Bitterleaf Teas

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Recent Tasting Notes

60

Tried both gongfu and granpa, it didn’t surprise me in terms of flavours.

I didn’t found persistence or distinctive fruity flavour

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Gongfu!

This black tea is scented with magnolia blossoms. I’m quite a fan of magnolia scented oolong, so I wasn’t about to pass on this first chance to try a magnolia scented black tea. Honestly? Possibly the best black tea I’ve tried from Bitterleaf. From steep one this was highly aromatic and sweet with a beautiful mix of fruity and floral notes. Magnolia, of course, was a big one but I also tasted a mix of lush elderberry and elderflower, rich cocoa (especially in the undertones), guava, and lilac – but also banana jam. Lots of banana jam. In particular, the Banana & Bourbon Vanilla jam that I used to buy semi-regularly from a specialty shop in Toronto.

It’s a really wild flavour note to be experiencing in a scented black tea, but it absolutely made my morning and has caused me to fall immediately and heavily in love with this tea. Very unique and amazing experience – and honestly lots of longevity. Six steeps in this morning and this beauty was still going strong; I would have kept brewing until I’d totally killed the leaf but I had to skedaddle to make it to work on time…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1sRVecOCFo/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db5mZ-SJ3J8

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82

This is a very pleasant tea for snowy days like today, including its relaxing cha qi. Its character borrows clearly from the two ingredients that make up the blend, but I find that they act in unison to a large degree.

Dry leaves smell sweet and earthy with notes of malt, fireplace, nuts and sauerkraut. The wet leaf aroma is quite different, I can detect cherry, chocolate, incense, and marine notes.

The liquor is full bodied with decent thickness. Its flavour ranges from earthy and sweet to more woody, herbaceous and savoury. There are also hints of sour taste. Specifically, it reminds me of cacao beans, moss, and beetroot besides some of the notes mentioned before.

Flavors: Ash, Beetroot, Cabbage, Cacao, Cherry, Chocolate, Earthy, Fireplace, Herbaceous, Incense, Malt, Marine, Moss, Nutty, Sweet, Woody

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 5 OZ / 140 ML

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Gongfu!

Steeped this up while trying to block out all the tempting Boxing Day sales. This shaihong (sun dried) black tea is one of a handful of tea orders that arrived in the middle of Adventageddon that I’ve been waiting to have time to properly steep up, so it’s a good one to be drinking to remind myself that I absolutely don’t need to buy more tea right now!

Though the liquor is such a deep red colour, the tasting notes of this medium-ish bodied tea are surprisingly much more bright and lively than expected. Sweet, jammy red fruits and golden honey dominate the profile. Red currant or pomegranate jellies spring to mind. They’re balanced out by a bit of a deeper undertone and backend of the sip – a little bit of leather, and a warming whisp of allspice. Some expected malt. All together something about this makes me think of fruit cake, or the more German style honey-based “Gingerbread” I’ve tasted that has much less molasses and brighter top note sweetness than what we typically associate to Gingerbread here in North America. Very pleasant, and it’ll be interesting to see how the flavours deepen and change with age…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C1UyzGyOpIm/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KllxH4qxZZo

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75

Gongfu 4gr in 60ml gaiwan. 95°. Rinse 10s then 5s first infusion +5 fot the next ones.

All’olfatto molto interessante, profumo di liquirizia e terra, al sapore invece malto, terra, liquirizia. Mi sarei aspettato una dolcezza maggiore.

Dopo 4-5 infusioni ricorda moltissimo il tostato di un hojicha sia al sapore che all’olfatto.

Non mi ha convinto tantissimo, devo riprovarlo magari abbassando un po’ la temperatura verso i 90°

Costs: 0.14 $/gr

Flavors: Earthy, Licorice, Malty, Toasty

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 2 OZ / 60 ML

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83

What a dancong!
It surprises me with his smell of citrus and taste of a lemon pie

Flavors: Citrus, Cream, Mineral

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 2 OZ / 60 ML

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85

Really interesting white, not over sweet but a perfect balance of sweet and bitter.
Smells like a bai mu dan or a shoumei, but tastes more elegant with floral, grassy notes.

