1048 Tasting Notes

91
drank Bai Rui Xiang by Verdant Tea
1048 tasting notes

Yet another of the samples I recently finished, this made for an extremely interesting contrast with the Mei Zhan. While the Mei Zhan was earthy, grainy, and chocolaty with integrated fruity and floral characteristics, this oolong was much sweeter and lighter. It offered a creamier texture in the mouth and more of a pronounced floral quality overall.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I started off with an initial infusion of 5 seconds in 4 ounces of 208 F water using 5 grams of loose tea leaves. I followed this infusion up with 10 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 8 seconds, 11 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaves emitted a mildly floral aroma. After the rinse, I picked up on more pronounced aromas of flowers, vanilla, cream, and huckleberry. The first infusion presented a similar, though somewhat more floral aroma. In the mouth, I detected delicate notes of huckleberry, vanilla, cream, and minerals underscored by an orchid-like floral character. Subsequent infusions were considerably fruitier and more floral on the nose and in the mouth. I began to note more pronounced aromas and flavors of orchid, lotus, and jasmine. I also began to note a subtle breadiness and a fairly noticeable fruitiness on the finish. The people at Verdant describe it as a “hint of tamarind,” and quite frankly, I found that to be a more or less accurate description. The minerality also began to emerge more fully at this point. The later infusions were very mineral heavy, though I could still detect subtle aromas and flavors of fresh bread, vanilla, cream, and flowers.

As mentioned earlier, this made for an extremely interesting contrast with the Mei Zhan. I was expecting an earthy, mineral heavy tea, but surprisingly, this was all sweetness and light. Despite the obvious mineral character, this did not come across like any other Wuyi oolong I have tried to this point. I very much enjoyed this tea’s floral aroma and flavor and could definitely see myself returning to this one in the near future.

Flavors: Bread, Cream, Floral, Fruity, Huckleberry, Jasmine, Mineral, Orchid, Vanilla

Preparation
Boiling 5 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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82
drank Mei Zhan by Verdant Tea
1048 tasting notes

I’m starting to fall behind on my tasting notes yet again. Over the course of the past couple of days, I have been working on polishing off a lot of the samples I have received over the past 2-3 months. This oolong was one of them.

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. I followed this infusion up with 10 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 8 seconds, 11 seconds, 14 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I detected aromas of char and earth coupled with mild fruity and floral qualities. After the rinse, I detected aromas of char and earth, as well as more pronounced scents of orchid, blackberry, plums, huckleberry, dark chocolate, and roasted grain. The first proper infusion produced a similar, though slightly grainier, more chocolaty aroma. In the mouth, I picked up notes of char, earth, wood, blackberry, plums, huckleberry, dark chocolate, minerals, and roasted grain underscored by a slight floral quality. Subsequent infusions saw the floral aromas and flavors emerge in a big way. I began to detect more pronounced aromas and flavors of hibiscus and orchid, though the previously noted aromas and flavors were still very noticeable. Later infusions were very mineral and char heavy with traces of roasted grain, dark chocolate, plums, huckleberry, and oddly enough, roasted vegetables detectable in the background.

To be perfectly honest, this was both a difficult tea to rate and a difficult tea about which to write. For me, it was the sort of tea that makes in-depth analysis impossible. It more or less lets you know what to expect from the start and does not change all that much from there. All I can comfortably say here is that if you are a fan of traditional Wuyi oolongs, then you may like this on some level, but if you are not, I would urge you to look elsewhere.

Flavors: Blackberry, Char, Dark Chocolate, Earth, Hibiscus, Huckleberry, Mineral, Orchid, Plum, Roasted Barley, Vegetables, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 5 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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88

At some point I was going to have to try some of Adagio’s fandom blends. The concept is just so fun that I knew I would not be able to resist. The only problem was choosing where to begin. There are so many of these things. I ultimately decided to start with a sampler of Mass Effect fandom blends. I not only needed to get my nerd on, but also celebrate it openly.

This particular blend is a mixture of Adagio’s Earl Grey Moonlight, blackberry, and raspberry. I prepared it using the one step Western infusion process I often favor for non-Chinese black teas and many black tea blends. I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose tea in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. No additional infusions were attempted.

