1048 Tasting Notes

89

Here is another review from the backlog. I think I finished a couple samples of this tea during the first half of November, but I can’t really be sure. Prior to trying this offering, I discovered that I had actually tried a Bai Hao green tea back in 2016. That kind of surprised me too because they are not the most common things in the world. Unless it is Liu Bao, you do not often see Western tea drinkers paying a lot of attention to teas from Guangxi. Interestingly, I rated this tea about the same as the one I tried a couple years ago. I found it to be very, very good, but maybe not quite something I would seek out for daily consumption.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 3 ounces of 185 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of peach, apricot, straw, and plum. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of chestnut, sorghum, and sweet corn. The first infusion then introduced a malty scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of sweet corn, corn husk, peach, apricot, sour plum, chestnut, and malt that were backed by hints of sorghum molasses and sugarcane. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of lemon zest, grapefruit, spinach, green olive, and hay. New impressions of minerals, lemon zest, grapefruit, cream, butter, spinach, hay, umami, pear, and green olive appeared in the mouth alongside belatedly emerging straw notes and stronger impressions of sugarcane. As the tea faded, notes of minerals, malt, straw, chestnut, and corn husk came to dominate the mouth, though they were backed by hints of lemon zest, umami, sorghum molasses, butter, and sugarcane.

Brewed gongfu, this was a surprisingly thick, filling tea. I was greatly impressed by the strength of its aromas and flavors as well as its longevity. It had something of a unique profile compared to many of the other Chinese green teas I have tried; in some ways it was a little reminiscent of some of the higher end Vietnamese green teas that are currently available. Overall, I greatly enjoyed this tea, but it would not become an everyday thing for me. Its chewiness, heft, and richness marked it as being just a little much for a daily drinker. Still, I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for a memorable, resilient Chinese green tea.

Flavors: Apricot, Butter, Chestnut, Cream, Grapefruit, Hay, Lemon Zest, Malt, Mineral, Molasses, Olives, Peach, Pear, Plum, Spinach, Straw, Sugarcane, Sweet, Umami

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 5 g 3 OZ / 88 ML

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83

This was one of my most recent sipdowns. I took some time focus on finishing off the remainder of the spring 2017 Laoshan teas I purchased from Yunnan Sourcing, and this was the last one I finished. In a lot of ways, it was the least memorable and satisfying of the bunch and the most difficult to get consistent results out of while brewing.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of baked bread, dark chocolate, pine, sweet potato, black cherry, and cinnamon. After the rinse, I noted the emergence of a malty aroma as well as a stronger baked bread scent and some very, very faint honey undertones. The first infusion did not see the tea’s bouquet change all that much. Aside from the emergence of a faint sugarcane scent, there was nothing different about it. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of dark chocolate, pine, sweet potato, sugarcane, and cream that were accented by hints of roasted almond, baked bread, and cinnamon. The subsequent infusions revealed aromas of roasted almond, cream, butter, and caramel. Black cherry and subtle malt and honey notes came out in the mouth. Stronger and more immediate baked bread, cinnamon, and roasted almond notes also appeared alongside new notes of minerals, butter, orange, and caramel. I also noted hints of ginger, smoke, raisin, and lemon zest in a number of places. By the end of the session, the tea liquor was mostly offering washed out notes of minerals, dark chocolate, cream, baked bread, and malt that were chased by almost ghostly hints of sugarcane, raisin, pine, and lemon zest.

Compared to Yunnan Sourcing’s Classic Laoshan Black Tea of Shandong * Spring 2017, this was a much subtler and more restrained offering with something of an elegance that is hard for me to accurately describe. Unfortunately, it was also a less complex and flavorful offering, and it was not nearly as much fun to drink. I can appreciate sophistication, but I will also take a memorable and satisfying lower grade tea with stronger and more consistent aromas and flavors over a quality higher end tea with a bit of a stuffy, uptight, fussy feel to it any day of the week. All of that being said, I did still greatly appreciate this tea, but just to be clear, there are Laoshan black teas out there that are easier to get consistently likable results out of and more accessible. Seek those out before you spring for a tea like this one.

Flavors: Almond, Bread, Butter, Caramel, Cherry, Cinnamon, Cream, Dark Chocolate, Ginger, Honey, Lemon Zest, Malt, Mineral, Pine, Raisins, Smoke, Sugarcane, Sweet Potatoes

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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91

Here is another review from my backlog. I finished a sample of this tea during either the third or fourth week of November. Normally, I am not a huge Jin Jun Mei fan, but I ended up greatly enjoying this one. I cannot say that I was really surprised by that, however, as I tend to be a big fan of Old Ways Tea’s offerings.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 3 ounces of 194 F water for 6 seconds. This infusion was chased by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 8 seconds, 10 seconds, 13 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of honey, sweet potato, pine, cedar, and straw. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of roasted almond and candied orange that were underscored by a hint of orchid scent. The first infusion brought out aromas of lemon zest, baked bread, and cinnamon. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of baked bread, orchid, honey, straw, cedar, and candied orange that were backed by roasted almond, pine, and lemon zest hints. The subsequent infusions brought out aromas of black pepper, ginger, cocoa, malt, and violet. Stronger honey and candied orange notes appeared in the mouth along with stronger and more immediate impressions of roasted almond and lemon zest. I also detected notes of violet, pear, brown sugar, black pepper, cinnamon, cocoa, malt, marshmallow, minerals, and ginger as well as subtle, belatedly emerging sweet potato hints. I even picked up some hints of peach and tomato on several infusions. By the time I wrapped up my review session, I could still pick out impressions of minerals, brown sugar, malt, violet, candied orange, and lemon zest that were chased by fleeting hints of ginger, honey, pine, baked bread, and orchid.

Compared to most Jin Jun Mei I have tried, this tea produced an incredibly deep, complex, and busy liquor. There was just so much going on with it. While it could get a little bit challenging and even overwhelming at times, it never came remotely close to being unlikable or unsatisfying. In the end, I would not recommend this tea to those just getting into Jin Jun Mei (it might be a little much for such people), but I would have no difficulty recommending it to established fans of Wuyi black teas.

Flavors: Almond, Black Pepper, Bread, Brown Sugar, Candy, Cedar, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Ginger, Honey, Lemon Zest, Malt, Marshmallow, Mineral, Orange, Orchid, Peach, Pear, Pine, Straw, Sweet Potatoes, Violet

Preparation
5 g 3 OZ / 88 ML

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93

I’m dipping a little further into the backlog than I have lately with this one, as I finished my sample pouch of this tea somewhere between early and mid-November. It seems that I have more unposted reviews from last month and the first week of this month than I realized. With the semester over I can now get cracking on clearing out the backlog that has accumulated over the past month and a half, so I should hopefully have things more or less caught up by the end of the year. Anyway, this was an excellent Dian Hong, and that should not come as much of a surprise to those familiar with Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company’s offerings. Despite their primary focus being on Taiwanese oolongs, they do have a history of sourcing quality black teas and oolongs from Yunnan Province.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of raisin, prune, cedar, tobacco, malt, and honey. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of roasted almond, cocoa, cream, and butter accompanying a stronger malt scent. The first infusion introduced scents of roasted peanut and baked bread. Once in the mouth, the tea liquor revealed notes of malt, raisin, prune, cedar, tobacco, and baked bread that were balanced by pleasant honey undertones. The subsequent infusions brought out aromas of cinnamon, cocoa, orange zest, black pepper, caramel, vanilla, and eucalyptus. Strong butter and cream impressions as well as subtler notes of roasted almond and roasted peanut emerged in the mouth alongside new impressions of minerals, caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, orange zest, black pepper, eucalyptus, cocoa, and brown sugar. At this point, I should note, however, that as the tea gradually and gracefully faded, the liquor settled into a groove where it consistently offered mineral, eucalyptus, cream, malt, vanilla, caramel, brown sugar, and baked bread notes that were accented by hints of honey, cinnamon, cedar, and black pepper.

