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IM going to have to name this Earl Puerh Grey tea!

It feels like Earl Grey and a ripe puerh had a love child or something. I brewed this in my Gaiwan, giving it a very short rinse then brewing it at about 208. I got a dark clear liqour with a noticable citrus and wet wood aroma. Now if this doesnt sound appetizing, surprisingly it is…. because as soon as you sip it, a smooth sweet vanilla taste just rolls over your tongue.

What seems to make this work, is some ripe’s have that flat finish, after the wet wood and peat, and sweet smoothness you get that flat finish at the end, with this that is when the vanilla and citrus kick in… and its really impressive.

Very impressed…recommended

Okay this is a tea I normally wouldnt have tried, Im not the biggest fan of flavored tea. But the teabox is to allow us to taste tea we normally wouldnt get the chance to do so otherwise.

Im glad I decided to take a chance, using a gaiwan and a very short quick rinse.

The first couple infusions were very very rummy… surprisingly so… the aroma was incredibly intense and so was the flavor, I kept thinking I was actually drinking something alcoholic. The liquor was a dark medium brown, the color of Rum or Cola..

After the first two infusions , the strong rum flavor started to mellow and more of the puerh flavors started to come out. I got the wet wood and peat flavor, and the interesting thing is, unlike most flavored puerh, the rum actually complemented the ripe flavor instead of clashing with it.

Very glad I tried this.

Recommended!

Another tea from the puerh plus box. This one is just amazing, its smooth sweet buttery, with a tiny touch of spice. Clear light and very flavorful, it has that high mountain taste you get from the really good Taiwan oolongs.

I brewed this tea in my yixing, with 205 water. Starting with a rinse I got a very light clear liquor that produced a wonderful aroma. The first infusion was light and the flavors still hadnt popped yet.

In the second infusion I got the intense honey, spice, pear and peach flavors you get with the high mountain oolong. This continued in the third and fourth, with a slight drop off with the fifth. Though the flavors remain mostly consistent.

This is really nice tea, and Im glad I got to taste it, I havent gotten to taste many lishan oolongs so far. They seem a tiny bit more fruity and spicy than the Alishan oolongs. The type of Taiwan tea , ive tasted most often.

Highly recommended for anyone who likes high mountain or Taiwan tea.

I started this tea by heating the yixing and breaking apart a 5g piece of the tea. Giving it a quick rinse with 205 water, I got a very clear pale liquor with a slight smokey scent. Pouring the rinse over the pot I started on the infusions.

First infusion was still pretty light as the tea is fairly compressed and is going to need a bit to open up, a second wash might be in order, but this tea was smelling so good, I decided to head right into drinking it. Smoke, wood, vague sense of spice, medicinal, stonefruits, and a very tiny bit of bitter tang on the end.

Wow.. seriously.. this is one of the best aged tea I have had yet. Im sure IM missing some of the flavors on this, its really complex and hard to put my finger on.
THis is the kind of tea that needs your full attention, sitting down with a quiet moment…or doing a small tea ceremony.
I highly recommend anyone on the puerh plus box try this tea, you will not be disapointed!
Ps I wrote this one up a little different because I dont know if this tea is available from other sources.

Next up from my exploration of the teabox is Longevity oolong by Teasource. This is a 4 year old retoasted oolong.

Starting with a quick rinse to open up the leaves, the aroma came out of the yixing like POW… I got hit with coffee, roast, chocolate, dark wood and cherry. The liquor color is dark honey color, with a touch of red. Not quite as red as red tea, more towards honey but darker.

The first infusion I got the same aroma, and now tasting it, yup it tastes like coffee, also dark bittersweet, cherry, chocolate…its actually more roasty than wuyi oolongs. This really surprised me, the roast on this is quite heavy.

Second infusion it was even stronger, the tea leaves are opening up a little now and really just pounding the aroma, the yixing also intensifies it because of the way it holds the heat, I was also brewing this a bit on the hot side, near 205.

I brewed this out about 12 infusions and it lost very little flavor through any of the infusions. Though later in the infusions I actually tasted a little more of the tea, and a little less of the roast. Though the slightly fruity cherry flavor kept with it throughout.

I do have a bit of a soft spot for aged oolongs.

HIGHLY recommended.

Okay this is a tea I never would have tried if it didnt come in something like the traveling tea box.

