121 Tasting Notes

95

I had some more of this tea yesterday and today – it’s just so delicious :D

Those lovely sweet, stone fruit notes at the beginning, with that gentle methol/camphor/eucalyptus hint, transforming into woody, fruity flavours with later infusions. This tea is a real pleasure to drink – it’s just fantastic. I’m definitely glad I took the risk and ordered a full cake. It’s exceptional.

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85

Though I’ve drank this tea a number of times, now, I’ve held off reviewing it as I’ve not been sure if I’ve really tried it at its best. I don’t have a huge amount of my bag left, though, so I feel it’s a fair time to weigh in.

I tried it Western a couple of times (especially as the first time I tried it I’d forgotten it was an oolong so went to Western by default) and a couple of times using my Gaiwan. I think, as ever with oolongs, I preferred it the latter one – the flavours were much more nuanced and it actually tasted like an oolong, rather than an unusual black tea.

The first infusion I allowed to infuse for quite a while – it looked so pale after 10 seconds that I didn’t think it was worth it. After around 30", it looked good so I poured off and gave it a try – it was definitely a good idea! This tea was lovely and smooth, with a really nice sweetness (the sweetness that I find characteristic of oolongs). It was kinda floral, but also had that “kick” and savouriness of a black tea. Subsequent steeps were really tasty, too – I deffo oversteeped the second one (much hotter water and far too long steeping time), but the third was great, with a more bread-or-pastry flavour than in the first infusion.

I’m gonna keep drinking this, through the afternoon, but I think I’ve finally “got it right” re: brewing this oolong. Good times :D

DeliriumsFrogs

I liked how this tea took some thought when it came to preparing it… it made me focus on what I was doing and really take the time to get to know this tea. :)

Red Fennekin

Yeah, exactly! :-)

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95

Yesterday, as a kind of Valentine’s Day treat, I had a nice session with this tea and my Verdant Gaiwan – I wanted something that was a little bit fruity without being a fruit-flavoured tea, so it seemed like an obvious choice, with those wonderful apple notes :D

I was certainly not disappointed. This tea really is wonderful. I got a large number of lovely, caramelly, apple-y steeps – just divine! It always surprised me, too – the dry leaves smell so much like apples and citrus, but then the wet leaves smell so roasty, as do the first two infusions (or so). But as this lovely, roasty flavour subsides in the “middle” infusions, all you get is this amazing apple flavour, alongside a gentle fruity sweetness and a mild roasty note.

I couldn’t recommend this oolong strongly enough. I’ve also upped by score a little (90—>95).

I’m definitely gonna miss this one, when I get through the 50 g or so that I have… Anyone else have a good Gui Fei, of similar (or, dare I ask, better?? :O) quality to this one? I have a feeling it’ll be a tough search…

Flavors: Apple, Citrus Zest

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95

Backstory:

I’ve been promising a number of blind taste tests to myself, recently, and I finally went ahead and did one today! I had around 3g of this oolong left, and I still have a number of packets of the “gift tea” DHP that I was given in late 2014. So, I thought they’d make an excellent pair for comparison!

I used my two Gaiwans (Yixing Dragon from Butiki (~100ml) and my Jingdezhen one from Verdant(~120ml)). I prepared everything in an identical way (pre-heated cups, fairness pitcher and gaiwans), added the teas blindly (long story and hard to explain, but I managed XD), let them heat in the hot Gaiwan and then rinsed them both for ~3 seconds). I took notes on the fragrances and appearances of the dry leaf, and then went ahead with the tasting!

Review:

So, I did three steeps in all this morning (and I’ll do more later on): 5", 10", and 15".

I was really surprised by just how different this tea was to the one from Verdant :O For one, the dry leaves were much more intensely scented – a really strong, dried-lime like smell, with hints of roasty/blackened food. After the hot gaiwan/rinse treatment, it was much the same – intense, but almost refreshing!

The drink itself, particularly when compared against the astringent, light-bodied Verdant offering, was really smooth and full-bodied. It’s like, for the coffee fans on this site, the difference between Sumatran and Central/Latin American coffees – this one was definitely closer to the Sumatran varieties! It had such a thick, creamy mouthfeel that really coated the inside of your mouth.

The way I ran this “comparison” was to brew one and then, whilst it was cooling in the pitcher, brew the other. Then, whilst the second cooled, drink the first. Then drink the second.

This one turned out to be in my Yixing Gaiwan and was one I tasted second, after the first infusions (I hope this still makes sense). So, after the refreshing, almost tangy Verdant DHP, I took a sip of this and it was so odd – it was like it just wiped out any traces of the other tea! It felt like it immediately coated my palette with it’s thick texture, and almost dull, heavy flavour in comparison. I was so shocked that the difference would be so marked, especially given how zingy and citrussy this one smelled.

