I have played a lot of video games in my life, and I have been driven to fits of rage by many of them. Something that my dear fiance and I share is a tendency to get really ragey at our games, we just show them differently, where he is likely to just yell at a game, I take a page from the RageQuit book and get really imaginative with my vitriol. I bring this up because few games have made me rage as much as Terraria. Seriously, I hate the boss fights, I can have myself kitted up and buffed to the extreme and it never fails, I die at least half a dozen times before I get the ‘trick’ to killing a specific boss. Of course then I proceed to farm it mercilessly, giggling at my godlike power the whole time. Oh man, or that one time when you are mining and accidentally hit the TNT button instead of the pickaxe button and blow yourself up. It. Is. MADDENING! But I also love it because I can be a dark elf with a hoard of spider summons with a pet dinosaur who rides a unicorn while wearing feathery wings, gypsy robes, and a Spartan helmet. Skills.

Today’s tea from What-Cha is a funky little number, Thailand Sticky Rice ‘Khao Hom’ Oolong Tea, hailing from Thailand, this tea takes Jin Xuan and scents it with Nuo Mi Xiang Nen Ye, an herb from China whose leaves smell uncannily like sweet sticky rice. Used quite a bit with Puerh, (if you have ever seen sticky rice Puerh, this is the herb used) and I will be honest, mixed with Shou Pu, I find it utterly repugnant, usually because it is mixed with the really low grade fishy garbage and those are two things I do not want mixed. Ever. So I was really curious to try it in something else, specifically the glory that is Oolong. The aroma of this tea is something else, I advise not sticking your nose into these leaves, sniff from a distance because wow is it strong. Super sweet sticky rice notes with sweet cream, rice pudding, coconut milk, and an underlying almond nuttiness. So much sweetness, it is a little overwhelming.

So the first time I tried this tea I made the mistake of brewing it when I had a headache, one whiff of those brewed leaves and I needed to lie down, something about sticky rice scented teas make me feel really ill and dizzy if I have a headache (which is often) so I waited for a day when I had no headache to try the rest of the sample. It was a good idea because whoa, it is super strong, very sweet notes of rice pudding, caramel, flowers, green beans, grass, spinach…it is a bit of a cacophony, though oddly it blends well together. The liquid is more subtle thankfully, though not by much. That sticky rice scent is strong and sweet, notes of coconut milk, almonds, and rice pudding mix with a creamy underlying floral note.

I thought for a second, this could be one of those sensory overload things that happens to me with certain smells, so I got Ben to sniff it and he thought it smelled mild and sweet, where I thought it was like being face planted in pudding. The longer I sniffed it, the more I started developing a headache…oh dear. So, enough being nervous, I tasted it, it is smooth and sweet, and surprisingly cooling for an oolong. There are strong notes of cream, rice pudding, orchids, and warm milk. This moves on to caramelized sugar and a nutty aftertaste. There is however something ‘wrong’ about the rice taste, not wrong as in toxic or something like that…wrong as it tastes like rice but doesn’t. Like how stevia leaves are sweet but don’t taste like sugar, so when used as a substitute you can tell, it is uncanny and hard to process for some reason.

Second steep, the aroma at this point has permeated my tea area, which I am not entirely happy with. The taste is milder on the rice front, more of the underlying orchid and creamy notes of the Jin Xuan showing their color. The finish has a nutty rice note that lingers for some time. I called it quits after this steep sadly, the taste was quite pleasant, but the smell of the leaves was way too intense and killing my head, not to mention I spilled some on my tea table and just can’t get the smell out, whenever I get a whiff of it I am slammed with vertigo, it is safe to say that my sensory weirdness could not handle this herb. Clearly if I try to drink this tea again, I should do it with a nose plug, or maybe store the leaves in another room. It is a pity I had such a negative reaction to the aroma, the taste was really quite fascinating.

For blog and photos (and a link to a page entirely in Chinese about the fancy herb): http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/08/what-cha-thailand-sticky-rice-khao-hom.html

Flavors: Coconut, Flowers, Orchid, Rice, Rice Pudding, Sweet

Liquid Proust

Amanda, please delete this and repost it in September after I get paid… I didn’t even know a sticky rice oolong was out there and my will power is weak. must. click. purchase.

p.s. 100g for $14
That’s so cheap… but is their site in USD or not? It’s confusing me.

