Mountain Stream Teas

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Recent Tasting Notes

86

Drank this again this morning, bowled, and lost much of the intensity. A shame not to have the wet leaf to poke around in between steeps, as that was half the pleasure of my first session. Pleasant this way, but not captivating.

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86

Light umami and… mint(?) on the first short steep.

Good god, so many flavors at once. The top of the gaiwan was light mushrooms and bright cooked peas for a couple seconds, then dried to sugary fried things, like an elephant’s ear from the fair. Wet leaves are creamy vegetal like overcooked-asparagus soup — turned over a little, they give up gorgeous spring florality. Liquor is so pale it looks clear until it’s 1/2" deep, then it’s the palest yellow. Smells like a lighter and wispier version of the leaf aroma. Creamy mouthfeel and taste, surprisingly delicate vegetals versus the smells, but not at all unsatisfying. Cooled, the wet leaves are allll flowers now. Incredible.

Wet leaf has morphed to green bean and orchid. Taste remains delicate; I think it could probably frustrate some drinkers who enjoy and anticipate more of that fat, cooked vegetal green that’s on the nose, but I loved it.

Third steep is close to last. Fluff of flour. No astringency.

Now that I take a look, the website recommends grandpa at 195-205F. A couple more fuggedaboudit steeps did bring some astringency, so I’m not altogether convinced on the temp/time recommendation — but this was honestly a delight. I might do the final 5g of this in a bowl and just tuck in.

Flavors: Asparagus, Creamy, Floral, Flowers, Garden Peas, Green Beans, Mint, Mushrooms, Orchid, Powdered Sugar, Umami, Vegetal

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 5 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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70

The oolong base here is distinctly Jin Xuan, though a little under-equipped for the job of supporting pomelo flower fragrance. Quite “green” tasting; I don’t think the base necessarily needed to be more floral, but it could have done with less bitter-green and more creaminess. Disjointed. Might cold brew and try it iced.

Flavors: Bitter, Cream, Floral, Grassy

LuckyMe

I found this one bitter as well. Their orange blossom milk oolong is much better if you’re looking for something floral and citrusy.

beerandbeancurd

I got some of that, too — good to hear!

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This one has an immediate, but not overwhelming, waffle-honey sweetness against a medium body. There’s naturally a smooth maltiness as well. I mean, Taiwanese High Mountain teas are my all-time favourite, but I loved this one so much upon my first cup, I went and ordered more XD. I really love that this comes from a female tea master as well. Thankfully I managed to snag some before it sold out — the following day!

I hope they keep stocking this one because it’s a winner!

1st steep: 1 minute
2nd steep: 2 minutes, 30 seconds

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 1 min, 0 sec 4 tsp 13 OZ / 384 ML

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2024 sipdown no. 20

I picked this up in my last MS order and it is just as delightful as last year’s harvest (2022). The red fruits add an incredible sweetness, yet the tea is ‘soft’ and smooth.

I would absolutely order this one again!

Harvest: July 2023

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2023 sipdown no. 65

This tea is light, bordering on medium-bodied, with hints of malt hidden amongst subtle, sweet red fruit flavours (a mix of strawberry, cherry, and red currant). A really lovely cuppa and one I would order more of if given the chance.

1st steep: 1 minute
2nd steep: 2 minutes, 30 seconds

Harvest: late spring 2022

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 1 min, 0 sec 3 g 13 OZ / 384 ML
Cameron B.

I agree, red oolongs are always so tasty!

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2023 sipdown no. 63

This has has a subtle dark chocolate scent once steeped. The taste is fairly light-bodied with some cinnamon hints throughout, especially as the tea cools (and even more in the second steep). This was a really lovely tea overall!

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80

Sipdown! (17 | 139)

Finished off the small sample size that I received in a Tea Thoughts countdown box.

This one is interesting. It has a fairly predominant molasses note to me, with some burnt sugar as well. But I wouldn’t call it a sweet tea, it’s actually a bit tart. Definitely fruity, mostly I’m tasting prune, but with savory undertones. So maybe more like a plum sauce served with a savory Chinese dish? But then there are also some slightly herbaceous flavors that remind me of the caraway notes of a Fujian black tea. Some mellow vegetal notes as well, like Summer squash.

Definitely an interesting mix of flavors going on. I don’t think I would order this one, but it was fun to try and I enjoyed my few cups worth.

Flavors: Brown Sugar, Burnt Sugar, Caraway, Fruity, Herbaceous, Molasses, Plum, Prune, Savory, Squash, Tart, Vegetal, Zucchini

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

Wow—that sounds nice!

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86

I noticed this tea on the Mountain Stream site and was intrigued, but never got around to ordering it. Thanks, Derk, for the generous sample! I steeped slightly over 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml porcelain pot at 205F for 30, 40, 60, 75, 90, 105, 120, 150, 180, and 240 seconds, plus some uncounted steeps.

The aroma of the loosely rolled dry leaves is of mango, guava, honeysuckle, gardenia, other florals, and spices. The first steep has notes of lilac, honeysuckle, gardenia, cream, mango, guava, orange, marzipan, spinach, grass, and chili. I’ve never had jackfruit, so can’t comment on whether it’s in the tea. I taste what might be camphor near the bottom of the cup. The second steep gives me mouth-watering notes of mango, orange, and tropical fruit, plus clove, chili, honeysuckle, lilac, other florals, camphor, and grass. The tea is a bit perfumey, but in a good way. The next couple steeps are more floral, with cream, camphor, grass, and some astringency. The mango and tropical fruit come out in the aftertaste. Steeps five and six are more grassy, though the mango, marzipan, and florals are still there. The grass, spinach, and kale become more prominent as the session ends, though the creamy mango and tropical fruit make me want to keep going.

I love fruity oolongs, so it’s no surprise that this one is a winner for me. The combination of lush tropical fruit and heady florals is wonderful, even though the tea became more astringent near the end of the session. The spices are something I rarely notice in Taiwanese oolong. It may have some rough edges, but it put a smile on my face while I was drinking it.

Flavors: Astringent, Camphor, Chili, Clove, Cream, Floral, Gardenias, Grass, Guava, Honeysuckle, Kale, Lilac, Mango, Marzipan, Orange, Perfume, Spices, Spinach, Tropical

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec 6 g 4 OZ / 120 ML
derk

Glad this one could make you smile.

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78

I drank this gong fu’d during the bork, and western just today. I preferred today’s cuppa by a mile. Might be a good bowl tea. “Peach” in the gong fu session tasted unripe, like bitter skins. And tomato vine — I understand the descriptor now. Western, the peach is more peachy — not overripe, but pleasant. Quintessential oolong flavor for two good steeps and a third cling-on. Not a reorder for me, but decent.

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The dry scent is quite dark chocolate-y and the steeped scent of this really gives the absolute best parts of Laoshan Black (that I remember) — dark chocolate with hints of light maltiness cut through. The first sip of this tea is so smooth it’s like drinking silk. The taste is medium-bodied with a light maltiness and that dark chocolate flavour mid-late in the sip. This tea has a matching name, scent, and taste. Despite this being the first cup, I’m quite sad I only order a 25g sample of this one.

The second steep is nearly as flavourful and still delightful.

Preparation
Boiling 1 min, 0 sec
Cameron B.

Nom nom nom, definitely need to try this one!

beerandbeancurd

Ah, this is one of the bunch I just ordered from them a couple days ago, woo-hoo!

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73

Sipdown 30

Sweet and slightly floral. Slight stone fruit thing going on. Just okay and not really memorable, but certainly not bad.

Flavors: Floral, Honey, Stonefruit

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85

Sipdown 20

I haven’t been immensely impressed by the Mountain Stream offerings I’ve tried, but this may be the best.
Notes of honey, delicate florals, and a distinct bug-bitten quality.
I’d certainly repurchase this at some point.

Flavors: Floral, Honey, Stonefruit

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2023 sipdown no. 49

This tea is great quality and very unique, but ultimately not my personal favourite. The orange blossom is very apparent and mixes well with the oolong base. I would say neither take over one another and they meld nicely together. There’s a yeasty flavour to it as well.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 1 min, 30 sec
LuckyMe

This one is quite potent. I find that under leafing or blending with a straight oolong or green helps balance out the flavor

thereadersteacup

This one sounds amazing! I love milk oolongs so I may have to try it

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2023 sipdown no. 34

This one has a creamy vegetal steeped scent, with hints of bitterness. The taste is very smooth with a natural creamy sweetness and just the most subtle edge of bitterness as it cools.

