48 Tasting Notes
Loose tea put inside a tea bag then served in a glass vessel — a dark clean and clear gold liquor.
Smells: sweet, cookie, citrusy and spicy
It start with a sweet cookie flavour then the grounded black pepper appear. After a few sips, the cookie flavour is weaker and seem to change into cloves. Now, it is a mix of cloves, cookie and spices flavours. A well balanced smooth chai with a hint of a woody flavour.
WATER USED: Nestle Pure Life
Flavors: Black Pepper, Cloves, Cookie, Sweet, Wood
Preparation
Smell: Bergamot
4 min 30 Sec., 210F, 1.2 spoon of loose leaves put in a tea bag.
Served in a glass vessel, a red brown liquor
I used a different bottle water this time.
Sweet bergamot slightly bitter with a grounded pepper flavour — a slight dryness that increased over time. If brew for around 3 minutes with slightly less tea leaves the bergamot will be weaker and probably without the grounded pepper flavour (see previous tasting note).
Water Used: Naya Natural Spring Water.
Flavors: Bergamot, Bitter, Black Pepper, Sweet
Preparation
2 Rinses, 15 sec. and 10 sec.
Smells: Moss; Smoky; Brown Sugar; Earthy
Tea color: Yellow with some bubbles
Brew #1: 2 min. : A little bit of sweetness with a earthy taste going lighter as the tea cool down. Tea has some dryness but still retain a watery feeling. However, the dryness increase has a drink more of it with a tobacco like flavor.
Brew #2: 3 min. : Earthy, bitter tobacco, smoky and sour.
Brew #3: 1 min. : Sweet, dry, bitter, slightly tobacco and earthy feeling. As the tea cool down all flavours are weaker.
Flavors: Bitter, Earth, Smoke, Sour, Sweet, Tobacco
Preparation
10 Seconds rinse – Smell earthy, resin and brown sugar. Many bubbles while I’m pouring the tea. Colour is a kind of brown gold, tea soup is clear and transparent.
Steep #1 3 min. : Sweet and fruity, trying to find the name of the fruit, I know it but can’t seem to remember or is it a sweet vegetable? It is yellow, kind of soft, like cantaloup but it is not or maybe it is a cooked cantaloup. I think it is closer to a cooked pumkin. Also, taste slightly resinous.
Steep #2: 4 min 15 sec. : Slightly sweet and resinous. A slight tingling sensation on the second brew.
Very mellow, and smooth with some dryness. Tea that mainly warm my face.
WATER USED : Naya Natural Spring Water
Flavors: Fruity, Pumpkin, Resin, Smooth, Sweet
Preparation
15 Seconds rinse – Soup is light golden-yellow, sirupy and transparent. Tea smell earthy and a little bit vegetal like peas. No bubbles while pouring the tea.
Brew #1, 3 min, This is a nice slightly dry medicinal tea with a touch of brandy, it sweet and mellow. The flavors of this one remain the same and consistent as I drink it.
Brew #2, 4 min, Tingling sensation, a bit spicy, it is less sweet and I don’t have the medicinal and brandy flavors for this second brew. As the tea cool down, it is earthy, mellow with a medicinal touch to it.
Brew #3, 6 min, Tingling sensation, spicy and sweet, it is more dry that the first stepping. A lasting grounded black pepper with a little medicinal feeling.
WATER USED: Naya Spring Water
Flavors: Black Pepper, Brandy, Earth, Medicinal, Spicy, Sweet
Preparation
15 Seconds rinse. A little quantity of bubbles while I serve the tea. The soup is medium cloudy, dark gold and smell like burnt brown sugar.
First stepping 3 min. : Tingling sensation, medium dry and maybe a little bit of campfire feeling/taste (the closest taste that I can come up with) and grounded pepper.
Second stepping 4 min 15 sec. : The grounded pepper is more spicy. Apart of those 3 flavors mentioned, I don’t taste anything else.
