Daylon R Thomas Send Message

May Black Tea-

I think I used too many leaves. I can see it being gong fu able, and it tastes like tea. It’s a bit more floral, and has a little bit of a grainy/buttery profile in the malt. There are some similarities to some Darjeeling blacks and Korean ones in terms of its complexity. There were some layers to it, but I feel pretentious in describing May Black’s flavor. It’s a woodsy, smooth black breakfast tea. So it’s tea, but it’s TEA that should be in italics.

I splashed cream in the second one, and it was good. Kinda tasted like the ifcc coffee or milk tea. I feel like there’s something I’m missing. So in terms of notes, it’s tea, malt, wood, floral, smoke hints, and earth. I’m not as into this one, but I recognise it’s quality.

I finally got the ratio down right on this Sipdown: 5 small pearls, lots of calendula, and maybe one orange. I let it sit for three minutes western this time in my Kyusu. I sipped it at the 2 minute mark and could have easily brewed it then to have more citrus, vanilla, and caramel, but I decided it needed more time, so I finished the minute.

Drinking it up, the elements are far more balanced between the malty base and the flavoring. Orange isn’t overpowering the other flavors as much, and I can actually taste the caramel and vanilla. The tea is a little bit oily, which I do like, but it may be overpowering for some. It’s easy to offset by shorter steeping or a splash of cream. I also confess I’m a little tea drunk right now….thank you Lions Mane.

The second cup, I did at three minutes western. Much the same applies, and this cup is a little bit maltier, with a little bit more tannin. I splashed some sweet cream oatmilk into it to try it out because I think this tea was meant for more of a latte style for intention, so I tried it out. It’s got more of a creamsicle vibe, and the tannins and orange oil are cut back significantly emphasizing the caramel. The caramel hides a little bit behind the tea base on its own, so the cream pushes it out a little bit more.

I’m happy that I was able to figure out a better balance for this one. Too long steeps or too many pearls can make the malt of the tea overpower the other flavors, and not enough pearls or too much peel make this taste like a EmergenC substitute. I regret not trying this iced because I’d be interested to see how the orange and creamier flavors appear with cold cutting the tannin. In terms of when I’d drink this tea, it’s definitely a morning breakfast tea or lunch pick me up tea. I can brew more tea out of the leaves I have, but I’m going to leave off writing here until something else comes along in the session. The combo of coffee, Japanese black tea, and this one is giving me the jitters, so I need to slow down. I’m also getting high off some endorphins on grading well done assignments.

I got these today, and they actually ran out of a few them and sent me a lovely note. I’m going to reach back to them for clarification because there were specific teas I wanted to try out that weren’t sent, specifically the Yuzu Cloud and Sakura Cloud, but the letter says there will be no additional charge for the send out for them. That is generous. Even the selection is generous.

So I got Cacao Smoke, Whiskey Cloud 9, May Black, Dark Peach, and their King blend. All of them smell bold and since they’re smoked, they have Lapsang Vibes. All of them were leathery and smokey and smooth, making me wonder if the company almost went for Kinky Black Teas as a name instead. I know, insensitive, but there is some nuance to the leaves so far.

I’m actually leaning more towards the May Black, but I was in the mood for some cocoa, and tried out the Cacao smoke to help me power through grading as I have Covid….again. This time, I actually have taste buds, so I’ll take the win.

I rinsed it, and it sat for about a minute. Bold, but not astringent, some definite cacao nib taste and powder character, a little bit woodsy, and light smoke. I was surprised it was not lapsang levels, and it was actually really, really smooth. It had a little bit of bitterness, so I decided to add some sweet cream oat milk. The profile kinda reminded me of a Hojicha latte with some of its dark charcoal woodiness and earth mixed with the sweet cream. I brewed up another cup western for 2-3 minutes, tried it black without any additions before adding cream. More cacao, and some roasty peanut vibes. Surprisingly more complex with the cream, and more chocolaty, and it doesn’t lose the charcoal or woodsiness.

That one is a little bit strong for my taste despite being a lot more approachable for a big o’ softy like me, but it kicks most breakfast teas butts out of the coast. The oatmilk creamer is making it sing. I don’t think it would be bad gong fu either, and this has a caffeine kick. I’m feeling a little bit jittery after having some. I’ll play around with it, and the others. I’ll probably share some of this with a certain someone I know.

After going through a bunch of oolong, this is nice to have around. I even appreciated the vegetal qualities, and the body had a little bit more umami this time. I might change my mind on this one after all.

I got some 50 grams of this feeling a dearth in high mountain stuff, and it was the right decision. I’m back logging from the weekend, but I’m happy that I got to have this stuff again after trying a few Long Fengs along the way. Now that my palette and brewing is a little bit more trained, I was friendly with the leaves and flexible with the brewing. It was as ethereal and clean as expected, and I appreciated it being more on the green side more this time. It’s actually comparable to the Lishan Green I have, and there’s a crispness that you don’t always get with oolongs for this one. Definitely not regretting the 50 grams of it.

Backlog from yesterday:
Looked forward to this one and wondered if it would be a variation of the Morrocan Mint blend I used to live by. The ingredients, though, had a lot of spices to put a more Middle Eastern flair and resembled a chai a little bit, so here it goes into my tumbler, no more than a teaspoon, and voila.

Very balanced and sultry. The green tea provides enough body for the spices to meld with the mint and add some fresh character, and none of the spices clash with the mint. There were times I’d be concerned about the cinnamon because it does have a little bit of a fireball smell in the dryleaf, but it’s cut out by the cloves considerably. The ginger and cardamom are also effortless and do not overpower the blend or the mint. I actually sat in my car, enjoying this tea for a good ten minutes before I went in. It felt amazing on my sore throat and had a great flavor. Oddly enough, it got smoother the longer it sat in my tumbler. The spices were more pronounced after a bout 2-3 minutes, but the clove and the green tea were more prominent later on as it steeped. No bitterness or astringency.

I brewed it up two, no three more times. Ginger and nutmeg were more prominent with the mint on 2, the cinnamon and clove were prominent again on 3 with much more action from the cardamom, and four was super soft mint, nutmeg, and cardamom with a little bit of a green malt from the green tea. I’m flossing out descriptions betwixt my teeth, I know, but it’s nice to have a green tea that has great body for a mint blend. It’s also got a kind of subtlety that you’d get something from saffron, which I know is not in this blend.

You can clearly read I like this one. I feel guilty for being the fanboy on here writing the glowing Magic Hour reviews, but I’ve been really impressed with the Astrology and Wanderlust teas. I think the Wanderlust are a bit too expensive overall, but I am impressed with how each of them has been distinct with some of the wall blends. Tulum was the most straightforward out of all of them, Ravello was luxurious and clever, and this one has a blend of ingredients that I would not think would balance each other out. I was worried that this would give me more chai vibes, but it didn’t. It’s my girlfriends favorite so far too of the Wanderlust.

An oz is not enough of this tea. If they had more servings, I should have gotten more. Damn.

It’s either overpowering in qi, or perfect. Had this as my first tea after some coffee. Same notes, but more oolongish. Orchid, fruit, grapefruit, citrus, light malt, grain, honey. So good. I’m going to miss this one before I send it off on it’s swap journey.

Another impulse one. The Shuixian from Wang Family tea was sold out, so I figured I’d give this one a try. I could have been smarter and went for the Qin Yun White, but I really only want to sample that one, and I can finish oolongs so much quicker.

I gong fu’d it, and I’m going to be honest, it’s a good one. The brocolini vibes are pretty strong, but it’s highly vegetal and fruity. Lemon balm is pretty accurate, but I get a lot of apple and pineapple in the taste. There’s a nice balance of sweetness and acidity to it that I like, even with the freshly steamed vegetable vibe I get. Sweetness compensates for it. I think there’s more I can pull out of this one. Nearly two oz is a bit too much, but again, I actually don’t regret getting this one.

I decided to get some to finally try it. I thought I had this one and wrote about it before, but I guess not. This particular Lishan is what Spirit keeps in their regular rotation, and laud the craftmanship of this one in particular.

Trying it out myself in a simple gong fu of roughly 30 sec increments, its on the lighter floral side, but heavy in texture and mouthfeel with fun subtle drippings of flavor. Of course their notes help sell it, but it’s not particularly grassy, and the marshmallow note is very distinct, tasting like marshmallow root in some other herbal teas with great viscosity. Mid steeps have a fruity slightly sour quality like apricot rounding out my tongue, and later steeps have more honey. The honey notes are more on the floral side than sweet side despite being fairly sweet overall. I imagine a tropical cloud floating in the sky with waterfalls, fresh fruit, and watercress.

This tea feels like a greener, softer version of the one I buy on the regular from What-Cha. What-Cha’s is nuttier and has a little bit more oxidation, maybe bare minimum roast (still nuclear green), but this one has the same citrus green honey cloud quality.

Essentially, I’m into it. I got some to share with Leafhopper as I amass a more comparable collection worthy of our trade. I unfortunately liked the Dayuling they had more, but they’re sold out, and this one is extremely comparable and definitely worth the buy. I see us drinking through this one pretty happily. Not ready to rate, but it’s an easy win Lishan for me.