Don’t get me wrong, though – this tea was plenty tasty. It carried those blackened, charred, roasted lime flavours that, as the infusions progressed, became slightly sweeter and even creamier. In the final steep, a chocolatey, roasted-nut flavour came through (kinda like dark chocolate coated roasted peanuts).

I’ll carry on drinking both teas later, but I really was amazed by how different these two teas were :O

Flavors: Char, Dark Chocolate, Lime, Roasted

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 3 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
DeliriumsFrogs

This note was so much fun to read!

Red Fennekin

Heh, thanks! I hope it wasn’t too confusing XD I can’t wait to do similar tests for the Dung Ding oolong and the various Jade TGYs I have – I think this ‘format’ worked really well for simultaneous comparison :D

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95

Backstory:

I’ve been promising a number of blind taste tests to myself, recently, and I finally went ahead and did one today! I had around 3g of this oolong left, and I still have a number of packets of the “gift tea” DHP that I was given in late 2014. So, I thought they’d make an excellent pair for comparison!

I used my two Gaiwans (Yixing Dragon from Butiki (~100ml) and my Jingdezhen one from Verdant(~120ml)). I prepared everything in an identical way (pre-heated cups, fairness pitcher and gaiwans), added the teas blindly (long story and hard to explain, but I managed XD), let them heat in the hot Gaiwan and then rinsed them both for ~3 seconds). I took notes on the fragrances and appearances of the dry leaf, and then went ahead with the tasting!

Review:

So, I did three steeps in all this morning (and I’ll do more later on): 5", 10", and 15".

The dry leaves for this tea were darker and more tightly rolled/curled than the other tea. They also had a much milder smell, though this may have been because this sample has been opened before… I did keep it in a sealed sample baggie, so it should have been OK, but I reserved judgement.

In the hot Gaiwan, the leaves smelled more – kinda like milk chocolate and that buttery smell of fresh nuts. After the rinse, the smell remained similar though still quite “gentle”. It did develop a roastier note.

On the palette, this tea was really vibrant and “fresh” – after tasting it alongside the other DHP I have, I think “smooth” was the wrong description to use in my previous review. This tea is gently astringent, and definitely has that mineral-metal “texture”. It’s got a very light body reminiscent of Central/Latin American coffees (a major contrast against the other). Visually, this tea also remained different – the wet leaves, after 3 steeps, the leaves from this tea were still slightly curled and were two toned – a mixture of dark-green-brown and just plain chocolate-brown!

Flavour wise, I got a dark-char flavour, with undertones of dark chocolate and roasted nuts. It was much stronger in flavour than the lacking dry scent would have made me think, further leading me to think that the lack of fragrance was just a consequence of how I stored the second half of this sample (sorry, tea T_T).

I checked the “answer” and found out this was the Verdant tea after 3 steeps. I’ll carry on after my dinner and run, later, and see what it does in later steeps. This was really interesting, though! When tasting the two, side-by-side, I think I did marginally prefer this Verdant DHP, though it was just so different to the other one. They’re basically two totally different teas :O

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec

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85
drank Tropicalia by DAVIDsTEA
121 tasting notes

Another from my generous swap-package from Nattie :D

I was really curious about this one – it looked so funky in the packet and smelled really fruity. This morning, I didn’t really want anything caffeine-y before I had breakfast, and I usually like fruit juice with bread and cheese, so this seemed like an excellent cold-weather choice (I did a “normal” brew, obv). I probably oversteeped it a little (I reckon I did around 7 or 8 minutes).

It was really fruity! I was actually kinda surprised by how fruity it was. Especially because most fruit teas I’ve tried so far have been berry/hibiscus based, so this was a nice change. I’ve never drank a Pina Colada (I don’t drink alcohol, at all), so I couldn’t comment on whether or not it tasted like one. But everyone else seems to think it does, so I guess it succeeds on that front! :D

People are all talking about cold brewing this, and I probably have enough left in the packet to do a cold brew. Maybe I’ll try that later in the week and see what I think…

Either way, this made for a lovely fruit tea – genuinely intense fruit flavours (I got that “tropical” flavour, which I’m guessing is pineapple and coconut mostly) and a lovely, non-artificial sweetness :D Thanks again, Nattie!

Flavors: Fruity, Tropical

Preparation
Boiling 7 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 10 OZ / 300 ML

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85

I also recently received a super-generous swap package from Nattie and haven’t gotten around to writing any of her teas up yet! Time to make amends and work through the ones I’ve tried :D

I really liked this one – it was lovely and lemony, with the green tea staying as a nice non-dominant background! I did get a hint of that astringent fizz that you get from a sherbet, and this tea was definitely sweet enough for me. Then again, as someone who hasn’t eaten a lemon sherbet/similar sweet for a good long time, I’m not exactly the best judge XD

Still, I happily drank this down and will look forward to my second (and probably final) cup – thanks Nattie :D

Flavors: Lemon, Sweet

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95

Ah, well this was an excellent choice by KittyLovesTea – she sent me a generous little bag of this tea in our recent swap! Opening the bag, I was greeted with that wonderfully familiar floral, sweet scent of Jade Oolongs and knew I was gonna love this!

