What-Cha

Smells like honey, tastes like honey; naturally sweet and candy-like. Not astringent.

I have (had) a 10g pouch of this. I sent part of it to Cheri and today decided to have a cup. One more and it will be a sip down.

This is a nice, flavorful medium-bodied black tea. It’s not a knock you off your horse tea, and it’s not a 99 lb weakling either. Just satisfying and delicious.

I am not even sure how long it has been since I’ve posted or had real tea. Too much going on to sit and relax. Finally had a quiet moment. I grabbed this one because it was at the front of my What-Cha box. While not the greatest reason, it turned out to be an excellent choice. This is such a wonderful cup of green tea. Crisp and refreshing, light and lingering. Turns out this is just what I needed.

The last of my What-Cha samples for a first time review. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being introduced to new teas I never knew existed. You know, like green tea from Nepal. This one has a scent of dry autumn leaves until steeped. It then has a steamed vegetal scent with notes of nectarine. This is light and crisp. I get vegetal with a light bite up front that drifts in to spring water before changing to a long lasting grassy floral aftertaste. Uniquely different from the black or white teas I’ve tried from Nepal. This compares well to a Chinese green. Delicate and refreshing.

This. Is. Awesome. Just thought I should get that out of the way. The leaf looks silver and fuzzy with a mix of green leaf. It resembles white tea but it is an oolong. The aroma is citrus. When water hits the leaf the nose becomes very definite citrus. At first I am thinking lemon. Then breathing in again, I’m thinking orange. So nice.

The liquor is sunshine yellow and very clear. The aroma of the leaf is so wonderful, I was a little afraid the taste would not compare. Wrong. It is better. At the front I get sweet buttery corn. Then mid sip it changes to spring water. While the brain is still trying to adjust, this moves into a beautiful citrus finish. No bitterness or astringency that I recall. Nothing even vaguely approaching off in the taste. Just lots or refreshing yum.

I have had the pleasure of trying several teas from What-Cha. Picking a favorite would be difficult. This one is definitely a contender for that spot.

Today was going to be my relax and catch up on reading day, all that travel meant that I am really behind on the various blogs and Steepster friends that I follow, instead it was a day of Steampunk Creepers. My mom got a text this morning about the Steampunk texture pack on the Xbox, we both looked at each other and more or less ran to the console. While she is not as a big of a fan of the Steampunk aesthetic as I am, my mom does enjoy it, plus we always get a kick out of new texture packs. After playing Minecraft we decorated for Halloween, and I am still not caught up on my reading!

It is Wednesday, so that means it is time for What-Cha, specifically their Nepal 2nd Flush 2014 Cannon Ball Green Tea from Greenland Organic Farm in the shadow of Mt. Kancghenjunga. I absolutely love the shape of these little tea balls, I am not sure why it is called Cannon Ball except that maybe it is a play off of Gunpowder Green, and these are bigger so they are cannon balls? Until corrected, that shall be my head cannon (yes I am a terrible person for making that pun, no regrets.) The aroma of the leaf balls is very green and quite sweet, there are notes of cut grass, freshly broken green stems, a tiny bit of hay, and a nice sharp finishing note of citrus. It has a very refreshing aroma that I hope carries over to the brewed tea.

Watching the little leaf balls slowly turn into a pile of small leaves is rather entertaining, they did not so much unfurl as fall apart, much like a cannon ball hitting a fortress wall. The aroma of the soggy leaf pile is a blend of freshly squeezed citrus (reminds me a bit of Yuzu, actually) and cut grass. The liquid once liberated from the leaves is very fresh and refreshing, the aroma has notes of light citrus, fresh grass, and a very mild touch of pepper at the finish.

The first steep can be summed up best as odd yet refreshing! As with the other teas I have had from What-Cha’s Nepal selection, it has a real clean spring water taste to it, I am not sure if it is a terroir thing or a farm specific trait, but I love it. Now I cannot tell you if I love this because of the taste or because it instantly transports me to one of my favorite places, ever, either way it is a powerful effect. There is more than just spring water to this tea, there is also a strong middle presence of green in the middle, it cools my mouth and tastes like broken stems and grass. This passes to citrus at the finish, adding a brightness to the tea and a touch of sweetness.

The second steep’s aroma is much like the first, it smells clean and fresh with a strong presence of green grass and citrus, no pepper this time though. The taste is brisk, not brisk like a black tea, but brisk like a stroll on a cool spring evening, it is refreshing and invigorating. There are notes of spinach and cut grass at the front, this transitions to lettuce and broken stems in the middle, and lastly the tea fades to citrus and sweet hay with a slight aftertaste of saltiness that I found pretty neat. With a lot of types of tea you start to see a pattern, similar tasting notes, similar aromas, so I always get a real kick out of teas that shake me out of similarities.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/10/what-cha-nepal-2nd-flush-2014-cannon.html

I had hopes for this Irish blend….especially after tasting What-Cha’s English blend and finding it quite lovely and complex. Dry, this leaf is intriguing, with it’s deep dark assam leaves mixed with twisty ceylon and the green touches from the Nepal tea that create this blend. The smell from the cup….well, this is not your typical Irish Breakfast tea. There is beautiful deep malt and cocoa as bottom notes that are joined by mid notes of a green wood spiciness and a lingering apricot top note that gives this tea a long malty sweet finish. The true beauty of this blend’s finish is held in the buoyant briskness that the ceylon brings. There is a touch of astringency to the cup, but it is just enough to make you look forward to the next sip. Which is hard not to do. If you are a black blend drinker, give this one a try. It is a captivating alternative to what you’re used to.

Well now this one’s just nostalgic. But maybe it’s just because I poured it into the little chipped teacup my great grandmother gave me growing up.

Smells like honey. Taste is similar, honey slightly tannic, I get what the package means by citrus. Slightly astringent slightly acidic. Hand in hand with ‘ceylon’. Orangey, almost. I could see this with a slice of fruit.

Prepared this again this morning after my morning green tea powder and milk. I used hotter water (185 F) and a 15 minute steep per Amanda’s method. Using this method, I learned this is an exceptionally forgiving tea. I might try really hot water with the last of this just to test. I also learned Amanda has amazing sensory powers. Today’s cup was pretty much identical to yesterday’s cup for me. Don’t get me wrong that is a good thing. I was just hoping to detect all the awesome notes as she described. The corn is easy. I get a light floral and a bit of fruit – neither of which I can identify.

I was really hoping to catch the peony as a childhood memory trigger. Mom loved peonies when I was growing up. For whatever reason she never replanted them when they moved several years ago. Ha, look at that – triggered just thinking about trying to smell them. Love it. They were right outside my bedroom window. There was no air conditioning back in the neolithic period that was my childhood. I slept with the window open. On really hot nights I would lay my head on the window sill. The scent of peonies filled the night air. During the day the bees and ants loved the flowers as much as I did…

I seem to be obsessed with white tea lately. This one looks just like Chinese Silver Needle. Dry, it smells of sweet fresh cut hay. The taste is corn. It is lightly sweet. Late sip is floral and fruit. The aftertaste really lingers. The longer I wait the more I notice a melon note. Very likable and very different than its Chinese twin.

I can’t wait to try this again with the gaiwan and long steeps to match how Amanda prepared it.

So, funny story.

Continuing on my What-Cha streak, I pulled this out to try today. I have never had a tea from The Azores before, and that intrigued me. The leaf had several different colors in it and looked really interesting. The scent was hearty black.

Much to my surprise, there was a really interesting top note to the tea. I am really bad at identifying those so I had my husband taste it and he thought it was berry. After a while I figured out that it is honey dew melon. And the way I know this is that yesterday I had Lupicia’s Golden Honey Dew and apparently didn’t rinse my steeper well enough, so that flavor was with this tea.

But you know what, I absolutely loved it, enough that if I could buy it, I would. In the meantime I will have this again next so I can tell you what the tea itself tastes like.

Like most of the other teas in this sampler, the dry leaves are quite dark for non-black teas, and have some lighter browns. The leaves feel a little like crispy bark. I brewed at 176°F for four minutes; this produces very dark golden-amber liquor. There was a slight aroma, although it was too minor for me to identify. There was a very sharp taste to this tea that took me a couple minutes to identify. At first I was thinking something acidic, but then I realized it has a watered down lemon juice taste, I have to note that this is not an acidic tea, but is very reminiscent of one. I also noticed a dry hay taste to this tea.

I enjoyed this tea, and would probably buy this tea if it was sold individually. This is a definitely a yellow tea, between a white and a green, although if I tasted it blind I would probably say it is a green. This is definitely an everyday type of tea that should pair well with most foods.

(Photos at http://rah-tea.blogspot.com/2014/10/what-chas-discover-russia-premium-non.html)

Like all the others the leaves are considerably darker then what you would expect for a green tea and the leaves are twisted, although the leaves were softer than the others in this sampler. I want to say the leaves had a crumpled look to them, the dry leaves reminded me very much of crumpled velvet. I brewed at 176°F for two and half minutes. The liquor was light yellow, there was a slight cherry aroma. The taste was very mellow, a little fruity that was hard to narrow down, but there was a lingering grassy aftertaste.

I probably would not buy this tea, like the other premium tea in this sampler it had a very light taste, too light for me. This felt more like a white then a green to me.

(Photos at http://rah-tea.blogspot.com/2014/10/what-chas-discover-russia-premium-non.html)

The dry leaves were olive green and a very dark green; the leaves were twisted although there were a couple flattened leaves and a few light stems. I brewed at 176°F for two minutes this produced a tea with a very light yellow liquor. The taste was mostly grassy, but I could taste an intense sweet peach edge to it as well.

I loved this tea. I would definitely buy it if it was sold individually, although I don’t think it is the type of tea I would drink often; it felt very much like a tea to enjoy on a hot summer day.

(Photos at http://rah-tea.blogspot.com/2014/10/what-chas-discover-russia-premium-non.html)

The leaves were dark with a little olive green mixed in, and were flat and looked like thin strips of tree bark. This time I brewed at 176°F for three minutes, it produced yellowish liquor. The major taste was nectarine although there was a grassy finish that I quite enjoyed.

This felt like a better version of the Krasnodar Premium Dagomys Tea Estate Green Tea and I definitely would purchase it again, which may be ironic because I have the least to say about this tea.
(Photos at http://rah-tea.blogspot.com/2014/10/what-chas-discover-russia-premium-non.html)

The dry leaves on this particular tea can be quite wide and flattened to thin and twisted. I brewed 185°F for five minutes. The liquor was quite dark brown-orange. It had a slightly grassy aroma as well as a mild woodsy scent and a really fruity taste, although it tasted very similar to a run of the mill Russian Caravan tea, but it lacked the smoky Lapsang Souchong taste. There was a moderate tobacco taste edge to this tea that lingered.

If this tea was sold individually I probably would not buy this particular tea, I don’t particularly like teas that taste like tobacco. Although this is a nice tea that straddles the line between oolong and black, you may enjoy it.

(Photos at http://rah-tea.blogspot.com/2014/10/what-chas-discover-russia-premium-non.html)

Smell of the dry leaf is a deep assam kinda of tea. Brewed, it smells sharper and brighter, like a ceylon. I know I do a lot of my notes in terms of other teas, but I’m better at comparing, I guess. The package suggested five minutes, but I did four on account of snooping the few existing tea blogs that reviewed russian teas and hearing about it being pretty strong.

Wow, this is surprisingly vegetal. The brew is amber, but the taste is light, spinach, no bitterness or astringency that I can find. The taste makes me reconsider my initial thought on the smell. There’s still ceylon there—spinach with honey. Will have to try the full five minutes in the future.

The leaf is intact and looks very dry and brittle. The silvery buds are neatly furry. Once water hits it, this becomes nicely aromatic, fresh, and green. It filled my little press carafe with hanging leaf. The brew is a golden color and very clear.

The taste can’t be compared to Chinese white peony or especially silver needle. Rather than melon and cucumber, this is woodsy and fruity. It has more in common with Darjeeling or obviously Nepali black tea than it does the aforementioned whites.

Being a white tea it is much more subtle than a black, so even that comparison fails. It struck me as crisp, clean, with a light mineral feel. No bitterness, but a little dryness.

Cup two was a warmer cup. Less mineral. Slightly sweeter. To me it edged on mushroom while hot, then turning more fruity as it cooled.

This is listed as an everyday white. It certainly works very well for everyday, with enough complexity to amuse you when you want to contemplate the cup.

I like for my first tea of the day to be an unflavored black. So as I reached into my unflavored black stash, I started to think about how lucky I am that I have SO MANY great teas to choose from. I have you guys to thank for that, because when I started my tea journey, I thought bad tea was good tea. But through the magic of Steepster people and traveling tea boxes, I have learned the difference between “trash” tea and the good stuff. I’m sure there is still more of that journey to be had, but today I was just getting the feels.

So anyway, this tea. I picked it mainly because yesterday I had a Chinese golden tip, and right next to it was this Ceylon golden tip, and I thought the first one was fresh enough in my mind that I could compare then well.

There is fairy dust here, and the tea smells great. It looks different though, this is more the little crescents that i have seen most in white teas (this is a black though) versus the twisty spider leg type of black that I expected, so that was interesting. The leaf is a bit lighter in color as well. One thing that surprised me is that the package suggested 185 as the temperature. Hmm…. well, Alistair knows best so I went with that.

My first sip seemed really low on flavor. But I think that is because I was expecting something huge and bold. The next sip, I found all of the flavors I was looking for. Malty, sweet, black, Yunnan-y. Beautifully smooth and understated, not a tiny bit bitter or astringent. Instead of a tea that knocks you over, this is a tea that waits quietly for you to turn around and notice it. But, I did notice it and it was great!

The biggest issue with this tea is that I can’t remember the name to save my life. Ok, maybe that’s an issue with ME, which makes this tea AWESOME.

I blame Cheri, because I opened my previously sealed package of this so I could send her a sample, then I spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about how good it smelled. Now I have had it for every cup since.

It’s a total fairy dust tea, you know that brown Yunnan dust? What is that anyway? Oh right, it’s tea crack. Right.

Malty, hearty, hug in a cup. You should buy this NAO. It does make my husband look at me funny because I say, “MMMMM” after every drink.

I have a confession that some of my friends back in Kansas City are going to hate me for, I really don’t like their BBQ, sorry guys! I grew up in the South on delicious Southern style BBQ, and then I left and have not had any for almost fifteen years. Until today. I had BBQ so good that I actually cried, no lie, I sat at the table eating my food while crying. I tolerated other types of BBQ because I craved it, but really, in my book nothing compares to it. So that is my confession, I hope I don’t make too many enemies!

Travel has taken a toll on my perception of time, so What-Cha Wednesday is on a Thursday this week, and the particular tea has an autumnal flair, Darjeeling Autumn Flush 2013 Jungpana Black Tea, which is perfect for this time if year. There is something about Darjeeling teas and autumn that go perfectly together, doubly so if it is an autumn flush. The aroma of the dry leaves is sweet and muscatel, it reminds me a little of white wine and scuppernongs, with a rich undertone of sweet potatoes and roasted peanuts. I think spending time in the South is having an effect on my nose, those are such Southern foods! Regardless of my nose’s current influence, the smells is quite good and of course sweet.

Brewing the leaves seems to make the aroma even richer, very sweet and immensely rich, it has a real depth to it with notes of muscatel, molasses, sweet potatoes, and a tiny hint of distant flowers. The liquid is still sweet and rich, but it has a lightness where the leaves had depth. There are notes of sweet potatoes and scuppernongs with a finish of chocolate and flowers.

This is a Darjeeling to sip while lounging somewhere you can peacefully contemplate something, be it the tea you are sipping or your surroundings, or just the glories of cheese. It has that feeling when you sip it, the tea is a perfect companion for getting lost in thought because its journey through flavor notes is gentle. It starts with a rich molasses and sweet potato, after this the flavor turns light and sweet with a distinct note of golden raises and honey. The end has a cooling effect and a hint of loam with honey sweetness. Surprisingly I gave the rest of my sample to a friend who wanted more experience with Darjeeling, even though I wanted it all for myself I knew it was the perfect Darjeeling to use as either an introductory tea or one to get more experience with. My reasoning for this is it has the distinct notes associated with an Autumn Flush Darjeeling while having a reasonable price and very clear flavor notes. It is also good for experienced sippers because yum.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/10/what-cha-darjeeling-autumn-flush-2013.html