I’m not completely sure if this is the correct tea, the name on the bag is Chilaishan Oolong and the steeping parameters on the bag note:

Amount: 5g+ per 100ml
Water: ~100C
Gongfu: 30, 40, 60 sec. steeps then +15 seconds to taste
Western: 3-5g per mug, 1-2 minute steeps

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73

Ashmanra’s Sipdown Challenge | October 2023 | A tea that relaxes you

I found this tea to be very relaxing when I first had it… it reminded me of jasmine, which is such a comforting scent/flavor to me. Unfortunately the final cuppa was absolutely full of dried orange bits, making the whole thing a bit too zesty and pithy. :( My fault for not shaking the package enough in the past, I guess!

2023 sipdown count: 50

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73

Starting off the work week (and a wild day of meetings) with this tasty little number from Courtney! The dried leaf smells lovely — it actually reminds me of the first proper tea I ever really loved: scented jasmine pearls from Teavana. (One time I bought an obscene amount at the store because I didn’t understand how pricing worked, but damn if I didn’t enjoy it!) I had my partner take a sniff and he said he was getting full-on nag champa… basically, head shop vibes. XD

The brewed cup still has notes of jasmine, but there’s also a little bit of creamy citrus zestiness. I’m actually surprised at how heavy and robust the cup is — it’s got chew to it! There’s also a hiiiint of bitterness, but that could be down to my brewing.

Flavors: Citrus, Creamy, Heavy, Jasmine, Orange Zest

Courtney

It is quite chewy, I agree!

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SIPDOWN

This was a nice, light oolong, somewhat creamy and came out a beautiful golden color. We actually had it late yesterday afternoon gong fu but I was so busy and distracted I could hardly pay attention to it. I saved the leaves and brewed them Western this morning for breakfast and the color was so stunning that I took a photo.

Not your usual breakfast tea, but I don’t normally seek huge caffeine hits early in the day anyway, plus I drank a whole pot of it by myself.

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65

Sipdown 8

Just okay. Mostly toasty, a bit green. Very forgettable and average.

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Sipdown 78

I finished off a little 10g packet and remember absolutely nothing about it.

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75

Sipdown 76

This is a super safe, tasty black tea. Nothing extraordinary, but a nice lingering sweetness and stone fruit/milk chocolate flavor. Not bad, but not something I necessarily need to get again.

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82

Rich florals dance off the palate as the unctuous, springwater-sweet liquor moves with grace. The taste is at first ethereal and subtly blooms with rich notes of honeysuckle, passionfruit-cream, jackfruit-vanilla and spinach, hints of mango and marzipan. The aftertaste is tangy and lemony. I feel both spicy chili pepper warmth and some camphorous cooling. Clean.

This tea is on its way to greatness. Initial few steeps are beautiful but the later steeps are more difficult to balance. Does well with very hot water and both gongfu and western, though I prefer gongfu. Best tea of the white, oolong and black tea bundle! I found a strand of moss in this bag :)

Flavors: Camphor, Chili, Cream, Floral, Fruity, Garden Peas, Grain, Honeysuckle, Lemon, Lilac, Mango, Marzipan, Oily, Passion Fruit, Spinach, Spring Water, Sweet, Tangy, Tropical Fruit, Vanilla

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77

Decent Dong Ding! I got the 2022 harvest of this tea from my MST order, and it was going very well until it fell off around steep 4. Beautiful leaves, beautiful aroma in wet and dry leaf, liquor is vibrant but a bit thin. The flavour was delicate and nuanced, nutty and warm which was amazing, texture is decent, slight astringent and juicy yet smooth. Character is decent, finish & aftertaste is average to decent, cha-qi is average, and steep longevity is mediocre, ending at steep 6-7. Overall, a promising tea that was really good at the start but fell off, hence the sub 80 rating.

Flavors: Alkaline, Allspice, Almond, Anise, Citrus, Creamy, Mineral, Muscatel, Nutty, Roasted, Spices, Stonefruit

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

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