TeaNecromancer

but but but I don’t wanna write another blog tonight, I want to go game more :P

I know what you mean, I can’t tea shop until the first of the month and the new summer harvest teas came into What-Cha and there are some things I wanted to get with my last order that I want like right now sigh

Yeah that is what I am seeing, and I am signed into my account so it is showing USD. Holy crap that is cheap.

Liquid Proust

I’ll buy a lot and use some for swaps :)

Now time to upset you as I am upset that I don’t have this.
What Cha did have this: http://what-cha.com/out-of-stock/nepal-monsoon-flush-2014-pearl-oolong-tea/

Here’s the bad news, it’s not there no more :(

Liquid Proust

DAMNIT! You already had it :/

TeaNecromancer

That is so sad! That was such a beautiful tea, though the real tear jerker for me is this http://what-cha.com/out-of-stock/korea-jeong-jae-yeuns-hwangcha-balhyocha-tea/ it was a glorious tea, though last time I looked it was retired…seeing more might be on the way, I think I just might faint!

I still kick myself for not getting more of both of those teas.

Liquid Proust

Maybe when that weird ‘citrus’ oolong is in stock we can organize a group buy :)
I haven’t had any What Cha and just realized how much they have on their site… not sure why I haven’t heard more about them :/

Spencer

Sympathizing so hard with the Terraria boss fights…I wonder if Adagio has Terraria fandom blends…

TeaNecromancer

Fair warning, they are addictive. I am trying to try all of the teas…but Alistair keeps adding more!!

Oddly no! I looked a couple weeks ago and thought about starting a Terraria line to go with my Minecraft line. :P

Spencer

Please do…I will buy every. single. one.

TeaNecromancer

Hahaha! Will do! Any special monster requests for me to start with?

Spencer

Definitely the Guide, probably “wooden sword” (based on a pu’erh with something…sharp), “worm food” (another pu’erh), but definitely Eater of Worlds…though I have no idea of what it would be comprised.

TeaNecromancer

Ooh making things based off the different items used to summon the bosses could be a fun challenge.

mmmm worm food! I think this will be a fun project! I also decided that I am tempted to drag all my perler beads out and make perler versions of some of the banners, I have become a collector of them.

What-Cha

Wow, I woke up to a lot of comments!

Thanks for the review Amanda, the aroma in particular of the tea can be rather potent and I’m sorry it was causing you headaches :(

I’m happy to say I’ve ordered 300g of the 2015 Korea Jeong Jae Yeun’s Hwangcha Balhyocha Tea, so hopefully it should be back on sale in 1-2 months.

@Liquid Proust

All prices are in GBP (£9.20 for 100g of the Sticky Rice Oolong) but can be viewed in USD on the website (which now update hourly to reflect the market exchange rate). The order total is payable in GBP and so if you choose to pay in USD via Paypal you will get a worse than market rate.

If you would like to place an order at some point, I could send you a paypal invoice payable in USD, with prices converted from GBP to USD at market exchange rate.

The Monsoon Pearls may finally be coming back in stock shortly (1-3 weeks)! Unfortunately they’re a really rare tea where the total production per flush is less than 10kg, so there’s been a big queue among vendors to get more.

@ boychik

I believe the Hwangcha you have from pu-erh.sk to be a different tea, produced by Jukro Tea Company, one of the foremost Korean producers.

Balhyocha is a very confusing term and as I understand it, is best thought as to mean a tea which is not green (i.e partially or fully oxidised).

Hwangcha is a subcategory of Balhyocha, it confusingly translates as yellow tea, but it is nothing like Chinese yellow tea in production, taste or oxidisation level. As I understand it, tea with an oxidisation level between 18-85% falls within the Hwangcha sub-category. These teas are perhaps best thought of as oolongs.

Tea with an oxidisation level above 85% are perhaps best thought of as black teas (they are still Balhyocha but not Hwangcha).

