1704 Tasting Notes

80

I thought I reviewed this….oh well.

I liked this one more than I thought I would. I tend to be persnickety about roasted oolongs, but this was well balanced. It had orchid and charcoal notes like a Qilan, but it is was still green and savory enough to remind me of its Taiwaneese origin. Like Amanda already described in detail, I got some hoppy notes of grain and buckwheat and honey. Roasted almond and monk fruit were in the after taste, because it was certainly nutty, and had a general sweetness that was a little bit hard to describe….like how monk fruit is sweet, but not really.

In terms of preferences, this was a 75, but because I plopped my bags sachets into my tumbler and drank them fairly often, I am upping the rating a little bit. Most importantly, it was an roasted oolong that was very light and easy to drink, so that makes a difference overall. I would not reach out for it, but it is more sophisticated than any average tea.

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90

I am so glad I retried this magical jewel. Hyacinth was the most dominant floral for me, and then it was followed by a crisp and sweet green apple note in the first few finishes. I did this gong fu, and then transitioned into minute based steeps immediately after the 45 sec first steep. The later steeps were either lighter or darker depending on how I brewed it, but the lighter ones were milky creamy and lightly sweet. Of course it had the creamy notes of any green and spinachy gaoshan, but it is a very clean example of one.

I am writing about this again to say that this tea really is the magical flower power subtle Ali Shan that everyone claims it is, and I highly recommend getting some. I would buy more if I was not tea’d out myself.

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94

Good frick easteaguy, we would probably restock the same selection of teas if we were to ever swap because you added this one first.

Well, this oolong is certainly special. Although I would easily re-order all of the teas I got in this recent order, and I am staving off drinking them down to keep them as long as possible, this one has a special place out of most of them so far. I expected this tea be something similar to a Darjeeling or an Oriental Beauty, but there is more to the tea than stonefruit notes, muscatel red grape notes, and slight woodiness.

First off, the dry leaf scent is amazing. Autumn leaves, honey, fruit flowers, fried rice, and butter was what I got. Drinking it, this tea had the nectarine-peach-apricot note that I’m used to from Nepal teas, but it also was brimming with the scent and the taste of bee pollen mid-sip, and ever lingering in the honeyed thick aftertaste. They combine so well with a slight and pleasant dryness in the mid sip to be finished off by honey sweetness. The color was amber, and so that was the color of its energy….whoah…shades of gold displayed naturally …Again, that bee pollen note makes me think I’m drinking a sunset on an orchard in the spring, or even a sunset in the fall with the trees aging and the fruit ready for harvest. This really should be a fall tea because of its autumn leaf qualities, and it is the kinda tea that you read a book near an ornate fireplace, but the bee pollen note….it’s so good.

If only this were not one of the pricier ones. Obviously, this tea ranks as a good one if it gave me synesthesiatic visions. A part of me preferred this to the Bouquet because I could drink it any time of year with its sunny bee-pollen notes, but the Himalayan Bouquet did have some of my favorite notes in a greener oolong without the grassines… Anyway, I deeply enjoyed this one, and I recommend it more for tea snobs, or for someone that you can see turning into one because it is that seductive.

derk

Seductive is a good characterization.

Yet playful.

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85

This tea has already been thoroughly described. I actually got a bit of a rice note when drinking it, and in the dry leaf. I was not quite sure how to rate it. I would drink this tea pretty often if I could turn it into a daily drinker because I like it that much. I actually enjoyed that it was not as roasted tasting as some of the Taiwan Gui Fei I had. I might rate it higher in terms of taste later on, but know that I am very much satisfied with this tea.

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94

Yeah, I got this tea, and pretty much second eastteaguys notes, but I am not sure about the rating yet.

I tried this thinking “Yeah, this is what I’d expect from a baozhong slirp-ooooh apple. But there are so many other teas to purchase, maybe I should not have gotten fifty grams-slirp mmm violet…..” And then I drank this for three mornings. It is particularly bright, green, immensely creamy, and immensely floral. Sweet pea, cream, vanilla, gardenia, green apple, and violet are the most prominent notes I get from this bad boy, and they can shift depending on how I do the gong fu. I do like this western a tad bit more since I’ve gotten more apple notes then with a touch of citrus in the aftertaste, whereas gong fu has brought out the more floral notes in momentary dividends.

Although I’d drink this tea anytime because Baozhongs are teas that I can’t really say no to, this is a spring tea for sure, when the cool air of the winter meets the sun for the new buds of the season. And this is not a tea that I would drink at night from the little buzz I get from the green notes and the caffeie. Again, this tea is very sunny.

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100

Why didn’t I get this when it was on sale, because this is one of the most versatile teas that I’ve had to date. I could drink it western or grandpa with just a sprinkle of leaves, and the notes of pear, vanilla, and rock sugar blended with minerals in a smooth texture. I got the same thing with lighter splashes gong fu, but with more leaves, and occasionally longer steeps, it can become sticky sweet, malty, and roasted with the vanilla in the background. The same logic applies western with more leaves. Of course, I could rebrew it twelve times gong fu….with about 6-7 grams of leaves in 6 oz.

That pretty much described why I really enjoyed the tea, but it was able to be sweeter than my high mountain oolongs, and smoother WITHOUT vegetal notes. As for the roast notes, those could be avoided with lighter steeps if I wanted to.

This was one of the few roasted oolongs that is sweeter because of its roast for my palette, and this is something that I highly recommend to anyone who likes roasted pear or wants something unique because I’ve had few teas with the same notes that this one has.

LuckyMe

This sounds intriguing. Fruity roasted teas are the kind i seek out. Will have to check this out

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80

I got this as a very kind sample with an order at Teas and More in Titusville, Florida, my old hometown.
I have a hard time with yellow teas, but this one was a pleasant surprise. The corn husk notes and water chestnut notes were the most prominent as well as the umami and watercress aftertaste that you get in this variety, purples, greens, and shengs, but it was offset by a viscous and creamy texture and a really nice vanilla note. The peony florals and the corn notes made it very similar to a white silver needle, but the watercress and bamboo notes made it a little closer to a green or purple tea in terms of taste.

I’m not sure if I would buy this variety often, but I did enjoy this one for how fresh and creamy it was and I thank William for doing such a good job with picking this one out. I will be sad when I finish this one off.

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90

Thank you Alistair! Man, did these little leaves pack a punch. The chocolaty cocoa and leafy aroma was in the tea before brewing, and then it was accented when brewed. I was going to do this tea Western, but did it semi-gong fu both times after 30 second rinses using 4 grams each times. It had an immense chocolaty taste like a Bai Lin Gong Fu Chinese Black tea, and had sweet notes that made me think of sugar, making the tea almost syrupy. It only lasted for six cups in the first gong fu, and three in the other one that resembled western. The cocoa and caraway was more pronounced in longer steeps making it a little bit more malty, but the notes were more interesting sweet notes in the shorter steeps.

I’d have to try this again to experiment more with less leaves western. Again, the little leaves are deceptively strong, and I highly recommend this tea to black tea lovers and chocolate note loving drinkers.

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100

Alistair, when is this one going to return because it seriously tops as one of my favorite oolongs of all time. I know that it depends on the harvest, but dang is it so hard to find an oolong this complete and balanced.

What-Cha

I’m not sure it will return, Yancha in general has proved hard to sell and year on year the prices keep jumping up.

I’ve got a backlog of Yancha I’ll put up on sale, otherwise I may start to focus more on the Autumn/Winter harvest which offers a lot better value for money.

Daylon R Thomas

Interesting. Oh well, know that this one was good. How does the Bai Ji Guan compare, and since yanchas have gone up, what are the chances of Dan Congs showing up?

Rasseru

Yeah this one needs to be kept in stock for ever

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82

Thank you for the sample!

This was a good roasted Dong Ding Gong fu. First 30 second steep had orchid and roast notes with a little bit of an all spice feel, and the later steeps at one minute, two minutes, and 3, 4, and 6 minutes were sweeter. The florals remained, and it got sweeter with a healthy bit of nutty roast and mineral notes. I can see why they picked plum for the fruity note. It was very easy to drink, but I am kinda curious to see how this one ages. Those who like this variety will enjoy it without a doubt. This type of oolong still reminds me of potato chips.

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Bio

First Off, Current Targets:

Whispering Pines Alice
Good Luxurious Work Teas
Wang Family’s Jasmine Shanlinxi
Spring, Winter Taiwan High Mountain Oolongs

Dislikes: Heavy Tannin, Astringency, Bitterness, or Fake Flavor, Overly herby herbal or aged teas

Picky with: Higher Oxidation Oolongs, Red Oolongs (Some I love, others give me headaches or are almost too sweet), Mint Teas

Currently, my stash is overflowing. Among my favorites are What-Cha’s Lishan Black, Amber Gaba Oolong, Lishan Oolong, Qilan Oolong, White Rhino, Kenya Silver Needle, Tong Mu Lapsang Black (Unsmoked); Whispering Pines Alice, Taiwanese Assam, Wang’s Shanlinxi, Cuifeng, Dayuling, Jasmine Shan Lin Xi; Beautiful Taiwan Tea Co.“Old Style” Dong Ding, Mandala Milk Oolong; Paru’s Milk Oolong

Me:

I am an MSU graduate, and current alternative ed. high school social studies and history teacher. I formerly minored in anthropology, and I love Egyptian and classical history. I love to read, write, draw, paint, sculpt, fence(with a sword), practice calisthenics on rings, lift weights, workout, relax, and drink a cuppa tea…or twenty.

I’ve been drinking green and black teas ever since I was little living in Hawaii. Eastern Asian influence was prominent with my friends and where I grew up, so I’ve been exposed to some tea culture at a young age. I’ve come a long way since I began on steepster and now drink most teas gong fu, especially oolong. Any tea that is naturally creamy, fruity, or sweet without a lot of added flavoring ranks as a must have for me. I also love black teas and dark oolongs with the elusive “cocoa” note. My favorites are lighter Earl Greys, some white teas like What-Cha’s Kenyan offerings, most Hong-Cha’s, darker Darjeelings, almost anything from Nepal, Green Shan Lin Xi’s, and Greener Dong Dings. I’m in the process of trying Alishan’s. I also tend to really enjoy Yunnan Black or Red teas and white teas. I’m pickier with other teas like chamomile, green teas, and Masalas among several.

I used to give ratings, but now I only rate teas that have a strong impression on me. If I really like it, I’ll write it down.

I’ll enjoy a tea almost no matter what, even if the purpose is more medicinal, for it is my truest vice and addiction.

Location

Michigan, USA

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