This was one of those teas that I could not help but rate highly because there was nothing off about it. In my opinion, it offered everything that one would expect of a great Dian Hong. There was nothing strange or lacking, nothing out of place. This was just an expertly crafted tea that produced a wonderful drinking experience. I have no problem with recommending this one highly to fans of Dian Hong or anyone just looking for a quality black tea.

Flavors: Almond, Black Pepper, Bread, Brown Sugar, Butter, Caramel, Cedar, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Cream, Dried Fruit, Eucalyptus, Honey, Malt, Mineral, Orange Zest, Peanut, Raisins, Tobacco, Vanilla

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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93

Here is yet another recent sipdown. I think I finished a 10g sample pouch of this tea back around the end of November. I always like to end each month by focusing on polishing off a few sample pouches, so this was set aside specifically for that purpose. I was also going through black teas like crazy and specifically wanted something that was a little different. Toba Wangi does some interesting things, and with this tea, they took a Taiwanese oolong cultivar (Si Ji Chun) and used it to produce a black tea. The results were great.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of plum, cedar, chocolate, honey, and blood orange. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of orchid, roasted peanut, and malt. The first infusion introduced subtle scents of toast and brown sugar. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up notes of cedar, plum, chocolate, honey, blood orange, orchid, toast, and roasted peanut that were chased by hints of nutmeg, smoke, and malt. The subsequent infusions introduced scents of ginger, raisin, violet, and lemon candy. Brown sugar notes came out in the mouth along with slightly stronger and more immediate notes of malt and smoke. New impressions of minerals, cream, cinnamon, raisin, ginger, violet, and lemon candy also appeared. By the end of the session, I could still pick up on notes of minerals, malt, roasted peanut, cream, and toast that were chased by fleeting hints of lemon candy, chocolate, nutmeg, and raisin.

This was one unique and satisfying black tea. I especially appreciated the fact that the natural floral sweetness of the Si Ji Chun cultivar was not lost. Too often tea producers can fall into the habit of doing the same old things over and over again, but offerings like this demonstrate that trying new and unusual things sometimes yields tremendously enjoyable results. If this tea is ever offered again or is available elsewhere, make a point of trying it if you are into floral, fruity black teas. I doubt you will be disappointed.

Flavors: Blood Orange, Brown Sugar, Candy, Cedar, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Cream, Ginger, Honey, Lemon, Malt, Mineral, Nutmeg, Orchid, Peanut, Plum, Raisins, Smoke, Toast, Violet

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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92

Here is a review I have been dragging my feet on for weeks. I am finally on the verge of finishing a 25g pouch of these Laoshan jujube leaves with the intent of polishing off the remainder tonight. I know I have made it no secret that I loved the other spring 2017 Yunnan Sourcing wild jujube tea I tried, but oddly, this higher grade jujube tea did not wow me quite as much. It was still a great offering, but it just lacked a little strength, smoothness, and liveliness compared to its lower grade counterpart.

I prepared these jujube leaves gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose jujube leaves in 4 ounces of 185 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 20 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 9 minutes, 12 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry jujube leaves emitted aromas of roasted barley, roasted walnut, toasted cashew, and spinach. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of turnip greens, toasted rice, smoke, and roasted carrot to go along with a slightly amplified spinach scent. The first infusion introduced aromas of cabbage, collard greens, and mushroom. In the mouth, the fairly thick liquor presented notes of smoke, roasted barley, roasted walnut, toasted cashew, turnip greens, and roasted carrot that were framed by hints of cabbage, mushroom, honey, vanilla, and sugarcane. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of seaweed, butter, vanilla, onion, roasted peanut, and caramel. Toasted rice notes came out in the mouth along with stronger impressions of honey, cabbage, mushroom, sugarcane, and vanilla. I also picked up on very subtle collard green hints and new impressions of minerals, butter, roasted peanut, onion, baked bread, radish, caramel, and umami. Seaweed notes came out subtly on each swallow. By the end of the session, I could still pick up on notes of minerals, spinach, collard greens, butter, vanilla, umami, sugarcane, and roasted carrot that were chased by delicate hints of honey, roasted barley, roasted walnut, seaweed, and turnip greens.

Like the previous Yunnan Sourcing Laoshan jujube tea that I tried, this was a great offering. This, however, was a softer, subtler, and less consistently sweet jujube tea. There was also something of an occasional sharpness to some of its vegetal characteristics that I do not recall getting from the other offering. Still, these are actually fairly minor quibbles as I think fans of wild jujube would be very pleased with this offering. Check it out if you are at all into tisanes.

Flavors: Bread, Butter, Caramel, Carrot, Honey, Mushrooms, Nutty, Peanut, Roasted Barley, Seaweed, Smoke, Spinach, Sugarcane, Toasted Rice, Umami, Vanilla, Vegetal, Walnut

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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91

Here is a review for another fairly recent sipdown of mine. I finished the last of this tea prior to attending a concert with one of my best friends last week. The concert was pretty good. It was Harm’s Way, Hate Eternal, and Cannibal Corpse in Lexington, KY. Aside from Harm’s Way really sucking hard (unless you’re into tough guy metallic hardcore with some groove metal and superficial industrial elements), the rest of the show was great, even though it was a brutally cold, snowy night and the mosh pit got way too rough and rowdy. I am pretty sure that this tea kept me awake during the proceedings since I was exhausted, slightly sick due to sinusitis, and had to endure a very lengthy, taxing drive to get to my friend’s house prior to attending this shindig. Anyway, getting back on track here, my appreciation of this tea grew considerably as I worked my way through what I had of it. This was a Tong Mu Guan old tree black tea, one that was even subtler and more richly textured than most. Generally, I am more about Wuyi black teas that are bigger on aroma and flavor, so I tend to appreciate many of these texture-heavy old tree black teas more than I tend to outright enjoy them, but in the end, I came to love this one.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves (this tea was produced from an absolutely fantastic picking, by the way) emitted aromas of straw, honey, blueberry, blackberry, pine, and stone fruit. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of roasted peanut and roasted almond that were underscored by subtler scents of grass and smoke. The first infusion did not offer anything new on the nose aside from slightly stronger grass and smoke undertones. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of straw, pine, honey, blueberry, and blackberry that were chased by impressions of roasted almond and roasted peanut along with some hints of grass, citrus, and smoke. The subsequent infusions brought out aromas of citrus, bamboo, rose, roasted chestnut, malt, and baked bread. Impressions of orange, cedar, rose, cherry, beeswax, roasted chestnut, roasted walnut, cream, golden raisin, bamboo, brown sugar, malt, and baked bread appeared in the mouth along with subtle hints of grass and cinnamon. By the end of my review session, I could still detect notes of minerals, golden raisin, baked bread, malt, and straw that were chased by hints of orange, pine, bamboo, and roasted chestnut.

This was a ridiculously sophisticated, layered black tea that demonstrated tremendous restraint despite its almost over-the-top complexity and depth. Like the other Tong Mu old tree black teas I have tried, it consistently emphasized its mineral-heavy texture over its flavor components, meaning that I had to push myself to determine what was going on for me flavorwise. Just to be clear, teas like this are, in my mind, more meant for patient, measured, highly focused sipping than any form of quick, easy consumption as they require time, patience, and effort to appreciate. In my opinion, this tea was more challenging than your normal Tong Mu old tree black, but it had more to offer and thus a considerably larger payoff for the drinker. In the end, all I can really offer is that I found this to be a more or less great black tea, but it was something of a challenge. I would recommend it to anyone who has tried a number of similar teas and is looking for something more advanced.

Flavors: Almond, Bamboo, Blackberry, Blueberry, Bread, Brown Sugar, Cherry, Chestnut, Cinnamon, Cream, Grass, Honey, Malt, Mineral, Orange, Peanut, Pine, Raisins, Rose, Smoke, Straw, Walnut

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML
derk

What a wonderful review.

eastkyteaguy

Thank you.

Kawaii433

I agree, Derk. This should be framed hehe.

tea-sipper

Just enjoying tea in the mosh pit. :D

eastkyteaguy

tea-sipper, I wish.

tea-sipper

It’s an awesome idea though!

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90

Wow! I’m apparently the outlier for this one. Almost everyone else who has reviewed this tea has enjoyed it, yet I think I am the only person to assign it a score of 90 or higher. I have been working my way through a pouch of this tea for the last two days and will probably finish it either tonight or tomorrow morning. While Yunnan Sourcing’s Laoshan black teas have not always wowed me, this one has, and I highly doubt my opinion of it will suddenly change. This tea really reminded me of why I fell in love with Laoshan black teas in the first place.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of dark chocolate, malt, pine, and raisin. After the rinse, I noted the emergence of roasted peanut, smoke, and red grape aromas. The first infusion then introduced scents of honey and plum. Once in the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of honey, pine, malt, smoke, and dark chocolate that were backed by hints of roasted peanut, cream, butter, and cinnamon. The subsequent infusions brought out aromas of molasses, orange, vanilla, and cinnamon. Stronger cream and butter notes appeared in the mouth alongside belatedly emerging impressions of raisin and red grape and a few scattered hints of plum. New notes of minerals, orange, toast, roasted walnut, and vanilla also appeared, as did hints of brown sugar, molasses, and roasted barley. By the end of the session, I could still pick up on impressions of minerals, cream, malt, dark chocolate, and vanilla that were underscored by hints of roasted walnut, butter, brown sugar, toast, raisin, and cinnamon.

In my opinion, this was a fantastic example of a Laoshan black tea. It also represented a leap forward in terms of quality from the Spring 2016 version I previously reviewed. This was a smoother, slightly more complex, fuller-bodied, and more consistent tea overall that also displayed slightly more resilience and longevity. This one was a winner, and at this point, I kind of wish I had purchased more since I am on the verge of finishing my pouch.

Flavors: Brown Sugar, Butter, Cinnamon, Cream, Dark Chocolate, Grapes, Honey, Malt, Mineral, Molasses, Orange, Peanut, Pine, Plum, Raisins, Roasted Barley, Smoke, Toast, Vanilla, Walnut

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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75

Finals week is in full swing for me, and I have turned to black tea to keep myself alert and productive. Since I have been polishing off some of the black teas in my keep left and right, I figured it was about time to take a break from work and school responsibilities and get some reviews posted for them. This was one of my most recent sipdowns. I finished off a 50g pouch of this tea late last week while recovering from some sinus nastiness and finishing a few final written assignments. I found it to be a very mild and mellow Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong, respectable and appealing, yet nothing out of the ordinary.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of brown toast, malt, and honey. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of roasted almond, brown sugar, pine, and dark chocolate. The first infusion introduced scents of cream, raisin, and vanilla. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up notes of cream, roasted almond, raisin, honey, malt, and brown toast that were backed by impressions of pine, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of butter, cinnamon, and straw. Stronger, and in some cases, more immediate notes of butter, cinnamon, brown sugar, and pine appeared in the mouth alongside new impressions of minerals, red apple, and red grape. Impressions of dark chocolate came out along with some subtle notes of straw and vanilla and unexpected, equally subtle ginger and smoke hints. By the end of the session, I could still pick up mineral, pine, raisin, cream, malt, and brown toast notes that were backed by ghostly hints of roasted almond, butter, cinnamon, dark chocolate, and brown sugar.

This was a very respectable and easygoing Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong and would make a perfect daily drinker for Wuyi black tea devotees or those just getting into such teas. I am probably being more than a bit hard on this one because it was quite good, but I just feel that Yunnan Sourcing and some other reliable vendors (Old Ways Tea and What-Cha chief among them) offer some higher grade teas of this type that are simultaneously more challenging and appealing. Still, I would not caution against seeking this tea out, especially for those who are looking for a smooth, sweet, and gentle Wuyi black tea with decent enough longevity.

Flavors: Almond, Brown Sugar, Brown Toast, Butter, Cinnamon, Cream, Dark Chocolate, Ginger, Grapes, Honey, Malt, Mineral, Pine, Raisins, Red Apple, Smoke, Straw, Vanilla

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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84

This was one of my more recent sipdowns. I bought one of these dragon balls back around the start of 2017, but I decided that I wanted to see how it would age and resolved to break it out after I finished what I had of the spring 2017 production of Yunnan Sourcing’s Feng Qing Silver Needles. Though I finished what I had of that tea some time ago, I only got around to drinking this 2016 silver needle dragon ball last week. I found that it had kept very well in storage as it had not seemed to lose any of its youthful vigor. Compared to the spring 2017 Feng Qing Silver Needles, this was a more astringent and slow-burning offering likely due to a combination of its compression into dragon ball form and its age.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped the entire 7g dragon ball in 5 ounces of 176 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was chased by 19 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and 40 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry dragon ball produced aromas of hay, straw, sugarcane, and eucalyptus. After the rinse, it emitted aromas of cream, pastry, vanilla, malt, and marshmallow. The first infusion then introduced subtle scents of almond and butter. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered delicate notes of cream, vanilla, malt, sugarcane, and eucalyptus that were chased by hints of lemon. The subsequent infusions brought out aromas of wood, lemon, honeydew, and oats. Notes of almond, hay, straw, butter, pastry, and marshmallow came out in the mouth along with slightly stronger lemon notes and impressions of wood, minerals, oats, apricot, lychee, honeydew, and honey. At the time I decided to end the review session, I could still detect notes of minerals, cream, butter, sugarcane, oats, vanilla, and marshmallow that were backed by hints of wood, almond, lemon, and eucalyptus as well as belatedly emerging impressions of watermelon and steadily building astringency.

This was a very satisfying white tea, though it did not offer anything that one would not expect of a Feng Qing Silver Needle white tea. If you, like me, are a fan of Feng Qing Silver Needle white teas, then this tea will very likely be up your alley, but if you are not a fan, then I doubt this offering will be the one that converts you. Compared to the 2017 Feng Qing Silver Needles I have tried, this tea was a bit simpler and more astringent, but overall, it was still very enjoyable. In the end, though, I just think teas like this are probably best left to fans of such niche products. Feng Qing teas, in general, seem to be offerings that people either love or just find to be kind of odd at best.

Flavors: Almond, Apricot, Astringent, Butter, Cream, Eucalyptus, Hay, Honey, Honeydew, Lemon, Lychee, Malt, Marshmallow, Melon, Oats, Pastries, Straw, Sugarcane, Vanilla, Wood

Preparation
7 g 5 OZ / 147 ML

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Bio

My grading criteria for tea is as follows:

90-100: Exceptional. I love this stuff. If I can get it, I will drink it pretty much every day.

80-89: Very good. I really like this stuff and wouldn’t mind keeping it around for regular consumption.

70-79: Good. I like this stuff, but may or may not reach for it regularly.

60-69: Solid. I rather like this stuff and think it’s a little bit better-than-average. I’ll drink it with no complaints, but am more likely to reach for something I find more enjoyable than revisit it with regularity.

50-59: Average. I find this stuff to be more or less okay, but it is highly doubtful that I will revisit it in the near future if at all.

40-49: A little below average. I don’t really care for this tea and likely won’t have it again.

39 and lower: Varying degrees of yucky.

Don’t be surprised if my average scores are a bit on the high side because I tend to know what I like and what I dislike and will steer clear of teas I am likely to find unappealing.

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