TeaNecromancer

Oh my, well, I plan on placing an order in a week, which excited me immensely. Now, when the Balhyocha comes back…possibly near my birthday…I foresee myself buying a massive pile of it. It is one of the few teas that I go all protective dragon on and don’t want to share, something about it is just magical and makes me happy.

Out of curiosity, and I understand if it is hush-hush, are you planning anything for Black Friday? I am getting my ducks in a row as to what I am doing for sales since Black Friday is right after my birthday and I tend to have happy shopping (fun fact, last year I bought a stuffed Minecraft spider)

As for the sticky rice, I am sad my brain didn’t seem to handle it, it makes me sad because it is so unique! And it doubly makes me sad because I didn’t dislike it, if it had been something I thought tasted awful then it would have just been me not liking it…this just seems mean spirited. Bad brain!! If it makes you feel any better, this is not the first time this has happened, strong smells are one of my migraine triggers and they seem totally random…like I can’t be in the house if anyone is cooking with Old Bay Seasoning or roasting grains for granola…but I can eat both of them just find. Just another one of those ‘the body is weird’ moments.

What-Cha

I can’t wait to have the Balhyocha back in stock along with some other interesting teas from Korea, including my first direct sourced Korean tea! I certainly understand your desire to purchase a massive pile of it, I only got to try a few grams last year before I had sold out!

To be honest, I haven’t even thought about Black Friday yet, but I’ll definitely try and put together some kind of special sale, probably a percentage off all teas coupon unless I can think of anything more creative.

I probably shouldn’t say this [but I do like to tease ;)] but I have some very big plans for October, including what will probably be a number of tea firsts for English speaking countries (including a Republic whose tea has never been sold in the West and almost never mentioned!).

Not to worry about the sticky rice oolong, we all have aromas and tastes which we react badly too. On the positive side, there may be a couple of interesting scented Vietnamese green teas appearing shortly, one scented with Citrus Maxima and the other with Chrysanthemum Morifolium.

Nicole

Gurl…. lemme know if you need a local to tag onto that order. I have an imaginary shopping cart all full… :)

TeaNecromancer

Hahaha! Will do!!

Well, I know where I will be spending my birthday money :P And a Republic you say, hmm, time to pull out my list of tea countries and see if I can guess which is it. I need to get back to work on that research project, I have been slacking lately (the shame!)

Seriously though, I got so excited reading this!!

Liquid Proust

If Amanda will allow me I can put together a group order :)

TeaNecromancer

Hmm, if you guys want to do a group order be my guest, currently my planned order is like close to $60 :P so I do not need to get in for free shipping and honestly find the whole group order thing immensely confusing…probably because I agonize and waffle over my order for WEEKS

Plus I am shy and bad at these kinds of things

Liquid Proust

I’ll PM you :)

TeaNecromancer

Okie Dokie!

Nicole

Let me know, LP. I’m sure I can get to free shipping on my own as well, but I shouldn’t get to free shipping on my own. :)

What-Cha

The ‘republic’ is a federal subject rather than a country, so it might be difficult to find listed, especially so as of 2013, there was only 6 hectares used for tea!

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Liquid Proust

Amanda, please delete this and repost it in September after I get paid… I didn’t even know a sticky rice oolong was out there and my will power is weak. must. click. purchase.

p.s. 100g for $14
That’s so cheap… but is their site in USD or not? It’s confusing me.

TeaNecromancer

but but but I don’t wanna write another blog tonight, I want to go game more :P

I know what you mean, I can’t tea shop until the first of the month and the new summer harvest teas came into What-Cha and there are some things I wanted to get with my last order that I want like right now sigh

Yeah that is what I am seeing, and I am signed into my account so it is showing USD. Holy crap that is cheap.

Liquid Proust

I’ll buy a lot and use some for swaps :)

Now time to upset you as I am upset that I don’t have this.
What Cha did have this: http://what-cha.com/out-of-stock/nepal-monsoon-flush-2014-pearl-oolong-tea/

Here’s the bad news, it’s not there no more :(

Liquid Proust

DAMNIT! You already had it :/

TeaNecromancer

That is so sad! That was such a beautiful tea, though the real tear jerker for me is this http://what-cha.com/out-of-stock/korea-jeong-jae-yeuns-hwangcha-balhyocha-tea/ it was a glorious tea, though last time I looked it was retired…seeing more might be on the way, I think I just might faint!

I still kick myself for not getting more of both of those teas.

Liquid Proust

Maybe when that weird ‘citrus’ oolong is in stock we can organize a group buy :)
I haven’t had any What Cha and just realized how much they have on their site… not sure why I haven’t heard more about them :/

Spencer

Sympathizing so hard with the Terraria boss fights…I wonder if Adagio has Terraria fandom blends…

TeaNecromancer

Fair warning, they are addictive. I am trying to try all of the teas…but Alistair keeps adding more!!

Oddly no! I looked a couple weeks ago and thought about starting a Terraria line to go with my Minecraft line. :P

Spencer

Please do…I will buy every. single. one.

TeaNecromancer

Hahaha! Will do! Any special monster requests for me to start with?

Spencer

Definitely the Guide, probably “wooden sword” (based on a pu’erh with something…sharp), “worm food” (another pu’erh), but definitely Eater of Worlds…though I have no idea of what it would be comprised.

TeaNecromancer

Ooh making things based off the different items used to summon the bosses could be a fun challenge.

mmmm worm food! I think this will be a fun project! I also decided that I am tempted to drag all my perler beads out and make perler versions of some of the banners, I have become a collector of them.

What-Cha

Wow, I woke up to a lot of comments!

Thanks for the review Amanda, the aroma in particular of the tea can be rather potent and I’m sorry it was causing you headaches :(

I’m happy to say I’ve ordered 300g of the 2015 Korea Jeong Jae Yeun’s Hwangcha Balhyocha Tea, so hopefully it should be back on sale in 1-2 months.

@Liquid Proust

All prices are in GBP (£9.20 for 100g of the Sticky Rice Oolong) but can be viewed in USD on the website (which now update hourly to reflect the market exchange rate). The order total is payable in GBP and so if you choose to pay in USD via Paypal you will get a worse than market rate.

If you would like to place an order at some point, I could send you a paypal invoice payable in USD, with prices converted from GBP to USD at market exchange rate.

The Monsoon Pearls may finally be coming back in stock shortly (1-3 weeks)! Unfortunately they’re a really rare tea where the total production per flush is less than 10kg, so there’s been a big queue among vendors to get more.

@ boychik

I believe the Hwangcha you have from pu-erh.sk to be a different tea, produced by Jukro Tea Company, one of the foremost Korean producers.

Balhyocha is a very confusing term and as I understand it, is best thought as to mean a tea which is not green (i.e partially or fully oxidised).

Hwangcha is a subcategory of Balhyocha, it confusingly translates as yellow tea, but it is nothing like Chinese yellow tea in production, taste or oxidisation level. As I understand it, tea with an oxidisation level between 18-85% falls within the Hwangcha sub-category. These teas are perhaps best thought of as oolongs.

Tea with an oxidisation level above 85% are perhaps best thought of as black teas (they are still Balhyocha but not Hwangcha).

TeaNecromancer

Oh my, well, I plan on placing an order in a week, which excited me immensely. Now, when the Balhyocha comes back…possibly near my birthday…I foresee myself buying a massive pile of it. It is one of the few teas that I go all protective dragon on and don’t want to share, something about it is just magical and makes me happy.

Out of curiosity, and I understand if it is hush-hush, are you planning anything for Black Friday? I am getting my ducks in a row as to what I am doing for sales since Black Friday is right after my birthday and I tend to have happy shopping (fun fact, last year I bought a stuffed Minecraft spider)

As for the sticky rice, I am sad my brain didn’t seem to handle it, it makes me sad because it is so unique! And it doubly makes me sad because I didn’t dislike it, if it had been something I thought tasted awful then it would have just been me not liking it…this just seems mean spirited. Bad brain!! If it makes you feel any better, this is not the first time this has happened, strong smells are one of my migraine triggers and they seem totally random…like I can’t be in the house if anyone is cooking with Old Bay Seasoning or roasting grains for granola…but I can eat both of them just find. Just another one of those ‘the body is weird’ moments.