I brewed it up in the same way I always do for green oolongs – around 3-4 g in my 100 ml gaiwan.

The first infusion was wonderful – so fragrant and perfumed! Lovely floral, fruity, sweet flavours, mingling with a gently vegetal background flavour! Successive infusions saw the floral notes become more dominant, alongside an increasing smoothness and butteriness! It lasted really well through 7 or 8 steepings – not the most I’ve ever gotten out of an oolong, but definitely nothing to turn your nose up at – this really was excellent tea! :D

This is a fabulous green oolong, easily on a par with most of the Chinese ones I’ve tried. I’ve got enough to do another session with it, which I’m eagerly looking forward to! :D

Flavors: Butter, Floral, Honey

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 0 min, 15 sec 3 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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85

I recently did a swap with KittyLovesTea, who sent me a very generous package of teas, most of which were Japanese (at my request). She very kindly included a pretty sizeable quantity of this tea – it smelled lovely, so I thought I’d give it a try last night!

As with all of the Japanese greens I’ve tried so far, I was really surprised by how small the dried leaves were! Some of them were almost needle like :O It had a lovely, fresh, grassy smell and the leaves were all a really deep, vibrant green.

I brewed up in my small glass pot, using pretty cool water (I followed the seemingly ubiquitous “warm water” steeping method – poured boiling water into my pot, left it for a short while, poured out into my two tasting cups, discarded the rest, poured the water back into the pot and then added the dried leaves).

The first infusion was sweet and mild, with a definite grassy, kinda floral flavour! It did have some of that savouriness, but it was mild and not too dominant! Later infusions were a little more balanced between sweet and savoury – still delicious and refreshing after our hearty dinner, though! :D

In all, this was certainly a lovely introduced to fine Japanese teas! I have enough left for another session, so I may try a similar set-up again, but using a Gaiwan. I don’t really have a small pot that’s suitable for sencha and other Japanese teas – maybe I’ll add a small kyusu and a gyokuro pot/set to my wishlist…! :D

Flavors: Cut Grass, Floral

Preparation
140 °F / 60 °C 2 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 5 OZ / 150 ML

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95

Ah, this is a tea that’s right up my street. When I saw Verdant had a reduced price stock of these cakes (due to slightly damaged wrappers), and I had a little tea cash left over, I couldn’t resist! Along with the full cake, I also ordered a little “sample” bag (25 g, mind).

This is my third sheng puerh, now, and I think I’d developing a greater understanding of these teas. This one was really wonderful – it had it all! It had that unusual, savoury, vegetal, brothy flavour, but it also had a real sweetness and a genuine creaminess. I started drinking this in the afternoon and easily got through four or five steeps before I had to stop for dinner.

I used the leaves from the little bag today – the bag contained a number of lovely “flakes” of puerh cake that looked mostly intact. The leaves in my Gaiwan certainly looked full, anyway. It smelled kinda strong and musty, when dry, but not in an overly unpleasant way.

The way leaves were certainly very woody – I can see why someone else has listed that as a flavour note. I did get a mild woody note (kinda like old, dry timber) from the liquor itself, too, which was very pleasant (and unusual).

I used 4 g in ~100 ml. I started with a 10 s rinse (the leaves were very compact) and then left it to sit in the hot, steamy Gaiwan for a minute or two. I then did infusions of: 5", 5", 10", 15" (and maybe 20" – I can’t remember if I did that last one or not XD). The first infusion was pale, but sweet and creamy. Subsequent ones saw the flavours intensify, with those woody notes coming through in the final two steeps. I’ll carry on with these leaves tomorrow :D

(I’m still not gonna “score” this tea, just yet, but I’m getting much closer to the point when I’ll start to score puerh tea. This is certainly my favourite of the three I’ve tried so far, though the 2011 Yi Wu from Canton is coming a close second. I think they’ll be another candidate for comparative steeping at some point in the future :D)

Flavors: Creamy, Sweet, Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
DeliriumsFrogs

This sounds super yummy!

mrmopar

I try not to numerical rate puerh any more. I have found we all have different experiences with this type of tea. But you are on the path.

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Bio

Junior doctor and casual tea-drinker.

It’s been a busy few years for me – I’ve graduated from med school and I’m now working full time as a junior doctor in a small UK hospital. I’ve returned Steepster to continue to learn, take recommendations and share my experiences :-)

I remain particularly keen to try lots of new teas, especially Pu Erhs and Oolongs!

I’m also happy to swap, particularly within the UK! If you see anything in my cupboard that you wanna try, please don’t be afraid to ask! Most of them I have at least 25 g of, so a 5 g sample or so will be no trouble :-)

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London/Manchester, UK

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