Flavors: Floral, Grass

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 2 OZ / 60 ML

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Gongfu!

For my first spin of this sheng pu’erh I popped the whole mini into a large Western style mug to drink grandpa style throughout the day. In the future, I would probably snap this coin in half as I found the full coin a bit too astringent for my own preferences with this steeping method. However, the sweet notes of orchard and stone fruits was pretty exceptional – very peach and nectarine heavy with a pleasantly woody undertone. A bit like dried bamboo shoots with their uniquely sweet yet umami grass flavour!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/C0KfIuyRw8R/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDolks5qv3g

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82

Gongfu 4gr in 60ml gaiwan. 95°. Double rinse 10s then 5s first infusion +5 fot the next ones.

Molto buono! Un ripe puerh davvero dolce, mi ha ricondato tantissimo il waffle di W2T, forse un po’ più delicato.
Il pezzo di cake si è aperto alla seconda infusione, ed ha donato da subito dei colori molto scuri, non è un ripe da inchiostro, però sa mantenere un bel colore.

Costs: 0.10$/gr

Flavors: Earthy, Nutty, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 2 OZ / 60 ML

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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

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80

Gongfu 4gr in 60ml gaiwan – 90°C, flash rinse, first three infusions are flash, then 10s, +5s for the next ones. (Total Infusions: 17)

Grazie alle prime tre influsioni veloci il tè si è mantenuto bilanciato per tutte e 17 le infusioni.
Nelle prime infusioni si riceve un buon profumo e gusto di frutta, seguito da una leggera cremosità
A metà del viaggio conducono la degustazione la cremosità e i sapori minerali, che persistono quasi fino alla fine.

Ottimo dancong, si sente tantissimo la differenza con altri oolong che invece sono aromatizzati con sapori di crema e latte, che rimangono piatti e non evolvono.

Anche il prezzo non è niente male.

Costs: 0.34$/gr

Flavors: Creamy, Fruity, Mineral

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 2 OZ / 60 ML

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83

This must be one of the most expensive shou I ever tried. While it is surely a nice experience, not lacking in any respect, it also doesn’t have any particular wow factor. Thus in relation to the price ($0.84/gram) I cannot recommend it. Overall, I find that this tea has a higher degree of fermentation than what I often associate with my favourite examples of the category.

The leaves offer a very fast extraction, but one need not worry about excessive bitterness. The taste is nutty and savoury rather than bittersweet. It is metallic and reminds me of Guinness at times. The aftertaste has notes of yeast and meat broth, but also a very long-lasting brown sugar sweetness. The liquor texture is a bit watery overall, with some drying and pulling sensations that stay for a long time and provide for an engaging session. Cha qi is pretty noticeable too, but I wouldn’t buy the tea because of its energy either.

Flavors: Beer, Biting, Bitter, Broth, Brown Sugar, Drying, Metallic, Nutty, Olive Oil, Sweet, Umami, Yeast

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 8 g 5 OZ / 150 ML

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87

Another Lao Man E, this time a white tea. Even though it’s from 2023, the oxidation level is fairly high.

While one may expect that for white tea, the quality of the material is paramount, here we have a plantation tea that works very well as a white tea.

Dry leaves smell of sawdust and fur, while wet ones more like cumin and incense. The tea is medium bodied and has a really distinctive character that sets it apart. You have the classic grapefruit bitterness present in many Lao Man E teas, but also many woody, nutty, mineral, and herbaceous notes. It is both smooth and a bit astringent, sometimes reminiscent of gin, at other times of burnt butter. The aftertaste is then more sweet and flowery with notes of apricot and gardenia flowers for instance.

Flavors: Alcohol, Apricot, Astringent, Bitter, Burnt Food, Butter, Cumin, Fur, Gardenias, Grapefruit, Incense, Mineral, Nutty, Sawdust, Smooth, Woody

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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Grandpa Style!

