Taiwan Tea Crafts

Philip generously included a sample of this tea with a recent order. I’ve been very impressed by the quality and value of the teas I have purchased from Taiwan Tea Crafts, as well as their excellent customer service.

This tea has some beautiful caramel and nut notes, as well as some gentle florals. It is sweet, and has a pleasant mouthfeel. A very nice tea!

Ahhh, the joys of being a temp. That is, not knowing what the heck you’re doing from one week to the next, but assuming you’ll probably be working at least half the time? This week, it’s Engineering Science. Oughtta be fun!

Also, having lost my trusted crochet hook, I caved and bought a new one today. I expect that this means that my old one will turn up by Wednesday at the latest. That’s the law of these things. Now I can make more tea cozies!

Good Gosh, I do like this tea! It’s got the same sugared pumpkin/treacle/sweet soy flavours I got out of it before, but is that a hint of cinnamon I get too this time? Mind you, it’s only there about a third of the time, oddly. It’s a mysterious wee beastie. The second steep is lighter-bodied but still full of flavour – is that even an oddly ephemeral whisper of pipe tobacco I’m getting? Yeah, I continue to approve of this.

Sweet Jesus H. Corbett, this is really something.

It took me a few sips to put my finger on exactly what I was tasting beyond a darkly fruity sweetness, but I got there by about a third in, and what a revelation it was. The flavour is an inspired confluence of roasted pumpkin, dark treacle, and abura-age, those savoury-sweet tofu pouches used to make inari sushi. Every sip opens up new dimensions of beauty to me. It’s magnificent.

I’m in the process of a photo set that involves me drinking white, yellow, green, oolong, black(red), pu, and hei… This Dong Ding was definitely a well needed treat in the middle of this process. It’s such a complex tea. There are most likely words in the English language that can describe it, however, the rhythm of the tea makes that task difficult. It’s a very warming tea because of the level of roasting that it goes through. However, those distinctive floral Dong Ding notes are definitely present. All around a perfect tea to take a break with.

I finally used my Lin’s ceramic teapot today. I do not know why I have been avoiding it. It made an excellent brew. The honey, roasted bark, and caramel apple notes of this tea really shined. As a rolled oolong and one of my favorite teas, this tea truly deserves to be prepared in a ceramic pot.

There is just something about this Gui Fei that really hits the spot every single time. The only caveat is that it has to be perfectly prepared and piping hot. If it’s not… the brew doesn’t live up to its amazing potential at all and kind of makes me sad… First world problems…

As a complete aside: This note marks the first non-backlog note I have written in over two months. Yesterday, I finally finished logging every single tea that I have had since early May. I had kept the list teas in a file and by yesterday it was about 130 teas. Yikes. If anyone is interested, you can see them all in my – finally updated – tealog.

Initally, there is a subtle floral & sweet creaminess mingling with the taste of the roast, as well as a fruity tang. That creaminess diminishes in subsequent infusions, with the roast being more pronounced. The final infusion is succulently sweet.

First infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz water, 90 deg., 3:00 min.

Second infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 6:00 min.

Third infusion – 3 g. per 6 oz. water, 90 deg., 10:00+ min.