943 Tasting Notes

85

This tea is well balanced, but a bit more on the bitter side among black teas.

Dry leaves have a strong smell of tomato vine complemented by muscovado sugar and wood notes. During the session, the aroma is more floral with hints of vanilla and cacao beans.

The taste is indeed bitter, but also fruity, woody and spicy. It induces warming and astringent sensations and a long-lasting aftertaste. There are flavours like cloves, mint, and apricot pits to be found here.

Flavors: Apricot, Astringent, Bitter, Brown Sugar, Cloves, Cocoa, Floral, Fruity, Mint, Spicy, Stonefruit, Tomato, Vanilla, Wood

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

71

Pretty boring tea that’s nevertheless pleasant to drink. It has a lighter body, cozy taste that is bitter, savoury and sweet, and an expansive aftertaste.

Aroma reminds me of celery, garden cress, fireplace, and bourbon. The taste is a bit tannic and has notes of wood and coffee.

Flavors: Bitter, Bourbon, Celery, Coffee, Earth, Fireplace, Plants, Sweet, Tannic, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec 6 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

94

This tea is one of my favourites but since it is not a “premium” tea, I am also happy to drink it casually. This makes it quite fun to follow its progression.

The aroma is more subdued now, but still peppery. It also reminds me of cooked meat, forest, and stewed vegetables.

The tea has a slick mouthfeel and a really good depth of warming flavours while still being bright and refreshing. The taste is well integrated. I can still detect herbs, grapefruit and other citrus fruits, but it is now more woody and nutty. The aftertaste is long-lasting, biting, drying, sweet, and very fragrant with notes of milk, herbs, and grains.

Flavors: Biting, Bitter, Citrus Fruits, Drying, Forest Floor, Grain, Grapefruit, Herbaceous, Meat, Milky, Nutty, Pepper, Stewed Vegetables, Sweet, Woody

Preparation
6 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

81

A very good white tea that is on the bitter and savoury side of the spectrum.

The aroma is sweet and flowery, but it also reminds me of fur, apricots, and autumn leaf pile.

The first infusion is a bit grassy and warming with a cooling finish. Second one is quite bitter with notes of bark, moss, and grape skins. Later I found also flavours of lamb meat and bread crust.

The tea has a soft mouthfeel and medium body. Its aftertaste is long, sweet, and fragrant with a numbing mouthfeel. There are notes of herbs (sage), white wine, and florals.

Flavors: Apricot, Autumn Leaf Pile, Bark, Bitter, Bread, Burnt Food, Cooling, Floral, Flowers, Fur, Grape Skin, Grassy, Herbaceous, Meat, Moss, Sage, Sweet, White Wine

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

79

This tea has a familiar Assamica character. It has a foresty and chocolaty character, with a bitter, savoury (tomato vine) and slightly medicinal flavour. The body is light to medium, and the mouthfeel creamy. The aftertaste gives a strong cooling and biting sensation.

Flavors: Biting, Bitter, Chocolate, Cocoa, Cooling, Forest Floor, Tomato, Vegetal

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 30 sec 4 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

74

This is an unusual Gui Fei in that it is not very sweet, rather bitter and vegetal. It has some obvious objective quality, but I am not sure how much I like it personally.

Its dry leaf aroma reminds me of baked fruit (apple pie and pear), roasted nuts, apricots, magnolia flowers as well as shellfish. Wet leaves smell more floral (a bit like Mediterranean bushes), herbaceous (thyme), and earthy.

The liquor is bitter and biting with a cooling aftertaste, but it doesn’t bring so much engagement in terms of particular flavours.

Flavors: Apple, Apricot, Biting, Bitter, Earthy, Floral, Herbaceous, Magnolia, Marine, Pear, Roast Nuts, Shellfish, Thyme, Vegetal

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

91

Every session with this tea is a special and unique one. It has a superb depth of flavours and overall gives an intense experience with strong presence in the mouth and a long-lasting aftertaste.

