12 Tasting Notes
Again one of the oolongs from the mystery tea package from What-Cha.
The leaves give an immediate sweet smell with notes of dark wood, wet straw and roasted nuts, but also a bit of fruity notes like peach. Quite a strong smell. The sweetness and roasted flavour continues on to the liquor and has quite a long aftertaste.
I generally have a prejudice towards dark oolongs or light black teas, and therefore enjoy this tea.
Flavors: Dark Wood, Honeydew, Peach, Roast Nuts, Straw, Sweet
Preparation
I got this tea in the mystery tea package from Alistair.
The immediate smell of the leaves is fresh, mildly milky, very creamy. Quite a warm scent.
First impression of the brew gives the same aromatics but definitely with a bit of floral notes. Generally very creamy; more than I am used to.
Second brew reveals the same notes but with more acidic taste/citrus.
Overall a excellent tea – especially for being a low altitude, cheap oolong!
Flavors: Citrus, Cream, Floral, Lavender, Milk
Preparation
A very nice fresh and brisk biluochun. Quite a bit darker/greener than other biluochun’s, which gives it a more steamed’ish’ taste (not nearly the same umami as a Japanese or Sejak) and also a vibrantly green liquor. The texture is thick and full bodied.
Very strong green tea aroma from the brewed leaves .
Flavors: Cut Grass, Grass, Lime, Sweet
Preparation
A very pleasant and complex sencha – I love this kind og very small farm teas.
The fresh taste with strong umami made me think of shincha. All of the ‘standard’ sencha tastes – seaweed, fresh grass, peas, etc. But also some more dark tastes like nutmeg and maybe nuts.
Fantastic tea. I think it is available at yunomi.
Flavors: Cut Grass, Nutmeg, Peas, Seaweed
Preparation
This is one of my more expensive teas, but I was already buying some teaware from Gabrielle, so I might as well – paying those ,2€/g really does pay off – especially at Nannuoshan.
This sheng pu erh is fantastic. I usually have a hard time noticing the savoury notes, but not with this tea; it is very savoury.
I usually brew this tea lightly, ≈5sec in my gaiwan (I know I should buy a yixing pot…). It is very creamy, viscous, and with a lot of forest notes (mushroom, fresh vegestables, forrest berry).
Overall a very good experience.
Flavors: Artichoke, Berry, Creamy, Forest Floor, Vegetables
Preparation
I got this as a Christmas gift – a very well chosen one!
Fantastic sheng pu erh (also beautiful). Quite light and very delicate but still very fragrant. As with many sheng’s, it can take a lot of brews in the gaiwan – and for the price on what-cha, it is very economical for a pu erh.
The mushroom taste (found in a lot of light sheng’s, I think) make the tea a bit fragrant/umami also, which I love. Overall a fantastic pu erh
Flavors: Earth, Mineral, Mushrooms
Preparation
If you are going for value for the money – this it it! I tend to buy the tea directly from gorreana.pt, where it costs 5$/100g with cheap shipping and within EU. What-Cha is not anymore :’(
I buy this tea for my parents, because of the excellent value and because it’s genuinely a solid black tea. Not a lot of bitterness, a lot of maltyness.
Also very exiting with a tea grown in the EU
Flavors: Malt
Preparation
A very good tea, especially considering, that you can buy it in Denmark… Great aroma, good taste and not too pricy.
It does not fare as well being brewed many times, as other teas in the price class. I brewed this in teapot (not gaiwan), which might be part of the reason.
Flavors: Cocoa, Malt, Nuts