Song Tea & Ceramics

I’ll type up the notes at some later point but after finishing the 9th steep I thought it worthwhile to go ahead and rate the tea. I received this as a sample with the two teas I ordered. I’m usually not a fan of dark Taiwanese oolongs but this tea surprised me. Pleasant and harmonious. Has lasted 9 infusions and I expect to get a few more out of it.

Only complaint would be that the largest leaf that is attached to the stem (all are in astounding condition) is likely to fall off of the stem. The leaf condition, as a whole, however, is near unparalleled.

It’s very hard to compare with any other tea, so rating this one is a bit difficult.

If you like Chinese red teas without astringency, this is for you. Remarkably smooth despite the long brew time and complex enough in flavor to keep me interested for 4 steeps.

Very dark and broody tea. The soup is a beautiful dark red. Reminded me mostly of molasses but not in such a sweet syrupy way. A very smooth tea. Not nearly as earthy or tasting of hay as I would expect from say, a Yunnan red tea. A very nice everyday drinker. Good for the morning and at night. I’ll write up my full notes at some other time.

This one is without a doubt worth the meager price they charge.

Since Steepster decided yet AGAIN to eat my tasting note comments on this tea, I have to recreate them yet AGAIN from memory. Kind of missing the days of pen and paper. I write down the note, it’s there. Ah well, technology giveth and technology taketh away.

Let’s see how my memory fares:
50th tasting note, psyched to write about Lishan Winter Sprout from Song Tea & Ceramics. This was a sample they threw in when I purchased a couple of teas during a San Fran visit back in January. Love that place, it is gorgeous. Increases my existing adoration of San Fran and makes me want to move there, like, tomorrow. Also, this was my very first use of the gaiwan and I am happy to report I didn’t burn myself or break the gaiwan. Yay!
The tea: dry leaf aroma was light, slightly sweet, slightly spinachy. First infusion aroma and taste was mostly spinachy, very vegetal, although mild in general. Second infusion was a little sweeter, the spinach and vegetable notes faded to the background and it became more balanced. My favorite infusion of this tea, as it was the most “tea-like” as opposed to drinking something like a green veggie broth. The color darkened, but the flavor became lighter. Go figure. Third infusion was darker in color, but very light flavor. Spinach returned. Really, really light. Overall this was an interesting tea, it felt very cleansing and calming. But not my favorite, as I’m a sugar junky and tend to like less vegetal-tasting teas.

Good morning Steepster. Just trying to revive myself here after not sleeping too well last night but I think I just need a nap later, ho hum.

Anyway I am finishing off my supply of this today. I’m guessing it’s been 2 years since I originally purchased it. Today I am really getting the molasses and brown sugar notes. It seems almost too luxurious for an every day morning tea it’s something special to be savored. Glad I can enjoy it on this foggy day in San Francisco.

Song Tea is a new-ish tea shop in San Francisco, in fact it’s right in my neighborhood which is pretty dangerous. They aren’t really set up for e-commerce yet as there’s no pictures or shopping cart on their website. If you want, you can check out the price list though: http://www.songtea.com/songtea_pricelist.pdf

I went in recently to sample some red teas, I believe I tried Eighteen, Twenty One and this Golden Needle. I ended up getting the Golden Needle. This is actually the least expensive tea in the whole shop. I really can’t justify spending $70 for 2 ounces of tea, especially not in my current financial predicament. I think their most expensive is a Long Jing which is $88 for 2 ounces. Wow.

Anyway on to this tea. It’s called Golden Needle and it has small, spike like needles which are more black in color than gold. The flavor is truly lovely, dates and brown sugar are prominent. If you steep this for around 3 minutes it becomes a bit hefty and notes of cocoa emerge. A very smooth tea, devoid of astringency. Absolutely delicious. I haven’t tried this using the gong fu method, but I definitely will soon.

When I first had this, it was brewed for me by Amanda at Song Tea & Ceramics in San Francisco. Since this is a oolong cultivar made in a bai mu dan white tea style, she explained that it could be brewed like a white tea or more like an oolong. For the first infusion she used 180ºF water and a short steeping (maybe 15-20 sec) and from that you get a really nice bai mu dan. Very refreshing, cooling, and mineral tasting. For the second infusion she used hotter water (190ºF) and a longer steep time (30-40 sec maybe) which brings out more floral characters and a thicker mouthfeel. Really fun tea to play with. I’ve brewed it twice at home now and I can say with some confidence that temperature is pretty important with this one. Anything over 190ºF introduces a vegetal flavor that kills the aromatics.