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READ THIS EVOL

I’ve written so much for random…

Well, since it is no longer on the site, here it goes.

Wicked Tea-Scottish Caramel Pu-Erh

Well, this is one of the ways that I like my teas: smooth, creamy and naturally sweet. It actually tastes like a vanilla caramel tea with a very silky Pu-Erh body. There were some tid bits that reminded me of really dark cocoa and espresso, but otherwise, it was the Pu-Erh.

This also just shows my really weird relationship with Pu-Erhs. There is a select few that I enjoy as straight teas, but for whatever reason, I tend to enjoy them as blends. I’m hoping that will change when I try something like Poundcake or a Da Xue Shan. The change really began with the Bang Wei thanks to Andrew. And thanks to you, Evol, I get to enjoy a lovely sample.

I’m so tempted to raise the rating. I got the perfect combo this time. 190 F, 6 ounce vessel, at around two very light tea spoons of tea. I was eyeballing it really. Nevertheless, Gong Fuing it at 15 sec (maybe closer to twenty-the aroma was my indicator), then 20, it was sweet creamy and nutty goodness. The Jasmine was mega strong, but for whatever reason it was so creamy that it made me think of ice cream. The heat of the water with the tea’s sweetness was like the brain freeze of eating freshly opened pistachio ice cream.

It could just be my imagination. This really is one of my personal top teas-I just to need to figure out how to be consistent with it.

I used a few more leaves this morning mid gong fu-western. First steep was 50 seconds, 2 min, 1 min so far. I still get the florals and the hyacinth, but now I get the sugar cane sweetness to it. Sugar cane is a weird note for me anyway. It’s sweet without crystals tracing into my stomach. I’d describe it more as a grassy, green sweetess-like the smell of sugar, or the air between sugar crystals in your mouth. Or how Vanilla is sweet without it being, well, straight sugar. Those are the more vivid descriptions brought to you by flowery approximate language.

Like the description says on the website, it’s more like fresh greens than anything else with a cleansing aftertaste. It still reminds me of a Tie Guan Yin. But getting that much out of 20 grams of tea for $2 is awesome.

Now it’s time for the teas demographic: a little description I haven’t included in a while. I would recommend this to a newer drinker as something to try just to know how complex, light, and subtle this tea varietal can be. In essence, it would be an educating tea to say “Jin Xuan’s can be flowery and light, but they taste like buttery fresh greens usually. This is a great example of it. Get more if you like it, or make only a few more stops with other teas if you don’t .”

As for more experienced drinkers, I would think this is more for someone who likes their oolongs, and their Jin Xuans light. Or someone who likes delicate teas. After going through MANY Jin Xuans, this is probably one of the better flavored ones. I am biased to the florals, which is another thing that might deter or welcome drinkers.

I’m curious if the winter crop is any creamier or sweeter, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this is more floral overall.

Important note: it is a spring crop from 2016.

The revisit as promised.

To really notice the natural flavor of this one, I drank it side by side with a heavily flavored milk oolong from Dragon Tea House, which will be now known as the B.S. tea.

This was done using water at 190 degrees, a tea spoon of leaves, and 3-4 ounces of water- which is sooo specific.

Like I reviewed before, this is a very subtle tea, and to really hone in what I should look for, I had to remind myself that this was a natural Ali Shan tea. Every single Li Shan and A Lishan has been drastically different for me though their profile is very, very similar. There have been Li Shan’s that were fruitier and creamier than the Ali Shan’s I’ve had, and there have been Ali Shans that were sweeter and again a bit fruitier than other Li Shan’s I’ve had. This dilemma of hit or miss also applies to Jin Xuans in terms of their fruity taste.

Jin Xuan’s are always creamy in texture with a smooth buttered spinach taste. Florals and fruitiness in the tea differ, but I always hope for something lemony, coconut like, or pineapple like. Taking into account that this is an Alishan as well, this tea might be more vegetal, floral, and subtle than I want.

So after two minutes and a half in the first steep, I get the same thing that I wrote in the previous long review but I appreciate more. This tea tastes like a smooth, nutty, and creamy oolong with a highly spinachy yet low aroma floral body with very minimal fruity hints. And when I say low scent floral-I mean it literally tastes like eating flowers with a narrow what-ya-ma-call-it grassiness.

Based on my recently extended experience with Jin Xuans, I’d call this a good standard, but a very standard Jin Xuan. A lot of more experienced drinkers would enjoy it for its subtlety and consistent quality, but the very light array of flavors that this has pales to other natural JIn Xuans.

I can see why people might prefer this to a flavored one. I’ve always had a slight understanding of flavored Milk Oolongs being so flavored that they are fake tasting, but I did not realize that even decent flavoring can also overwhelm the slightest of qualities. Good Jin Xuan’s to me normally have a fruity aftertaste that is close to something lemony or tropical. The b.s. oolong had it during specific brew times and temperatures. The natural tea flavors were otherwise muddled and more possibly with larger leaves. This oolong had the tropical flavor too, but it was there more because I was looking for it in the tea.

I’m still a bit partial to some flavored teas, but the natural taste to this is to be appreciated. This sample will probably end up in my consolidation sale.

Well, I officially prefer the winter crop of this. Or I might have liked the four seasons more since the two teas tasted incredibly similar to me when I first had them. After reading some of the tasting notes including the websites own descriptions, there was a good amount of difference per season. I still am very glad to have a mini stash of this because the fruity floral character is something I do not like being without.

Oolong #5

Nice creamy texture with some fruitiness in the background. Steeping it in shorter seconds at a higher temperature made it a little more to my light liking. The fruity qualities were a little more obvious. Only thing bugging me is the aftertaste from the roast. There’s something woody about it-like green wood. Maybe it’s vegetal. If only my language was more precise.

It’s pretty nice, but I don’t think it be a daily drinker for me.

#7
Interesting. This one tasted sweeter to me. Almond popped up in my head with some florals and minerals. Otherwise, I just taste almond.

#8

It is smooth, but roasty. It has some more Dan Cong qualities-it’s especially nutty for me, a little sweet, but loads of mineral and vegetal. Not a Dan Cong though. Who knows, I could be making this crap up.

Well, I think that concludes it. I gong fu’d each one, and #3 appealed to me the most because of how close it was side by side to Mandala’s Milk Oolong. The main difference was the quality of leaf selection, with # 3 not discriminating the stems. I got the same tastes with the same brewing parameters by using very short steeps of like 10-15 seconds. There were a few that I liked and thought were pleasant, but only #3 and BTTC’s Golden Lily would be ones that I would actually purchase. However, I’m not even sure that I’d get more than a sample of either. #3 i want to know the price of. Maybe I’m biased to things like BTTC’s Dong Ding, Eco-Cha’s Shan Lin Xi, or jade oolongs in general. Or just a lot more snobby than I anticipated.

#9

Yes, I’m skipping around. And this also tastes like potato chips. Gong Fu’d it and served up smooth cups after a few seconds, but I did not like it. I used to think I liked medium roast oolongs considering that I enjoy Dan Congs, but now, I’m thinking otherwise. I’m sorry that I’m writing a bad review Andrew. Or you probably didn’t like this one either since you are picky with roasts. I do appreciate the smooth, consistent body this had, but I really did not enjoy it.

That is all for now.

#6
DISCLAIMER: DO NOT READ THIS RASSERU UNTIL YOU’VE HAD IT.

LP partially spoiled this one when he recommended to let it cool. I will also guess that this is a Dan Cong. But I could be I wrong.

I’ve only had three cups so far, so I will add more details when I edit this note.

The dry leaf smells nutty, and a little bit salty. Maybe some florals. Reminds me a little bit of the Bai Ji Guan in smell and taste, though it’s not nearly as bitter, floral, or rocky.

First steep 16 seconds in my same little small vessel, 190 F, and I get nutty and again something like a potato chip, but smooth and pleasant.

Second steep 22 seconds, and some florals pop out with the nuttiness and a thing that I call grapefruit. Even when I sipped it again reminding myself its just tea, there were still those slightly different qualities. Rasseru might call the fruitiness cherry, I don’t know. Again, I could be very wrong.

Third at 30, and more fruitiness especially as this cools. More writing will come. Maybe.

I’ve had two other teas this morning and three cups of Kona. Eh…

The tea is still pleasant and light at a fourth cup after 35 seconds. My headache is too strong for another.

Verdict: One of the better teas in the OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLONG Blind Sampling so far.

#4

Well, I did not like this one. I brewed it 190 F, in my little 3 ounce vessel, slightly less than 2 grams, beginning with 15 seconds, upping 5 seconds each time. I’d guess it’s a Dan Cong because it has the same type of barely citrus fruitiness with a distinctly burned wood tea taste. Though it’s not quite fruity, grapefruit comes to mind anyway. That could just be me. Otherwise, it tasted like charred up woodsy tea. There was also a fishy astringency in the last 30 second steep. The fishiness was still there after another 15 second steep.

I’m interested to see what you get Rasseru in all of this subjective fun. :)

Onto number 6.