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REPOST AS I PUT THIS UNDER WRONG TEA ORIGINALLY

Sample from gylxtea, 7g to 100ml at 205F, preheated. My sample says 2010 on it for some reason, but I think this is probably the same one?

Overall, I liked how complex it was, with some nice fruity sourness (turns a metallic kind of sour when overbrewed) and nicely contrasting bitter flavors, but I wasn’t a fan of the predominant cigarette smoke flavor that lingers throughout. It had good returning flavor (even sweetness towards the end) and savory tobacco body that coats the throat and tongue throughout its decent lifespan. The smoke flavors do die down somewhat eventually in the later steeps as well, but it never fades to the background.

I felt a little tremulous after, but not much tea drunk, probably just a decent amount of caffeine whoosh. Had a fun tingle on the tongue a minute or two after drinking that was very refreshing and slightly numbing. I think I would have liked this a lot if not for the cigarette taste.

Sample from gylxtea, 7g to 100ml at 205F, preheated. My sample says 2010 on it for some reason, but I think this is probably the same one?

Overall, I liked how complex it was, with some nice fruity sourness (turns a metallic kind of sour when overbrewed) and nicely contrasting bitter flavors, but I wasn’t a fan of the predominant cigarette smoke flavor that lingers throughout. It had good returning flavor (even sweetness towards the end) and savory tobacco body that coats the throat and tongue throughout its decent lifespan. The smoke flavors do die down somewhat eventually in the later steeps as well, but it never fades to the background.

I felt a little tremulous after, but not much tea drunk, probably just a decent amount of caffeine whoosh. Had a fun tingle on the tongue a minute or two after drinking that was very refreshing and slightly numbing. I think I would have liked this a lot if not for the cigarette taste.

5g to 100ml, 205F, preheated with a rinse. Got this in a club box from forever ago, just now cracking into it. Starts off with an intense smell of clover honey with a little bit of something dark and juicy, whoo, smells good. Overall, the taste is also very close to clover honey, but without the sweetness and quite savory which threw my brain for a spin. It does have a bit of something I’d call dank at the start, but it quickly goes away as it opens up into some mild sweetness that matches the honey profile (although never becoming what I’d actually call sweet). As you brew it out, more mineral notes come to the fore, but surprisingly quite a subtle rock flavor for yancha.

I thought it was very enjoyable and solid, with some nice ticklish energy, but a bit short lived at around 7 steeps. Does make me wonder what Clover Patch tastes like if the Qilan tastes so much like clover, though!

Mystery tea from LP labeled enigmatically only as “2014 Yancha”, thanks for the treat, LP! 100ml ru gaiwan to about ~7g of tea, 205F water. This was really good, already had those deep caramel aged flavors starting to come out of the roast, although the rough roasted edges were only just starting to smooth out. Still a rougher throat feel as a result, but lovely sticking sweetness in the throat, thick body, and the flavor still has the good rock yancha taste with just a hint of fruitiness that ramps up as it opens up. Really enjoyed this, I could definitely see myself getting more—if only I knew where it was from! Alas!

Eyeballed this one, maybe about 5-6g to a 100ml, boiling water and a rinse to preheat.

I’ve tried only one hong shui style oolong other than this one, and so far I have to say I am an avid fan of this style of tea! This particular tea was intensely sweet at the start, but underlaid with a rich, complex soup that reminded me of tomato broth. The first sip fills the chest with a steamy aroma when I inhale after drinking and continued drinking coats the throat strongly, leaving a long lingering feeling and warmth in addition to sweetness,. The color is a beautiful, rose gold tinged copper.

The other hong shui I tried was less sweet and more intensely thick and tomato-ey, but this is also quite good and I find myself drawn to the depth of this tea, which resteeps remarkably well as I got at least eleven steeps out of one session, although the first three steeps are my favorite.

Finally trying this sample from club box, whew, really behind on those, ^^;.

Half the sample bag into a 68 ml gaiwan, 185F-ish water, long rinse. Sugary sweet finish that lingers on top of a pleasant roasty backdrop. This tea really hits its stride in the late game, around steep 6 or 7, punching a surprisingly sweet honey wallop. It starts off slow, grows into that steep, and then fades slowly back out, but is incredibly forgiving throughout. I oversteeped this tea considerably for one round, and it was merely a bit bitter on the roast, rather than a bitter knot of regret as I was expecting.

Overall, very pleasant, smooth, and sweet with pretty good endurance, but kind of boring to my taste.

According to the bag, LA stored before I picked it up in Seattle from a friendly tea head. 8g to 100ml at 205F in a ruyao gaiwan, the rinse immediately wafted up a cloud of intense plum aromas, although sniffing the rinse was similar to sniffing stagnant, murky pool water, for some confusingly disappointing and unpleasant reason.

Thankfully, the tea didn’t taste anything like murky pool water, instead continuing that deep plum juiciness with a lightly astringent vibrancy and tension that built throughout early to middle steeps. A sweet (but not quite as sticky or rough textured as I’m used to) throat coating built up quickly, leaving a lingering presence long after swallowing.

The energy was very strong, although not in the caffeine kind of energizing way, more of a heavy, calm presence rooted in my skull. I had to take a break early on in this tea to get food, as it was getting overwhelming by steep 6, and I think I’d been nursing a bad cold, as the next day and the day after were spent in bed. When I came back to this tea much later, in fact, I didn’t get much more out of it as I think I’d left it too long in the warm weather, :(. Overall, of what I’d tried of it though, it was very juicy and deep, with an interesting sweetness and a kind of tight balance of flavors that I could have seen developing interestingly with more steeps.

Sweet, caramelly mineral roast with surprisingly fruity body. It gets thinner and a bit astringent as you brew it out, but not unpleasantly so. Flavors are balanced and elegant, my biggest complaint is that it dies a bit too quickly for my taste, around steep 5 or 6. Best/strongest steeps are the first two.

Rich and smooth, with some lingering scratchiness in the throat. I leafed heavy at about 9g to 100ml, just off boiling water. This is pleasant, with a mellow earthiness to the roast that is reminiscent of the decadence and bitterness of fairly dark chocolate. The aroma is roast laced with additional vibes of burnt caramel, although it never gets quite so sweet in the actual cup. It has slow moving energy which leads me to believe it’s not got the greatest caffeine content, but it does the job. Might be good Western to add more flavors to the mix.

First to be tried out of my Secret Santea teas! Thanks again, twinofmunin! I made this today with 205 F thermos water, 100 ml preheated ruyao gaiwan with a short rinse. It starts off light wood, with the main flavoring being the light, but distinct humid basement storage that reminded me faintly of the funk of shou. That fades out pretty much completely by the second steep and we’re left with a distinct dried fruit and green wood breadiness in the cup that tastes surprisingly like Fig Newtons, honestly.

This base of fig newton flavor lasts for a solid three of the beginning steeps, although each individual flavor progresses and intensifies throughout, getting more syrupy, smokey, sweet, and astringent as the session goes on. The accompanying qi is very settling, like how sediment settles and collects on the bottom, with a bit of heaviness, but not to the point of actually feeling weighted down.

Overall, very calming and interesting tea with a bevvy of transforming flavors and a nice dried fruit wood base that I enjoyed. My main issue is, as usual, the considerable dryness/astringency present throughout, but it was quite enjoyable even with that, and a solid amount of aging for a 2011 in both flavor and color, which was a nice orange.