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This is another free sample I received with a fairly recent What-Cha order. Apparently, this was meant to replace the previous English breakfast blend. A blend of African and Asian black teas, this particular blend is comprised of 30% Yunnan Black Gold, 30% Vietnam Wild Boar, 30% Kenya FOP, and 10% Rwanda FOP.

I prepared this tea Western style. I steeped 3 grams of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 203 F water for 5 minutes. I did not attempt additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, I noted that the dry leaves emitted malty, woody, and slightly chocolaty aromas. After infusion, the copper tea liquor produced more clearly defined scents of chocolate, malt, wood, brown sugar, and sorghum molasses. In the mouth, I detected a smooth blend of wood, brown sugar, chocolate, sorghum molasses, earth, leather, toast, roasted nut, malt, and mild spice notes. The finish was particularly smooth, pleasant, and expressive, offering a lingering malty sweetness coupled with a hint of astringency.

Truth be told, this was an enjoyable and surprisingly refined English breakfast blend. Unfortunately, I am at a point where I tend to associate English breakfast teas with earthier, woodier, more leathery flavors and more pronounced bitterness and astringency. As a matter of fact, I associate English breakfast teas with these qualities so much that I now actively look for them. With that in mind, I found this blend to be tasty, but I also found it to be a bit tame. Still, I think those who are looking for a smooth, flavorful breakfast tea could do far worse than checking out this one.

Another of the autumn 2015 and spring 2016 teas that I have been desperately trying to finish up before moving on to the more recent harvests, this Jin Guanyin is one that I have been looking forward to reviewing for some time now. I didn’t mean to put off reviewing it for so long, it’s just that I ended up with a little more of it than I had planned. Overall, I found this to be an excellent and resilient green oolong that struck an admirable balance between savory and floral characteristics.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 208 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 11 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaves emitted strongly savory and floral aromas of cream, butter, and lilac. After the rinse, I picked up more pronounced aromas of cream, butter, and lilac coupled with scents of violet, steamed rice, and honeysuckle. The first infusion produced a similar, though more balanced aroma. I also began to note emerging impressions of gardenia and citrus on the nose. In the mouth, the entry was dominated by savory notes of steamed rice, cream, and butter, though floral notes of lilac, gardenia, violet, and honeysuckle were quick to provide a little balance. A little bit of sweetgrass also emerged toward the finish. Subsequent infusions were more floral on the nose and in the mouth, offering more pronounced aromas and flavors of lilac, gardenia, violet, and honeysuckle. The citrus emerged fully at this point, as the tea began to display an impression of lime zest beneath the floral aromas and flavors. The sweetgrass on the finish slightly intensified and was joined by a subtle note of minerals. Later infusions were very mild and washed out, offering dominant aromas and flavors of butter, cream, minerals, and sweetgrass, though I could still detect a distant floral impression on the finish. The tea also acquired a faint nutty character at this point, as I kept getting a very distant note of hazelnut.

I have had this tea at several different points over the past couple of months, and unlike the 2015 Green Goddess from Floating Leaves, I could tell that this one had mellowed just a tad. Still, the tea was very bright and lively in the mouth with strong savory and floral aromas and flavors. Despite this tea’s age, it was still an excellent drinking experience. I would recommend this tea to fans of contemporary green finish Anxi oolongs who are looking for amplified versions of the savory and floral characteristics displayed by both Huang Jin Gui and Tieguanyin.

