Ethan Loke Send Message

A meh Fuzhuan tea. I got this tea from my w2t order, and it is just about mediocre, maybe slightly better than mediocre. Beautiful leaves with a good amount of golden flowers paired with an interesting juicy finish, strong and potent wet leaf aroma and a slight cha-qi. This tea lacks in the strength and complexity of flavour, character, texture and longevity. There wasn’t anything downright bad about this tea, but nothing much stands out either.

This tea left me in a drunker stupor. I got this sample from my recent Yunnan Craft order, and wow does this tea pack a punch. Beautiful leaves with a rich character, complex, refreshing finish and decent aftertaste with a cha-qi that rivals gushu. This tea could’ve done with a more potent flavour and aroma, with a thicker and more active texture and mouthfeel. This tea also only lasted 7-8 steeps, which I would’ve expected more from a Pu-erh tea.

An interesting pu-erh! I got these dragon balls as samples from my recent BLT order, and while this tea lacks in some areas, it makes up in others. Beautiful leaves and vibrant liquor with a holy truck load finish where the astringency in the mouth lets way to a tsunami of juiciness. Decent aftertaste with decent cha-qi as well. The flavour however was a bit lacking in complexity and strength, and the aroma had the same problem too. Slightly thin texture with a subpar longevity and average character makes this tea decent but not something to rave about.

An interesting black tea! I got the 2022 harvest of this tea from my recent Mountain Stream Teas order, and this tea really is quite nice, but lacks too much to say that it’s great. Beautiful leaves and liquor with an invigorating wet leaf and empty cup aroma. Interesting character and a refreshing zesty aftertaste. While the flavour is nice and pleasant, it is mild & one-dimensional and straddles the line of wanting to be delicate and wanting to be intense. The texture is relatively thin with little mouthfeel, and the cha-qi and longevity of this tea is almost non-existent. If you want an easy drinker that doesn’t offer much other than aroma and a pleasant taste, this tea may be for you. However, there are probably better teas at this price range out there.

A mediocre Dancong. I got this tea from my recent BLT order, and it really isn’t much good. Beautiful leaves and potent wet leaf aroma, while packing a decent and pleasant flavour. However, this tea has a thin texture and an overtly drying finish, not much character and complexity and a lack of cha-qi. For a dancong, this tea is also unable to handle too many steeps as well, which is a bummer. Don’t recommend buying this tea, it’s better to put your money elsewhere.

A decent, delicate white tea! I got the 2022 harvest of this tea from my Mei Leaf order, and it really is quite nice. Great aroma with a decent flavour and nice longevity. I wish this tea had more complexity, character and texture, which would elevate the tea drinking experience further.

A disappointing black tea. I got the 2021 harvest of this tea as a free sample from my recent Old Ways Tea order, and while some parts of this tea caught my attention, others really just didn’t meet my standards. The good things first, a beautiful, rich and complex aroma, especially in the wet leaf. Decent cha-qi, making this tea good for a quick buzz or even as a digestive. However, this tea lacked any form of strength and complexity in flavour, and the texture is overly drying, without turning to juiciness. Because of that, the finish & aftertaste was practically ruined as well.

The dryness of this tea and lack of any flavour makes this tea a disappointing one, and not something I’d buy again.

For the longest time, I’ve struggled with tieguanyins. Whether their flavour balance is wrong, or they are too sharp and vegetal, or they lack depth in texture and aftertaste. This tea however really ticks most of the boxes for what I want in a tieguanyin. This tea is the definition of a really good and balanced tea.

I got the Autumn 2021 harvest of this tea from my recent Teavivre order. This tea has the distinct softness and nuance of a autumn oolong tea. Beautiful, vibrant handmade leaves, and honestly the handmade inconsistency of the leaves make this tea look even better. This tea also has a complex aroma with a rich and thick liquor. The flavour is sublime, balanced to perfection with the right amount of acidity and sourness with the buttery creaminess and verdant vegetal notes to round it off. The texture is out of this world and I’d rate it a 11/10. Dryness and astringency at the front of the mouth, juiciness on the sides and at the bottom and a light twang of bite at the back. There is this rising wave of florality in the texture as you drink this tea, making the texture and experience of this tea an all-rounder that exceeds expectations.

Beautiful, refreshing finish with a balanced character and a noticeable warming cha-qi. This tea also managed to last 9-10 steeps, which is pretty darn good if you ask me. With all the good things, there are some areas to improve as well. I wish that this tea had more pop to the flavour and that for the flavour notes to last for longer. This tea could do a bit more in terms of aftertaste and complexity of the taste, and a richer aroma would make this tea top notch.

Best tieguanyin I’ve ever had thus far, and it really deserves its “nonpareil” title. A bummer that I only bought the sample, definitely will need to buy more in the future. The price as well, such a deal for such a good tea!

A disappointing Jinxuan. I got the 2021 harvest of this tea from my recent Mountain Streams order. It is the first time in a while that I got to try one of my favourite teas, Jinxuan Oolongs. However, this tea was quite disappointing. Yes, it has beautiful leaves with a smooth yet unique texture and aroma, but the flavour was lacking in potency and complexity, and the finish just wasn’t that present. Little cha-qi with horrendous longevity, as well as a character that leaves a lot to be desired. While this tea isn’t bad by any means, it isn’t great and it isn’t something I’d recommend either.

This tea has potential! I got the 2022 harvest of this tea from my recent Teavivre order, and this tea really could’ve been great, but it just falls short. Beautiful leaves and an incredibly unique and deep aroma, paired with a smooth yet bitey texture and a decent longevity. The first steep had a unique and delicate, yet nuanced flavour that honestly had me thinking this tea would be one of the best I had ever. However, the flavour in the subsequent steeps fell off a cliff (slowly). The finish was quite refreshing but the aftertaste was a bit lacking. There was also no noticeable cha-qi, and the liquor did look a bit pale and passive. Overall, this tea was really good in the beginning parts of the session, but it took a turn for the worse in the latter parts. Maybe I brewed it wrong, who knows? I followed the instructions on the Teavivre website.