Prior to infusion, I noted that this blend emitted a mild creamy, fruity aroma with just a hint of citrus. After infusion, I noted strong aromas of vanilla, cream, bergamot, blackberry, and raspberry joined by just a hint of orange peel. In the mouth, I detected strong fruity notes of blackberry, raspberry, bergamot, and orange up front that were quickly joined by notes of cream and vanilla underscored by toast. The texture was very creamy and smooth, as the blend lacked the soapiness of traditional Earl Grey blends.

It kind of pains me to say this, but I found this to be a nice blend. The fruity sweetness was balanced and the creaminess was not overwhelming. As usual, I wish the body were somewhat fuller and heavier, which is my typical complaint with Earl Greys and flavored black tea blends in general, but that is a fairly minor quibble. I don’t really have any serious complaints with this one.

Flavors: Bergamot, Blackberry, Cream, Orange, Raspberry, Toast, Vanilla

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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90

This is another tea that I forgot I had. I bought it when it went on sale several months ago in order to compare it to the 2016 Spring Farmer’s Choice Baozhong (a tea for which I still need to post a review). I had heard that the winter 2015 harvest teas were very good and were holding up extremely well, so I figured that this tea would be worth the investment. As it turned out, it was.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 5 seconds. I then conducted 12 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I noted a slightly musty, vegetal aroma emitted by the dry tea leaves. It reminded me of a combination of peas, grass, and spinach. After the rinse, the vegetal, grassy aroma was still there and was joined by floral and citrus scents. On the first infusion, I noticed that the floral and citrus aromas were slightly more pronounced. There were also subtle scents of cream and butter, as well as traces of grass, peas, and spinach. In the mouth, I noted a floral quality up front that was balanced by cream and butter. The grassiness was fairly pronounced. I also noted touches of peas and spinach. I expected more of a citrus note, but all I managed to pick out was a very slight fruity tartness on the finish. Subsequent infusions were far more robust and complex. I noted aromas and flavors of cream, butter, grass, vanilla, tangerine, lime zest, and fresh flowers. Though the tasting note provided by Floating Leaves led me to believe that this baozhong was not particularly floral, I got a consistent floral quality from it. It reminded me of a combination of lily, gardenia, lilac, hyacinth, honeysuckle, and saffron. The floral quality was, however, not overwhelming or dominant in the mouth. Instead, it balanced the more savory and vegetal qualities of the tea. I also noted slight notes of spinach and peas, as well as a touch of minerals on the finish. The later infusions were very mild and smooth, offering mostly subtle aromas and notes of minerals, grass, cream, butter, and lime zest. When I really focused, I could still note a touch of flowers, vanilla, spinach, and peas, though these impressions were extremely distant and fleeting.

This baozhong surprised me. It displayed considerable complexity within its smooth, refined integration of aromas and flavors without an abundance of depth and body in the mouth. Indeed, the texture of the tea liquor was very thin and slick, which took a little while for me to appreciate. All in all, I was very impressed by this tea and think it would make a wonderful everyday baozhong.

Flavors: Butter, Citrus, Cream, Floral, Gardenias, Grass, Honeysuckle, Lime, Mineral, Peas, Saffron, Spinach, Vanilla

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML
Babble

Thanks man. This was a really helpful and indepth review. I ended up getting the tea. We will see how it goes :)

eastkyteaguy

No problem. I hope you like it. Please let me know what you think. I will, of course, state the obvious and emphasize that all of my reviews are more or less a reflection of my perception of a certain tea prepared in a certain way at a certain point in time. Your mileage may vary. Also know that I naturally tend to favor the autumn/winter harvests and my gongfu methodology is a personalized approach loosely based on mainland Chinese practices. I know very little about Taiwanese gongfu brewing and have no clue how a tea like this would respond to such a preparation.

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72

I haven’t been posting reviews for a few days now. I mostly wanted to take a break. I am getting ready to begin a new job after the holiday and will then be leaving immediately for a conference out of town that will last a full week. It is doubtful that I will be posting many reviews or taking part in discussions here on Steepster during this time. I will try to pop in before I leave to share some thoughts on whatever it is I will be drinking between now and then.

I have been working on a 1 ounce sample of this Assam for a couple of days now. I have mostly been using it as a breakfast tea. For the most part, I have been preparing it Western style and only doing one infusion. Most of the time I have been favoring a 3 minute infusion of 1 teaspoon of loose leaf material in 8 ounces of 212 F water, though I have also tried slightly longer infusions of around 4 and 5 minutes and will comment on those briefly.

I was not able to get much of an aroma from the dry tea leaves. After infusion, I noticed mild aromas of wood, spice, and malt. In the mouth, I picked up on notes of oak, cinnamon, nutmeg, cream, toast, leather, herbs, straw, roasted nuts, and malt. Compared to many of the other Assams I have been drinking, this one was not as smooth or as sweet, displaying woodier, spicier, and more herbal flavors. The longer infusions struck me as being woodier, nuttier, and slightly more herbal with a fairly pronounced astringency.

The first time I tried this Assam I really liked it, but my subsequent experiences with it have modified my first impression somewhat. It is not that I find this to be a bad-actually, I rather like it. I just kind of find it a little odd. It definitely would not be an everyday Assam for me. Still, I think if one were looking for a rather distinctive, atypical Assam that retains a full body and smooth texture in the mouth, one could do far worse than giving this tea a serious shot.

Flavors: Cinnamon, Cream, Herbs, Leather, Malt, Nutmeg, Oak, Roasted Nuts, Straw, Toast

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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80

Wow. This was a blast from the past. While organizing my tea cabinets yesterday, I discovered a pouch of this tea. I apparently bought it when Verdant had a sale going on a few months back and then promptly forgot about it. Naturally, I had to crack it open and give it a try. More than anything, I realized that this tea was from the Spring 2015 picking and was released to the public sometime between mid 2015 and early 2016. I did not want it to go to waste.

I decided to prepare this tea gongfu style. I started off by steeping 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 5 seconds. I followed this up with 14 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 8 seconds, 11 seconds, 14 seconds, 17 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse (I do not always rinse black teas, but decided to here. I figured that with the age of the tea a quick rinse might help it open a tad more), I was able to detect mild aromas of pine, smoke, mandarin orange, elderberry, and huckleberry. The rinse and the initial infusion brought out subtle aromas of blackberry, honey, and juniper as well. The first infusion started off with a strong combination of pine, elderberry, juniper berry, huckleberry, blackberry, and mandarin orange underscored by traces of honey, smoke, and minerals. There was also an almost sugary sweetness lingering in the background. Verdant describes it as rock candy, but that was not what I was getting. Subsequent infusions brought out the fruitiness and sweetness of the tea. The woodier, more savory characteristics faded a tad, while the aromas and flavors of elderberry, huckleberry, mandarin orange, blackberry, and honey were more heavily emphasized. I was able to better place the sugary sweetness at this point. It reminded me of both marzipan and light maple syrup. The mineral notes began to play a slightly larger role on the finish, but were not nearly as noticeable as I was expecting. Later infusions were unexpectedly smooth. I got mostly minerals and a touch of mandarin orange on the nose and in the mouth, though I could also detect touches of maple syrup, smoke, wood, honey, and marzipan.

This was a very refined, subtle tea with considerable staying power. I think I could have probably gotten away with using one more gram of loose tea. That may have provided a more intense and lasting set of aromas and flavors, but the preparation outlined above was still enjoyable. I have no clue how this tea compares to the regular Wuyi Gongfu Black, as I have yet to try it, and I also do not know if or how much this tea has faded over the course of the year. What I do know is that I found this tea to be pleasant, yet simpler and more straight-forward than I was expecting. I did not note a ton of change or anything really out of the ordinary over the course of the session. The tea lets the drinker know what to expect up front, lays everything out for them, and then fades. I prefer stronger, more robustly flavored black teas, and I guess I was kind of expecting this to be that kind of tea. My experience, however, suggested that it was not. In all honesty, I found myself drinking this more like a puerh after a certain point. Rather than looking for tons of change in the aroma and flavor components, I began drinking this exclusively for texture and overall feel. I think that is probably where I got the most out of this tea. In the end, I enjoyed this tea, but I also would have preferred something more robust. If you are the sort of person who gets a lot of mileage out of very subtle, reserved teas, then this may very well be up your alley. I think it is worth a shot regardless.