At this point, I am still finishing some of the fall 2015 and spring 2016 teas that I bought late in the season. This jade Tieguanyin from Anxi, Fujian Province, China was one of my later acquisitions. It had been awhile since I had tried an autumn harvest Tieguanyin, so I jumped at the opportunity to try one of the previous autumn’s teas while it was on sale.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 208 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 12 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 14 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute 5 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted very mild aromas of cream, butter, and sweetgrass. After the rinse, the expected aromas of cream, butter, and sweetgrass remained, though they were joined by subtle aromas of lilac, violet, and saffron. In the mouth, the tea was oddly vegetal and grassy up front, offering a dominant note of sweetgrass balanced by flavors of cream, butter, steamed rice, saffron, violet, rose, and lilac. Subsequent infusions grew quickly more floral and savory, offering somewhat more pronounced aromas and flavors of butter, cream, steamed rice, saffron, violet, rose, and lilac joined by subtle hints of vanilla and custard. The sweetgrass aroma and flavor remained and continued to assert itself on the finish where it was joined by a faint hint of minerals. Later infusions grew grassier and more buttery. I mostly noted aromas and flavors of sweetgrass, butter, cream, steamed rice, and minerals joined by cooked leaf lettuce, though hints of vanilla, custard, and very distant floral impressions could still be detected in the background.

From the little bit of research I have done, I am aware that the reputation of the autumn Tieguanyin harvests tends to be variable. Some sources seem to feel that the spring harvests are smoother on the nose and more complex in the mouth, while others seem to feel that the autumn harvests produce the boldest aroma and the more balanced flavor. Generally speaking, most sources I have seen tend to favor the spring harvested teas. Personally, I usually favor the autumn teas. I love the robust aroma profile and the more savory character in the mouth. While I thought this particular Tieguanyin was rather good, I found it to be a little light in terms of flavor. Despite the tea’s age, I could not tell that it had faded all that much either (Floating Leaves’ resealable bags are opaque and do not allow light or much air, the tea was very carefully stored, and it was very lively in the mouth), so perhaps its mild, grassy character was due more to when it was harvested (October rather than November) and how it was processed than its age. Whatever the case, this was a mild, mellow, and subtle Tieguanyin with a very bright character on the nose. I rather liked it, though I have had better autumn Tieguanyins within the last year.

This was the other Russian black tea I ended up with a couple months ago. I received a free 10 gram sample of it with an order from What-Cha. I’m assuming Alistair chose to include this tea because my order was comprised exclusively of black teas from Georgia, Russia, and Azerbaijan. The tea was described as being a Russian approximation of a traditional Chinese Keemun.

I prepared this tea using a one step Western infusion process. I steeped 3 grams of loose tea leaves in just shy of 8 ounces of 203 F water for 5 minutes. At one point, I attempted a second infusion of 7 minutes, but was not thrilled with the results. I think it may have been necessary to start with either a 3-4 minute infusion in order to get a more flavorful second infusion out of this tea.

Prior to infusion, I noted that the dry tea leaves produced a mild smoky, malty aroma. After infusion, I noted gentle aromas of smoke, toast, malt, dark chocolate, and raisin emanating from the cup. In the mouth, dominant notes of smoke, toast, dark chocolate, malt, and cream were underscored by notes of honey, raisin, date, and fig. I was expecting more of a plum note from this tea (I tend to get plum aroma and/or flavor out of most Keemuns), but I did not pick it up in this tea.

This was not bad at all. I think it is probably best to approach this tea as a unique approximation of a Keemun rather than comparing it directly to traditional, authentic Chinese Keemuns. For the most part, this tea does a good job of approximating the smoky, fruity, chocolaty, and malty character of Keemun, though I felt that it failed to fully capture the depth of a truly exceptional Keemun. I think a lot of that is probably owing to differences in terroir. In the end, I would probably not choose this tea over an authentic Keemun, but I would still recommend it to anyone looking for a solid Russian black tea.

The idea of Russian tea has intrigued me ever since I discovered some of the popular Russian blends on the market. I suppose it could even be said that I have become a budding Russophile at some point within the past couple of years. While I was well aware that there were quite a few Russian inspired blends out there, imagine my surprise when I discovered that a few tea estates exist in contemporary Russia! This particular tea comes from the Matsesta Tea Estate in Krasnodar Krai near Sochi. It is composed of stems and a few stray leaf pieces.

I prepared this tea using a one step Western infusion process. In the past, I have tried a two step infusion process, but I found the results to only be passable. For this session, I steeped 3 grams of loose material in 8 ounces of 203 F water for 5 minutes.

The dry stems and leaf material did not give off much of an aroma. After infusion, I picked up scents of straw and autumn leaf piles. In the mouth, there were leaf and straw notes up front. These flavors were chased by notes of wood, malt, cream, toast, date, and raisin before a brief, yet smooth finish.

This was a simple, refreshing tea, and quite frankly, I am struggling to say much about it. Overall, I found it to be decent for what it was, but it was not exactly the kind of thing to which I would be in a rush to return. I would say check this one out if you are looking for a simple tea that does not require much analysis.

So far, I have spent my New Year’s Eve finishing up some of the tea samples I have collected over the course of the year. This was one I had forgotten about entirely. I bought it towards the end of the summer right before Verdant seemed to run out of stock. It was around the time I tried and reviewed their Traditional Anxi Dan Gui. Anyway, Dan Gui is a newer cultivar mostly used in strip style Wuyi oolongs, but also used for rolled oolongs and green tea. From what I gather, it is one of those cultivars that has managed to become popular in China in recent years, but has not yet been as successful with Western tea drinkers.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 208 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 11 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 14 seconds, 17 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I took a whiff of the dry tea leaves and immediately noted aromas of watercress, sweetgrass, eucalyptus, lilac, and hyacinth. After the rinse, I picked up intense aromas of watercress, sweetgrass, eucalyptus, lilac, and hyacinth balanced by aromas of cilantro, elderflower, and nutmeg. The first proper infusion produced a similar, though slightly spicier and more floral aroma. In the mouth, the floral notes were fairly thin and mostly supported robust notes of sweetgrass, watercress, eucalyptus, cilantro, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Even at this stage, there was a slight mineral presence on the finish that made me question how long this tea would last. Subsequent infusions, however, saw the floral aromas and flavors intensify. The vegetal character was still present, but was now effectively offset by aromas and flavors of lilac, hyacinth, cream, butter, and elderflower. Cinnamon, nutmeg, eucalyptus, and mineral notes continued to leave a mild tingle on the finish. Later infusions saw the floral aromas and flavors recede. In their place, aromas and flavors of cream, butter, watercress, sweetgrass, and minerals asserted themselves, though a faint floral character was still just barely detectable on the nose. On the finish, I could still detect ghostly impressions of cinnamon, nutmeg, and eucalyptus before the minerals once again dominated.

This was an odd, but very enjoyable Anxi oolong. I know that I have expressed a degree of antipathy toward some of the Anxi takes on Wuyi oolong cultivars in the past, but this one was very nice. I especially appreciated the fact that some of the spice and mineral notes that seem to be most strongly associated with traditional Wuyi takes on this cultivar were not completely obscured here. I could tell that the green finish that has become the norm for many Anxi oolongs brought out the tea’s more floral, savory, and vegetal qualities, but the subtle spice, herb, and mineral touches kept reminding me that I was drinking a cultivar that has become strongly associated with the Wuyi Mountains. Due to this tea’s approachability, as well as its unique aroma and flavor profiles, I would strongly recommend it to oolong drinkers looking for something new or curious as to how changes in terroir and processing affect specific tea cultivars.

