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not bad but
weak thin bland
dusty honey rooibos
artificial tropical-peachy flavor
faint short-lived caramel aftertaste does not redeem
i feel bad for sending this out in swaps unless you like it then i’m happy.

Gotta be in the mood for licorice root. First time I tried Klarer Kopf I made the “eugh” face it was so sweet. The flavor profile, for me, is best utilized on days like today — late afternoon, warm outside but not immobilizing hot. It’s like a spicy chai with a base of that licorice root, spicy ginger, ginseng (listed as taiga root), black peppercorns, and cinnamon with herbal accents from basil, eleuthero and yerba maté. I’m unfamiliar with guarana besides knowing it has caffeine. I think I could recommend Klarer Kopf if you make sure not to brew too long because of the licorice root. It has a really nice revitalizing flavor.

It was a rooty and yerba maté kind of day. Started off with ginseng oolong then moved to a can of Guayakí yerba maté when my head almost hit the desk at work. Then this. Here’s hoping I’m not up until midnight.

Thanks again for sharing, Martin, and to your friend Fabiana :)

I used all 10g from Martin in one go, which was between 4 and 5tsp in 10oz boiling water.
Smells so fruity and natural! Good amount of hibiscus gives it the perfect tart edge. I can also taste a pretty floral orange peel in the back of the mouth. The apple is abundant in the mix but not in taste. I don’t have much experience with fruit tisanes so it’s difficult to form an opinion. I enjoyed it and like Züri Leue Tee from La Cucina, this is also a great thirst quencher.

Thanks, Martin!

Prepared hot, 2 tsp to 8oz and guzzled. I drank it so fast I didn’t even pay attention, which I guess means it was a great thirst quencher. The fruits, leaves and flowers made what I remember as tasting like a sweet-tangy mix of natural strawberries? and rosehip-apple? with hints of florals and leafy herbaceousness. Martin aptly described the flavor as forest strawberry. I would have never thought of that.

Cold-brewed 3 tsp to 16oz was probably underleafed and had a much more noticeable herbaceous profile.

Thanks for sharing!

Teabag from a local company! The bag tag has an image of a happy cow grazing with mountains in the background; SONOMA MADE. We’re known for our happy cows here.

Chopped green tea gives a hot hay base flavor. Lots of rose. It’s a beautiful rose with some vague fruitiness and a note of white pepper, light rose bitterness. Jasmine is second place, muted by the rose. I’m getting some returning sweetness.

Floral but it doesn’t go straight to my sinuses. Well balanced. Lovely.

For the record, I do enjoy hibiscus though not often. It has a good body for a tisane and is full-flavored but something about the flavor seems unnatural to me… like Hawaiian Punch. My tongue didn’t even register the licorice besides appearing in the mouthfeel.

The cloudy and chilly weather this morning combined with a trying work day yesterday called me to a gongfu session with this oxidized and roasted red oolong. It has the aroma and flavor of sweet recuperation. Much needed.

This Spring 2018 harvest Hong Shui, like many other red oolong, is high on the aroma factor. When dry, I smell brown toast, rye, raisin, cinnamon, pear, golden syrup, pecan, straw, dried fruit. Warming the leaf brings cedar, cacao and plums. A rinse bring some strange things like sweet pickled vegetables, dill, roasted tomatoes and carrots, perfume, vinyl, raisins and blueberry.

Its character is lightly toasty and musky with cinnamon-pear sweetness and mellow nuttiness. Raisin, floral grape and minerals provide support. As the tea develops thicker, stronger flavors, I also pick up on something a bit like rancid butter but that could be due to sinus issues. The complexity lies more in aromas than it does in the actual flavors. A little drying and a brown sugar returning sweetness.

This is a tea that I think might captivate tea drinkers looking to explore the oxidized/roasted Taiwanese balled oolong. I would recommend it as a western brew. When prepared that way, the long steep time allows the full thickness and sweetness to shine.

Oof, yesterday. I tried to keep my spirits up but I was beaten down. Searching my aresenal for comfort, I tried letting the F-bombs fly in a phone call with a friend, music, a nap (sleep never came), a disgusting amount of pizza, half a 22oz bottle of double IPA. Nothing worked. Bring in the shou — a freebie from Yunnan Sourcing.

First time with cha tou, or ripe puerh tea nuggets, or what’s left at the bottom of the fermentation pile, or trickle down tea.

Dry leaf smells nice — malty, damp sweet earth, vanilla cola. Some camphor comes out when warmed, baked bread, cola impression. Long rinse (because tea mountain dregs) yields baked bread, forest floor, camphor, almond.

I used only 8g in a 190mL pot expecting a beast of tea. The tea is warm and spicy, earthy and oxalic acid tart, Togo mentions sorrel. Rather light flavors of forest floor, baked bread, nutritional yeast, camphor. It’s drying early and catches strongly in the throat. Later it’s dusty, nutty and woody cedar. Light bodied no matter how much I push it.

Overall, it was an okay first foray into cha tou. I was expecting something a bit heavier with fuller flavors and bigger body. I’m not sure why. I wonder if more years of storage will smooth out the prominent sourness. In its current state, nothing about it makes me want to recommend it to others. However, it did bring some comfort. Hail Tea.

Now if I can embrace what made me so happy earlier this week, everything will work out.

Great daily drinker yancha. Aromas of chocolate/syrup, caramel, blood orange tone, marshmallow, dark wood and raspberry/blackberry. Thick mouthfeel but light and refreshing with a playful bitterness, strong mouthwatering effect and camphor throat feeling. Vibrant, lively flavor that’s mineral sweet with a complex fruity aftertaste. Doesn’t present its full palate within the first few steeps unlike a lot of rock oolong. I seek that quality in this style of tea though others may prefer full flavor in the first or second infusion.

This tea proved to me that you can accidentally blend two cultivars and create a concoction that is steps above huang guan yin or qi lan on their own.

Lucky Accident is something Old Ways Tea should consider adding to their usual catalog as a fantastic value rock oolong (it is no longer available).

I HAVE DRUNK SO MUCH TEA TODAY O_O

This was my first huangpian and it was just ok. Kind of a heavy gut bomb but with good flavor up until it became unpleasantly bitter at about 6 or 7 gongfu steeps. I’d be wary of brewing these leaves grandpa. The taste had a base of green-turning-orange bell pepper mixed with prominent fruity notes of ripe apricot, peach and orange and a brassy dry grass tone. Somewhat floral, a bit of menthol. The tea can be thick but part of that is gritty. There’s a different kind of energy with these leaves that I can’t describe…

I like to think I slew some demons today but I honestly feel like I opened the portal instead. Last Sunday, I asked for a leadership position, in any form, because I have so much energy to devote to such an endeavor. Today, it arrived and not where I thought it would. I was invited to join a new pastoral care team at church that’s in its infancy. Basically, the needs of our community are far greater than originally anticipated. Our small group of people is trying to develop a sustainable infrastructure used to help specific groups of people who are in need during this pandemic. Thinking about how far into the future the pandemic will impact our community and in what ways has really put into perspective a lot of how I have lived my life since becoming an adult and that I no longer want to continue on that path, basically one of a scarcity mindset and of selfishness. I have immense respect for leaders working with the conceptual after an hour-long Zoom meeting today. I feel like my entire worldview has changed in a matter of hours. If all that sounds fuzzy, it’s because I’m still background processing.

And that is what I’m wrestling with after drinking Demon Slayer.

So, Togo, thanks.

And that makes 600.