100

QUICK NOTES
-I didn’t buy this tea myself, a friend asked me to purchase it for him and
I guess deemed me worthy of a generous ‘sample’. So I thank your Roberto, greatly appreciated!
-I’ve tried the tea 3 times now and this time around I used very short steeps. I really wanted to taste the leaves as they opened. So I guess that even with the initial ‘washing’ the first steeps may be considered too light for some.

Gong Fu with 5oz gaiwan – 5-6gm of tea

Dry LeavesEXTREMELY refreshing and camphor scent with a very present earthy/dry compost scent.
Wet Leaves – Mostly sweet and earthy scent with muskiness and very present freshness.

1st – 1sec – Very light bronze color; light and refreshing with almost hidden sweetness and subtly savory notes. It feels very refreshing and clean. The aftertaste is purely sweet.

2nd – 2secs – Clean and refreshing with more sweetness than the previous steep but there’s some noticeable savory hint to it. There’s a very slight earthiness to it and even though is mostly ‘clean’ it has a good body that seems to ‘coat’ my tongue almost buttery or creamy.

3rd – 1sec – A darker bronze color; Sweet scent and creamy scent from the lid. The liquid is very sweet and mellow, once again feels like it is coating my tongue in a creamy/buttery sensation. Very sweet aftertaste.

4th – 1sec – The leave in the gaiwan start to separate; the scent is more earthy than previously. The liquid is VERY sweet, smooth and almost ‘heavy’ in its creamy sensation. There’s a slight increase int he earthy notes but it is still very subtle. The camphor freshness is incredible and present from the start through the aftertaste.

5th – 1sec – Sweet, refreshing and creamy. The tea is almost about to loosen completely, giving it another sweetness ‘jolt’ to the steep. The tea has proven to be ‘filling’, the creaminess of its body stays in my tongue even long after the liquid has washed down.

6th – 1sec – The leaves are fully loose now; its scent is very sweet and creamy while still sustaining its earthy and refreshing scent. The liquid is sweet and very smooth and slightly more ‘creamy’ than before. A ‘hidden’ note that has been evading my recognition is identifiable as a ‘woody’ note, as if you could taste the roasting basket used to process the tea(in a GREAT way).

7th – 2secs – The scent from the leaves is slightly more earthy, sweet and creamy and it sustains its freshness. The liquid is Sweet(lasting longer now), smooth and the creaminess took longer to set… or the sweetness simply captured my attention for too long. At this point it feels like I’m ‘eating’ the tea rather than drinking, is filling like a light chowder soup.

8th – 2secs – The scent from the leaves is mostly creamy and sweet, the earthiness follows and then seems refreshing. The liquid is Smooth and sweet, slightly earthy but overtaken by the creamy sensation and the the sweet and refreshing aftertaste.

9th – 3secs – The scent from the leaves is unchanged but I just noticed the lid of the gaiwan smells extremely creamy and sweet like a well made cream of wheat in the morning (great now I’m hungry for it). The liquid is Sweet and smoother, there’s a ‘clean’ feeling before the creaminess sets in. At this point its creaminess and sweetness remind me of drinking a very good and creamy black tea on its 3-4 steep (gong-fu-style).

10th – 3secs – The scent changed slightly, its already subtle earthiness seems to be more faded. The liquid is very Sweet and smooth, clean and then refreshing, taking longer to become creamy and allowing more time for its savory notes to briefly make an appearance before the sweet aftertaste.

11th – 4secs – The scent is very sweet, refreshing and creamy, the earthiness is very subtle. The liquid is Smooth and clean and then sweet and refreshing, not as creamy anymore. It seems to turn cleaner and sweeter faster.

12th – 5secs – The scent again is very creamy, specially from the lid. The liquid revived its sweetness and its smoothness, refreshing with just a faint not of earthy.

13th – 6secs – The scent more subtle but maintains its proportions of sweetness,creamy, camphor and earthy. The liquid is Sweet but cleaner for a longer time before some of the creamy sensation takes place. Sweet and refreshing aftertaste.

Final Notes
-Sorry for the extremely long tasting note. I just wanted to make the tea justice and be able to express this:
I noted that using gongfu style during the 8-11th steeps the tea starts to resemble a creamy black tea, smooth, sweet and creamy. The earthy notes are extremely subtle in this tea, something that was confusing to me at first, but that is very pleasant and impressive at the same time.
Once again Thanks to my friend for sharing!

Preparation
Boiling
Bonnie

I’d love to hear what a longer steeping routine tastes like to you beginning with oh, 20 or 30 seconds which most of my Shu loving friends start at. Shengs I steep short but not Shu’s as short as you have. Interesting.

JC

Hey! I have tried it like that but decided to make my tasting notes with shorter steeps to make it easier to taste the tea(I fount some notes kind of confusing). I will post the notes with longer steeps :)

RMC

Hello Steepster! I’m Roberto, JC’s friend. I gave JC a sample of this tea for two reasons: (1) he’s a good friend (and that’s what good friends do) and (2) because I knew he would review the tea as it truly deserved. When it comes to tea tasting and reviewing I’m more of a free-spirit, if not undisciplined or untamed. Which reminds me of something David mentioned when I asked him about tea drinking. “I don’t tell anyone how to drink their tea.” David did give me some parameters for gauging the range of a tea – 30 secs, then 1 min, then 3 min. Anything in between is purely for the tea drinker to determine and enjoy.
If possible I’ll try to upload a current picture of the brick, if need be.

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Comments

Bonnie

I’d love to hear what a longer steeping routine tastes like to you beginning with oh, 20 or 30 seconds which most of my Shu loving friends start at. Shengs I steep short but not Shu’s as short as you have. Interesting.

JC

Hey! I have tried it like that but decided to make my tasting notes with shorter steeps to make it easier to taste the tea(I fount some notes kind of confusing). I will post the notes with longer steeps :)

RMC

Hello Steepster! I’m Roberto, JC’s friend. I gave JC a sample of this tea for two reasons: (1) he’s a good friend (and that’s what good friends do) and (2) because I knew he would review the tea as it truly deserved. When it comes to tea tasting and reviewing I’m more of a free-spirit, if not undisciplined or untamed. Which reminds me of something David mentioned when I asked him about tea drinking. “I don’t tell anyone how to drink their tea.” David did give me some parameters for gauging the range of a tea – 30 secs, then 1 min, then 3 min. Anything in between is purely for the tea drinker to determine and enjoy.
If possible I’ll try to upload a current picture of the brick, if need be.

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Bio

I’ve been drinking tea for about 8-10 years now, but Puerh for about 7-8 years. I love learning and I love the people who ae passionate about it. This is a constant learning field and I love that too. I’m mostly in to Puerh, Black tea and Oolongs but I do enjoy other types from time to time.

I’m adding the scale because I noted that we all use the same system but it doesn’t mean the same to all.(I rate the tea not by how much I ‘like it’ only; there are flavors/scents I don’t like but they are quality and are how they are supposed to be and I rate them as such).

90 – 100: AMAZING. This the tea I feel you should drop whatever you are doing and just enjoy.

80-89: Great tea that I would recommend because they are above ‘average’ tea, they usually posses that ‘something’ extra that separates them from the rest.

70-79: An OK tea, still good quality, taste and smell. For me usually the tea that I have at work for everyday use but I can still appreciate and get me going through my day.

60-69: Average nothing special and quality is not high. The tea you make and don’t worry about the EXACT time of steep because you just want tea.

30-59: The tea you should probably avoid, the tea that you can mostly use for iced tea and ‘hide’ what you don’t like.

1-29: Caveat emptor! I feel sorry for my enemies when they drink this tea. :P

Location

DC

Website

http://thetinmycup.blogspot.com/

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