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Tried it tumbler, it works really well but I have to shoot for 3-4, moreso 5 grams for 12-14 oz and 185-190 water. It is also exceptional cold brewed after about 4-6 hours in my tumbler, and exceptional western in my kyusu. Gong fu is the most bang for you buck for finding each individual flavor, though western has a full texture and body that greatly retains floral and fruity complexity. I’m so tempted to rate this as a hundred at this point. I crave this one and never get tired of it.

Another Leafhopper tea, used for the heat of the summer solstice this morning. Following a sweet theme of tea today, this one distinctly reminded me of peach or lychee soft candies or maltose. They’re almost like gummies, but covered in powdered sugar. I am getting that heavily here after each 5 sec flash steep of the sample in my Manual Gaiwan, roughly 4 oz at the beginning and 5 later on. It’s a little grassy and has a lot of similarities to an Bai Hao, but so much smoother. There’s barely a hint of autumn leaves, and instead, there was a slight hint of the grassiness that disappears after the second steep, and only reappears after steep 7, where I stopped.

I was very happy with this one, even if it felt short lived by short steeps. Loved the flavor punch and insanely 3d, juicy texture.

I have at least 50 grams of this tea left that I couldn’t identify from before, and now I can. This is the fresher version of it since it’s a little bit more new, and insanely aromatic, sweet, and chocolaty. There’s some malt, dryness and tannin matted underneath sweet potato skin layers, but it’s heavy into a medium dark, almost milk chocolate cocoa profile and a caramel honeyed aftertaste. It doesn’t last much more than five steeps gong fu, but the flavor was pretty full in a dark brown-red liquid.

This will be my work tea because it’s definitely waking me up and chilling me out. So good.

Mystery Tea from derk. Definitely a black, I’d guess maybe a Yunnan or Fujian, but leaning a little bit more towards Yunnan. I could also be wrong and it could very well be a Ceylon or Vietnamese tea, but my gut is leaning towards Chinese.

It’s heavy into a cocoa powder malt direction, or darker chocolate in a very earthy and slightly bitter body. I’d even describe a powdery texture. I used a little bit less than boiling water, 5 oz, and the entirety of the sample, and 10 sec, 5 sec so far. I was really confused about the smell-my pompous vocab points to wolfberry or incense. There’s a bit of a sandalwood thing going on in the flavor too, but it’s more accurate to write cocoa nibs for the palette.

10 sec rinse again, and more of that sandalwood smell. It’s a little bit close to be azure, but it’s too faint for me to say for sure it’s scented. I don’t think it is. The flavor is adding a little bit more dimension. Still malty, earthy and a little bit more robust than most of the blacks I drink, but far from other overpowering Yunnans or Assams. It’s kind of Keemum like, though not as sweet as others. Still layered. It doesn’t really change much in the steeps except in subtle ways. Currently, the “sandalwood” note is leaning more towards anise as it’s cooling down. I’ve only gotten that kind of note from Yunnans and Bai Lins, or “Golden Monkey” teas.

I like it, though it’s bordering on a little bit more of a breakfast style tea. I would not reject another cup, but I wouldn’t reach out for it. I still like it.

Thanks Leafhopper. Now that I have a short break between summer school and now, I’m plowing through my teas. The samples from the swap make it easier to mentally organize what to go through. I still need to try derk’s mystery tea too.

This one was good and similar to the later season I have. It’s in a Dong Ding style, and it was the best after steep two. Buttery, nutty, vegetal with a little bit of the “violet roast” note that I’ve gotten from this processing before in steep four. First steep is orchid, nutty, a little bit salty, a little bit sweet under a forward charcaol foreground. Later steeps are more floral and vegetal and a hovering oatmeal cookie note. I used shorter steeps under 20, and minute steeps for later steep six at about 4 minutes.

I enjoyed this one, and I think it did well for being a little bit older.

I tried it out again with more air conditioning in my house. Very creamy shanlinxi, though I reverse brewed it beginning with longer 16, 25, 35 steeps, and then 15, and then consistent flash steeps that were not longer than 15 seconds until steep 8 or 9. 9,10, and 11 were western.

I pretty much wrote the notes I’d write earlier, and this one has a good balance of floral and vegetal with some fruity undertones leaning into the stone fruit category. The Longfeng was more floral and complex with fruity tones, whereas this one had some more savory and buttery vegetative qualities that were extremely pleasant. Short steeps preserved the more complex florals without making this one too spinachy. If I didn’t already have the insane collection I do, I’d gladly get some of this one even if I prefer the Longfeng.

Placeholder for now. Let’s see how it does.

I got this and the Shanlinxi for the free shipping after 30 bucks spent. I also got it compulsively because I usually judge the quality of loose leaf a company has based on the quality of their oolong. I know, not fair, but Lishans and Shanlinxi’s are a favorite I don’t get bored with.

Unfortunately, I am going to have to redo this one. It is full bodied, but extremely soft and complex. I had it on a hotter and busy day, so I was bit distracted. This one is a more pear leaning lishan for sure, specifically the “Asian Pear” as westerners refer to it. Otherwise, it’s a high mountain oolong. I admit I’m starting to get bored writing about them, and this tea deserves better attention.

I haven’t tried it yet, but I opened the bag, and I think I’ve solved the mystery of one of the teas I have…..insanely sweet smelling.

I’ve had osmanthus blended with tea before, and mostly oolongs. The only times I’ve had it with a black was with the Earl the Great blend, and in Verdant’s blend with their darker and savory Laoshan oolong.

I watched this one for a few months since I traveled to North Carolina for Thanksgiving last year. I was trying to find good teahouses, and Adhara was one of the ones near me that was recommended. I didn’t actually get to try them in person, but the power of algorithms from facebook and instagram worked. I spent so much money on tea in the last few months after the existential dread of this past school year, switching from stoic frugality to Epicurean YOLO.

I feel confident to say I don’t regret getting this one. It’s unique, fruity, chocolaty and complex comparing to other quality black floral teas such as Alice. The base for this was higher grade golden tip tea, and it’s absolutely gorgeous and aromatic. I’ve done it gong fu, but it’s forgiving to some oversteeping later on. I expect this make a great cold brew too, though I would not push it too hard. I’ve quite liked it so far and compares better than other osmanthus blends I’ve had. There’s something about osmanthus’s floral peachiness that accents the yammy malty profile of the black tea to higher levels.