Flavors: Blackberry, Fruity, Huckleberry, Maple Syrup, Marzipan, Mineral, Orange, Pine, Smoke

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 5 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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46

This was another sample I received with a Harney & Sons order. Until I drank it a couple nights ago, it had been sitting around in my sample pile for a couple of months. I had totally forgotten about it.

I prepared this tea using a one step Western infusion. Honestly, I chose to not press on with a second infusion because I did not care for the results of the first infusion all that much. Anyway, I steeped the sample sachet in 8 ounces of 175 F water for 3 minutes.

Prior to infusion, I noted that the dry tea and mint blend mostly produced a strong aroma of peppermint. After infusion, I again noted a strong scent of peppermint, though I also picked up on hints of grass and cream. In the mouth, the peppermint dominated. I also got a slight creaminess, which I often get from peppermint. Aside from very subtle notes of straw and grass, the green tea did not display much of a presence at all.

This is one that I will definitely pass on in the future. I am not entirely averse to mint teas, but I like them to be more balanced. This was very heavy on the mint, which made the blend seem very off-kilter and one-dimensional. If you happen to receive a free sample of this blend, by all means try it, but just be aware that it is definitely all about the mint.

Flavors: Cream, Grass, Peppermint, Straw

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec 8 OZ / 236 ML

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77
drank Golden Monkey by Adagio Teas
1048 tasting notes

We have another sipdown here. I had been working on a sample pouch of this tea for a couple of days and finished the last of it this morning. I used to really enjoy teas like this when I was younger, but had not had one in several years. I was delighted to find that I still enjoy this type of black tea, though I remembered this specific tea as being a little better than I found it to be.

I prepared this tea two ways. The first was a one step Western infusion. I followed Adagio’s guidelines here. I steeped 1 heaped teaspoon of loose tea leaves in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. The second preparation was gongfu. I started off by steeping 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 208 F water for 5 seconds. I then followed this infusion up with 11 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 8 seconds, 11 seconds, 14 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

The Western infusion yielded a smooth and subtle brew. I noted mild aromas of cocoa, oak, and toast on the nose. In the mouth, I noted integrated notes of cocoa, oak, cream, toast, malt, and cinnamon in the mouth. The gongfu session yielded a more complex brew. Prior to infusion, I noted a soft, subtle aroma of cocoa coming from the dry leaves. After infusion, I noted slightly more pronounced aromas of toast, malt, cream, oak, cocoa, and spice. In the mouth, I picked up on a strong flavor of cocoa underscored by cinnamon, oak, pine, toast, malt, and cream. Subsequent infusions introduced aromas and flavors of juniper berry, honey, leather, and black peppercorns. Later infusions were very mild with a slight mineral tinge, though honey, wood, malt, and cocoa notes remained. I noticed that this tea started off strong in the gongfu session, but faded quickly. The first 5 infusions yielded a strong, flavorful liquor, the next 3 infusions were decent, and the final 4 infusions were mostly a wash with very subtle aroma and flavor sensations.

This was not a bad golden monkey, but I have had better. Gongfuing this produced more interesting results, but the Western brews were smoother and more consistent overall. In the end, I could see this being a solid all-purpose Chinese black tea or a good introductory Chinese black tea.

Flavors: Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Cream, Honey, Leather, Malt, Oak, Pine, Toast

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75
drank Masala Chai by Adagio Teas
1048 tasting notes

I received a sample pouch of this chai with my most recent Adagio order. I was not exactly thrilled. I have hated all forms of chai since I was a teenager. I don’t remember why I developed such a hatred for the stuff. I love tea and I normally like spicy things, so one would expect chai to be right up my alley. Sadly, one would be wrong, or at least one would be wrong most of the time. I did not find this chai to be all that bad.

