Théhuone

Wow!

I certainly did not expect this tea to have the sort of punch that it did. The chili drowns out all hints of orange – this can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your taste. My throat was burning for 10 minutes after drinking this, and I only steeped it for 8 minutes – the minimum recommended amount.

Don’t let the sweet aroma of this tea fool you. I found this quite difficult to drink on its own; indeed, it might be best to maybe have some yogurt or white bread to go with this. Then again, if you’re used to spiciness, this is a perfect beverage for a cold day.

The label claims this tea to have a taste reminiscent of mandarin oranges. I, however, couldn’t quite detect that. There was maybe a very subtle hint of those behind an overwhelming aroma of fish, which persists in taste.

I tried steeping the tea leaves in a few different ways, but always ended up with the same result – maybe stronger or weaker on occasion. I very much prefer sencha.

So I went ahead and added some dried mango to it, and the taste is much, much more fruity. Like this, it’d be great for someone who’s never really had any tea aside from bagged Lipton with milk and sugar.

The color is a very deep amber, more reminiscent of rooibos than black tea. An incredibly beautiful sight.

The aroma of the tea leaves is much stronger than the flavor. The infusion itself smells quite sweet and inviting, yet subtle. The taste is quite similar – I imagine that this would make an excellent iced tea. As the mango pieces are quite large, the taste can sometimes hide under the tea leaves. This is an excellent basic tea for any friend of flavored black teas.

Nice last tie guan yin of the year, but it’s flavour was not quite as strong as that of their previous winter tie guan yin.

First sip had unexpected sweetness to it, very soft and well suited to tie guan yin. The sweetness faded and was replaced by a mellow type of the typical tie guan yin aroma. Not especially strong, but good whatsoever. Lasted four infusions quite well, and was ok for six, after that it was clearly finished. Also a bit stronger infusions might be good, but I wouldn’t recommend anything beyond 1 minute 15 seconds.

Also very interesting development in the taste of the liquid as it cools down. It might be worth a try to make ice tea out of this one. (Using the hot water method.)

I seem to be reviewing only teas from Théhuone these days. I don’t bother ordering tea from foreign shops this part of the year, so I turn to a local shop.

Their wintercrop-TGY was really good last year, and quite good this year too. The floral aroma isn’t as aggressive as it can be, and I like that. Sweetness is quite interesting, too.
I think this is quite good tea, not spectacular but good. Great tea for waiting the spring.

This is one of my everyday-pu’ers. “Leaves” are actually small bundles of leaves, it suspected that this tea is some kind of by-product of the cake-making-process.

I like the taste usually, although it isn’t very complex. Instead a good cup gives clear, smooth velvety taste. I brew this tea with very little amount of leaves, I haven’t weighted but about third of what I’d usually use.

Being usually good, this brew I’m now drinking is merely avarage. I’m not sure why, I’ve got good cups with same parameters.

Dong Fang Mei Ren is taiwanese wulong, and it is commonly sold in West by names such as “Grand Wulong” or “Imperial Wulong”. I’ve been unsure whether this is some kind of DFMR or not, as it looks like it could be but hasn’t really tasted like one. It was one of my favourite teas at Soihtu, but I haven’t drank this in a long time.

Today I tried this with a gongfu brewing, and compared it to Soihtus standard way of preparing it. And there it was, DFMRs characteristic taste! Not in a really fancy way, but recognizable.

Quality tea, although I personally dislike Dong Fang Mei Ren.

Quite pleasent, fruity and floral Taiwanese wulong. Nicely roasted aftertaste, overall good quality tea, although not the best Dong Ding I have tasted.

The taste is mellow and warm, reminiscent of White Bud Yin Zhen, but lacking its subtlety.

A great balance between floral aromas and warm toastiness without bitterness.

An energizing herbal tea that’s great for a cold.

I’m usually not a fan of black teas but this one was definitely worth tasting thanks to its fruity freshness.

This mint tea tastes extremely refreshing both hot and iced, but avoids tasting artificial.

The taste is soft and delicate, but rounded to the point that it lacks character. Not a particularly memorable tea.

A soothing, rounded taste which is indeed “reminiscent of summer” as the description claims. One of my current favorites.

A rounded and delicate floral aroma. Requires some care to avoid burning the taste.