2 Tasting Notes

87

Method of brewing: gaiwan

Leaf to water ratio: I filled the gaiwan 50% with leaves, the rest water

Temperature: Around 205 degrees farenheit, I let the water just barely come to a boil and then sit for a minute or two.

Rinse: I did a “flash-rinse”, pouring water into the gaiwan and then immediately pouring the water out. I only did one rinse.

Steeps:
I steeped this tea for 20 seconds the first infusion, second infusion, and third infusion. For the fourth infusion, I steeped the tea for 30 seconds. This tea feels like it can go on for 3 or 4 more infusions before it starts to go flat in taste.

Tastes:
The tastes are ordered from most noticeable to least noticeable.

The first taste that immediately jumps out at me is that of cocoa. It is a pleasant taste reminiscent of dark chocolate. However, there is not the bitterness that cocoa frequently has — it is less bitter. The second taste that jumps out at me is a cut-grass type flavor; slightly sweet. The third taste that I pick up is that of milk or cream; very slightly there, and almost more of a mouthfeel than a taste. Finally, there subtle tastes that I cannot quite put a finger on which just add to the pleasant taste of the tea.

Mouthfeel:
The mouthfeel is as if you drank milk— slightly viscous. It has a slight dehydrating feel, not nearly as bad as coffee but I feel that if I were to drink a lot of this tea I would need to drink a glass of water.

Additional notes:
This tea feels like it would make a good desert-tea, for when you are craving something like chocolate.

Flavors: Cocoa, Cut Grass, Dark Chocolate

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

83

Background: Recently, I have been trying Pu’erh teas. I am still relatively new to them, however.

Leaves: This appears to be a ripe Pu’erh with slightly green leaves, looking mostly like a typical Pu’erh tea. The leaves are not compressed. There is a mix of large-leaves and small-leaves.

Flavors: Black-tea, Cocoa, Smokey, Autumn leaves

Bitterness: This tea was borderline astringent — just beginning to turn a little bitter.

Brewing method: 1.5 tablespoon in 100 ml gaiwan, ~5 second rinse, 1st steep 20 seconds, 2cnd steep 30 seconds, 3rd steep 40 seconds.

Mouth-feel/Aftertaste: Slightly coated, almost like drinking water but not quite — and it has a pleasant aftertaste of black tea and cocoa.

Review:
This tea is very complex. What immediately jumps out at me is a black-tea type taste, almost like a Darjeeling.

Then, there is a chocolate flavor that emerges every now and then — but not too powerful, the black tea taste is always there. On some sips, there is a smokey-like flavor, but again it does not overpower either the chocolate undertone or the black-tea like base flavor. On other sips, there is a really slight taste of hay and autumn leaves — again, not overpowering any of the other flavors. I would order them (in order of strongest to weakest flavor) like this: black tea, chocolate/cocoa, smoke, leaves. There are more flavors that I can’t quite explain, and perhaps more infusions would reveal more.

I am glad that I found this tea — I recently prepared another Pu’erh, and it wasn’t my favorite, but now I am excited to try more! I am still thinking about some of the complex flavors, and it is a lot of fun.

Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Cocoa, Hay

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 3 OZ / 100 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer