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I have tried a side-by-side comparison to other Uva region tea I have. See other review here: http://steepster.com/Martin-CZE/posts/439062

I have received both tea bags from Izzy I believe, however 2 years ago I think, but both were foilwrapped.

Also, it seems I had this time several times before. And it is much better than MlesnA one, mostly because it is much less bitter and I am able to recognize some other, mellow flavours as for example malt notes. Woody notes were there too and somehow it complements the very robust, but not awfully strong and bitter tea. It has been steeped as well for 3 minutes (the minimum set by manufactuer).

90 seems very high, but I will keep that one, as my previous experience seems to be with not so old tea, so maybe was delicious back then (for a tea bag).

I have tried a side-by-side comparison to other Uva region tea I have. See other review here: http://steepster.com/Martin-CZE/posts/439063

I have received both tea bags from Izzy I believe, however 2 years ago I think, but both were foilwrapped.

This one is, sadly, the worse one. Izzy mentions it needs milk, but here I am drinking tea without any additivies, so plain black tea. And steeped rather short, on low level set by producer — 3 minutes.

It is very, very astringent and bitter. Honestly, it doesn’t deliver much more. Very tannic and unpleasant. And that drying aftertaste!

Not a fan, indeed.

A sipdown! (M: 1, Y: 9)!
Well, it’s 3 years old and I had a little left only. However it was more than I have thought. I used all 8, nearly 9 grams for gongfu steeping, however the last gram was mostly the dust (still better looking than some Czech loose leaf tea); and I did a rinse which made all the dust flow away. Or majority of it.

I just remembered about this tea saying that gongfu suited it better than western brewing method, however not even today I have been too impressed about this one.

It has got nice chocolate, rye bread, malt notes; however they were in total some kind of flat and not much complex tasting.

Happy about sipdown though :)

Well, this is technically a sipdown as well, but since I had only 5 grams from derk (from when?), and I have used them all in one gongfu session, I won’t really count it as a sipdown.

I even preheated the gaiwan today and after I have added the leaves, a huge “cloud” of chocolate notes appeared. A rich, dark chocolate notes.

Don’t let the colour fool you. It brews very bright tea soup, but the flavour notes as well as the aromas are quite “dark”. As I have already mentioned, it has got dark chocolate taste (as well the aroma), stonefruits, but again the darker ones — or rather autumn ones, like plums, maybe almonds, and certainly nutty notes were there as well. Graham, coffee, carob are other notes that come to the mind.

It is quite forgiving in steeping time terms, becuase honestly, during studying I just can’t count the duration of steep, nor exact parameters of each steep. It is very no-fuzz tea, but with very nice and complex taste.

Thank you derk a lot for this tea. I just wonder when you sent it to me :)

It has been ages since I have received bags of this tea, and today found very last one I believe, so it’s a sipdown! (M: 8, Y: 8)!, also a celebration tea sipdown prompt, because I have received bunch of DF teas it for birthday back then.

I was a little afraid opening that old wrapper, however it hit me to the nose with very fresh notes! Well done packaging I guess!

Creamy notes dominated today cup, shortly followed with rhubarb and strawberry sweetness. It was a morning cup, so I am glad I noticed those and… somehow that’s all I remember of it.

It was fresh like new, so two pecan pie tea sachets will be as well good as this one. Happy to “hear” that.

A sipdown! (M: 7, Y: 7)!

I have used last 4 grams in gongfu session.

Well, it’s not so good tea for this preparation method, as only two or three steeps were worth it and other ones were flat and with “brewed-out” taste.

First steep was very similar to French press method I mentioned it previous tasting method. Quite fruity, red currants with a little tart aroma. The flavour was round, very low in tannin notes and little honey-ish.

Second steep was different, it was very malty, with some robust aftertaste, a little bit like an earthy notes, however in mouth it was again round and not so rough.

Third steep was a weaker second steep. And from fourth one (and fifth one) I got absolutely nothing, but a tannic water.

A sipdown (M: 6, Y: 6)! A sipdown prompt — A tea that goes with snow.

A very sad sipdown and big thanks to Izzy who sent me two sachets two years ago (it’s impossible how fast time flies!). Too bad, it seems it was never sold in public market.

This tea is stunning even it’s a bit older. It is still great, grassy green tea with loads of jasmine, with its amazing aroma and very apparent in taste as well. I do not notice the nectar/honeyish background today, but this tea is so well done I don’t even miss it?

Lie Down / Try Not To Cry / Cry A Lot meme.

This tea is a rare exception. I prepared it as a family pot tea.
My mother lighted up the candle in the living room, which is an exception itself. So, it’s a tea by candlelight prompt. And we were watching figure skating.

Another exception, it is actually a sipdown! (M: 5, Y: 5) as only few were actual sipdowns from those prompts so far and there will be another one tomorrow. I had two sachets and used both, in one session, but I will count that as a sipdown.

To the tea. Well, it contains three mints. Orange mint, apple mint and Moroccan mint. I have been expecting more menthol from it, actually it leans rather to into earthy and herbaceous taste, like there was lemon balm or some other well known herbs to me.

Well, this is a different ripe pu-erh story than yesterday! Thank you Michelle and Rich!
I have used 6 grams this time. I wasn’t paying again too much attention to it, so it won’t be super-descriptive steep by steep note.

First of all, it is much easier to pry than yesterday. It was almost loose leaf!
Secondly, it steeps quickly, so I started with 5 seconds rinse and fast steeps afterwards.

Thirdly, it has got so good flavour and aroma! I noticed notes of (not in particular order): toast, bread, dark chocolate, bitter, coffee, fruity, dough, caramel, creamy vanilla, smooth.

Brew is usually clear, though oily dark; with interesting viscosity — I believe it was thickier than usual teas are.

I have searched for Rongzhen puerhs, but nothing found, If you got some source… let me know!

Well, ripe-puerhs are still somehow unexplored part of my tea journey. I have lots of them, received from Michelle, and this one was one of them, but I feel again a bit lost. Thanks anyway!

They suggest “overleafing” this tea, so I have used all 15 grams, while I thought originally using it for two sessions. I will count it as a sipdown, though it is not a typical sipdown for me.

A sipdown! (M: 4, Y: 4)
Somehow, I have to agree very much with Togo who had “loose leaf” version of this, it has got earthy profile with hints of nuts, savoury as well as sour notes there too. A little creamy (I expected more from tons of creamy sweetness as YS writes in description!). Trying to find fruit notes and yes I think there are some, but not so strong.

Compared to yesterday gongfu session with white tea, this tea is miserable and unremarkable.