This tea is interesting, and its not nearly as strong as a lapsang souchong tea, its much more mellow with the smoke , letting the natural malty sweetness of the base black tea shine though.

The liquor is clear reddish brown, and very aromatic. The flavors are pretty expected, smoke is still the primary flavor, then malt, sweet, chocolate, maybe some dark fruit. The flavors you would expect from a high quality black tea. The thing I really like is the base tea flavor still plays an important role rather than just getting hammered with smoke like lapsang souchong often does.

Im not sure this is listed under the correct tea, since it says for the botson tea party museum , but it is Oliver Pluff and company Bohea.

I have to say, this impressed me..

Recommended!

Second up from puerh plus box is 2011 Hui Run ripe from YS. I started by heating the yixing and giving the tea a rinse. The leaves were surprisingly clean with not much dust. I got an aroma of dark cherries and plums and peat from the tea.

Starting with the first infusion I got a very dark almost coffee like liqour, it was a bit thick as well. A strong aroma of peat and wet wood. It has a certain sweetness as well, chocolate and maybe plums or raisins as well.

Second infusion I got a funky flavor in the tea, im not sure what it is, but it wasnt altogether pleasant. Liquor color is consistent and most of the flavor profiles are consistent as well.

Third infusion similiar to the second, Im not sure what that off flavor is, but its still there. Wet wood and peat are playing over it as well.

Fourth infusion , much much better now, now it tastes like ripe tea usually does, wet wood, sweetness, peat, and plums and a bit of chocolate as well. Though it has a slight bit of dampness in the flavor now, its got that classic ripe puerh flavor profile.

Judging by the colors, this is going to brew out many many steepings.

I do recommend this tea, but I also might recommend giving it an extra wash or two,

And Puerh Plus Box #4 has arrived and we have 2008, Menghai Dayi 8582. Using my 80ml yixing, I rinse the tea once and then gave it a quick flash steep to open up the leaves. But I tasted this infusion anyway. It was really clear, sweet, wood and just a touch of bitter on the back end.

First infusion I got a slightly darker, almost light honey color, Its just starting to show age on the tea now. Its still tastes pretty young though and has a little bitterness on the end still. The flavors were oak, wet wood, bitter, mushrooms? And a tiny bit of sour, just a teeny bit.

Second infusion was much the same with more woody tones coming out now, I guess thats to be expected in a mid aged raw. I think the guys over on TeaDb called this pencil shaving flavor…

Third infusion much the same, its staying pretty consistent with flavor and aroma, maybe a bit more mushroom. Im getting a teeny… tiny hint of medicinal at this point.

IM guessing based on this, this one is going to steep out 10-14 times at least. I get the feeling Im going to be drinking a lot of tea and get a little tea drunk the next week. For this tea, I think a few more years would make this spectacular.

Recommended

Okay up tonight we have the Dayuling from Taiwan tea craft, and Its interesting how your tastes change in a few months. I thought this was good the first time I tried, now I think its much better, Im picking up more of the floral and fruity notes that I didnt last time.

Im also noticing more of the differences between this and other taiwan oolongs like the Alishan. THis is is lighter and definately has a stronger fruit flavor and aroma. Though Im having trouble getting more specific than stone fruit, maybe apricots. There is a bit of honey in it as well, and very slightly of spice nutmeg maybe.

One big difference between this and last time is I have a proper yixing seasoned with green oolongs. Even more than the flavors , the aroma pops when the lid is pulled off.

Still highly recommended

Back to working on getting through my spring green tea.

Up today we have Verdant tea Longjing #43 , this one is interesting because im getting slightly different flavor profiles to what I got in the dragonfell tea. This one is sweetier, more floral and fruity, but it doesnt have the nutty aroma or flavor that the dragonwell does.

Its even sweeter and less bitter than the dragon well, Im going to have to test this again as I did it in 175 water instead of the 185 , I usually use for Dragonwell, but being the first time Im brewing I played it a little safe.

Brewing for 30 seconds at 175 in 150ml of water. I got a very clear pale liquor that is surprisingly sweet, there is a teeeeenny tiny bit of dryness on it, but its almost not there, I think even a few months ago, I might not have picked it up even.

I recommend this tea, but I dont quite like it as much as their dragonwell tea, which knocked me out of my seat.m