Often as pu-erh tea ages out of its youthful stage, it loses a its floral complexity in the dry leaf aroma. I don’t find that to be happening so much. There is a good complexity to the sweet, herbaceous scent with a note of tropical fruits. After the rinse, the scent reminds me of old green tea, but also peat, chicory, compost, bay leaves, and apples. The tea leaves a strong aroma also in the cup, where one can smell honey notes.

The liquor has a buttery, numbing and mouth-watering presence with an astringent finish. The taste is brothy and savoury at first. There is a vegetal aftertaste with notes of leek, peppers and umami that is also a bit spicy and sort of salty. Later steeps are more floral and bitter and remind me of FF Darjeeling tea a bit. There are also flavours of celery stalk, sugar beet and amber ale. The aftertaste becomes very intense at times. It’s character is mix of sweet and savoury ones.

Flavors: Apple, Bay Leaf, Beer, Bitter, Bread, Broth, Celery, Chicory, Compost, Floral, Green Bell Peppers, Herbaceous, Honey, Leeks, Peat, Pepper, Salty, Spicy, Sugar, Sweet, Tea, Tropical Fruit, Umami, Vegetal

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

77

This is quite a sweet tea for an aged oolong. It also has the espected metallic and medicinal taste, and a soft buttery mouthfeel. The aroma is fruity and toasty at first. After the rinse, it gives off notes of peat, angostura bitters and orange.

Flavors: Apricot, Fruity, Medicinal, Metallic, Orange, Peat, Sweet, Toasty

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec 5 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

79

This is a very floral and bitter tea. It shares similarity with pu-erh from proximate localities such as Naka and Hekai, but it is noticably less mineral than the former tends to be.

The aroma is nutty and vegetal with notes of wild garlic and ghee. The tea has a watery texture that’s unremarkable, and a bitter-sweet taste with cooling high floral notes. The aftertaste is quite long-lasting and floral again. It brings also a strong drying sense. There are further flavours of apples, bay leaf, baked lemon, and green olives. Throughout the session, I also feel a pleasant chest warming sensation.

Flavors: Apple, Bay Leaf, Bitter, Butter, Cooling, Drying, Floral, Garlic, Lemon, Nutty, Olives, Sweet, Vegetal

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

83
drank Qi Lan by Nannuoshan
943 tasting notes

A decent rock oolong that is pretty easy to brew and enjoy.

This one has a multilayered aroma when dry; including notes of brownies, fruits, nuts, coffee, and orchids; unlike later in the session. The first infusion tastes sour, yeasty and milky, with an aftertaste of nectarines and sweet wood. The tea has a nice mouthfeel that’s astringent but not abrasive. The rest of the session gives a more warming and floral vibe. There are some more savoury steeps with butter flavour. Interestingly, I find it impossible to overbrew this tea, which is certainly not a given among yancha.

Flavors: Astringent, Butter, Coffee, Cookie, Floral, Fruity, Milky, Nectarine, Nutty, Orchid, Sour, Yeasty

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

Hi, I am a researcher in math, physics and computer science. Apart from teas and mathematics, I enjoy sports and traveling, as well as music of all kinds. Connect at https://rateyourmusic.com/~Togo

I had been drinking Japanese green tea for a while before discovering the world of tea in 2017. I rarely drink blends and generally avoid artificially scented teas. Other than that I try to keep it varied.

My rating description:
100 _ Unforgettable tea, an experience that changes your life.
90 – 100 _ Excellent tea.
80 – 90 _ Very enjoyable, I will buy again.
70 – 80 _ I enjoyed it, but I most likely won’t be buying it again.
60 – 70 _ Decent.
50 – 60 _ Average, forgettable.
40 – 50 _ I didn’t really like the tea, but it is drinkable.
0 – 40 _ I would prefer to avoid the tea.

Location

Innsbruck, Austria

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer