400 Tasting Notes

99

Strong strawberry jam (with seeds) notes, following a crystallized honey flavor. There is a period of slightly bitterness and astringency, but the overall flavor profile remains as the jam/honey notes.

The energy from the leaf is quite powerful. I’ve noted that there’s tea drunk and then there’s tea hammered.

I’m. Tea. Hammered.

Flavors: Honey, Jam, Strawberry

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

88

Bitter dandelion roots with a high amount of astringency. Strong color, thick mouthfeel, and the craziest tea drunk I’ve ever found myself.

It. Does. Not. Let. Up.

Side note: My White2Tea order has finally arrived to the USPS facility near my house. My guess is that it’ll be here tomorrow!

Bluegreen

Yeah, I can understand that feeling: my recent white2tea order took it’s sweet, sweet time to arrive as well.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

Also drank this during my virtual tea session tonight. I noted ‘dark sweet raisins, with a bit mineral notes at the back of the mouth/throat. Astringent, but not bitter.’ I only got 5 steeps in before pausing for the evening. I was getting the tea sweats/energy that comes with semi-aged teas. I need to take a breather for the night, allow the leaf to dry out, and start earlier in the afternoon. Strong tea drunkenness, though.

mrmopar

Good bang for the buck on this one.

MadHatterTeaDrunk

I completely agree! From my experience in researching, a lot of aged material is expensive and/or requires loops to jump through to obtain. This was one of the first aged teas that had some semi-wet storage to it (Guangdong) in my collection.

mrmopar

I love finding these little gems that are sometimes overlooked.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

Sipdown

Drank this during a virtual tea session. I wanted to break in a new gaiwan/cup set…I figured that since the gaiwan holds 80ml, the 4 grams of leaf was plenty for the gaiwan.

Light floral notes. I had to increase the water temperature/steep time after the 5th or 6th infusion, but I ended getting about 10-12 steeps out of it. It’s an easy sheng to drink and forget about…Not so bitter nor astringent.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

95

I’ve been drinking this since 6:30 this morning and it’s still going. I typically give the first few steeps about 20-30 seconds before pouring it into the cha hai. I change the time based on the intensity of the flavor.

I get strong notes of roasted walnuts, dark rich coffee, chocolate, sweet, and malt. On the account there being so many infusions, I tend to stop noting after a while. I like that longevity keeps on giving and that the price is reasonable. I tend to keep this in my inventory at all times, on the account that it brews well gongfu, western, or grandpa style. I tend to drink it gongfu at home or allow the leaves to sit in my thermos at work.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

84

Sipdown

I typically stay away from rooibos, but OTC has a knack for blending. Their herbs person there just understands how to hide the rooibos and/or bland tea bases. I think that the mix of ingredients fit perfectly, despite my not liking some in most situations.

Peppermint candies from Olive Garden (Andes?). Strong peppermint, smooth chocolate notes, and a slight caramel finish.

I dig it.

Flavors: Caramel, Chocolate, Peppermint

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

75

Another blend of tea that I got as a gift a few months back. I’ve sipped this one down pretty fast. I have one cup worth remaining in my work stash, so I might finish it off tomorrow morning.

I noted “heavy pineapple, floral” while drinking and working today. I will note that I brewed this with 200F water and let it sit for a little too long, but the flavor wasn’t bitter; perhaps just a touch more tartness, if anything. Not too shabby.

Flavors: Floral, Fruity, Pineapple

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

70

A few months back, my wife discovered a discount shop that carries a lot of random items. She found a large stash of loose leaf teas, so she bought the lot, and gifted them to me. I took this one to work. I typically brew my tea Western style at work. It’s much easier with the flow of everything, even with a sitting job.

Anyway, I’ve quite a bit of it, so I try to get a cup in about every week. One of my coworkers will drink a cup, too, on the account that they love everything anise. I like that the anise isn’t too strong, but it definitely helps balance out the tea. I also thought that it was interesting to see that it had a black/ripe puerh base. Helps bring the blend together.

I don’t get much orange from the cup, though. I can’t really place it, but it’s easily drinkable. I left the tea in the infuser a bit too long this morning, but it wasn’t bitter, so I suppose it has that going for it, too.

Flavors: Anise

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

75

Made a cup of this at work this morning. I enjoy the added stuff to the blend, but I’m not big on the tea base. I noted “malted cinnamon fireball candies,” but left it at that. It was early, so I didn’t really sit too long on taking notes.

Flavors: Cinnamon, Malt

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80

I’m not sure if OTC still carries this in their store anymore. I think they traded it out for their 2014 Fu Cha Brick.

https://www.ohioteaco.com/Fu-Cha-Brick_p_824.html

Anyway, it’s quite a nice tea. Some complexity to the brew—dark chocolate, malty, strong mineral-ity, astringent, sweet, bold, and stone fruits. I started drinking this at 08:00 EST, but it’s still going strong. I didn’t count the amount of times that I steeped it, although I did go through three kettles full of water. Nice longevity and it’ll probably brew throughout the remainder of the day, is my guess.

Flavors: Astringent, Dark Chocolate, Malt, Mineral, Stonefruit, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 8 g 5 OZ / 160 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

Mostly drinking sheng/shou puerh. Gongfu daily; western brew at work.

More to see at the IG account: Madhatterteadrunk

Drinking down a lot of my teas in 2020. I may not observe these sessions as much as I’d like, but I’ll note them, when the mood strikes.

Location

Northeast Ohio

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer