Moychay

So, finally, I have decided to try this tea. I have received 5 grams sample and half of it I sent to derk who enjoyed it greatly.

I tried to follow vendor suggestions, starting with 20 seconds steep and rather small increments like 5 seconds only. Using 95°C hot water. That seems steep to me, when it is a white tea.

If you want to read more about this Dutch-grown tea, they have updated its description and it is available for reading here: https://moychay.nl/products/exclusive-dutch-white-tea

The harvest year isn’t written on the pouch, but I assume they have only one and that’s 2021. Don’t get fooled, this tea isn’t stale and weak… instead I have received a strong, complex and unique tea I will try to describe.

The leaves look amazing on their own. Large, autumn-like leaves; I didn’t sniffed to them when dry, but now, when they’re damp, they release interesting fruity notes, that remind me berries, maybe raspberries and forest berries, shortly followed with faint, but noticeable autumn leaf piles, because of stems I believe

Flavour after two steeps I made so far, while writing those lines… is mouthcoating, strong, sweet-berry like somehow similar to the aroma of the leaves, but in extra, I consider it a bit spicy, like there was a cinnamon and nutmeg hidden in the leaves. Especially strong in the second session, 25 seconds long. Mouthfeel is not fading, coats well; with sweet aftertaste. It’s not cloying though, and complements well the fruity-spicy flavours.

Long steeps doesn’t hurt this tea. Well, to wrap it up; Dutch-grown tea seems to be good enough to drink; naturally a bit more expensive than their Eastern counterparts, not mentioning Georgian; but equally delightful.

I bought this tea when I finally found an Ivan-chai (willow-herb) from European market and not from Russia or other places that I don’t trust enough.

I had this herb once, in a tea bag form; and since then I think it tastes like black tea, but without caffeine. Well, this one is slightly different. It’s definitely fruitier, somehow like red wine and grapes together, with smooth and round taste, definitely strong though. It is also a bit drying, especially in the aftertaste and tip of the tongue.

Nevertheless, I still like it and sadly it’s not avaiable now. I hope Moychay will have another year of harvest soon; as I think I will get another pouch for the alternative strong cup.

The suggested steeping parameters seems off to me though. I prepared today 6 grams and steeped for 2-3 minutes and… well, it’s the upper limit IMO.

This was my first Fu brick tea. The dry leaf has a seaweed smell with funky fungal notes. The wet leaf has a dominant kelp aroma with some camphor and leather notes. Unlike a shu/shou pu’erh which is a very dark colored tea, this tea has a clear and amber color. This tea lasts up to 10 steeps minimum. The tea itself has a dominant kelp aroma with some earthiness and it has an indescribable aroma that reminds me of an aged raw pu’erh. As the tea progresses it loses more of the kelp aroma and the kelp aroma is replaced with a nice woodiness and more green and sweet notes. It still retains the fungal funkiness in the background in every steep. Texture is clear, refreshing and slightly astringent and not as smooth as a ripe pu’erh. The texture is similar to a raw pu’erh without the same level of bitterness of a raw pu’erh. Overall a very unique tea with very unique flavor. I used the Gongfu tea method with a gaiwan to brew this tea.

Dry leaf has notes of roasted nuts and wood with hints of raw honey and flowers. Wet leaf has custardy and lychee notes with a hint of vanilla. Texture is clear and refreshing with a mineral sweetness on the front of my tongue and a creaminess on the back of my tongue. Also with the classic mild bitterness that a Dancong gives. The taste of the tea has nuttiness and a fruitiness to it but it is a fruit that I don’t remember but it tastes familiar. It also has hints of leafy greens, charcoal, flowers, and a little bit of coconut and licorice. Overall a truely unique and amazing tea to drink. It takes me on a ride every time I drink this tea (not a paid promotion by the way). I used the Chaozhou Gongfu brewing method with a Chaozhou teapot to brew this tea.

The dry leaf is nutty and The wet leaf smell had super vegetal, nutty and creamy smells. The wet leaf was green with low oxidation indicating that the tea wasn’t processed using the traditional method that incorporates a higher oxidation and the utilisation of charcoal roasting as opposed to electric oven roasting and that is a disappointment, because I paid €34,50 for 50 grams of this tea. The taste of this tea is slightly bitter with a little bit of sourness and sweetness afterwards. The texture of the tea is clear and slightly astringent. The aromatic properties present in this tea are similar to an Alishan Jinxuan Oolong, milky, floral and slightly vegetal. That isn’t negative in itself, but the tea is pricey and I don’t think it is worth my money if I can drink a normal Alishan Jinxuan for a lower price that also gives the same experience if not better. I might change my opinion as I will drink this tea more often but my conclusion now is that I am disappointed in this tea. I used the Chaozhou gongfu tea method with a Chaozhou teapot by 章林浩 by the way.

Got this as a sample a while back when I made an order. Have to say, was not impressed.

Flavours were not really pronounced and were, quite honestly, dull.
No sweet notes and a relatively harsh mouthfeel for a shou puerh.

10g/180ml
5/5/10/15/30/45/60/120 = 8 steeps
Near-boiling for all steeps.

The dry leaf weirdly has miso as the dominant aroma with soy sauce, cloves, nuts and camphor wood as background aroma. The wet leaf has a honey with cardamom note to it and unripened bananas too. The real brews are very aromatic with notes of honey, rose, honeysuckle, nuts, milk and surprisingly waxy corn and peanut butter! It also has a indescribable taste that is present in all Gaba teas I’ve had. The brews were amber in color and the texture is full, thick and creamy. The leaves were brown with a red hue, a very unique color for a taiwan high mountain oolong. I used the Gongfu tea method to brew this tea with a porcelain gaiwan as brewing vessel.

It has a pretty good huigan and it has a sweet and honey like aroma. Later on it also gets a spicy character to it and also a teeny tiny bit of smokiness in the background. If brewed properly it has very little astringency and I think this will age well too. I used the Gongfu method with a Yixing teapot to brew this tea.

This tea is way more substantial than Moychay’s description implies and handles boiling water like it was born for it. Reminds me of pressed Fujian white teas so much more than I’d think. Really a treat, especially when the leaves are boiled after being exhausted gongfu.

Thanks for this awesome share, Martin!

While this was a small sample-from-a-sample, just 2.5g of leaf gave me a clear picture of this tea. It’s indestructible — boiling water and long steeps do no harm. It tastes so much like an oxidized and aging Fujian white that if I hadn’t known this was grown in the Netherlands (assuming, since there’s no description for the tea), I’d be none the wiser. Darker character, sweet and dry but not drying, this is a pure expression of Camellia sinensis. Very neat!

Thanks so much for my first Dutch tea, Martin!!

I have 3 different Georgian white teas and each one is different on their own.

I don’t want to call this one the most unique. But it is, definitely, unique. Pressed white teas are not common, moreover outside China!

So, I had to buy this. But I assume the main reason was… Georgia origin. Thick leaves, layered on each other. Easy to pry, but so hard to make exact weight. Leaves are wonderful.

Anyway, I tried 8.5 grams brewed gongfu (125 ml gaiwan) with 95°C water in the start of the session. Vendor suggests 8 g/100 ml; so a bit different ratio.

After rinse there were lovely birch aromas, slightly woody, slightly herbaceous and slightly woody. But bright wood scents, like birch is. I was surprised to see my agreement with the description by vendor.

I did several steeps, with various times. 20-60 seconds, first being shorter, naturally.

The flavours are… so interesting. Well, first of all, quite viscous. Secondly, the notes are creamy, slightly woody again, but that was definitely a good flavour! Meadow notes. Florals.

To be honest, even though I am writing this note right after I finished the session, I am not able to pick up the correct words. It is so nice, but hard to say how it is like.
The mouthfeel isn’t so long, but the unique notes repays it greatly.

