What-Cha

Yeah, still really yummy. Especially good Grandpa Style with two pearls. And lord the mouth feel.

3 pearls in 8 ounces and this is a potent one. I got seven steeps, and only the last two exceeded 2 minutes and 45 seconds at 4 and 5 minutes. It was fairly consistent too- something similar to a full bodied white tea with strong hints of citrus and tangerine like described. And the tea only got sweeter as time passed by. I’m impressed by the strength and longevity more than anything else as the leaves gradually opened. I have a feeling it might grow on me later on.

Thanks for this one, TheLastDodo! This one is a little confusing, as it is called an oolong but it definitely seems like a Darjeeling. It’s probably because it’s from Nepal that it can’t actually be called a Darjeeling. But it’s the loveliest of first flush Darj flavors – very sweet and fruity. I normally don’t like a first flush. They are sometimes too light in flavor to my tastes, but the flavor with this one is fantastic. At least the color of the brew itself definitely looks like an oolong (a light yellow). The second cup was great too.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 tsp // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 min
Steep #2 // 15 min a.b. // 2-3 min

My mom is kinda awesome, ok she is really awesome, but today she decided to give me a present. She texted me several pictures of mushrooms she could not properly ID while visiting my grandparents in South Carolina, turns out all that flooding and rain inevitably brought in the mushrooms. For all that we have had a wet summer and somewhat wet early autumn in Missouri, I have only found a few mushrooms…though while out and about I have seen some growing on trees and in people’s yards, but I have learned that yelling to stop so I can leap out of the car to examine them is not very appreciated by whomever is driving, alas. Sadly IDing from a photo is hard, I was able to probably ID the Russula (either as emetica or paludosa, can’t be 100% sure) but there is one that looks like an Amanita but I just can’t place it, it is maddening and I am having a blast trying to figure out the puzzle with the few clues I have.

I believe it is Wednesday today, I admit, Monday being a holiday made me confused, tossed my schedule right out the door, it is a little embarrassing how much I rely on mail running to let me know what day it is. Since it is Wednesday, it is time to carry on with the tradition of What-Cha Wednsday, a tradition I have been carrying on with for over a year now, and I am still nowhere close to reviewing all of the What-Cha teas! I still want their logo as a t-shirt, just sayin’ it is so cool! Today we are taking a look at Vietnam ‘Red Buffalo’ Oolong Tea an Oolong tea from the Son La Province of Vietnam. Sourced by Hatvala, whose mission it is to raise awareness of Vietnamese tea, something I can get behind because I have not had a tea from Vietnam I disliked, even the super cheap Lotus Green I bought at a Vietnamese grocer. This is a heavily oxidized Oolong, almost to the point of a black tea, but still having a floral oolong quality. It is made using the Qingxin cultivar on a small farm at 1000m above sea level.

The tightly curled leaves are definitely dark, with shades of amber and red peaking through the mostly very dark brown. The aroma is pretty true to the description, blending a darker Oolong with a greener one, It starts out with notes of nutty toasted sesame seeds and chestnuts, sweet marzipan, and honey. Then it moves to floral notes, one note in particular stands out, and to me it smells like the honey sweet nectar of the tulip tree (Poplar) which brings back very fond memories. As a kid I would race the squirrels and ants for the fallen blossoms, when I got my hands on them I would lick the sugary sweet nectar out, yeah, I was a wild woodlands child.

In the gaiwan, the aroma of first steep and slightly opened up leaves is pretty intense, strong notes of flowers and gentle spice, like tulip tree, spicebush, orchids, honeysuckles…honestly this reminds me a bit of a Dancong with its headiness. After that initial burst of flowers there is a bit of creamy sesame seeds and honey. The liquid is very sweet, creamy and flowery with notes of honey, tulip tree, and honey locust. Wow, this the the tea of tree flowers!

The first steep is pale, surprisingly so, it starts with a gentle honey sweetness, a touch of sesame seeds, and then honey locust. Huh, I honestly have never tasted that outside of honey locust pods, that I find immensely fascinating. This sweetness fades to a gentle spiciness that is reminiscent of spicebush and distant flowers, which lingers in the aftertaste.

For the second steep, the aroma is honey and flowers, honeysuckles, honey locust, and tulip trees, it is very sweet. The texture is smooth, a bit silky, the taste is a sugary sweet explosion! It is like my mouth just filled with warm honey, honey locust, scuppernongs, and tea blossoms. The sweetness lingers for quite a while afterwards.

Third steeping’s aroma is still so sweet, loads of flowery goodness and honey sweetness, honey locust and tulip trees are blooming in my cup. This tea does not really change, and it is not super varied in its taste, and you know, that is totally ok because it is super sweet. Who needs dessert when you have liquid honey and honey locust pulp, it is like wild nectar and flowers. For all that this is a dark Oolong, it is not smoky or roasted at all, so no need to be afraid of that.
Blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/10/what-cha-vietnam-red-buffalo-oolong-tea.html

Hmm. a bit on the fence with this one – I tried my usual Oolong comparing test, western style, which is how i usually like them to be drunk, letting the flavour change as they cool in a big mug with a book.

but it tasted a bit oversteeped this way. there was an astringency and dry aftertaste that reminded me of being too far done. Im not going to rate this until I try it gongfu and/or less

Sticky rice? OH YES! I never imagined tasting sticky rice in a tea, bit Whatcha hot this one out of the park. Breathing in that awesome aroma right from the pouch as I opened it took me right to the sticky rice! It filled the air and when I poured hot water over it, GongFu style in my Gaiwan…WOW! Creamy creamy creamy! This may be one that I may purchase to have around for when want something different!

My first try of What-Cha from the group order, and “Sticky-Rice” is the prefect name, because that’s exactly what it tastes like. It is powerful for one tea spoon and after 2 minutes. Steep 2 was at 2 minutes and 25 seconds, and it was still just as strong as the first steep. Oddly enough, I picked up a pineapple note in the first one, maybe because of the power of suggestion and association. I used to eat sticky rice with pineapple and a little it of coconut oil when I lived in Hawaii, and this tea especially emulates that memory. The fact that the tea comes from Thailand is no surprise either-this is where I imagine being also.

I’m pretty impressed, though I’m not sure if I would drink this all the time. Make no mistake, this is a really delicious tea-the fact is that it tastes just like sticky rice and oddly, it acts as a strong appetite suppressant for me. I feel like I just drank a meal when I drink this tea. That could be a testament to quality’s greatness, but also a testament to its power. This is a deceptively light tea, but also very thick, moderately sweet, starchy, and creamy. I am so glad that I got to try this though….I was craving it.

My second tea from the What-Cha group buy.

I was expecting a Russian caravan tea, but instead got a geography lesson. Who knew that Russia actually produces tea? Not-bad tea either. The What-Cha website has more details about the history of Russian tea (they also offer teas from Georgia and Azerbaijan, which used to be SSRs, but are now independent).

The tea is OK but not something I’d go out of my way to get more of. It tastes to me like a cross between black tea and green tea. I’m probably the wrong guy to review this since I’m not a big fan of green teas. There isn’t much tannin, and the taste notes for me are a weedy flavor with hints of veggies (thus the reference to green teas). Nothing wrong with the tea, just flavors I’m not wild about.

This is my first tea from the what-cha group buy. I was so excited by the arrival of the box that I just grabbed this tea at random and steeped it. It was my first yellow tea so I had no idea what to expect.

I followed the directions on the bag: 2 minutes at 175 degrees (1.6 grams in 6 oz of water). The bag said 1-2 minutes, while the web site says 2-3 minutes. If I had read the website first I would have used my usual 3 minute steep, but the tea is so strong that even 2 minutes seems a bit much.

My initial impression is that the strong roasted flavor reminds me of Kukicha. This roasted flavor, which does remind me of hazelnuts per the What-Cha tasting notes, was very strong in both the nose and the taste. I couldn’t detect the mango mentioned by What-Cha as I was drinking the tea, but after it had cooled there was about an ounce remaining in the cup and the smell was strong mango. As I drank the last of the tea, the hazelnut taste and mango aroma went back and forth. Very interesting.

The second steep was in some ways more enjoyable. The flavor was more subdued and not so obviously hazelnut. I noticed the finish more (and it was fairly nice). I didn’t notice any mango this time, even though I let it cool to nearly room temperature. Instead, the flavor took on a more heavy roasted flavor (nearly burnt).

My bottom line is complicated: I enjoyed the tea from an intellectual standpoint, as it showed different faces. However, I didn’t enjoy the flavor as much as I’d like so probably wouldn’t buy it again. On the other hand, tastes vary.

Sipdown (125)!

I’m so pissed at myself. Today, I carried up my tea tray, some cups, and a gaiwan along with the last bloom from my room in the basement. I made it perfectly fine up the flight of stairs into the kitchen. I set the tray, with the teaware on it, down on an island and then as I turned around what did I do!? I knocked the gaiwan off the tray/counter. It could have been a lot worse; I could have shattered the entire fishy gaiwan. Instead I only chipped the lid of my gaiwan. But, a chip is still a chip – and this is a pretty large one. I’m so mad that such a small careless action chipped my shiny new gaiwan! Now I’m torn whether or not I want to try and replace the lid of the gaiwan or just accept it and continue to use it with the chip. Ugh!!!

But anyway, once I kind of got over the damage to the Gaiwan and switched it out for a different one I got back to drinking the tea I’d originally picked out in the first place. And, mmm! This tea is truly wonderful; and the smooth malt, cocoa, and apricot notes made it quite easy to forget about my teaware troubles at least for the time being.

I’d totally consider getting this tea again!

I have to admit, the only reason I bought this tea was because it has ‘mushroom’ in the title and it intrigued me since I’m very allergic to mushrooms. Though the tea itself has little to nothing to do with mushrooms, it still felt kind of cool to get to say I was ‘having them’. #TeaOnTheEdge #ButNot2Edgy

I only bought a sample amount; two blooms. When I opened up the package I was pretty taken aback because the smell was very pungent and defined. It certainly smelled strongly of apricots but also something sort of akin to sweet and sour sauce? I wasn’t expecting that level of smell at all, though it was intriguing to say the least.

I made three 12 oz. infusions of this one over the course of a work day, making sure to take note of the differences. I certainly freaked out a few coworkers at my new job; they saw this unfurled tea bloom from a distance/in passing in my mug in the breakroom and assumed something fungal was growing in my mug and that’s because the bloom certainly wasn’t the most attractive one I’ve come across – there’s no “flower” tied into it just an arrangement of white tea leaves tethered together. Which is fine: I wasn’t drinking this tea for the aesthetics however I’ll admit I did expect the “mushroom” to tie in with the overall shape of the bloom but it certainly didn’t look like any mushroom I’ve seen.

The first infusion was a mix of sharp, lively, tangy notes of apricot and peach. Again, the intensity of the ‘tang’ reminded me a little of sweet and sour sauce. Actually, in particular I couldn’t help but think of a very particular flavour from highschool cooking class I’ve only experienced once: we made vegetarian meatballs with a “sweet and sour sauce” that used apricot jam and ketchup in the sauce and this was quite similar to my memory of that sauce. There was also a very slightly malty taste to the finish of this infusion.

The second infusion was about 50/50 malt and apricot/peach with less of the piercing tang. It was probably the smoothest infusion overall and I’d say my favourite. Finally, the third infusion was more malt than anything else with light notes of apricot and a bit of a peppery finish. I swear there were also very light cocoa notes on the top of the sip as well.

Overall, I thought this was surprisingly delightful – more so than I actually expected it would be if I’m being completely honest/transparent. What started off as a bit of a ‘gag’ purchase actually resulted in a wonderful tea session and intriguing learning experience. Also, credit where credit is due: What-Cha has done a marvelous job describing the overall flavour of this tea on their page for it. While I was taken back by the intensity of the apricot notes there’s no doubt in my mind that their flavour description was super accurate. I absolutely recommend trying this tea!

Tasting #1 – Steep Time 2 Minutes
Deep amber color paired with the musty aroma of old leaves. But the aroma doesn’t translate into flavor, the flavor is quite pleasant and subtle.

Tasting #2 – Steep Time 4 Minutes
Every time I go to take a sip I am overwhelmed with the aroma and I think to myself that maybe I should wash this tea first as I should with a pu-erh. But the flavor is so much more subtle than the aroma that I’m not overwhelmed but surprised.

Tasting #3 – Steep Time 6 Minutes
Now that I know what to expect I am really enjoying this tea.

COLD BREW
This tea became a deep woody brown in the fridge. I was nervous about how it was going to turn out, especially after thinking it should’ve been washed when hot. But I think if I did wash this tea before cold brewing it then it wouldn’t have had as much rich flavor. I definitely prefer this tea hot, I think the tea just pairs better at a warmer temperature.

This one’s a bit different from the black teas I usually go for, but I’m enjoying it! It’s smooth and fruity with no bitterness or astringency (even after a 4-minute steep!)

I am having so much fun with my new camera, it was a grand investment, especially since I have caught some amazing droplet and pour photos. So splashy! I have noticed one hilarious quirk though, see I am very used to my old camera after using it for five years, I knew what angle to be at and such to get the shots I wanted. I have to figure a new angle because I keep casting shadows on my photos, shadows of my MASSIVE lens. It cracks me up to see this looming lens shadowing over my tea desk. The camera is performing wonderfully, the user has a bit more practice needed.

Time to take a trip back in time to February of 2015 for the time of the first flush, because that is when today’s tea from What-Cha was harvested. India Darjeeling 1st Flush Rohini ‘Jethi Kupi’ Black Tea, as you can tell from the name comes from the Rohini Tea Estate, but what the name doesn’t tell us is that it was grown at 330m, is the Bannockburn 157 cultivar, and is grown by Shiv Saria and his son Hrishikesh Saria, yay for extra details! I did a little extra digging around and found out that Jethi Kupi is from the Manipuri dialect and means Jasmine flower, or it is from the Nepalese dialect where Jethi means eldest daughter and Kupi means cone/funnel, and this references it being a first flush. Now that that is all settled, aroma time! Why hello there muscatel notes of scuppernongs, muscadines, sultanas, and grape jelly, you are a sweet tea! This is not all just muscatel notes though, there is also a gentle spice and a slight note of gentle roasted peanuts, it has a richness in all its sweetness…and making me crave grape jelly laden toast something fierce.

In my steeping apparatus, the leaves are so gorgeous, I almost oversteeped it because I was entranced by the vibrancy of the leaves. Once I escaped its hypnotic unfurling in the water, the aroma of the leaves is like a small explosion of flowers and grapes, blending scuppernongs and orange blossoms, spicebush and sultanas, it is so grape heavy, I love it! Certain types of grapes may or may not be my favorite fruit ever (yeah, scuppernongs are the best thing, and teas that have those notes make me go all squishy because I grew up gorging on them.) The liquid is creamy and sweet with fruity notes of apricot and grapes, a touch of rich sultanas as well. There is also a tiny note of orange blossoms at the finish.

The taste of this golden brew starts our with a touch of flowery and peppery nasturtium flowers, this moves pretty abruptly to apricots and gentle spicebush. Then the taste goes on to roasted peanuts, scuppernongs, golden raisins, and muscadines. The aftertaste is a blend of orange blossoms and honey, and it lingers. The start is very much so a familiar first flush notes, but towards the end it gets a hint of what later flushes will taste like, which I find fascinating.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/10/what-cha-india-darjeeling-1st-flush.html

The pile of WIP on my painting desk is slowly shrinking. See my big plans for Christmas gifts this year are buy a miniature I think the receiver will like and paint it for them. It goes with my usual tradition of making gifts for people, and I wanted an early start. My goal is to get the gifts for family finished first and then do a bit of an open season, open it up to like 15 or so of my online friends and tell them to claim a spot and they get a mini. Thank you Reaper Minis Bones line for being affordable! Also yay for not having a job other than tea rambling, so I can devote a ton of time to painting things for people I care about.

Today’s tea is one of the strangest looking ones I have had the pleasure of brewing, and I admit I got it entirely because it was quirky looking. What-Cha’s Ceylon Idulgashinna Hand-Twisted ‘Blue Nettle’ Oolong Tea as you can tell from the title of said tea, it is an Oolong from the Idulgashinna Tea Estate in Sri Lanka, specifically in the Uva region. This fun little tea bundle is hand twisted by workers, though I admit I have no idea what it has to do with nettle since it really looks nothing like the plant…maybe it is a reference to the jellyfish? Regardless it is quite pretty, the leaves tightly curled and showing a great variety of colors. The aroma is fairly light, a blend of apricots and persimmons with a slightly sour note like unripe plum, it blends sweet fruity and sour fruity very well.

I thought about gongfu brewing this little cluster of surprisingly long leaves, but decided it would be best suited in my tea brewing apparatus, I want to see it unfurl! And you know, even after a couple steeps, it stayed tight together, which I found amusing. The aroma of the leaf pile is sweet, like cooked apricots and persimmons with a definite honey note. The liquid smells like apricots and apple blossoms, very light but sweet.

First steep, it is smooth and pleasant, fairly light, but it has one very distinct note. It tastes like summer squash, specifically summer squash drizzled in honey. It is pretty mild, with an apricot finish, but it is also refreshing in its mildness. So, on we go to another steep.

Second steep, the aroma is picking up some malty and squash tones along with the persimmon and apricot. I like how the tea is kinda orange and the things it smells like (malt aside) are all orange. This is truly the tea to usher in Autumn, hey blenders, maybe use this in a pumpkin themed tea…because it no longer tastes like just summer squash, it tastes like pumpkin! It is still a bit light, defintely a tea that both has a presence and can be slurped without paying attention, at one point during the second steep I reached to pour myself more and realized my steeper was empty…and was confused as to where the tea went. Clearly I slurped it up and didn’t even notice. I also tossed a couple bundles into my tea infuser (sorry no picture, was really distracted with medical crap that day) and this tea handled the long steep very well, bringing the malt and pumpkin sweetness, it was a great accompaniment to a stressful day…and I have a suspicion I am going to get more of this tea to keep around for travel steeping fun.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/09/what-cha-ceylon-idulgashinna-hand.html

Two very interesting bits of gaming related news today! The first one, the newest Minecraft snapshot introduced Skeletons on skeleton horses, how cool is that? First they tame spiders and now skellie horses, truly those bony archers are the true masters of Minecraft, Ben and I have been theorizing this for years. The other bit of news is a bit personal, in Terraria, after many nights summoning Pumpkin Moons and killing soooooooo many Pumpkin Kings, I finally got the Raven Staff and the Spider pet. So yes, I am a dark-elf summoner with an army of ravens and an adorable spider…who occasionally rides a UFO, or unicorn when I am feeling fancy.

Tis time for my daily-ish tea rambling, looking at What-Cha’s Malawi Zomba Steamed Green Tea, a tea whose name will forever make me think of zombies, same with the Zomba Pearls, I am sorry, that is just the way my brain works, same with seeing blooming teas as baby Cthulhu. This tea hails from the Satemwa Tea Estate in Malawi, a place that has made several of my favorite teas, but really the artisan teas that come out of Africa I have found to be mind blowing, at first I wondered if it was just the uniqueness factor, but the more drink them I realize that nope, I just really like them. So, how about these leaves? The aroma is surprisingly nutty, like cashews, with a strong green presence, notes of greenbeans, cucumber, a tiny touch of seaweed, and a touch of sweet honey and a zingy note of citrus. Hilariously at the finish is a very distinct note of zucchini, I say hilarious because it comes out of nowhere, like you are sitting sniffing your tea and a zucchini falls from the sky into your leaves, it is quite distinct indeed.

So for brewing I did a somewhat pseudo gongfu session, brewing in my gaiwan but for a longer time more similar to western style. Basically I wanted to play with my gaiwan, like I do. The aroma is no longer a finish of zucchini, the zucchini decided it liked me and wanted to stay at the forefront of things, it is joined by hay, sweetgrass, cut grass, and a bit of flowers and citrus. It oddly reminds me exactly of my Grandparent’s garden during summer. The liquid however, is nutty, blending cashews and chestnuts, with lemon leaves and grass.

The tea is really light with an almost buttery mouthfeel, it has a bunch of things going on for such a light tea too. Starting with a gentle sweetness of nuttiness and honey, it pretty immediately moves to gentle sea air, and then to a pile of vegetal notes, bell pepper, zucchini, and a slightly peppery spinach finish. What a fun first steep!

Second steep, the aroma is a blend of sweet nuttiness and green, it is a tea that smells very much so like ‘tea’ like the distilled essence of what fresh off the bush tea leaves smell like. This time the mouthfeel is more brisk, less buttery, starting with sea air and moving on to zucchini and chestnuts with a very snappy green pepper finish.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/09/what-cha-malawi-zomba-steamed-green-tea.html

This was a little better than average for us — still good though! Host is in our name!

Sipdown (589)!

This is a pretty old tea at this point, so there’s definitely some satisfaction in finishing it off. It still tastes quite nice though; very roasted with a lot of sweetness still and those beautiful cinnamon and wood-y notes that I just adore in a good Rougui. It’s missing some of those creeping florals and fruitier undertones that sometimes come out to play when you Gong Fu this or when it was fresher; but all things considered I think this holds up very nicely and I’m definitely still enjoying the mug.

I would reorder this again, if it’s still something that What-Cha carries. It’s been long enough now since I last ordered from them that I’m actually not sure anymore if they still stock some of my favourites…

- Gong Fu in my Wuyi Oolong dedicated yixing pot
- Approx. seven infusions but could have lasted longer
- Started off very roasty with a bit of a char/tobacco note to it
- Undertones of cinnamon/spice throughout
- I stopped the session because I felt like there was no flavour progression at all
- Normally this gets a little fruitier/floral but that just wasn’t the case
- Almost a sipdown though; definitely not enough left for another session

Also, while this yixing pot is used REALLY infrequently I do think it’s coming along rather nicely. Still some ‘flavour suckage’, though.

So, one of the silver linings to moving has been that my commute to Value Village in the morning from home has gone from a 55 minute bus ride to a 5 minute one. Not only that, but the bus to get to work leaves later (meaning I can sleep in a little more) but gets me there earlier. So, instead of drinking a tea on the bus I can pack something with me and make/drink it there in the staff room.

This was the first thing I brought – and it was lovely. Very strong roasted quality, peanut notes, wood notes, and hints of spice in the finish. One of my coworkers sitting next to me while it was steeping kept leaning in the smell it because it was SO GOOD.

So comforting, as well.

Commute to work tea, from last week.

Simple, smooth roasty tea with wood, cinnamon, and nut notes. One thing about brewing Western is that there’s less floral/fruity undertones and sometimes that’s a nice aspect to experience with this blend. But still super satisfying! Especially early in the morning.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC-8P5Rgdbw&list=WL&index=4

This is a queued tasting note.

So, a mutual friend of both my roommate’s and I has never seen the LoTR series so Cathryn and I decided that we’d sit her down and force her to watch it. So far we’ve only watched the first one with her, but it was a blast. She was super into the movie and we had a great time providing our own commentary about the obvious sexual tension between Frodo and Sam. We also had LoTR themed shots! Well, shot. A few of them each, though.

The shot is called a “Hobbit” and for anyone interested here was the recipe:

- A splash of Kahlua
- 1/2 oz of Amaretto
- 1/2 oz of Silver Tequila

They’re not really the smoothest shots in the world, but they’re honestly not bad either. And it was pretty cool having themed “drinks” with the movie. I’ll have to find a different one for when we watch the second movie…

Apart from alcohol, I also had a nine steep Gong Fu session using this tea in my Wuyi dedicated yixing pot. I didn’t take notes during the session like I normally do because I was watching a movie with friends at the time, but I do recall really getting some stronger mineral and char notes with my first infusions and then eventually settling into a nice, roasty medium bodied flavour with most of the following infusions. Nutty notes, cinnamon notes, notes of wood, a touch of malt? But only a touch. Near the end more of a transition to somewhat floral notes and a fruity undertone.

Lovely session overall. Kind of liked the flavour profile paired alongside the movie; I’ll admit to not being the biggest LoTR fan and I haven’t read the books (apart from bits of pieces of The Silmarillion) so I don’t know if there’s a tea that the hobbits drink in ‘canon’ during afternoon tea or elevenses but I feel like I can see them enjoying this one. Those first few, rougher infusions also made me feel like it captured the overall feel of the grimy, ‘abandoned’ mines of Moria we see in the movie. You know, prior to when shit hits the fan and the fellowship gets attacked.

This is a queued tasting note.

Made this one in a large Nordic Mug with a bit of vanilla almond milk splashed in. It came out very roasty tasting; both in the way that you could tell this is a more oxidized oolong but also roasty in the way that Soba Cha/Barley teas are. Very comforting, but also a little starchy? The profile of the tea was very nutty too; obviously some of that is from the almond milk but it wasn’t just nutty in a “this tastes like almonds” sort of way. I also got peanut like notes, and the overall impression/flavour of peanut brittle which was SO delicious. Additional things: a bit of a woody background note, a cinnamon like top note and that same feeling of “warming” cinnamon spices, and a thicker overall mouthfeel from the added almond milk.

So I’m spending today seasoning one of the three new yixing pots I got in my Camellia Sinensis order last night. I still have to decide what one of the pots will be dedicated to, but one is being dedicated to Assams while this particular one will either be dedicated to Rou Gui teas in particular or perhaps just Wuyi teas in general. I haven’t entirely decided, but until I do I’m just brewing Rou Gui in it.

If you’ve been following me on Steepster for more than a year now you’ve probably seen my post about this particular pot a few times now as I’ve been lusting after it for a long time! It’s my brother’s favourite of the new pots (everyone still loves the dragon yixing the most), and I think it has a very unique look to it! The downside is that it’s massive! Sadly, this 250 ml pot is probably going to be much too big for me to use on my own on a regular basis. Instead, it’ll be for drinking tea with others; which is part of why I’m split on whether I want to dedicate it to Rou Gui (which I LOVE) or something just slightly more broad that would give me more options while serving to other people.

Check out the pot:
http://camellia-sinensis.com/en/teapot/yixing/theiere-de-m-chen-ch-85

He’s a stunner, right?

As far as seasoning goes, I have a lot of Rou Gui on hand so instead of boiling this in a pot with some leaf in it, I’m just going to try and season it through usage alone. I know it’s probably easier to do it the other way but to me something just seems more ‘intimate’ and less ‘artificial’ about doing it this way. Sure, I experienced a lot of flavour loss during all my infusions today because the pot was sucking out flavour but I used extra leaf to compensate for that as best as I could, and the brews were still tasty despite being weaker.