Roswell Strange Send Message

607 Followers / 385 Following

Roswell Strange drank 2013 'HONEY JAR' Aged White Tea by Kuura

16002 tasting notes

Such an enjoyable Gong Fu session!

This is one of several aged white teas that I have in my desk at work, and earlier in the week I found myself with a very large project that was going to involve me being at my desk for several hours so I pulled out to Gong Fu tray and teaware, picked a bit of a nicer tea out of my work options, and decided to brew Gong Fu during this project.

Firstly – this tea is amazing, and I liked it even more this session that with my first one several months ago! Evidently, my coworkers liked it a lot too because at one point I had a small crowd of three people hanging out by my desk stealing infusions of tea; I lost a good three or four steeps from the middle of my session because I was sharing with coworkers. It’s ok though, I really packed my 70ml gaiwan so there was plenty of flavour in the leaf to last a long time – I think I got a solid ten or eleven infusions total, which I was very happy with for a white tea.

I mean really, this tea is just quite aptly named – the smell of the dry leaf is honey through and through and the moment the water first made contact with the tea during my rinse just flooded the space around my desk with sweet honey notes and soft florals. I took a moment to really closely and deeply smell the leaf in the gaiwan after the second or third steep, when it was really opening up, and I was just slapped with a thick, sweet and INTENSELY aromatic buckwheat honey aroma. Like cracking the lid on a very fresh, full jar of buckwheat honey.

The buckwheat honey notes carries into the infusions, along with some standard hay notes and floral (honeysuckle, ironically enough) undertones. Very thick and dense, quite enjoyable. Couldn’t have selected a better tea for the project.

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwp-6s8HPml/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYlWXTLlP3I

I Like This

12 likes

1 comments

Martin Bednář
Delete

Sounds delicious!

People who liked this

Comments

Martin Bednář
Delete

Sounds delicious!

Profile

Bio

Hello! My name is Kelly, though many people in the tea community call me Ros or Roswell.

I am a mid-twenties tea addict, blogger, and all around nerd. I grew up in the Prairies, but a few years ago I relocated to Quebec to pursue a career with DAVIDsTEA in the tea industry! I’m still working on getting my French language skills down…

My first introduction to tea, in any form outside of instant and bottled iced tea, was about seven years ago when I happened to stumble upon DAVIDsTEA while looking for a birthday present for a friend! I tried their Birthday Cake rooibos blend, and I’ve been hooked on tea ever since! In those seven years; I was introduced to the online tea community, expanded my interest in flavoured teas to include a deep love and appreciation for straight teas and traditional brewing methods, got a tea themed tattoo, started reviewing teas, amassed a sizable tea and teaware collection, became a TAC certified Tea Sommelier, & even came full circle by beginning a career in the tea industry with DAVIDsTEA!

I consider myself a Jack of all Teas, and strive to have a knowledge and appreciation of all tea types, formats, and styles of drinking. I don’t like to feel boxed in to just being a “flavoured tea” or “straight tea” drinker – my expectations may vary depending on the type of tea or how it’s been processed/prepared but if it’s good tea, it’s good tea no matter how it’s been made!

You name it, I probably drink it- and I’ll absolutely try anything at least once.

My default method of preparation is hot, Western style, and straight – but I’m not opposed to additions if I’m in the right mood. If I ever add something to a tea or use a different method of preparation I will ALWAYS call it out in the tasting note though.

I like to listen to music when drinking tea, especially when I’m brewing a large pot at a time or steeping Gongfu. Often I curate very intentional tea and music pairings, and sometimes I share them here in my tasting reviews. Music is something that I find can deeply affect the experience of having tea.

I’m also one half of the “tea and fandom” podcast GeekSteep where, weekly, we discuss newly explored fandoms over tea as well as try to figure out the perfect tea to pair with each fandom. You can find us on Spotify and Apple & Google podcasts.

Favourite flavour notes/ingredients: Pear, lychee, cranberry, cream, melon, pineapple, malt, roasty, petrichor, sweet potato, heady florals like rose, hazelnut or walnut, sesame, honey (in moderation), and very woody shou.

Least favourite flavour notes/ingredients:
Lemongrass, ginger, strongly spiced profiles (and most Chai in general), mushrooms, seaweed, chamomile, stevia, saltiness or anything that reminds me too much of meat that isn’t supposed to taste like meat…

Currently exploring/obsessed with: Sheng from Yiwu, Yancha (Qilan in particular), anything with a strong sweet potato note. Also, I need to try ALL the root beer teas! Searching for a really good caramel flavoured blend, ideally with a black tea base.

Please contact me at the instagram account listed below if you would like me to review your teas.

Currently I’m employed in the tea department of the DAVIDsTEA head office. While I’m still sharing my own personal thoughts on new & existing DAVIDsTEA blends, I am no longer numerically rating them due to the obvious conflict of interest. Any comments expressed are a reflection of my own thoughts and opinions, and do not reflect the thoughts and opinions of the company. Any DAVIDsTEA blends you currently see with a numeric score were reviewed prior to my being hired there and have not been adjusted since becoming a DAVIDsTEA employee.

Location

Montreal, QC, CA

Website

https://www.instagram.com/ros...

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer