818 Tasting Notes

Wow, there are a lot of flavors listed for this tea, but when I tried it last night, I didn’t get much complexity. I’ve been interested in exploring yancha lately after trying and enjoying the DHP from Nannuoshan. I still think of the ones I’ve tried, I like that one best. This one and the one from Teavivre had a nice roast flavor and were sweet, but not much else. This one also has a nice medium viscosity. It was good, but didn’t seem special. I ordered two other yancha from Verdant with this one, so I’ll see if those are more interesting. Overall, not terrible, but not exciting.

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I think this was the tea Stephanie so generously sent me a sample of! It was really interesting at first. During the rinses, frothy bubbles, like from champagne, were in the liquor. It bothered me a bit because I’ve never seen that before, so I rinsed it a few more times and that went away, leaving a nice clear golden liquor. Phew! The taste was absolutely delicious…fruity sweet and smooth like butter. It actually had a buttery mouthfeel, which became more pronounced in later infusions. I again, lost count of the infusions. That happens to me a lot when I am enjoying a sheng!

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This was a tasty keemun. It had some smoke, some fruit, and some caramel. Pretty good. The smoke lasted throughout several infusions. I probably would have preferred it to change a bit more, but overall, it was good.

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So, I totally didn’t realize this was a non-smoked lapsang until I brewed it up. That’s okay though…you know why? Because it tastes amazing! It has a subtle hint of smoke, more like a keemun than a smoked lapsang, but there were notes of malt, cocoa, caramel, fruit. Mmmm! Later infusions brought out the caramel even more. Absolutely delicious, and probably ranks up there with the Classic Chinese black tea. :)

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This is my first sheng from white2tea, and it came in the monthly club. I like the orb idea for convenience sake. My husband thought it was a Ferraro Rocher chocolate! Ha!

When I got it, I thought it weighed 10g, as advertised, and was going to split it in half because my gaiwan isn’t that big. I also normally use about 6g for a sheng session. Thanks to TheTeaFairy’s suggestion, I broke it in half by bending it with my fingers! But then I weighed it and decided that half an orb was too small, so I went with the whole orb anyway! It was actually around 8g.

I did two 5-second rinses and then steeped 10/15/20/25/35/45/60s and beyond! I actually had this over 2 days, which is the first time I’ve done that. I just spread the leaf out on a small plate and let it dry overnight and went back to it the next day and gave it a couple of rinses.

This is the thickest, most buttery mouthfeel sheng I’ve had. Really delicious! The liquor is a beautiful peach color. In the early steepings, it seemed more savory, with a touch of tobacco and vegetal astringency, but the buttery smoothness was dominant. The sweetness emerged early, by the third steep, and got stronger as the steepings progressed. The buttery mouthfeel lingered throughout. This was one of those everlasting gobstopper teas. I lost count of the infusions. The later ones had a juicy fruity sweetness with that buttery mouthfeel.

I must warn you, though, that it was a bit harsh on my stomach, and had an extremely energetic effect. I was pretty tea drunk and giggly on the first day. On the second day, my heart was pumping fast with only a couple steeps! I wasn’t sure whether it was just this tea, or whether it was because of the large amount of leaf. I really enjoyed it though, and would definitely consider picking one up in the future.

Brian

im sold. ill be trying mine this wknd

Tealizzy

Brian – Awesome! Enjoy!

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A sample of this tea came in a surprise package from Stephanie! Thank you! The little cube was about 9g, and my gaiwan isn’t that big, but I was able to break it in half. Yay!

It took a bit to loosen up. I did that trick where you let it sit a bit after the rinse. Always helps. Stephanie mentioned it tasted like library books, and I have to agree, not that I’ve ever eaten one. ;) It also has this really nice sweet taste, which was silky, like caramel. It stayed that way through an average number of infusions. It goes down nice and smooth. Mmm. I liked it a lot! Seems like a solid shou! Would definitely consider picking some up!

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Again, gorgeous leaves. A mix of dark and light brown, medium length, and twisted. I gong fu-brewed this, starting with about a 45-second infusion. The liquor is a gorgeous dark amber. The taste is complex, with notes of malt, potato, caramel. It has a silky texture, and there is also a hint of cinnamon or nutmeg. In the third infusion, some fruity notes made an appearance. This is good stuff!

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My first JW tea! I ordered a black and white chawan (which I love!) and since I’ve heard such good things about the tea, I also picked up a few samples! The leaf of this tea is beautiful…medium length, twisty, black. I could tell it was really good quality. I brewed this gong fu-style and drank it out of my new chawan. I let the first infusion go for about one minute. The liquor was such a pretty red! It tasted like chocolate mousse with a touch of cherry, and it was silky smooth. Absolutely delectable! Mmmm!!! I’m really impressed. If this is “classic,” what else is in store for me? ;)

Sil

jealous! and yay for new teaware!

Tealizzy

Thanks, Sil! I’m really enjoying it!

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Ah, the difference a fine metal filter makes to shou! It takes out all the funk, leaving a nice smooth liquor. This was particularly tasty tonight. Smooth, sweet, with a little wood. Just what I needed after a heavy dinner. :)

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This is a tasty, tasty shou! The information card for this tea, which I love reading by the way, said that this is a mild shou with not too much stimulant effect and not bitter, but with strength. I definitely noticed the strength! I did a rinse, let it sit while I ate a brownie ;) and then gave it a 15-second infusion and the color was intense! Super dark for a first infusion.

The flavor was mild. It was smooth, with a clean finish. After a few infusions, I decided that I was detecting notes of cinnamon and caramel. Very yummy! I think my favorite infusions were probably the fourth or fifth infusions. The info card also said it was one of very few shou offerings this year. They like sheng, which is fine by me, because their sheng offerings have been really delicious. Nice to mix it up though!

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Bio

Another profile facelift! My tastes have changed a lot from when I first discovered loose leaf tea.

I can trace my tea journey back to October 2012, when I discovered DavidsTea. Before that, I had the occasional cup and enjoyed high tea at An Afternoon to Remember, which has since closed.

I went through a period of wanting to try all the teas, and was really into flavored teas, especially dessert blacks, but my tastes have substantially changed over time.

I still enjoy the occasional flavored black or rooibos, but I’m more into unflavored black teas right now and recently, puerh. Chinese black teas are amazing…with their notes of chocolate or sweet potato, who needs a flavored tea? I had a much steeper learning curve when it came to puerh. I used to dump out cups of puerh for tasting like leather. Now, I am really enjoying them. I think it took finding good quality puerh and steeping them gong fu style to really enjoy them.

I also, on occasion, enjoy a good oolong, white, or green tea.

Favorite tea companies right now include: Mandala, Teavivre, Butiki, Golden Moon, Lupicia, and DavidsTea (for teaware mostly).

Just a note: I don’t rate my teas numerically because my iPad doesn’t like the scroll bar. Maybe someday that will change…hint hint, steepster! ;)

P.S. My profile picture is of one of my 2 cats, Holly, who is a little princess but very photogenic, and she loves boxes, including those that bring me tea! :)

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San Francisco Bay Area

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