Chose to brew this grandpa style so that I could come back to the it off and on throughout the work day, and my big takeaway is really just that sweet is definitelyyyy the right word for this tea. Though it started a little on the lighter side with brighter notes of honey, it’s settled into a very rich and golden syrupy profile with practically all the decadent brown tasting notes I could want: caramel or toffee, brown sugar, and so much malty, decadent and starchy baked sweet potato. I’m sure it’s also amazing when brewed gongfu, but wow, this is a pleasant and super no fuss tea to enjoy this way. It was such a grounding presence throughout the day!!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CzXDN7Dvr8q/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSQN2n1cpK0

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70

No notes yet. Add one?

Flavors: Bitter, Mineral

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 2 OZ / 60 ML

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86

Questo te bianco mi ha sorpreso incredibilmente, non dolce o stucchevole come molti altri bianchi, è molto bilanciato, ne berrei litri e litri.

Gongfu 4gr in 60ml gaiwan. Rinse 15s. 10s +5s every infusion. (Total infusions: 15)

Costs: 0.18$/gr

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 2 OZ / 60 ML

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drank Grizzly Bear by Bitterleaf Teas
3224 tasting notes

Sipdown!

This seems to be the same tea as Grizzly Brown, and I would have reviewed it there but it was in my cupboard the way the flake came labeled….as Grizzly Bear. One tasting note under Grizzly Brown does refer to this tea as Grizzly Bear so I think they must be the same.

A twenty second rinse yielded really pale color. Making this western style, the thirty second steep was much darker but not inky black like a lot of shu can get.

The aroma is so clean and fresh. Color is now much like any black tea. Fills the mouth with a menthol or camphor coolness, fresh clean dirt, under-the-house crawlspace vibes, not much of the heavy barn manure and horse tack aroma. Lots of mineral.

I had my usual half serving of oatmeal with honey and cardamom for breakfast and was starving already at 9:30 am, so I am having a slice of pound cake and this tea. I am pretending that the tea is so healthy that it will whisk away all the calories and consequences and erase all traces of this cake from my upcoming bloodwork. I can dream, can’t I?

Welp, I guess the first piece of cake was too small. Still peckish so I cut an even smaller slice and resteeped, again about thirty seconds, maybe less.

I am steeping in a Stump pot and decanting into a sterling pot that is under a chandelier. As I pour, the color changes from orange to ruby red to deep blood red as the light reflects from the bottom of the pot. That color was worth the price of admission right there.

The tea in my cup looks dark brown, though! Now the earthiness has amplified and the mineral taste has faded. Now we are in an open barn where my grandfather stored hay and had a stall for a mule that grandmother used for ploughing the corn fields. The manure and barn scents are there, but there is a fresh breeze blowing through the barn. As the tea cools in the cup, the fresh minty lift of menthol is back.

I will steep again later because these leaves clearly have more to give.

This is less oily and mouth-coating than my beloved Mengku Palace but very nice. It isn’t super comolex but it is very enjoyable and I think this tea would be a great introduction to shu puerh. I often use puerh as an introduction to tea for people who say they really only drink coffee, and it has failed to capture them.

Thanks to looseTman for inspiring me to get out some shu and thanks to White Antlers who sent me this tea. (I think, and if I am wrong about where it came from, please forgive me!)

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78

Sipdown! (28 | 389)

Another sample from Bitterleaf. I really like their sample packets, they’re this soft, textured white paper but then they’re lined on the inside. The white background just looks so nice with their artistic labels too.

Anyway, this tea. It’s very nice, super smooth and soft with a mellow earthy hay flavor and tart dried apricot notes. Based on the name I would expect to find more floral notes, but maybe they just don’t show up with my heathen Western steep ha ha.

A very smooth and easy-drinking white tea for sure, not sure I would choose this one specifically since it doesn’t really stand out to me, but would happily drink it.

