Trident Booksellers and Cafe Boulder Colorado

From Daylon R Thomas!  Thanks so much!   I keep trying this one, but the flavor is so mild and not very distinct, that I then hesitate to write a note.  But I guess I should, just to say that there isn’t much flavor.  I do think it is interesting that this particular Honey Black has a ton of gold to the leaf.  Which makes it even weirder that the flavors aren’t anywhere close to something that would taste like a Chinese black tea, like this appears to be.  I would have guessed it was Golden Monkey if I were just looking at the leaf and had no description for it.  I would say the most distinct note is oak with a slight bite to it.  BUT that was when I severely oversteeped the second cup.  I do wish there was more flavor here, but I always like when my expectations for tea are thrown when I look at a leaf and think I will know what it tastes like.  I like being wrong! 
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for a mug // 19 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 //  just boiled // (many minute steep – forgot about it) 

From Daylon R Thomas!  Thanks so much!    I’m thrilled I get to try some of these Trident teas that Daylon introduced Steepster to a while back.  The leaves here COULD NOT look more delicious:  Mostly black with the perfect amount of gold leaf, not only is each piece of leaf twisting around itself, but all of the leaves twisting around in a lovely mess in the pouch.  It looks like the perfect black tea.  From Nepal!  The flavor is sweet, malty, honey, a bit of sweet potato but also like little summer squashes — mostly reminding me of a light Chinese Yunnan, but not too light!  The second steep almost tastes like a lighter traditional Assam, even though this is not Assam.  From the look of the leaf, I’m shocked they compare this to a Darjeeling. Then I re-read Daylon’s note and he compares this to Darjeeling and a Chinese black.  I bet this tasted more like Darjeeling a year ago, and now those flavors might be muted. 
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons // 18 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 min steep

From Daylon R Thomas!  Thanks so much for that excellent tea delivery!  I wanted to accomplish a few sipdowns before diving into the box.  I was extra thrilled to try these Trident teas, ever since I read about them when Daylon originally tried them.   Though Trident specifically says this is an assam from India, it most definitely reminds me of a Taiwanese assam.  The flavor profile is the same as a PTA – Premium Taiwanese Assam.  Somewhat starchy, malty.   Maybe slightly different tasting from a Taiwan tea, but in an unlabeled taste test, I bet I would guess a PTA.  This is quite delicious and DEFINITELY high quality from this shop.  The leaves are huge. 
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons // 22 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 1/2 min steep  

I’ve had this tea for well over a year and I still don’t know what I think about it. I’ve had it gong fu and western, and I think it’s too drying when I do it wrong. It’s rich and floral and stemmy for a black tea, heavy in the malt, chrysanthemum, and lychee departments. Of course it’s body is viscous and incredibly, but the chrysanthemum note throws me off and hedges on bitter. It’s more dehydrating compared to my other black teas, which is surprising because this one is described as a smoother tea overall by other reviewers on instagram and by the site. I contemplated sending a sample of this one to Derk and Leafhopper, yet it’s so finicky. I finally nailed down making it in my mug western for about 2-3 minutes, light on leaves no more than 3-4 grams.

One of the best teas I have right now. Fluxes between 97-100, but mostly gong fu, western, and tumbler/grandpa. Supremely balanced florals, sweet like a creamy tropical dessert, pure like a mountain spring. Plumeria is a certain floral with some magnolia, and some definite pineapple too. There’s a lot more to it, but the flavors consistently change and offer up something cool in long or short steeps. I’ll come back to it, but I really love it.

Of the two unsmoked lapsangs from Trident that Daylon sent me, this is the one I was most looking forward to trying. Anything with “fruity” in the name sounds promising to me! I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml porcelain pot at 195F for 7, 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds, plus some uncounted steeps.

The aroma of the dry leaves is of blackberry, lemon, roses, lavender, malt, soy sauce, and wood. The first steep is soft, with notes of blackberry, lemon, honey, roses and other florals, malt, soy sauce, and wood. The tea has a nice, thick body. The second steep is sweeter, and orange, molasses, lavender, more honey, and some tannins are noticeable. The orange, lemon, and blackberry/generic red berry notes are more pronounced in the next couple steeps, though the honey in the aftertaste is a little cloying. I also get whisps of pineapple in the aroma. In the next few steeps, the sweet blackberry, citrus, and honey remain constant, and I get more rose, florals (orchid?), and grass with some tannins. The fruity, floral flavours persist through many steeps, after which the session fades into malt, minerals, tannins, and wood.

This is a lovely lapsang that lives up to its name. I didn’t find it quite as compelling as the Wild Lapsang because I didn’t think it was as well balanced or complex. I liked the rose and blackberry, but it verged on being too sweet in places and the range of fruit wasn’t as wide as that in some other lapsangs I’ve had. Still, it has great longevity and is overall a very nice tea. It’s also from 2019, so the fruit may have been more vibrant a couple years ago. Thanks to Daylon for the sample.

Thanks to Daylon for providing samples of two unsmoked Lapsangs from Trident. Unsmoked Lapsang Souchong is quickly becoming one of my favourite types of hongcha, which is unsurprising given my preference for highly aromatic, not-too-astringent teas. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of lemon, lavender, orchid, malt, wood, and soy sauce. The first steep has notes of lemon, orange, lavender, orchid, honey, sweet potato, grain, malt, pastries, minerals, and wood. Lemon zest is more apparent in the second steep, and it has notes of rye bread, tannins, earth, pine, cream, herbs, and raspberry, especially in the aftertaste. Raspberry and cherry are more noticeable in the next couple steeps, along with molasses and a syrupy tropical fruit I’ll call guava. This is balanced by the lavender, florals, herbs, malt, and tannins. The next two steeps have notes of guava and cherry, but mainly emphasize lemon and florals. Steeps seven and eight are still fruity, but more tannins are creeping in and the wood, malt, and minerals are more apparent. The aroma in the empty cup is still lemony and fruity, and the tea has a long, lemony aftertaste. The sweetness continues throughout many, many more steeps, though the tea gradually thins out and has more tannins, earth, wood, and minerals.

This is a less assertive tea than What-Cha’s Tong Mu Lapsang, but I think it’s just as complex and appealing. Perhaps it doesn’t have quite the same variety of fruits as the What-Cha version, but I think it’s perhaps more balanced. That persistent lemon and lavender profile is one I like. I’m glad Daylon sent me so much of this tea to enjoy!

MMmmmm really loving this one in my Eclipse Tea brewer. Savory, sweet, floral, nutty, and light.

Thank you Trident for the sample! I got this with the Red Plum Dragonwell Black I purchased. I only purchased an oz of that one because I really wanted to try a Black Dragonwell, and they generously sent an 8 gram sample of this.

It’s been a while since I had a dragonwell, or since I reviewed a straight green tea. Going gong fu, 120 ml, 10, 13, 16, 20, 15, 10, 25 before getting vegetal bitter and astringent. Earlier steeps were incredibly flavorful and well balanced. I couldn’t smell the dryleaf too much, but the brewed tea was nutty. Chestnuts are prominent in every steep in this tea starting of lighter, then ramping up into steep three. Like they describe, the tea is really clean and sweet. I’m impressed how balanced the snow pea notes are with the violet notes. Two and four gave me the most violet notes.

I was really happy with this one. I wouldn’t drink this one often, given it’s around $20 an oz, though honestly worth it if you are into good quality greens. I usually think Dragonwells are too vegetal, but this one is closer to an oolong in how smooth and sweet it is. It made think again how close to green teas the oolong I get are. I’m excited to finish this one off, and more excited to try the black tea.

More notes after steep five-I have not been keeping time, but I’ve alternated between short 30-45 second steeps and minute steeps. Aroma is pretty high on this one. I got fruit loops in the steep, and green apple in the previous one. I’m looking forward to what else unfolds.

Overall, it’s hard to rank this tea. It’s a frist flush, but it’s between being an oolong and a white. I put it as a white tea under a Chinese nomenclature because the overall profile fits more with other whites I’ve had, though it’s got enough dimension to make you think otherwise. I think I’ll rate it a 90s minimum. I’m not sure how often I’d drink it. I know how deeply I’ve enjoyed the flavor and smell.

Thank you, Trident for this extremely generous sample! Definitely the kind of tea I like. I should have ordered this over some of the more malty teas I got, though I’m going to have another go at all of them. Given today’s the Moon Knight premier, this was probably the most apt tea.

Before I get into their description, here’s what my senses found. Opening the bag, it was immensely buttery and floral, like I was smelling cooled sweet buns sitting out of the oven to settle before a meadow. I used my Gong Fu 2 Go tumbler, sipped it, and then let it sit around 2-3 minutes. First sip was floral nectar water, and the next steep was sweeter and rounder. It’s color was super faint and a little yellow, but crystal clear. My brain kept picking up on rose and sweet bread, but there were other distinct and very sweet florals emphasizing some very clear violet notes too. The aftertaste bordered on sucrose or white grape fruit juice or moscato, though I’d say fruity in the line of yellow, white and sweet green fruits.

Looking at their notes, basically the same, but they mention honeydew (YES) and grape juice. So, yeah. All in steep one. I will write more as I drink it. Either way, it’s exactly the kind of tea that I would usually be looking for and keep on hand. Fruity, floral, and therefore, ethereal.

Sweeter one at last! Though again, super, super malty from a rushed western session. It had some dimension from stonefruit, and it was a more floral black tea overall. It’s really in a middle ground between the profiles of a 2nd Flush Darjeeling and a Chinese black. I’m personally getting a lot of the marigolds, and then the stone fruits in light touches and hints at the end of each sip.

I’m looking forward to seeing how this one goes. It’s malty, but more subdued than the other two I got so far.

I have too much black tea. I’ve been mostly guzzling my flavored teas and oolongs, but I have barely touched some of my black ones from Spirit and Trident. As winter comes in, the tannins strike differently and I’ve been able to enjoy these a little bit more. I got more peanut, leather, and malt vibes yesterday which were welcome.

The problem with blacks is I’ve gotten more sensitive to caffeine, and my stomach has been upset easily. I don’t know what is causing it-I drink plenty of water, and though I’ve been stressed, I’ve been able to manage a lot better than previous years. Either way, I have had to stick to milder teas lately. I am thinking about selling or getting rid of a good portion of my stash. The majority of them are higher end malty Chinese blacks like this one and Nepal blacks, with some Darjeelings I’ve barely touched. On the flipside, I have been going through my green teas a lot quicker lately.

2nd Backlog from the same day

This one had a bit more dimension than the needles. Malt forward again, accented by nice oak wood notes. Mint and honeysuckle are distinguishable too, though there’s not a lot of the honey qualities I expected. Trident’s description is on point, and it’s a quality tea. I was hoping for a naturally sweeter tea personally, but yet again, adjustments are likely necessary.

I’m a moron. I used the same parameters in my Kyusu as I did with my first Nepal tea this morning, going more for less than 2 minutes with a very generous serving of leaves. It was over a heaping tablespoon, and I timed it by aroma and color. I poured some at 20 sec, sipped, waited about 40 ish seconds longer, than poured it. So I guess between 1 minute to 1 min 35 at most.

This time, I got the beer and hoppy flavors, but I got more tippy chocolate malt than I usually do. This is the first time I used my Kyusu for the leaves. Before, I’ve mostly used a metal strainer for a mug, or one of my gaiwans. The weather was also significantly different last winter. It’s been relatively warm in the 40s so far, being just cool enough to sweeten the tannins without taking them away.

Second steep closer to three minutes, and its still sweet and malty. Not too much chocolate or cocoa now, but more grapey. The Guinness and sweet potato vibes are still here.

It’ll be interesting to see if how much I change my mind on this one. I intended to swap it out because it sat around for too long, but now there’s a chance I’ll finish it quicker by using more leaves. I’ll still keep some around for sharing because I do think it stands out as a Nepal chinese style tea, but I might have to finish it while the weather is on this lukewarm border of cold. Otherwise, it’s been a generic malty black tea with some viscousness. Does anyone else notice a huge change of flavor due to climate for their black teas?

Doing it again semi gong fu. I got the same hoppy malt profile like a medium or nice ale or lighter beer with some red or green grapes and citrus. I’m also adding hay to the mix, and a little bit of sweet potato. There are definite Jin Jun Mei components and occasional orange citrus quality in the finish, but that could be what my brain interprets as hinted-fruity.

I’ve only gotten through three cups so far, 4-5 grams in 5 oz and beginning with 30 sec, 45-50, and now closer to a minute and 5 seconds. It’s not as forward as when I did it last time, but keeps bringing out a gold amber color in each cup. The needles remain a gold brown after brewed, mixing the trichomes in the liquor, and the later longer steeps were a lot softer with some nice malt and little bit of tannin.

I’m not settled on this one for a rating yet. I do like it and thinks it’s a good quality golden needle style tea, but I wouldn’t drink it all the time. The tea is a delicate and flexible, but easily muted. There are more dimensions and layers this time around than when I brewed it western.

Backlog:

I had to sub every other monday and Friday during my prep, so I splurged the 30 bucks a lost prep on tea. I was curious about three of them on Trident’s website, and they are all very malt forward. My inner libertine craved chocolatey black malt tea, yet I got some unique terroir teas instead.

This one was close to description and definitely closer to a Jin Jun Mei, but more grapish and hoppy. Malt obscured finer qualities, so while not two dimensional, it was dominant and drying.

I am going to have to brew it again. I was a tad bit disappointed the first time, but I think my parameters western were at fault.

Thanks to Daylon for sharing another lovely green oolong from Trident! I have a soft spot for Shan Lin Xi oolongs, of which this should be a fine example. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 25, 20, 25, 30, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of pineapple, melon, apricot, lilac, and orchid. The first steep has notes of lilac, orchid, cookies, butter, pineapple, green apple, and grass. (I’ve never smelled plumeria, so can’t tell if that’s a component of the ethereal floral bouquet.) The next steep is much fruitier, highlighting pineapple, apricot, melon, and green apple against the florals. The tangy pineapple in steep three is incredible. Lilac, orchid, honeysuckle, apricot, cookie, and spinach are present as well, but wow, the pineapple is the star. By steep five, the honeydew and green apple are more prominent, along with spinach, bok choy, flowers, and cookies. The flowers take over near the end of the session, with green apple, bok choy, and spinach getting stronger as the steeps lengthen.

This oolong invites gushing descriptions and lots of adjectives (gorgeous, fantastic, ethereal, etc.). All the fruity flavours make it a good choice for beginning oolong drinkers, as well as for those who have tried lots of Gaoshan. The price is also pretty good for a Long Feng Xia. Thanks, Daylon, for parting with enough of this oolong for two gongfu sessions.

Daylon generously sent me a package full of green oolongs and Fujian black teas, and this is one I’ve been looking forward to trying. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 25, 20, 25, 30, 30, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of honeydew, peach, honeysuckle, and lilac. The first steep is very floral, with notes of lilac, honeysuckle, and sweet pea. I also get butter, spinach, and some honeydew melon. The second steep has lovely peach notes, though I agree with Daylon that they lean toward citrus. I also get melon, pear, grass, that herbaceous note I find in some high mountain oolongs, and stronger vegetal and spinach flavours. The next few steeps have a nice balance between fruit and florals, with tangy peach, pear, melon, lilac, honeysuckle, and a spinach backbone. By the seventh steep, the veggies, including spinach and peas, become more prominent, but that wonderful fruitiness doesn’t quit. The last few steeps are floral and vegetal.

I always fall for sweet, fruity oolongs like this one. The honeydew and pear are more pronounced than the peach for me, and the florals provide a nice balance. I deducted a couple points for the noticeable vegetal flavours, though I think they’re pretty much inevitable in green oolongs. In all, this is a great oolong with good longevity, and I’m grateful to Daylon for the sample.

Sipdown

Trident’s Darjeeling was recommended to me by a friend. They were drinking the 1st flush gongfu style when we were sipping together, which seemed odd to me at the time. I’m not 100% familiar with Darjeeling teas, but I’ve dabbled. I decided that I wanted to give their Darjeeling teas a try, so I bulk ordered all of them.

Out of the listings at the time (2020) of ordering, they had 3 or 4. I drank all of them down but the last of the Red Thunder. I’ve held onto the last 2ish teaspoons of this leaf. I decided to throw it into a teapot, tossed 195F water on top, let it steep for 4 minutes, and poured. I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood on this cold morning since I was actually motivated, and the warm cup of tea was an added bonus!

Alas, to the review….It’s quite beautiful. It’s malty and layered with floral notes on the front, and there remains a lingering grape note at the finish. I added a teaspoon of honey to get these flavors to pop out more. I was hopeful when checking out Trident’s black teas, but this is no longer listed; which I’m not surprised since I ordered it in 2020. It was a good run and it’s good to finally sipdown another tea.

Another addition in later notes. The tea didn’t quite last as long as I thought, but it’s doing some fun things with the more cooked notes. Pine sap, resin, smoke, charcoal, and some sweetness mid body and in the finish. The brew afterward was just smoky, so I decided to put the leftover leaves in my garden.

Grilled peaches coming in steep three. I looked at my stash and realise I still haven’t touched some Dancongs and a lot of Wuyi Black….and Georgian Black. I just did an order of Wild Jin Jun Mei and more oolong from Grand Crew. I had a descent paycheck, so I was like screw it. But then again, I still have close to much black tea….and some oolong I’m neglecting. I am tempted to do a traveling tea box of the high priced blacks I’ve got so other people can get try some of what I’ve got. I’ve got some friends near me that like tea where I live, but they do not guzzle it as crazy as I do. Sometimes, it will sit around until I am over and they brew it for all of us. The blends and jasmine teas I give people get finished quick, and one friend plows through the Darjeelings, yet I haven’t seen her in a while. This is why I miss smaller samples. I was going to workout, but I am chilled the f out by this tea.

After me being a hovering pest a few months ago, I caved and got a bunch of Fushou and a few Gaoshans from trident. They were really kind to do my order over the phone before they got the supply on the website, and they included a sample of a freakin’ competition tea.

I should start doing blind tasting notes because the power of persuasion is high with this one, or the notes were just nailed. I’ve only rinsed and gong fu steeped my 8 grams in 5 ish oz after 35 seconds.

It’s got the trademark honey-charcoal taste of Gui Fei’s plus some. There are very few roasted oolongs I’ve had that actually have a chocolate note like this one, almost tasting like a chocolate flavored tea. The chocolate malt is just as pronounced as the the peachy honey in the aftertaste. There’s a really cool floral osmanthus that transitions from the chocolate note directly into the peach. The charcoal is there in hints to texture the aftertaste, yet it’s more pronounced in aroma.

Second brew closer to 25 seconds, and the peach is upfront followed by the chocolate malt note instead, hinted by what my brain registers as hazelnut. It’s malty and nutty like a really high grade yancha, which is pretty damn impressive.

I’m going to stop here so I don’t leave another mini-book. I’ll add the later steeps if I notice anything distinct beyond what I just wrote or charcoal notes. I personally would not want a stash of this one because I don’t see myself drinking it often, yet I am very happy to get to try something I like drinking. It’s definitely a tea snobs tea, but the flavor profile is something that I can see intermediate drinkers getting behind.

Western again, but in 150 ml and maybe 3-4 ish grams. After about 2-3 minutes, this was really excellent and opening up. Melon, butter, lilac, lavender, and honey. I was very happy with this session, so I am upping the rating a little bit.