Bitterleaf Teas

Grandpa Style!

Out of all the productions in Bitterleaf’s YOT series I feel like I gravitate the most towards Year of The Rooster, and sipping on this production throughout the afternoon there was something about it that really resonated and reminded me of that one. I’ve never really done a vertical tasting of all the years to directly compare at the same time, but I would say this year shares a similar soft, smooth and particularly honey-like taste with fruitier undertones. All some of my favourite qualities when it comes to sheng produced in this region. Would definitely be really interesting to try the two side by side..

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAt8Ga1OnJv/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9MSkO4DWjA

Gongfu!

Honestly, not totally sure how I feel about this one. In general, I have absolutely nothing against “border pu’erh” and I’ve had some truly exceptional sheng and shou that were also grown in Laos but processed in Yunnan, like this tea. As I’ve said in the past with tea grown on the border, the soil and plants don’t really know the difference between what’s on one side of a man-made border or not…

It’s truly just the taste of this shou that’s leaving me a little pensive feeling. The liquor is so thick, coating, and smooth – truly deserving of the black velvet namesake. I get a lot of wet, earthy and woodsy flavours from the infusions but also a strange sort of fruitiness. Lots of somewhat under ripe, green banana notes which is a flavour I don’t come across often in a general sense but that does pop up quite a lot for me in Yiwu ripe pu’erh productions. I don’t think that’s a coincidence since BLT mentions that the varietal of tea tree used for this tea can also be found in Yiwu. It’s sort of really just the finish that I’m unsure of. It’s kind of waxy tasting and floral in a really perfume-y and lingering way. It not necessarily that I find it unpleasant, just different in a bit of an unsettling way. Probably something I will need to try a few more times to make my mind up about.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAjA4_XOHfX/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teRXT-IT-Dk

As I am writing this review I’m predicting that this is going to be a pretty detailed review of this tea since my palate and my nose is as clear as day. Watermelon, honeydew melon, roasted cashews, wood, coffee and licorice is what I’m getting from the dry leaf. The wet leaf has honey, cardamom, peachy and milky notes with hints of leather, flowers (orchid and lavender), vanilla and raspberry. The texture clear, quenching, mineral and quite smooth (for a dancong) with minimal astringency and quite a good sweetness on the back of my tongue. The tea has notes of biscuits, unripe banana, orchids and cinnamon and it retains hints of coffee and licorice and wood and it also has new hints of almond, black pepper, green vegetation and celery. The new hints that I’ve mention will show up as the steeps progresses and from the 5th steep it adopts the aroma of egg tart and apple pie.The taste is naturally sweet with a little bit of bitterness. This tea is from Bitterleaf Teas top shelf collection and it rightfully deserves a place on my top shelf. A very complex and very enjoyable tea. I used the Chaozhou gongfu tea method with a Chaozhou teapot to brew wonderful tea.

the dry leaf smell is different from other dancong dry leaves I’ve smelled throughout my dancong tastings. The smells has dominant notes of roasted cashews, freshly baked biscuits (cinnamon cookie called speculaas) and peach pits with hints of jujube and dates. The wet leaf smell has notes of roasted walnuts, mint, stonefruit pits, strawberry, raspberry with hints of grass, nutmeg and flowers. Even though I accidentally oversteeped this tea the texture wasn’t astringent and the taste wasn’t bitter. The texture is rather clear, smooth and mineral. The taste was very unique with dominant hints of caramel fudge, nougat, coffee biscuits, chocolate and hints of milkiness and nuttiness. As the tea progresses it reveals subtle notes of citrus, charcoal, gardenia and starchiness. Overall pretty unique, but the tea lost its flavor too quickly, because at the second steep I already noticed that it was mellowing down and at the third steep I only could taste the base notes of nuts, coffee and the notes that I’ve mentioned as the tea progresses. Pretty dissappointing but still a very unique tea and the first time I’ve tasted that many confections in a dancong.

Dry leaf has a nutty, woody and a subtle sweet and honey note to it and hints of coffee and flowers. The wet leaf gives off a nice floral and vegetal/grassy note still with hints of honey and sugarcane. Texture is nice and clear while being slightly bitter and astringent. After swallowing the tea gives me a nice sweetness at the back of my tongue. The tea did have the taste of almond and furthermore it had woody, fruity and floral notes with some mineral and caramel hints. It wasn’t a super special tea but still very drinkable and nice. I used the Chaozhou gongfu method with a Chaozhou teapot to brew this tea.

Dry leaf smell blew my socks off! Already it had a super sweet smell with hints of nuts. The sweet smell comprises of peach, honey, lychee, flowers and honeydew melon! The wet leaf hits you with a dominant lychee aroma with hints of stonefruit pit, licorice and cinnamon. The texture is clear, mineral and quenching. The tea has astringency but almost unnoticeable and after the astringent episode (neglectable) it leaves you with a lingering sweetness in the back of the throat. The taste is still sweet like honey and it still has the stonefruit pit aroma but this time with a unripe banana and surprisingly peanut notes. Furthermore it has notes of mango, passion fruit, mangosteen and lychee. In conclusion, this is a tea that is known as a classic ‘household’ tea (especially for the Teochew/Chaoshan people) but never have I ever tasted a household tea that offers such an experience. The producer had almost maxxed out this tea and I couldn’t imagine having a better tea for the same price even though this tea was quite pricy. Frankly, I’ve never experienced such a good milanxiang dancong before.

