526 Tasting Notes
I can’t believe I never reviewed this tea! This is truly an extraordinary tea, and I sincerely hope it is available for the 2020 year. The Moonlight White broke my record for most expensive western tea purchased with weighing in at 3$/g. This is a first flush from superior AV2 clonals in Badamtam estate. This tea is made exclusively for Teabox and there is only 4kg produced each year. This tea is wholesale purchased at around 3k USD per kilo, so they will gross well over 10K for this very small harvest. Amazing! Tea nerdiness aside, lets get down to the brew. When I start stepping into “exclusive” or “premium” teas, I put tastes/tones aside, for I’m really paying attention to texture and how this tea makes me feel. Nonetheless, this tea brings a transcendent sensory experience. The leaves carry an intoxicating aroma of french pastries and first spring flowers. If you crack this tin, heads will turn. Once the leaves are touched by the kettle’s water, my tearoom was engulfed with the scent of spring: blooming lilies, geraniums, and heady lilac! The flavor was exquisite (as any high end Darjeeling should be). You can expect fresh spring tones, unripe citrus, dry mango, and rock sugar. Now these great scents and tones are all well and nice, but the most important factor of this brew was it’s texture and how it made me feel. It’s hard to put into words but this tea was PURE. The texture was that of a fine aged cognac or rum and it presented its profile in such a clean and direct fashion. You cannot find the slightest impurity, rough edge, or astringency. This proves true even if you let the liquor cool. It’s truly an experience to indulge in. With each sip, you sink deeper and deeper into these leaves. I was amazed at this, for I did go in with honest doubts. I am always wary of marketing and “big stories”, but these leaves are the real deal. If they release a 2020 harvest I implore you to dip your toes into the Badamtam estate’s highest offering. You won’t be disappointed.
Flavors: Flowers, Geranium, Mango, Pastries, Powdered Sugar, Smooth, Sugar
Preparation
This tea has improved so much over the past couple years! The leaves are long and stout and loosely compressed. You can easily pick up floral tones and a soft fruitiness from the leaves. Your gongfu session will begin with a soft and sweet Citrine liquor that will evolve into so many different things. In a short span of five steepings, I was able to pick up white pepper and kuwei to floral and apricot and on to bok choy and cream. This is a varying tea with a lot of layers. The clear constant is a thick mouthfeel with some nice viscosity. I noticed this puerh does best when pushed slightly, so you may want to add a few additional seconds on your steeping. I also found that the qi is quite varying; one moment I’d have high levels of energy, and the the next I was lulled to relaxation. This is a unique brew that I had a lot of fun tasting. I’m not sure if I’d seek a cake out, for I feel the price-point is a bit high. This is only due to my own personal preference; I’m sure others would jump at grabbing this cake!
Flavors: Apricot, Bok Choy, Brown Sugar, Floral, Pepper, Smooth, Sugarcane, Sweet
Preparation
mmm…splendid! This is such an easy-going value cake! I always wonder how these companies name their teas. Do they name after the first sip? Do they drink a whole cake? Is it an inside joke? shrug This tea I feel I know why they named it Splendid. This is a loosely compressed bing that when warmed brings nice sugary and jammy aromas. The brewed leaf tastes so powdery soft, you’d swear it was a delicate sugared donut. This tea is not complex, it is not long-talking, it is not all too intense. It’s a simple brew with a light and sweet profile. This is the tea that an English mum would make alongside her scones. It is simply a splendid tea.
Flavors: Jam, Pastries, Powdered Sugar, Smooth, Sugar
Preparation
If you’re looking for a great introduction into old-growth puerh, then this is your cake! Most “gushu” is very expensive and hard to authenticate, but this is the real deal and for a steal of a price! I bought this as a great travel tea and to brew for company. The cake is moderately compressed with some subtle aromas of live wood. The warmed leaf is quite sweet and fruit forward with nice aromas of apricot. The brewed tea is a little tricky to put my finger on, but it is very nice and soft! You can expect a medium body with clean tones of watercress, easy-going stone fruit, perhaps a background of vanilla. This is a wonderful relaxed tea to drink while working or studying. I’m glad I added this tea to my collection, and i’m curious as to how it will age.
Flavors: Chestnut, Freshly Cut Grass, Smooth, Sweet, Vanilla
Preparation
Andrew did a good job with this tea. I don’t usually drink autumn harvest sheng, for they sometimes tend to upset my stomach. This brew was an exception. The cake is beautifully woven with a mid-point of compression. The leaves are subtle scented and when warmed show their fruity colors! You can easily pick up the iconic autumn scents of brown sugar, apricot, and dark wood. The liquor has an awesome thick body and begins with sweet and fruit notes, but it quickly moves to that LaoMan E bitterness. There is a base of astringency that fades to stone-fruit and resin. This is a nice tea, but it demands attention and a certain atmosphere. Cheers to Andrew and crafting new puerh cakes and bonus for the awesome neifei!
Flavors: Astringent, Brown Sugar, Grass, Peach, Stonefruit
Preparation
I preferred the Shou to the Sheng of the Simple Family, but this is still a great deal! It reminds of W2T Daily Drinker except for a few things:
Heeeavy Compression
Bit More Bitter
Great Huigan
I’d recommend a big pot for one of these slices; it really tones done the bitter and allows the chunk to open up better. This is another great travel tea and it works for people new to puerh. There is a lot of fresh grassy tones along with some floral qualities. The best aspect is on exhale, it’s sweet sugarcane and jasmine! I blow through these travel cakes quick, for you just pop some in a hot thermos and BOOM you got grandpa style puerh for the hike of the day!
Flavors: Bitter, Freshly Cut Grass, Grass, Jasmine
Preparation
I was actually impressed by how nice this tea was. I find that the lesser offerings from these west puer-veyors to be pretty great (Milk&Alcohol, Daily Drinker, Whispering Sunshine)! The “pie” comes in easy break away chunks. The compression is a little too tight for my taste, for it takes a loooong time for the tea to break apart in the pot. The flavor is straight-forward and clean. For me, I always look first for a clean direct tea in shou puerh; theres a lot of funk out there! This is one of those cocoa woody puerhs, and I think it does best on the road. This is a no fuss brewer that you can make on the go and share with new friends without them giving you the “ugh” shu face. Cheers to Glen for making an easy-goer!
Flavors: Bitter, Chocolate, Cocoa, Smooth, Wet wood
Preparation
This is a beautiful and rare tea offered during spring harvest from Yunomi. I decided to pre-order a small amount this year to give it a shot, and i am so glad that I did! The leaves give off an enticing sweet scent of cream, hazelnut, and honey. It’s amazing how dessert-like this Sencha smells. The brew’s taste lies someplace between an Anhui Yellow Tea and Fresh Gyokuru. The cup begins with a spring water juiciness with a thick body and ends with a slight vegetle tannic finish. It’s a wonderful brew, and I’ll be adding this to my must-haves spring harvests!
Flavors: Freshly Cut Grass, Hazelnut, Honey, Milk, Sweet, Tannic, Vegetal