What-Cha

I can’t wait to have the Balhyocha back in stock along with some other interesting teas from Korea, including my first direct sourced Korean tea! I certainly understand your desire to purchase a massive pile of it, I only got to try a few grams last year before I had sold out!

To be honest, I haven’t even thought about Black Friday yet, but I’ll definitely try and put together some kind of special sale, probably a percentage off all teas coupon unless I can think of anything more creative.

I probably shouldn’t say this [but I do like to tease ;)] but I have some very big plans for October, including what will probably be a number of tea firsts for English speaking countries (including a Republic whose tea has never been sold in the West and almost never mentioned!).

Not to worry about the sticky rice oolong, we all have aromas and tastes which we react badly too. On the positive side, there may be a couple of interesting scented Vietnamese green teas appearing shortly, one scented with Citrus Maxima and the other with Chrysanthemum Morifolium.

Nicole

Gurl…. lemme know if you need a local to tag onto that order. I have an imaginary shopping cart all full… :)

TeaNecromancer

Hahaha! Will do!!

Well, I know where I will be spending my birthday money :P And a Republic you say, hmm, time to pull out my list of tea countries and see if I can guess which is it. I need to get back to work on that research project, I have been slacking lately (the shame!)

Seriously though, I got so excited reading this!!

Liquid Proust

If Amanda will allow me I can put together a group order :)

TeaNecromancer

Hmm, if you guys want to do a group order be my guest, currently my planned order is like close to $60 :P so I do not need to get in for free shipping and honestly find the whole group order thing immensely confusing…probably because I agonize and waffle over my order for WEEKS

Plus I am shy and bad at these kinds of things

Liquid Proust

I’ll PM you :)

TeaNecromancer

Okie Dokie!

Nicole

Let me know, LP. I’m sure I can get to free shipping on my own as well, but I shouldn’t get to free shipping on my own. :)

What-Cha

The ‘republic’ is a federal subject rather than a country, so it might be difficult to find listed, especially so as of 2013, there was only 6 hectares used for tea!

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I am a nerdy, obsessive, crafty, tea blogging, gaming nut. Yeah, that about sums me up! Ok, you want something more informative….

I am a Geek, hardcore fan-girl Geek. It shapes my life. I spend a large chunk of my life painting miniatures and contemplating my various army layouts. I hoard dice, get obsessed with games, and will talk about whatever fandom, game, etc that I am obsessed over until I am blue in the face. I am not just a gamer girl type Geek, I also fit in the collecting knowledge and spending way too much time reading and researching category of Geek.

But there is more to me than just being a giant nerd. I love tea, always have and have just gotten more and more obsessed as I get older. I love trying new teas and then writing lengthy descriptions about them on my blog, I love reading and researching the history and culture of tea, I love collecting tea pots and fancy tea tools.

When the weather allows it, I love to go mushroom hunting. I don’t eat them, instead I use them for photography and spore prints. I love nature and worked as a Naturalist in the Northwoods one summer, it might have been the best job ever.

I have Fibromyalgia, it sucks, but I feel people who are going to interact with me should know since I tend to vanish because of it so fair warning! I do tend to not vanish very long though. Also I have some ‘social disorders’ which basically translates to I am really awkward and bad at socializing, so forgive any lack of social graces.

I also have cats, love the ocean and all aquatic life, have teal hair, love cheese, and collect hats.

My favorite tea is definitely Oolong, but I also love Japanese greens and…ok I just love tea actually :P I am not a huge fan of lemony black teas or tart fruit teas. I also loathe hibiscus (usually)

This is my actual tea wishlist, you know that I actually update and keep track of…I tend to forget Steepster’s https://www.facebook.com/notes/amanda-wilson/tea-wishlishtshopping-list-perpetually-in-progress/10152336515414411 I use my steepster WL to keep track of teas I have had and really want more of :P

Location

Kansas City, MO

Website

http://ramblingbutterflythoug...

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