One of the more recent additions to Li Xiangxi’s collection, this Big Red Robe is harvested from some of the older tea plants in her care. Compared to Verdant’s regular Big Red Robe (a tea which I admittedly have not had since March), this one comes across as spicier and quirkier. I found that I enjoyed it, though I did enjoy the sweeter, fruitier regular Big Red Robe slightly more.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 208 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 13 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 8 seconds, 11 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute 5 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted a spicy aroma reminiscent of a combination of char, limestone, and ginger. After the rinse, I detected slightly more distinct aromas of limestone, ginger, char, moist wood, earth, and leather. There was also a slightly floral presence that reminded me a little of osmanthus, though I do not feel that comparison is remotely accurate. The first infusion produced a similar, albeit more mellow, settled aroma. In the mouth, I immediately detected mineral, brown sugar, tobacco, leather, elderberry, earth, moist wood, and char notes. There was an earthy spiciness on the finish reminiscent of ginger and a floral, resinous quality that reminded me a bit of the aloeswood incense I used to buy as an undergraduate. I also continued to pick up a somewhat vague floral note that I could not place. Subsequent infusions were spicier, earthier, fruitier, and more floral, introducing more pronounced notes of ginger, minerals, brown sugar, elderberry, and aloeswood accompanied by notes of golden raisin and stewed apricot. The vague floral character began to merge with a fresh vegetal quality that immediately put me in mind of daylily shoots. Later infusions were very mellow, presenting a mix of minerals and ginger underscored by traces of aloeswood, char, moist wood, and daylily. I also began to note a buttery, starchy quality that I found to be very reminiscent of popcorn.

I’ve had several Big Red Robes fairly recently and this one stood out to me for its quirkiness and complex layers of aromas and flavors. I am not certain that I would feel comfortable recommending this tea to someone new to this style or to Wuyi oolongs in general, but I do feel that this tea made for an extremely interesting contrast with Verdant’s regular Big Red Robe. In the end, I enjoyed this one, but found it difficult to rate.

I have finally done it. Here is the review/tasting note for tea #200. As I eclipsed the 150 mark, I began to wonder if I could manage to find the time to try 200 teas this year. I then challenged myself to do so. Though I am cutting it close, this review marks #200 for me.

I prepared this tea Western style. I steeped approximately 3 grams of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 203 F water for 5 minutes. I have tried multi-step infusions for this tea in the past, but I have not liked the results quite as much as those obtained from a single extended infusion.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves emitted gentle, pleasant aromas of toffee and raisin. After infusion, the scents of toffee and raisin were joined by malt and cream. In the mouth, gentle, superbly integrated notes of golden raisin, toffee, malt, cinnamon, nutmeg, pistachio, and roasted almond washed across the palate. The finish emphasized a lingering balance of the flavors described above plus a note of steamed milk. Overall, the flavor reminded me a lot of kheer, the Indian rice pudding.

This was a very sweet, mellow, resilient tea that seemed to adapt easily to a number of different brewing styles. There was absolutely no tannic bite or any astringency whatsoever. One thing I’m beginning to notice about a lot of these Georgian black teas is that their mild, balanced flavor and smooth texture give way to an extremely robust, flavorful, and long-lasting finish. With this tea, I was continually impressed by how much flavor lingered in my mouth after the swallow and how wonderfully soothing the afterglow was. Due to this tea’s lack of bite, astringency, and immediate caffeine jolt, I would not recommend it as a breakfast tea or as a tea to be paired with heavier foods. I would, however, strongly recommend it as an afternoon or evening tea to be consumed on its own or paired with lighter, sweeter fare.

At this point in the year, I am spending a good deal of my free time slurping down a lot of the green teas and lighter oolongs I have accumulated over the course of the year. I just can’t stand the thought of those fragile teas going stale before I get the opportunity to try them. This baozhong I picked up sometime toward the end of the summer was a product of the winter 2015 harvest. Though it is not a fancy competition grade baozhong, it does hold some appeal.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. Note that I am still using more or less mainland Chinese methods when it comes to preparing these Taiwanese oolongs. For this session, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 185 F water for 10 seconds following a quick rinse. This was followed by 11 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute 5 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 2 minutes 30 seconds, and 3 minutes 30 seconds.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaves emitted a mild, pleasant vegetal aroma with a hint of floral character. After the rinse, the floral character became slightly stronger. I also began to note scents of cream and butter emerging. The first infusion presented more clearly defined aromas of sweetgrass, snap peas, soybean, violet, sweet pea, gardenia, vanilla, lily, lilac, and magnolia. In the mouth, there was a slight floral character on the entry, though it was nothing like the nose. I mostly perceived flavors of vanilla, cream, custard, butter, snap peas, sweetgrass, spinach, and soybean. Subsequent infusions saw the floral character become more assertive on the nose and more distinct in the mouth. At this point, I was able to pick out the individual floral components on the tongue that I was getting on the nose. Later infusions were smooth, creamy, and vegetal all around. The floral character began to fade, allowing aromas and flavors of sweetgrass, snap peas, soybean, spinach, cream, butter, custard, and vanilla to move to the fore once again. I also noted a slight mineral presence on the finish and a hint of ripe honeydew that I noted at no other point during the session.

I’ve had other farmer’s choice baozhongs this year and I have to say that I enjoyed them about as much as some of the more acclaimed competition grade teas. They were just so pleasant and easy to drink. While this particular baozhong displayed the thin mouthfeel that I do not always immediately appreciate and often associate with spring harvested baozhongs, it did display a nice, though simplistic layering of floral, savory, and vegetal aromas and flavors. I was also impressed by just how much character the tea retained over a fairly lengthy session. Though this was not my favorite non-competition baozhong that I have tried this year, I did find a lot to like about this one. I could see it making a respectable everyday baozhong.

After I finish with this review, the backlog will be empty once again. I’m sure that some of you who may stumble across this review know the tremendous sense of relief that comes with catching up all of your work. Part of what kept me from reviewing this tea sooner was that I made a point of trying to really savor it. I also pushed myself to see how it reacted to multiple methods of preparation.

I brewed this tea both Western and gongfu. I actually tried two different Western preparations. One was a one step preparation in which I steeped approximately 3-4 grams of loose tea leaves in around 8 ounces of 205 F water for 5 minutes. The other method was a three step infusion in which I steeped 3 grams of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 205 F water for 3 minutes and then followed that up with 5 and 7 minute infusions. For the gongfu session, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 205 F water for 5 seconds following a quick rinse. This infusion was followed by 12 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes. This review will primarily detail the results of the gongfu session, though I will undoubtedly comment on the other preparations at some point.

Prior to the rinse, I noted that the dry tea leaves emitted pleasant aromas of dark chocolate and malt. After the rinse, I noted more pronounced aromas of dark chocolate and malt accompanied by hints of brown sugar and orange. The first infusion produced a similar, albeit slightly more integrated aroma. The mouth was dominated by dark chocolate, though I could detect impressions of sorghum molasses, malt, brown sugar, and wood just beneath the heavy chocolate flavor. Subsequent infusions introduced a fruitiness and creaminess on the nose and in the mouth. The dark chocolate, brown sugar, malt, wood, and sorghum were joined by impressions of cream, orange peel, and black cherry. Later infusions emphasized the wood, malt, and cream impressions, though traces of orange peel, sorghum, and dark chocolate remained. I noted that a slight mineral presence emerged both on the nose and in the mouth, as did a somewhat distant impression of black walnut.

While the gongfu session presented a very elegant, layered tea that revealed its charms over time, the Western infusions predictably produced a more balanced tea liquor overall. The one step infusion emphasized the tea’s woodier, more tannic qualities and presented a more astringent brew that nevertheless revealed strong notes of orange peel, wood, malt, cream, and dark chocolate. The three step infusion moved from heavy dark chocolate, wood, and malt presences during the first infusion to a sweeter, fruitier cup full of brown sugar, cream, orange, and black cherry notes during the second infusion. The third infusion presented a mildly malty, creamy liquor with wood, chocolate, fruit, and mineral underpinnings.

In the end, I was very pleased with this tea. I found it to be very sophisticated, yet also very approachable. While I do wish it had a little more bite, I think fans of smooth, nuanced black teas will find a lot to love about this one. I would have no problem recommending this tea to anyone searching for a high quality Chinese black tea with plenty of character.