is a darker oolong and that makes me really happy. I’m not really getting much that I would call pistachio but I’m pretty sure if it wasn’t there I would feel something was missing. Dunno – I just love it.
The instructions say to steep it for 5 minutes, I think it does better with a shorter steep. 3.5-4 minutes seems to work best for me.
It’s really cold and windy here – winter has come.
Frustrating day at work.
Condo Board drama continues.
Jets gets hammered 5-1.
This tea is just ok for me tonight. Not bad just nothing special.
Think I’m just going to go to bed and try again tomorrow
Uggg I’ve been dealing with condo board issues since I got off work. How did I get talked into doing this?
I don’t drink enough oolong and I really don’t drink enough aged oolong. This is a good one. This makes me happy. It’s really dark and roasted with out being smokey. It has some really nice woody notes, and it’s a little nutty.
This is a formosa oolong, I normally prefer wuyi yancha. I’ve steeped this tonight in one of my yixing clay pots – trying to get some of those mineral notes from the clay. Clay and dark oolong is a beautiful thing.
(the light caught my stone weird in this photo – looks strange…) https://www.instagram.com/p/BcTa0d-hwBE/?taken-by=dex3657
Beautiful tea ware.
And your tea postings make me deliriously happy. :)
Thank you – I have MOUNTAINS of tea ware. I’ve been really good about that this year too – I only bought that tiny yellow gaiwan while in Toronto. LOL One piece of teaware in a year is unheard of….
Clearly, I have a lot of catching up to do. (Nope, not doing it or that’s what I say now.)
Watching the Hockey Guy’s live Youtube feed and drinking this tea. There was a comment about it last week in a FB group. I haven’t drank it in quite awhile so tonight is the night.
I think I over leafed this a little bit. It’s a little bitter but I still like it. It’s really dark and a little chocolatly – like bittersweet chocolate with some tannin. I’m drinking it out of one of my crazy pottery mugs. Just having a nice night with some good tea.
The goal for today was to go out and do some raid battles in Pokemon Go. Caught Ho-oh in the first battle I found in my neighborhood – so that was easier than expected and came home early to lounge around the house for the rest of the day.
Tonight I’m drinking this YS Laoshan. Not what I was expecting. This should be chocolatey – it not. It’s desserty but not chocolate. It’s more sweet potato/pecan pie. Yam/starch, cooked sugar, nutty, and a little roasty. The mouthfeel is also a little thin for my liking – this makes it seem more watery than it really is. This is good – it’s fine – I’m happily drinking it tonight, but it’s not amazing. Thanks Evol for sharing.
I’m using my fun little pot tonight. I really like this pot for black and oolong teas. It doesn’t pour fast enough for moonlight or sheng, but for darker teas it’s a great little pot. Happy I bought it.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcN-UkEhThI/?taken-by=dex3657i found the imperial grade to be not so much LB. I prefer the cheaper classic version if looking for that more chocolatey version. It really depends on the year though :(
^ That.
Still, I seem to have better luck with this one with cooler temperatures.
What, Pokemon has raid battles and Ho-oh?! I haven’t looked at that app since late spring _
Also, nice pot.
CrowKettle – yes – raid battles…. they happen at gyms – depending on the mon that’s the boss of the raid you need a few people to help you defeat it. Once it’s defeated, all trainers who took part have the opportunity to try and catch that mon. They have been releasing the legionaries one at a time as raid battle bosses since the summer. Right now it’s Ho-oh until 12Dec. They haven’t announced what’s’ coming next…
I’ve had a request to start writing tasting notes again. This confuses me, I stopped writing notes because I felt I didn’t have anything interesting to say. There are lots of people here who are more articulate and have a better palate than I do. But as requested, here goes…
Tonight I’m just hanging out at home, watching the hockey game, petting the cat, eating banana bread, drinking this tea.
I normally choose and prefer China black teas, but it’s always nice to break it up with something different. This one is light with the high notes I would expect from a Taiwan black. It’s really fruity – normally I would think grape/wine fruity in this style but these are stone fruit notes. There is also some tannin (?) and a little suck the moisture out of your mouth thing. There is also a little smokiness as it cools. I don’t feel this style will every be my favorite but this was fun to try and I think it’s different enough from a typical Taiwan black to make it interesting.
Thanks Evol for sharing.
Yay!
Omigoodness! She’s here! She’s here! With tea even!
Love your tea ware!
Ah! Welcome back!
Glad you’re back!
Agreed write away! My ramblings are much more difficult to get through.
Aw, I missed your notes. Welcome back! :D
Hi Dexter!!! Welcome back :)
You’ve definitely been missed! Welcome back!
Omigoodness.
Did you do your magic with the steeping parameters?
Not all the way – I wanted to try it first. I was cautious not to overleaf and I steeped 4 min using 95C water. Will cut back on all three next time. Less leaf 90C water 2.5 min steep and see what happens….
I’m continuing to drink this as it cools – it’s actually getting better (I’m not saying good)- it’s pretty cool, almost cold now and this is smokey dark bitter chocolate coffee banana. But that gives me a little hope that if you play with it maybe can bring those notes forward sooner.
I liked the second still a little more too; it lends support to the idea that less is better with this one! XD
And the bacon bit is more of a dry leaf smell thing for me. It got up my nose, confused my brain, and lingered the time length it took me to consume the pot…
hmmm, I look forward to your reports as you explore this further.