Flavors: Apricot, Barnyard, Creamy, Hay, Oats, Smooth, Stonefruit, Sweet, Tart, Thick

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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Sipdown! (44 | 359)

Lovely white tea – I found it very creamy and it had a nice thick texture, almost like a green oolong. Flavor-wise, nothing really stood out to me, just the usual suspects of hay, oats, and dry autumn leaves. A subtle sweetness and maybe a hint of pollen. The description mentions wildflower and I could see that, definitely not getting “apply pie” though ha ha.

Really enjoyed sipping this one in the afternoon, very cozy and satisfying while having a mellow, relaxing flavor. :)

Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Creamy, Dry Leaves, Earthy, Hay, Oats, Pollen, Silky, Smooth, Sweet, Thick, Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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Sipdown! (29 | 344)

Finally getting back to these poor Bitterleaf samples that have been sitting, neglected, in my sipdown area for months. Poor dears… I think I just haven’t been reaching for my plain teas lately in general, probably because of all the fun new fall flavors I got.

Anyway. This one actually tastes a little bit like a sheng to me. Not fully, but it has a bit of that fruity funk to it that I don’t usually find in a white tea cake, along with a hint of bitterness. Otherwise, there’s that classic haylike white tea flavor, though here it’s a bit more barnyardy, like the hay has been sitting in a pile for a few days, rather than fresh hay. That sounds gross but it isn’t, LOL. More earthy/woody than fresh hay, is perhaps a better was to describe it.

A nice, grounding tea for fall. Very reminiscent of hayrides and piles of autumn leaves, with a hint of tart fruit.

Flavors: Apricot, Autumn Leaf Pile, Barnyard, Bitter, Dry Leaves, Earthy, Fruity, Hay, Mineral, Musty, Stonefruit, Tart, Thick, Woody

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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84

My go-to lately when I feel like a gongfu session – it’s just so drinkable. Sweet, honey, caramel notes that keep going steep after steep. The taste and aroma is such a pleasure! I also don’t do full-size cakes generally – I like more of the little coin or tuo variety – so it’s fun to get out the beengslayer and be a badass getting chunks off this thing. Since it’s a Dianhong, I’m not really concerned about what happens aging-wise, just storing it appropriately and going for it periodically. If I didn’t have so may teas (I know, many of us have the same “problem”), I would have drunk this down by now. Basically, I’m enjoying the heck out of this, and can’t believe it took so long to review.

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 130 ML

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Gongfu!

Had this as a morning session yesterday. It was such an incredible start to the day with rich, camphorous notes of wet wood and forest undergrowth and a surprisingly floral undertone and finish. Smooth, medium to heavy bodied and really well balanced with a sweet, clean finish. Pretty perfectly named, as well! I’m not actually sure if this is still in stock, but if it is I will definitely be considering adding a more sizeable amount to my next inevitable Bitterleaf order!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CwV1dSyuz7b/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9O2C-XJBZo

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Sipdown! (34 | 286)

This wasn’t my favorite. I was intrigued by the combination of dancong and hongcha, but I found it mostly tasted like dancong to me. And I am not a dancong lover, so I was really hoping for more of a hongcha flavor. It had some nice peachy notes to it though, reminiscent of dried peaches or apricots. A touch of astringency on the tail end.

So I didn’t love it, but mostly just due to my personal preferences.

Flavors: Apricot, Astringent, Autumn Leaf Pile, Dried Fruit, Floral, Grass, Hay, Mineral, Peach, Stonefruit, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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Gongfu!

I think what I love most about this tea, even from the first steep, is that as much as it’s very, very rich and sweet those notes are really well balanced by just a hint of bitterness. Chocolate comes to mind first when drinking this tea, but a very dark chocolate with a mix between a fudge-y denseness and the more raw, unrefined taste of cacao powder. I also taste a lot of warm, baked notes; like French butter pastries with a sweet honey glaze drizzled over top. Just a really high quality, classic tasting Dian Hong with such beautiful golden tips throughout! Reminds me why the first straight teas I ever truly, deeply fell in love with were black teas…

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cv0JxJYORwC/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVaGYdG1upc

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