Tried this tea for first time with western steeping method, though apparently the gongfu is much better. It’s recommended on the bag (a huge one as it is very fluffy), but as well as in the description of tea.

It is a tea from Nannoushan, Menghai and last year harvest. I have been aware of harvest year before buying it but decided for that anyway as I actually almost ran out of white teas, which are perfect in hot days. They are thing of the past too, as mornings are indeed autumn like and afternoons are still warm, but not hot.

I took for my steeping method 5 grams which filled my strainer absolutely, filled the mug with a few minutes rested boiling water (definitely not measured) and well I can really agree with the description again.

White grape colour of the brew, with somehow berry-like aroma and floral, meadow notes. I disagree with fresh notes but yep, it’s year old tea. Also some notes of spices… green ones as a bit of cardamom, green peppercorns are there, if searched for.

Flavour was, suprisingly quite fruity as noticed by vendor too; sweetish and smooth. Very mouthcoating, and long aftertaste.

Wonderful tea, with much to explore in gongfu steeping. Certainly going to try next time!

A friend brewed this tea and it was really nice. It is very dark, and has deep woody flavors. You can taste and feel the time. This tea is felt in the head and body really quickly, it gave a very deep and meditative feeling of relaxation and calmness. Remarkable. Too bad this kind of tea is absolutely unaffordable if you would want to drink it on a regular basis…

Very creamy, milky and also sweet. It also has a waxy corn and popcorn flavor. A very very nice tea. I used the gongfucha method with a porcelain gaiwan to brew this tea.

The dry leaf was woodsy, nutty with charcoal notes. The steeps were extremely floral (orchids and chrysanthemum), extremely fruit and fresh and had long lasting finishes. There were hints of citrus, orchid and roasted cashews present in the steeps which made this experience ever so pleasant. Also small hints of milkiness, raisins and leatheriness add more complexity to this amazing tea. I used the Chaozhou gongfu brewing method with a Chaozhou teapot as brewing vessel to brew this particular tea.

I vaguely remember the flavors of this tea because it’s been too long since I had this tea. I remember it had roasted notes and intense fruity and floral notes. It was an absolutely delicious tea and that I absolutely do remember!

This tea feels light and clean, and slightly aromatic with citrusy and light spicy associations. It feels thin, watery even, and for me, quite boring. Is it too subtle for me? I don’t know. For me it would not be worth this kind of price.

Very nice and lovable dianhong. Sweet, spicy-flowery, somewhat peaty with nicely substantial mouthfeel. Just very satisfying in that particular way in which only hongchas can satisfy. Sadly it loses a bit of edge after the first brew.

Another shai hong cake. This is an interesting one. It brews a really dark red. It is thick-textured, aromawise it isn’t really strong and at first glance it might even seem a bit empty because it has no high aromatic notes, but then there is a depth to it that is just really nice. It has a smooth, deep and round dried fruits aspect that comforts and satisfies.

It is a drinkable Shou Pu erh tea. The tea cake is 100 grams. Nice mellow taste with earthy and soily notes with hints of Chinese herbs with all steeps. Hints of licorice from 3rd steep till 7th steep, honeysuckle on 1st steep and woody on 2nd till 7th steep, camphor wood on 2nd steep. Smooth and thick texture.

An odd tea. The wet leaves smelled so sour and chemical I worried something was wrong with it, but the brewed tea is perfectly nice. I leafed it pretty hard so maybe that’s exaggerating the strange aspects. The liquid is sticky and both very sweet and very sour, like cotton candy dipped in balsamic vinegar, with a refreshing floral aftertaste. I wouldn’t drink it every day but it’s a fun change of pace.

Unfortunately I think this one was roasted too long. There’s a nice floral aftertaste, but it’s hard to taste anything over the roast, and either I accidentally underleafed it or the flavor is very thin and mild overall.