85 Tasting Notes
This year’s Bai Hao is fantastic. the always sweet and robust infusion fills the mouth with a warm glow of flavor. i taste a little bit of cedar and a little bit of vanilla. the leaves are sprinkled with silvery tips that our little buggy friends have created. can’t wait to drink this on a Cha Xi
Preparation
This tea is a treasure in the cup and on the tongue. The velvety burnt caramel color brings a warmth to this cold fall day. The smell is a sweet, floral roast of reminiscent of Sun Moon Lake or Bai Hao with a hint of pear. The first infusion is light in body but rich in complex flavors. the first not is a warm honey flavor followed by a bright nuttiness and finishing with a crisp roasted apple pie smoothness.
Preparation
This is one smooth brew! sweet and well-rounded, this puer is a velvet elixir in my mouth and in my cup. can withstand 20+ brews (although I need help from others if I try to make it past 15 on my own) there are hints of fall leaves and root veggies all topped of with a brief caramel undertone. I look forward to this tea keeping me warm through the long winter.
Preparation
This is one of the most incredible teas I have ever had. The apricot notes are out of this world and yet the roast of the tea is so smooth and well rounded. each infusion was a slight variation on these flavors. I drank this tea for 5 infusions but I have no doubt that it could withstand 10-15 brews. I look forward to my next session with it which will hopefully be a cha xi with my dedicated phoenix pot.
Preparation
This Oolong has the body of a Bai Hao or Sun Moon Lake, but tastes more delicate than its leaf size and color suggests. even with really quick infusions, the full flavor comes out immediately. each sip is a well rounded taste of sweet honeyed pecans.
Preparation
as a gradually cross the 2011 teas off my list, I am now finally getting to this year’s genmaicha. i have not had this tea in a long time so it’s hard to remember what last years tasted like in comparison. this year’s has very stale popcorny taste right away, much more than i remember. after the popcorn, the toastyness really comes through. it’s a smooth transition with the underlying tea providing the perfect bridge. the tea itself is not the best, maybe a second harvest sencha or even a bancha. i wonder if tea will take over after three or four infusions…
Preparation
Very slight in its aged oolong taste. perhaps the first i’ve had that wasn’t charcoal roasted in successive firings? to me it tastes a little like an Ali Shan black oolong i’ve had, very sweet almost bai hao like but it also has a hint of sour gaba sort of tones and flavors. i’ll be interested to see how the flavor changes. who knows maybe i’ll have it around long enough to require my own firing session.
the first infusion was the least flavorful but still very nice. the second through fifth were all pretty solid. each infusion had one of the subtle flavors come to the forefront.
i probably could have gotten another 3-4 infusions but i was quite tea-ed up and my cha xi collective was disbanding. as a looked through the wet leaves, i noticed that they were still rolled for the most part. the color of the wet leaves was about as dark a fresh ti kuan yin in terms of roasty brown to green ratio. very interesting for an aged tea. i’ll have to think about this one more…
Preparation
This Puer is one of my favorites, it’s sweet but strong. it has a slight melon flavor that i find in a lot of raw puers. I only use a small amount and it seems to last all day. it’s a great morning puer and it’s even perfect for a hot day.