What-Cha

Incredible. Smooth, creamy, floral, and heavenly. Roast is but a slight after taste becoming a dynamic finish. The tasting notes described above are definitely accurate. The aroma is very similar to a Tie Guan Yin, but the taste is not quite as overwhelmingly floral. Maybe more lilac than orchid. Closer to a Li Shan, but just as creamy as that and a Jin Xuan. The Beautiful Taiwan Misty Mountain strikes very close to this one, only this tea does not have a spinach quality. I do like some vegetals, but the cake actually lacks it in part which makes it even sweeter. I enjoy it that way. Reminds me of peaches and cream almost. Three steeps in and it takes a while to steep later, but says strong. And that’s a third of the cake.

Definitely for oolong lovers, and since this tea is so sweet and light, newer drinkers would definitely enjoy it. Because the aroma is so strong, and the artistry is so precise for the brick, this would easily become a guest pleaser.

I might make this one of my favorites. Let’s see how I take it later on.

Well, 90 is starting to look my norm. Anyway. What-Cha had almost every variety of tea that I’ve been hunting for, and all at pretty good prices. I’ve also had the tendency to pick vendor favorites. This is not one of them, but don’t worry. I’ll be writing about them in the all too near future.

I like yancha’s and I wanted to compare this rendition to the stuff I got from Berylleb. Every tea is different, and every Shui Xian I’ve had has definitely been different. Actually, kinda similar to a Dark Roast Tie Guan Yin and a Big Red Robe. This one is incredibly smokey, and very sweet. The caramel note here is thicker, almost like a cooked or a burnt caramel. Maybe brown sugar. There’s also a little bit of tobacco and coffee in the notes. Plus something kinda boozey. Whisky or rum. So many re-steeps…

Bottom line: a good, complex Shui Xian. If your looking to try one, or a fairly smokey tea that has some nice sweetness, you want to start with this one. More for experienced drinkers or the mildly adventurous, but newbies might like the subtleties and odd sweetness.

I’m so glad I horded my remaining 50 grams of this. I admit that I’ve been leaning more towards flavored teas and the bare hopes of getting a good Li Shan for cheaper, but I am still very glad to have this one. I do like this one best in fall, but it is not doing to bad for the summer.

Awesome in the rebrew, awesome in the Tumbler. I am so glad I took my time with this. By the time I’m finished, though, the sale is going to be over. Crap.

So I scented a sample with a crap ton of Bourbon vanilla beans for a month…. and the results were great. First steep at 30 sec, slightly higher grammage no more than 4 grams, and water at 185 F.

It turned being a light, sweet floral vanilla with a light malt background. In short, it was very close to Liquid Proust’s French Toast Dianhong, just a hint fruitier, lighter, and oddly dryer. This confirmed what I thought though: vanilla blends naturally well with white teas. Though this one is incredibly unique compared to others, there are a few notes that undeniably belong to a white, and I’ve had vanilla with a white before.

The second steep was closer to western, getting in at a minute and five seconds. Maple, dry malt, honey, and playful vanilla come up. Experiment=success.

My friend Rich was going to do a food competition in conjunction with the Olympics at work, and he was going to whip up a recipe for a Kenyan cake which usually goes with tea or coffee. To make his project more geographically focused, my mom wondered if I could lend some of my personal amount of this tea. I hesitated since I usually drink it straight, but then I experimented with sugar, and it was a success. My mom loved it. Rich-who very rarely drinks tea-really liked it. Then I really liked it with sugar. The sweeter maple profile of the tea was incredibly noticeable with sugar. This good thing could not be more of a mixed blessing.

This tea is one of the most flexible ones I’ve had because of how easy it is to brew. I like it with a lot of leaves gong fu in short steeps, I like it western, and I like it Grandpa. Now, I like it with sugar. This is bad news for the health nut of a type 1 diabetic.

I’m having a harder time drinking the tea straight though it’s still solid. I can still drink other teas straight fine, but a more limited selection of them mentally. My cravings for ingredients like vanilla or something extra like cinnamon have gone through the roof. Then with my energy issues which is obviously attested to caffeine addiction and tolerance, I’ve been craving something more robust for my mornings. Now I have an obsessive craving for masalas-the tea that I have the least of right when I went over my budget. This really isn’t a big deal, but you know, habits and first world problems.

The good news is that I get to keep my stash since Rich’s work scrapped the food competition idea. Bad news is I need to hold off another massive buy from What-Cha for a while.

I was so close to sipping this down, but I have one more cup to savor. This is one of my top teas, and I want more of it, but I also want more of my top teas. Decisions….

Now there’s no denying my love of this tea. The natural tea I already liked. But I just licked a spoon full of raw honey then drank this and wow. Honey is a great compliment.

K S is right: the leaves resemble a Dian Hong, and it tastes like a Dian Hong. Main difference is I’m not quite getting the same sweet potato note, but a subtler malt. Same notes as recorded earlier, with dominant caramel and corn. I do get sweet potato later. Works incredibly well Gong Fu or Western. Perhaps one of my top white teas, but I’ll have to see over time. I want to drink this one more often to know, but only have a sample. Luckily, I can make the most out of any gram.

I like this tea A LOT. Though I rated it an 85, this is just a beginning rating based primarily on taste and price. I’ll definitely raise the rating later in part depending on cup yield, and in part not to screw with my other teas ratings (I tend to rate higher because I pick teas that I KNOW I should like, but steepster adjusts it lower grrrrrr). Tastes very similar to a Yunnan Moonlight, but a hint lighter. It reminds me of kettle corn popcorn a little bit with caramel drizzled on top. I do get cocoa notes every once in a while. I’m also getting the maple, sweet potato, sweet corn, hay, and other notes that people already mentioned. Definitely sweet, but sweeter when steeped for less time at first, and more time later. I am so trying Gong Fu.

This is probably one of the better white teas I’ve had, and it may be the best. Considering that I got so much flavor from a small tea spoon of this, I definitely place this higher. Now, to see how much more I can get out of it. Let the sip down begin.

Well, I finally got an email from Fujifilm, they plan to have my camera fixed and shipped back in ten days. Ugh, waiting sucks! I am pretty sure everything is going to be covered by my warranty and such, and Ben is telling me not to worry too much because he will make sure things get handled, I just miss my camera. While it is away on its little vacation, I am only drinking teas I have logged notes for in my notebook pile and photographed, basically time for a giant sip-down.

Today’s tea from What-Cha is a bit of a magical one, or at least I think it is, Thailand Winter Frost Jin Xuan Oolong Tea. This fancy Jin Xuan is picked during the cold time of the year, allowing the leaves to be covered in frost causing the leaves to turn brown which changes the taste of the tea. Like bug-bitten teas but being bit by Jack Frost! Ok, I admit it, I have a thing for ice and frost, I want to be like Sub-Zero and learn Cryomancy, but since I can’t I get my magical frosty fix elsewhere. Also known as Hoarfrost Tea or Dong Pian (winter flake) this tea is quite fascinating, and currently seasonal! The aroma of the dry leaves is surprisingly fruity (unlike what I usually expect from a creamy Jin Xuan) with notes of nectarine, honeydew, and orange blossoms. Along with the fruit (and fruit flower) is honey and a touch of chestnut and a finish of gentle vegetation. This tea smells immensely sweet, and not really like winter, but that is not surprising.

Into the gaiwan the leaves go! The aroma of the now soggy and slowly unfurling leaves is a combination of necatrine and honeydew melon with a strange slightly rank undertone, it reminds me ever so slightly of rotten fruit being both sickly and sweet. The liquid is all sweetness, very citrus with notes of nectarines and oranges with orange blossom and honeysuckles.

The first steep is pleasantly mild, it starts with a gentle mineral note that transistions to sweet cream and then BOOM! Nectarines! it is like I bit into a juicy sweet nectarine (a warm one, mind you) it is smooth and a little citric sharp and immensely sweet. I love tangerines, they might be my favorite citrus (other than lemons, but I eat them wayyy differently than more orange-like citrus, I cover my lemons in salt) so having a note so reminiscent of tangerine in a tea is delightful.

Second steeping time, the aroma of the kinda rank fruit leaks into the aroma of the liquid this time, though giving it a good sniff, it isn’t rotting fruit…it is one of those more foul smelling orchids. Not the rotten meat orchid, but certainly one of the ones that smell like a weird mixture of honey and decay. Of course there are also notes of nectarines, and a tiny hint of cinnamon which adds a level of warmth. The mouthfeel is buttery and smooth, a slight sharpness reminiscent of biting into a citrus fruit. The taste is light and buttery with a blend of nectarine and gentle honey, it is sweet and very light, an especially gentle Oolong.

For the aroma of the third steeping, there is only a little bit of that slightly rank orchid, along with honey and nectarines. The mouthfeel starts out smooth and ends with a crispness, like biting into a pile of lettuce. Tasting starts with gentle sweet honey and spice with sweet nectarine juiciness, this moves to a slight hint of cream and spice, and the finish is lettuce (specifically butterhead if you want to know the varietal) with a light aftertaste of nectarine. This tea was very light and pretty much always sweet, I admit the rank orchid aroma was a little off putting, but since it did not show up at all in the taste it was easy to overlook, similar to how I have run into a Sheng puerh that smells like a barn floor but tastes nothing like one, which is always a relief.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/12/what-cha-thailand-winter-frost-jin-xuan.html

Thank you for this one a while ago, TheLastDodo! This one sounded a little scary, to be sure. It isn’t too bad, but not a flavor I’d seek out. This one is compared to ripe pu-erh but to me, it is much too light for that. Lighter than a typical black tea, though the leaves like your typical black tea. However, the flavor is very dusky, dusty, ashy, woody, earthy like no other tea I’ve tried before. I have no idea why it is so different. But nice to try out — must try all the teas!

Well, I am working from home today and it’s a good time to try and review some samples I have. I had mixed feelings about trying this tea. I’ve had sticky rice raw pu-erh and found it too strong so I didn’t know what to expect with this one.

I brewed in a cup 2 min at 90C. First sniff. Whoa! Intense! Sticky rice aroma and taste was so strong. I can see why some might love it as it did go along good with the oolong but I’m pretty sensitive to strong aromas or flavours. I tried to get through the cup but I started getting a headache from the super sweet aroma and taste of sticky rice. There’s still more in the sample so if I am brave and decide to give this a second try, I could discard the first infusion and start from the 2nd one which may not be as strong. I don’t want to give this tea a bad review because it is what it is: sticky rice oolong. For those who love a strong sticky rice flavour , you will love this tea.

Well I finally did it, I finally sent my camera off to get repairs, after much dilly-dallying. I know, I know, waiting this long is certainly not going to get my camera back any sooner, but part of me is terrified something will happen to it…also I feel really naked without a camera. My phone’s camera only barely counts, for so many years I have always had a camera with me, so it just feels really weird. Hopefully it will come back soon, all shiny and flashy again!

Today my addiction to Vietnamese teas continues with What-Cha’s Vietnam ‘Dragon Cloud’ Green Tea. This tea is fascinating, it is a hybridization of the native ‘Ta’ cultivar and the ‘Long Jing’ Chinese cultivar, a coming together of tea cultures, which I think is cool. The leaves are really quite pretty, deep green with a silvery sheen, the name dragon cloud seems very fitting. Sniffing the dry leaves is quite a treat, it is both very nutty and very green, blending crisp bell peppers and bok choy with sesame seeds and peanuts. It has a real freshness too it, reminding me of freshly stirfried veggies where they still have just enough crunch to be extra yummy.

Into my clay teapot the leaves go for their quick steeping, and I mean quick, this is a 10 second steep. Usually I just ignore vendor steeping instructions because I have my own system, but when they recommend something extreme like a really short time or low temperature I tend to listen, because I don’t want a cup of yuck. The aroma of the wet leaves is deliciously vegetal and nutty, again reminding me of stir fry with notes of bell pepper, broccoli, bok choy, and sesame seeds. The liquid is pleasantly mild with sweet sesame and fresh bell pepper and spinach leaves.

The first steep is quite smooth and light, with a sweet nutty start of cashews and sesame seeds. This moves to crisp bell pepper and bok choy with a finish of spinach leaves and broccoli. It is refreshing and sweet at the finish, like gentle notes of honey.

Second steeping has a mixture of sweet and savory for the aroma, notes of honey and cashew blend with bell pepper and spinach, though this time the spinach smells cooked rather than a leafy salad. The taste is much sweeter this time around, with notes of cashew butter and honey, combined with the smooth and slightly thick mouthfeel, it is very pleasant. After the initial sweetness there is a burst of bok choy and spinach with a touch of bell pepper crispness. The finish is a touch of tarragon and sesame seeds, the sesame seed taste lingers. Pardon me, I got lost in the tea, it is quite tasty and vegetal without ever getting bitter.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/12/what-cha-vietnam-dragon-cloud-green-tea.html

Malty but sweet, this was good piping hot as a wake me up as well as a fresh cool drink when I forgot to finish it until after I got home. It was juicier when it was cold.

When opening the pack, the tea smelled incredibly sweet and flowery. I brewed it for 2 minutes and added another 20 seconds for my taste. I added half a teaspoon of sugar, tasted, added a quarter of a teaspoon more.

I could taste refreshing citrus and it was a little bit floral. The website describes the texture as ‘creamy’ and I certainly agree. I couldn’t really taste much else, maybe because I’ve just woken up. The finish and aftertaste of this tea is what made me so unsure, it left my mouth tasting like I had just sucked on a cheap lemon cough sweet. I usually get this with over-brewed green teas, however I stuck to the 2-3 minutes it said on the packet. My second steeping will give me a better idea of my opinion.

Second steeping: I was looking forward to the second steeping and monitored the time very closely. I steeped for 2 minutes, the minimum that was recommended. It still tasted very bitter, so I steeped for an extra 10 seconds which made the bitterness stronger. It was disappointing as I love the actual taste of the tea but the finish and aftertaste pretty much ruin it for me.

However, I’m really new to tea tasting so my review should be taken with a very large pinch of salt.

A refreshing tea perfect for anyone new to oolongs. I’m the type of person who has to put a whole teaspoon of sugar in my beverage for it to to be sweet enough for me, but this only needed half a teaspoon.

It has notes of crispy apples and a hint of citrus. It’s not too overpowering and can be had any time of the day. Extremely refreshing and could be consumed hot or cold.

When steeping for a second time, check the tea after 50 seconds and steep for 10 seconds extra. It may just be my tastes but I found the tea to be bitter the second time, possibly because I lost track of around 10 seconds.

I’ve always had trouble liking green teas, however I’ve always bought low quality, dust-filled teabags. This is the first green tea I’ve really liked.

The packet recommended 1-2 minutes brewing time. I brewed it for 1 and a half but found it was quite weak (for my tastes, I like strong tea!). I then added an extra 30 seconds. I usually add a small teaspoon of sugar however this was TOO MUCH! I should have added half a teaspoon as it was very sweet. I have one of those kettles that fills your cup up, so I added a small amount of cold water to avoid cooking the leaf.

The tea tastes smokey and there’s a hint of apples. It also has a slight taste of nutmeg, perfect for cold autumns and dark winters. Those who do not have a sweet tooth or who are trying to cut down the sugar will be able to drink this without sugar, or with very little.

After leaving around 100ml at the bottom of the cup for a while unintentionally, I come back to it cold. It was actually really nice! This tea would also be lovely served over ice for a refreshing wintery beverage.

When steeped with 4g/100ml, this one comes out like burnt popcorn. Reducing the water temperature and doing flash steepings helps a little, but the leaves reek of char regardless and the roast stays dominant throughout.

Flavors: Australian wildfire, butter, caramel

As someone who is new to tea, I ordered a pack of mystery teas to try from What-Cha. The dry leaves don’t have a particular scent, this tea isn’t overpowering and can be had before or after meals – it doesn’t taint the tastebuds.

I usually add a leveled teaspoon of sugar to my teas. It tasted like fresh honey and also had notes of citrus. This tea is good for sweet-tooths and those looking to seek substitutes from their regular Tetley’s or milky builders tea.

I am sooo annoyed at my body today! So yesterday I got up early so I could go to bed early, a logical approach to changing my schedule. Turns out my body had different plans, right as I settle into bed at a sane hour (3AM, woo!) I develop a double slam of a killer stomach and headache, so I didn’t end up getting to sleep until 8 in the morning…and I woke up an hour ago. This means my schedule is not adjusted, I missed out going out to lunch with Ben and running the errands I needed to run, and someone checked the mail before me. Of course I still feel pretty nasty, better than when I finally went to sleep, but still very off. Ah well, such is life with Fibromyalgia, some days are great and some are not, luckily I have plenty of tea and warm blankets to help me through.

Today is Wednesday, so that means it is time for What-Cha, and today’s tea of choice will be China Yunnan Wu Liang ‘Yi Mei Ren’ Black Tea, a Red Tea from one of my favorite tea producing regions, Yunnan! From Wu Liang Mountian in Puerh, Yi Mei Ren (which is named for the Yi Minority that inhabits that region) is made from big leaf material, making this a very fluffy Dian Hong. The aroma of the leaves is quite tasty, making this similar to a dessert tea, with notes of fruits and nuts. The blend of walnuts and pecans with cooked plums and dark cherries reminds me of a compote without the spice. There are creamy undertones, along with malt, and a slightly woody and sharp cacao shell finish.

Into the dragon gaiwan the leaves go! The aroma of the now quite soggy leaves is malty and rich, with notes of cocoa, dates, plums, and a touch of spice at the finish. The nutty notes have vanished and it has been thoroughly replaced with sweetness. Wait, I lied, the nutty notes did not vanish, they just migrated to the liquid! Notes of walnuts and cashews mix with cocoa and malt with a distinctly sweet creamy finish. The idea of this being a dessert tea is still staying strong with these sweet notes.

From the first steep I can say that the mouthfeel is very smooth, bordering on slick with its smoothness. It is not overly heavy, just gently sitting on the tongue spreading flavor. The taste starts out creamy, like a nice bite out of a bar of chocolate, this tea is immensely sweet. Honey notes mingle with plum and dark cherries, a distant floral note dances in and out between sweetness, vaguely reminiscent of roses. The finish is chocolate and it lingers for a while.

Second steeping time! The aroma is maltier this time, with stronger notes of cocoa and a slight woodiness as well, there are still nuts and creaminess, but the strength of this steep is malt. The taste is very similar to the first steep, a slightly heavier mouthfeel and stronger cocoa notes at the start set this steep apart, as does the malt note at the finish. It is still very sweet, but it is bordering more on dark chocolate than milk.

Third time, as you can tell from the photo this tea kept me company while I was painting, it was the right amount of invigorating and sweet where I could slurp and paint. This steep was pretty much identical to the first steep, smooth and light mouthfeel with creamy sweetness. The main difference between this steep and the first was a slightly stronger fruit note, specifically cooked plum, and the absence of that distant floral note. This tea was immensely tasty, definitely one I could see myself indulging in a lot.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/12/what-cha-china-yunnan-wu-liang-yi-mei.html

From the aged oolong group buy.

I am starting to love aged oolong. I usually steep oolongs with 3 grams in 6 oz with 1-minute steeps, but started out with a 20 second steep after Liquid Proust’s warning about the strength of the tea. I didn’t find it at all strong and after this first steep went back to my usual 1 minute steeps. I think it’s just that LP is a green tea drinker and I prefer blacks, though we both love puerh and oolongs.

The first steep started toasty, ended grassy, with a very long finish. 2nd (60 s): Back to my normal steep routine. Not at all overpowering. Nutty aroma, medium roast flavor with hints of nut and tropical fruit. Good finish. As the tea cooled it became much less interesting. Just a plain medium roast. 3rd (60s): This time the roast is a bit too powerful, smothering the fruit. Later steeps smoothed out, showing rich, complex flavors without the roasted component (other than a bit in the nose).

Usually oolongs peak for me in the second or third steep, but this tea just kept getting better. The early steeps had sharply defined flavors that sometimes seemed at odds with each other. The later steeps were much more integrated, with the rough edges all smoothed off. I drank this over a period of two days, with other teas in between, so lost track of the number of steeps. I think i’m on about the 6th or 7th steep and the tea shows no sign of fading, even though I’m still only doing 60 second steeps. It is just a pleasure to drink.