70 Tasting Notes

86

Wow, I didn’t expect this to taste like the real stuff. Freshly cooked rice fluffed with a knob of butter, and those crunchy pieces that are stuck to the bottom of the pot. Om nom nom nom…
The tea leaves are olive green but I could also spot the odd blanched-spinach-green leaf in there, which I guess is safe to assume is the Nuo Mi Xiang herb. Not sure if it’s a rogue leaf or if it’s supposed to be there.
The color of the liquor is pale gold with slight green hints – in-between a sauvignon blanc and semillon.
Back to the taste, in addition to the sticky rice and going in the same direction there’s notes of popcorn. Balancing all this toasty, crunchy goodness is some refreshing greenness that reminds me of stinging nettles tea. This completes the savoury profile and goes well with the buttery notes too.
It’s a unique tea and an interesting experience indeed. I can see myself going back to it once in a while.

Flavors: Butter, Green, Popcorn, Rice, Toasted Rice

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 0 min, 45 sec 6 g 6 OZ / 190 ML

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95

This is a truly delightful black tea. Intense red grapes fruitiness but with delicious charred notes. I haven’t tried petmez/pekmez but that’s how I imagine it would taste – grape must that has been boiled down until all the sugars are nice and caramelized and resemble sticky sweet molasses. Then there’s some roasted cacao beans on the finish and maybe just a hint of rose. I should order some more of this.

Flavors: Cacao, Caramel, Grapes, Honey, Molasses, Smoke

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec 6 g 6 OZ / 190 ML

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95
drank 2017 Flap Jacks - Ripe by white2tea
70 tasting notes

An update to my previous tasting note and a bump in the rating.
Not sure if it’s because of the preparation parameters or something else altogether but this was an extremely delightful cup of tea. Woody notes aside, it was like having a plate of scrumptious toasty waffles served with a dollop of mouthwatering vanilla ice cream and some light maple syrup for good measure. I was ready for some good shou but this totally blew me away.

Flavors: Caramel, Creamy, Sweet, Thick, Vanilla, Wood

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 45 sec 8 g 12 OZ / 350 ML

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83

I had this at work a couple of days ago, so the memory is a bit vague. Chikondi means love in Chichewa – a Bantu language spoken in Malawi. These beads hold their shape quite well. They hadn’t unfurled fully by the time I was done with them, which probably means they still had some juice left in them. Using a 350ml mug has the downside of getting to enjoy fewer steeps.
This tea produces a light brass colored liquor with a distinctive biscuity flavor. Freshly baked langues de chat, a hint of burnt sugar and roasted squash. An interesting white tea for both looks and taste.

Flavors: Burnt Sugar, Butternut Squash, Cookie

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 0 sec 6 g 12 OZ / 350 ML

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90

“So smoove we got you sayin SH!T, DAMN, MOTHERF$CKER
Amen to that, 2Dog, amen to that!
It’s been a while since my last shou indulgence and, boy, I enjoyed every last drop of it.
It’s smoove alright, and it’s sweet and creamy. Balm for the soul it is. Just a touch of wood and that lingering brown sugar goodness. Mmm, mmm, mmm. It’s the simple things in life y’know.

Flavors: Brown Sugar, Sweet, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec 6 g 4 OZ / 130 ML

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81

Had this at work yesterday. 5-6g in a 350ml mug at 90C instead of the recommended 80C but for half the recommended time. This results in a pretty light and delicate floral green tea. Lots of lilacs, simple white sugar sweetness and just a touch of greenness. This green note gets stronger in subsequent infusions. The lilacs remain on the breath for some time after swallowing. Overall pretty good if you’re in a mood for something light and undistracting.

Flavors: Floral, Green, Sugar, Sweet

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 30 sec 6 g 12 OZ / 350 ML

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73

Interesting to look at but nothing unique and unexpected in terms of taste.
It is by no means a bad tea, especially considering it consists of only stems :D Not being true leaf means it takes a longer brewing time to extract the good stuff. The liquor has an enchanting polished bronze color, with no floating particulate.
The tea has a nice deep taste and aroma of honey and stewed apricot. I gotta get my hands on some lychees and get that taste memory sorted once and for all. As of this moment I can neither confirm nor deny their appearance in the overall taste profile.
The body feel is pretty neutral as well, caffeine content being quite low in the stems.

Flavors: Apricot, Honey

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 6 g 12 OZ / 350 ML

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70
drank No. 507 Rich Purple by Paper & Tea
70 tasting notes

This is a strange one. The dry leaf is quite dark and resembles a Wu Yi oolong with a few stems in between that are quite thick and somewhat out of place. When wet the leaf takes on a deep olive green color. The leaves are quite large but broken up in pieces. It doesn’t really look like a fully oxidized black tea to me. Liquor color is dark gold with a very light purple tint.

I’m having this at work so I’m using a 350ml mug with a strainer basket. I’m using a fairly good amount of leaf and have cut the recommended steep time of 2-2:30 minutes almost in half. This helps keep the astringency at bay. Not that it’s particularly heavy but still.

In terms of aroma and flavor this tea delivers a fragrant bouquet of dark and vine fruit. I get blackberries, black and red currants, muscat grapes, grape skin astringency. The liquor has a pleasant sweetness. There is also some greenness and a light roasty flavor like from an oolong. There’s a lingering moscatel aroma after swallowing. It’s a nice tea but won’t be making it to my list of favorites.

Flavors: Astringent, Black Currant, Blackberry, Grapes, Green

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 30 sec 6 g 12 OZ / 350 ML

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88

I like this one. It’s quite fruity. It brews a nice light golden liquor with a peachy pinkish hue in the initial steeps. Do shorter brews to keep the bitterness at bay. I get pears and quince, dried apricots, plum jam, a hint of wild strawberry. There’s sweetness but it’s not overwhelming. On the finish I get herbal honey and jam, some light floral notes as well and maybe even a touch of baking spices.
Overall, this is quite pleasant and would make for a pretty good and uplifting everyday sheng.

Flavors: Apricot, Bitter, Fruity, Honey, Jam, Pear, Plum, Strawberry

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 4 OZ / 130 ML

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84
drank 2018 Arbor Red by white2tea
70 tasting notes

I haven’t had many black teas so far, so here’s me working on that. This is an interesting black tea. The first thing that I noticed sniffing at the wet leaf was some savoury smokiness which came to me totally unexpected. It was almost barbecue-ish. That toned down quickly and by the third infusion there was still smokiness but no longer so meaty and savoury. The other dominant notes were tobacco and herbs – of the medicinal type, not those you use in the kitchen. It reminded me of those herbal medicine shops, where you can’t really pick out any one herb but it’s all mingled in a single powerful redolence. All this was backed by a thick body, slightly malty, with some underlying sweetness. In later steeps some fruitiness was present as well. The liquor was a beautiful amber color and teeming with tiny hairs when seen against the bright window. The empty cha hai had a strikingly strong sweet aroma reminiscent of herbal honey. This tea had a very gentle uplifting effect even though it was a long session.

Flavors: Fruity, Herbaceous, Smoke, Tobacco, Wood

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec 6 g 4 OZ / 130 ML
derk

Ohhh, this sounds excellent. Thanks for sharing.

Hris

My pleasure :) I can’t wait to try its white counterpart.

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