Upon smelling the dry leaf I noticed some milkiness and the smell of fresh asian pear. The wet leaf had an almondy and honey smell with small amounts of orchid and green notes. The texture was milky and smooth with almost no astringency. When the tea hit my mouth it came with an aroma bomb. The tea is mainly a fruity tea with peachy and apple-y aromas with some nuts and coconut and a mineral taste in the background. Worth noting that the tea isn’t charcoal roasted so it maintains the vegetal note throughout the steeps. Overall a nice daily drinker and worth the price! I used the Chaozhou Gongfu method with a Chaozhou teapot to brew this tea.

Dry leaf: To be reviewed

The wet leaf has a charry and nutty smell with a floral and leathery smell in the background. The texture is refreshing and clear with a tiny bit of astringency. TO BE CONTINUED

Thanks yet again, Cameron B! I like the concept of black tea mixed with puerh! Upon first sipping this, I really thought I had ruined it, since it had a flavor that was a bit like sheng. I actually had to look at the description again… nope — it is supposed to be half black tea and half shou. Specifically, the shou is 2020 Bulang material and the black tea is 2022 Fengqing. It really doesn’t taste like shou to me at all. Not sure if I have ever had Bulang before… It has a greenish flavor to it that I associate with sheng. The black tea also isn’t spectacular. I think I’ll pass this on to Michelle who has it on the wishlist…

A pretty sweet black tea with a pleasant texture and very little bitterness or astringency. Its aroma reminds me of cranberries, malt, wood, and dates. The taste has notes of chocolate, fruits (nectarine), seaweed. It is sweet, malty, foresty, and a bit savoury with a cooling presence. The aftertaste is also pretty sweet, with notes such as honey and guava.

Gongfu!

Enjoyed this session stacked two steeps at a time. I was craving something rich, smooth and earthy and this very dark but clean tasting ripe pu’erh is really hitting the spot. Surprisingly sweet with heavy notes of sticky medjool dates, molasses, and jaggery that accent a lingering, slow building profile of rain-soaked top soil, leather bound books, vanilla, mud, and petrichor. The liquor is oily and slick, coating the mouth quickly even though the tasting notes finish quite crispy after the swallow. It’s one of those teas you feel in the back of the chest after a few steeps, slowly but steadily resonating throughout the body. If this is where the tea name comes from, then I think it’s quite brilliant!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C9X1IUSu3gU/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y7nTP7LiNc

Gongfu!

I rarely use this rubber duck teapet because it’s so large, but it was too perfectly on theme to not pull out for this session!! Steeped up, I found this tea pretty dynamic and flavourful. The top notes were woody and mineral, like licking rocks or seashells, before exploding into a mix of juicy lychee, green grapes and tropical fruits with a very heady floral finish. Smooth, fresh feeling, and ultimately well balanced. I have to admit that I’d forgotten about this tea sample since I just don’t drink a ton of dancong, and I was worried it may have aged poorly, but it made for a surprisingly lovely session!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8pw2v9h-NR/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCDLQl4h-qA

Grandpa Style!

Bitterleaf always absolutely crushes the sourcing of their Jingmai productions, and this 2024 pressing is no exception. Smooth, fresh, and floral with heady notes of orchids, lilac, and pea blossoms with just enough gentle astringency pushed forward from this brewing style. Usually, I take the “cake is sample” approach with each year’s production of this series but this year I tried to scale back how much I spent on Spring teas so I could focus on putting a dent in some of the teas I already have. I might already be regretting that decision, though…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8FwvT0RfsG/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOz9YSAe8bk

Gongfu!

My Spring tea order from Bitterleaf arrived this week, so I’m steeping up a session of the 2024 Red Dragon Yiwu Shaihong black tea in my Pokémon gaiwan. I know I should wait for these cakes to have a moment to settle following their trip across the globe, but I couldn’t resist breaking into at least one of them right away – new Spring teas always get me so hyped.

…and this tea is incredible!! Thick and syrupy right off the bat with pungently sweet notes of waxy red fruits and almonds extract with undertones of maple, walnut, molasses, and golden raisins. Malty in its overtones, but floral and heady in the finish. I feel heavily invested already in the complexity and flavour impact of this black tea. I mean, just wow. It’s going to be very, very hard not to immediately dive into the white tea and sheng pu’erh cakes made with this material. Very hard.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C7m34p3OHFo/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-YQpoH3-PQ

Prepared in my Jian Shui gaiwan, and served in my porcelain teacup via my glass cha hai. Filtered Santa Monica municipal water boiled then allowed to cool for a little while.