Very warm tea, sweating a little bit — feeling warm on my upper body (arms, chest, stomach) and slightly on my face.
Final thoughts: This is not a complex tea, minimal flavors, not a bad tea but I don’t think I will purchase that one again. However, I will try to use different parameter and see if I can get something more.
WATER USED: Nestle Pure Life
Flavors: Black Pepper, Campfire, Spicy
Preparation
Second review of this tea, with a different kind of water, other parameters remain the same. One 10 seconds rinse.
1st brew at 3 minutes // 2nd brew at 4 minutes
Smell: Strong forest-like, honey and tobacco.
Colour: Light yellow, slightly cloudy
Only one flavour (tobacco) detected so far, I will let the tea cool down, it is very hot and seem to be a very dry tea. Yes, it is a very dry earthy tea with hint of sweetness. Tea has a tobacco taste with hint of honey-bitterness. A slightly lasting tobacco feel remain after drinking my first cup.
Second cup, Medium smoky-tobacco taste. As the tea cool down, I can detect a stronger bitterness. Wow, now my body feel so warm. Toward the end, the tea is gaining in bitterness.
Final thought: I think this tea will be good to drink after breakfast. People who like tobacco will enjoy this one. Time to quit smoking and enjoy a cup or two of this one. Nice to drink it outside during spring. This sheng explodes energetically.
WATER USED: Naya Natural Spring Water
Flavors: Bitter, Earth, Forest Floor, Honey, Smoke, Sweet, Tobacco
Preparation
Western Style – 1 Rinse, 1st brew – 2 min. 45 sec. : Gold in colour but a bit cloudy. Tea is smooth, clean, sweet, resinous and has a candy flavour — Taste is really different from the last session ( see previous review ), probably because I used a different parameters.
2nd brew – 4 min. : Slightly bitter with a hint of brandy. The candy taste is almost gone. As the tea cool down, only a mix of resinous-black ground pepper remain.
WATER USED: Nestle PureLife
Flavors: Bitter, Black Pepper, Brandy, Candy, Resin, Smooth, Sweet
Preparation
Colour: Yellow-Orange, soup is clear and glossy but with some very tiny pieces of leaves. I remarked bubbles when I pour the tea. 15 Seconds rinse.
The one I have bought come from ebay and was on special for 25.35$ (original price was 35$ plus shipping). However, I’ve seen this tea for 75.00$ (Canadian dollars), directly from the Taetea group, well not sure if it is exactly the same since it is a different but very similar wrapper but it is the same recipe (7542). I think it is just a different brand (the brand of the cake from ebay is HELLOYOUNG and the brand from Taetea is Menghai Dayi — Is this tea a fake, or the real thing, or a lesser quality of tea? I think the brand I have is an lesser quality but let taste it.
1st stepping 3:00 minutes: Sweet honey notes with a touch of bitterness, earthy green. After the tea cool down, it really taste quickly like honey with some apricot flavour and no bitterness, so far so good. The honey flavour is very persistent and strong — mellow, very sweet and a bit earthy.
2nd stepping 4:00 minutes: Still taste like honey but not so strong anymore, more like a sweet dark wood. Subsequent sip taste like grounded pepper. Seem to have more subtle different flavours — more flavours that I can’t process at this time.
3rd and last stepping 5:00 minutes: Dark grounded pepper and dark woody — no other flavour detected. I think, I cannot have more flavours from this tea, seem that 3 stepping is what you can get out from this one.
Last thought: I really like this sheng puerh but I have in the past taste better ones. There are allot of puerh tea with the same recipe # (7542) and that come from Taetea, prices varies from 15$ to 80$ (on ebay).
For the price, it is amazing but it doesn’t rival tea that cost allot more. Also, I have bought in the past some sheng puerh that cost 50$ to 60$ and doesn’t taste better that the one I just reviewed.
WATER USED: Nestle Pure Life
Flavors: Apricot, Bitter, Black Pepper, Dark Wood, Earth, Green, Honey, Sweet
