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Sweeter one at last! Though again, super, super malty from a rushed western session. It had some dimension from stonefruit, and it was a more floral black tea overall. It’s really in a middle ground between the profiles of a 2nd Flush Darjeeling and a Chinese black. I’m personally getting a lot of the marigolds, and then the stone fruits in light touches and hints at the end of each sip.

I’m looking forward to seeing how this one goes. It’s malty, but more subdued than the other two I got so far.

2nd Backlog from the same day

This one had a bit more dimension than the needles. Malt forward again, accented by nice oak wood notes. Mint and honeysuckle are distinguishable too, though there’s not a lot of the honey qualities I expected. Trident’s description is on point, and it’s a quality tea. I was hoping for a naturally sweeter tea personally, but yet again, adjustments are likely necessary.

Backlog:

I had to sub every other monday and Friday during my prep, so I splurged the 30 bucks a lost prep on tea. I was curious about three of them on Trident’s website, and they are all very malt forward. My inner libertine craved chocolatey black malt tea, yet I got some unique terroir teas instead.

This one was close to description and definitely closer to a Jin Jun Mei, but more grapish and hoppy. Malt obscured finer qualities, so while not two dimensional, it was dominant and drying.

I am going to have to brew it again. I was a tad bit disappointed the first time, but I think my parameters western were at fault.

Thank you Derk! I was really into this one!

This tea is incense, but in tea form. I can see some people being a little bit off put, but the tea could have been more overwhelming easily. I’m impressed with how the sandalwood actually smoothens out the rougher edges of the anise. I also tasted the honeysuckle in hints in the body and texture. I think the cardamom might make it soapy for some; I think it enhances the Sandalwood. The oolong actually borders more on the cocoa side, but overall, it’s roasty/toasty and minerally.

I actually would have paired this one with Dune as a geek pairing because it has a mystical and contemplative vibe, and azure is the color of the Fremen’s eyes. Only problem is the lacking of cinnamon, since Melange is described as being like cinnamon.

I will likely finish this one as winter melts into spring. The spice must flow…

Thank you so much, Derk!

This is one of the teas I hesitate with whenever I want to try it. Opening it up, and using about half of the sample to maybe 3-5 grams, smoke and pine qualities come from the bag. Reminds me of a Lapsang as expected, but softer.

Brewing it up gong fu and in shorter 20 second incremented brews, smoke was prominent in the first one. Cedar came to mind in every brew for me, and the leading floral that contrasted with the autumn qualities was honeysuckle and usual white tea peony. Later steeps got sweeter and more floral.

I enjoyed the complexity of this one. I wouldn’t want to have it as a staple, but my inner tea nerd is happy. Funny enough, my mom is going to Ohio and my girlfriend is coming back from Ohio, so it’s serendipitous I drank this one.

I went for it first because it was the Baozhong like one. Brewing it up, it struck me as being closer to a first flush darjeeling than a Taiwanese oolong. It had a thick body, beautiful leaves like a Baozhong, and some florals that remind me of Jin Xuan and Baozhong, especially in texture, but the profile was heavier with umami for me. I kept on getting the same kind of notes that I get in Gyurkos and First Flushes, like a little bit of apricot and strawberry hints, but lots of greener ones like soy, edamame, cream, fresh grass, gardenia, and drying astringency. I had hard time getting past the 5th cup gong fu. I liked it, but it was a little bit astringent and almost too green for me.

Thank you Derk for all the teas!

I started with the oolong, but started with this one blind. I picked it out because I’m somewhat familiar with Tsushima due to video game popculture, and made the choice for this reason.

Parameters-30, 20, 40, 50, and 60. I need to do a disclaimer first: I tend to find Japanese blacks very sweet, but very grassy or woodsy with a complex dryness. Sometimes I like it, and other times I don’t. Going into this one, the first steep was sweet and aromatic, making me think of anything colored brown and hot pink, though the liquid was a bright light red. I personally thought of cherry blossom, roses and fall leaves, cherries, almond, and lots of wood. The second steep had a little bit more fruit in the form of satsuma orange with a cooling acidic rise into a tannic finish. The last few steeps were generally almondy, woody, and floral again with the cherry blossom.

Interestingly enough, the description for this one said Lychee. I can kinda see that, but it wasn’t fructose-y enough for my palette to go in the direction. I know cherry blossoms is the most basic white person response, but it did remind me of salted cherry blossoms in tea.

I don’t think I’m going to rate it, but I will say it was a fun tasting experience. I don’t love it since it’s a little bit too tannic for me, but I really like the kind of profile it had. More of a tea nerds kind of tea though rather than a newbie tea.

A month ago, I finally decided to put in an order for three teas from The Tea. Given I ordered days just before conflict escalated in Poland’s neighbors, I am grateful I got some and pray for things to change, and hopefully, I can figure something out for my students to help support those in conflict.

Leafhopper highly recommended this one, and I got two oolongs in smaller samples with 50 grams of this bad boy. At first, it was very similar to What-Cha’s Wild Tongmu tea, but the third and fourth steep had a rounded and pronounced pineapple and lychee flavors that made me forget that I was drinking a black tea. For moment, I sipped it falsely thinking it was a Shanlinxi. It’s still maltier and sweeter than one textured by a longan, with a bit of a rise in astringency that hits my palette with some acidity. There were hardly any vegetal qualities except maybe wood. Like Togo said, it’s smooth with a cooling and warming effect at the same time. I did not realise that was already written when I posted the note! Either way, it’s an incredible Example of a Wuyi/Lapsang Black that tastes like cooked fresh pineapple, and I’m thrilled to write more about it.