I followed Adagio’s brewing guidelines for this one. I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose material in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 10 minutes. At one point, I tried a shorter steep time of around 8 minutes, but I could not detect much of a difference from the longer infusion, so I will be limiting myself to a discussion of that specific preparation. I also tried a 10 minute infusion with an addition of milk. I will comment on that one briefly.

Prior to infusion, the loose tea and spice blend greeted me with overpowering aromas of cinnamon, cardamom, and clove. I failed to note the aroma of ginger. After infusion, I again noted pronounced aromas of cinnamon, cardamom, and clove. I again failed to pick up the presence of ginger. In the mouth, I detected strong notes of cinnamon, cardamom, clove, and ginger underscored by traces of cream, malt, caramel, and toast. The tea base seemed a little weak to me. I also noticed that as the liquor moved from the entry to the finish in the mouth, the notes of cinnamon and ginger became increasingly dominant. I think it may have been a good idea for Adagio to rein in the cinnamon a bit. It was a little distracting. Interestingly, this chai came across as richly and boldy spicy, as well as a bit bitter and biting. Trying this same preparation with an addition of milk yielded a slightly smoother, sweeter, silkier brew. The milk seemed to bring out the tea base a little more, but it unfortunately further muted the cardamom and clove aromas and flavors to a limited extent.

I don’t know. I fully expected to hate this stuff, but I didn’t. Actually, I thought it was pretty decent for a masala chai. Granted I have not exactly been consuming chai on a regular basis or anything, but I could still get through this without many complaints. I think the fact that it was more robustly spicy and a touch more bitter than I was expecting made me appreciate it more. If I had more of it, I would try it with both milk and a touch of either honey or sugar just to see if the cinnamon and ginger could be tamed a little more.

Flavors: Biting, Bitter, Caramel, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cream, Ginger, Malt, Spicy, Toast

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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91

My schedule has been so tight recently that I have not been able to do many gongfu sessions. That means that my oolong and puerh consumption has seriously declined. Transferring to a new job has unfortunately been limiting my free time. When I have had time to drink oolong this week, this has been the one I have been drinking. It’s a nice rolled oolong that is very easy to drink.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 195 F water for 10 seconds. I followed this initial infusion up with 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, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 2 minutes 30 seconds, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, a sniff of the dry tea leaves revealed a mildly floral aroma. After the rinse, I noted pronounced aromas of cream, butter, custard, apricot, peach, and fresh flowers. The first infusion produced a similar, albeit slightly more balanced aroma. In the mouth, I detected a pleasant blend of cream, butter, custard, vanilla, sticky rice, and honey underscored by perfume-like notes of saffron, lily, lilac, honeysuckle, and gardenia. There was also a very subtle nuttiness that I caught just before the fade. Subsequent infusions amplified the fruit, vanilla, honey, and floral notes. The vague nuttiness emerged more fully, revealing the flavor of roasted almonds. A slight breadiness also began to emerge. Tealyra describes it as a toast note, but I thought it was more reminiscent of fresh baguettes. A note of golden raisin also began to appear around this time as well. Later infusions grew nuttier, creamier, and breadier. I noticed that the baguette, roasted almond, cream, butter, and custard notes began to dominate, though I could still detect soft, yet distinct impressions of flowers, honey, golden raisin, and vanilla. Oddly, I did not detect much of a mineral presence. Normally, I get a lot of minerality from oolongs, but not this one. For the most part, it remained smooth, sweet, creamy, floral, fruity, and buttery throughout the course of the session.

This was an intriguing oolong with a great blend of aromas and flavors. I probably could have gotten at least one or two more infusions out of it, but decided to stop where I did because it was late and I needed to get some sleep. Judging from this encounter though, I would not hesitate to recommend this tea to just about anyone looking for a quality oolong at a great price. I honestly think it would please both experienced drinkers and oolong novices alike.

Flavors: Almond, Apricot, Bread, Butter, Cream, Custard, Floral, Gardenias, Honey, Honeysuckle, Peach, Raisins, Saffron, Vanilla

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML
Fjellrev

I hope you’ll be able to find more pockets of time in the future to enjoy the tea that you like.

eastkyteaguy

Fjellrev, that makes two of us.

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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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