No scale or thermometer, so guessing at quantities/temp.

Dry leaves are long and wiry with plentiful golden sections. Smells like Autumn: hay, grain, and hints of leaf litter, pumpkin, and books.

Orange peel/butterscotch liquor.

Delicate faintly grainy aroma.

Flavor follows the nose and is joined by low cocoa notes, pumpkin bread, and dried fig. Finishes almost savory (wood/leaves) with a bready returning sweetness reminiscent of oat cakes. Lovely gentle roast quality throughout. Good longevity.

Creamy (but not slick or oily) mouthfeel. No astringency.

The infusion is subtle compared to the promise of the dry leaf, yet still satisfying. High quality leaves, processed with care.

Way too floral for me, but at least that dies down after a steep or two. I wish I could get more of the sweeter notes that I expected, but at least the creamy, buttery finish comes through. I still think it’s an excellent tea that holds up over many steeps and has nice flavor development, it’s just not my favorite.

I’m going through these dragon balls slowly, since I know Bitterleaf is sold out of them. So good! Definitely honey notes, a bit of caramelized sugar, and a starchy, bread-like finish. It goes strong for many steeps – I got seven good ones (and a weak eighth because I always try to go too long to get as much as I can out of a tea that I can resteep). Thoroughly enjoyable, and comforting to have since I’m on the last bit of All Day Breakfast, which I will miss greatly.

Gongfu!

I believe this mini cake of compressed white tea was offered exclusively as part of the 8th Anniversary sale, and I was really excited to snag it since BLT typically knocks their white teas out of the park. As I’m slowly savoring this session while listening to the soothing ambiance of the rain outside, I’m finding this tea reminds me a lot of Skinny Dip; my favourite recurring white tea production that Bitterleaf carries. It’s very smooth and fresh with a lot of natural sweetness and both a creamy taste and mouthfeel. Initial steeps tasted a lot of ripe green melons to me, though now, as the session starts its decrescendo, I’m getting a more familiar mix of brown sugar and cooling cucumber pulp – some of my favourite tasting notes in white teas.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6l2QhhOC_3/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcxoTcgv5Nc

Grandpa Style!

Slowly but surely I’m putting a dent in this cake. It’s soft and smooth, and the gentle notes straw and white Spring flowers. In particular, I keep latching on to the fresh, dewy taste of lilacs and orchids and the sweet honey-tinged notes of Prairie grass in the finish. It’s been very relaxing, and I don’t think I could have asked for a better tea to sip on throughout this lazy afternoon…

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6PVCEeOuKp/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46T0LDRsHCc

Gongfu!

Enjoyed this session with the one piece of teaware I ended up bringing home from World Tea Expo this week; I couldn’t resist the rich teal colour contrasted with the intricate red and orange dragon motif. Not only is it all my favourite colours rolled up into one teacup, but it’s perfect for the Year of The Dragon as well…

This Dianhong is also extremely lovely. All the namesake flavours are reflected in the taste profile, though perhaps the floral notes the least. Each sip starts with a warm, rich flavour of malty dark chocolate, toffee, and rye bread before finishing with a bouquet of ripe stonefruits and guava. I found the tender flavour of peach and the sweet tropicals were what lingered the most, with the flavour gently blanketing my palate long after each swallow. The beauty behind the combination of chocolate and guava is a pretty recent discovery for me, so seeing those tasting notes pop up naturally within this tea was very interesting to me!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C46aHq7OT8j/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vykqcQkGrCk

Oh no. So fishy. Verging on ripe puerh, definitely not a flavor I’ve ever experienced with a black tea before.

A very dark-roasted Iron Goddess Oolong with flavors of Corn Flakes, Charleston Chew, marshmallow and chocolate, vanilla cookie, Three Musketeers bar, salted caramel, and coffee. Some delicious flavors, but it starts off light and grainy in the first steeps and ends a bit cloying in the later steeps when the marshmallow becomes a bit too artificial tasting. The wet leaf aroma has a powerful strange bitterness like burnt sugar, creme brulee with sliced strawberries, and Special K Red Berries cereal. Overall interesting complexity and surprising marshmallow and chocolate notes, but lacks balance. There’s also a persistent corn/grain note, especially when brewing Western style, that detracts from the other flavors.

Floral bomb. A whole bouquet of flowers in the aroma and taste. Lilies, gardenias, rose perfume, fresh rain, pine forest, strawberry candy, freeze dried raspberries, green pear, jasmine, pistachios, and steamed white rice. Elegant, confident, powerfully full-flavored and floral. Like a rich, sophisticated, impeccably dressed woman with expensive old perfume that smells of roses and the humid green jungle. This is a tea of remarkable quality and refinement.

Sipdown 28 – 2024

Sad to say I didn’t love this as much as I thought I would. The fruitiness outshines the magnolia/any floral qualities and Bitterleaf wasn’t lying when they said there’s a banana note. It’s interesting, but just wasn’t something I wanted to return to.