25 Tasting Notes
This was the best think before I discovered zangcha. I could sense that sakura wasn’t there just to cover undertaste or add another layer. It actually processed microbiology inside of tea. I don’t normally go for Japanese teas, I find them too subtle. Even Oolongs. Then again, I didn’t get into realm of fermented valley. Are they similar to Korean ? In a sense. This is interesting video that highlights link to China.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-14HEpKzCc8
You would think there is a railway crossing between north Korea and soviet Russia. Were they not building tunnels/ bridges between Korea/ Japan ? Anyway,,this was unusual and sublime. Smoke, I wouldn’t even describe it as such. It is more like menthol. I mean, it is not a dry aspect. Now I am thinking what if I blend it with liubao brick.
Preparation
So this is related to below
https://steepster.com/teas/chawangshop/97178-2011-china-tea-hunan-hei-jing-zhuan-200g
Reason – nearly sure I asked grandnesstea to list it on eBay, obviously since pandemic/ PayPal, standoff no longer there.
But eBay wasn’t great for tags, so I would type Chinese characters in Google images and get listing from taobao. To me, it looked a premium version of no-logo chocolate type. Symbol is universal, however there are some mythological as well semi-criminal connotations.
Nearly sure it was sub-brand wooden house century
The beauty of this it has code, again c4 is paramilitary. But you can find other digits mostly related to size. C7 comes to mind. And Nirvana’s cover of “dimension seven”
But it was two thinner bricks so could break with fingers and fit into thermos. It was way smokier than the other one. Glad I had it in my collection. Kind of arrived at conclusion, the smaller offering is, the more refined it is likely to be. Meaning, 50g brick is probably exclusive. Most are 400g though. So it is not always about weight to value ration. I mean, probably larger brick would age in more interesting way. But there is a market, limited ageing potential for single wrap tuocha which explains the excellent value as well less risk when blind buying.
Preparation
Didn’t buy originally from this vendor but it is fair to include here to avoid disappointment with customer service anywhere else. It was very viscosy but not in a thick way. High quality just wasn’t my type as sent me to sleep almost simultaneously. Another trick, the cubes didn’t fit into opening of thermos so had to leave it half soaked in a cup to break a smaller piece. Could be compared to sweeter version of this
https://steepster.com/teas/chawangshop/91331-2012-dong-zhuang-qing-zhuan
I just noticed that I created duplicate entry. Thought I checked if it was listed. Maybe it was with space in name. Or maybe one picture. Whatever. Will be careful next time as if there was not enough cleanup around to create my own trail of mess. It is not my review per se, more relaying what newbies introduced to it told me. I don’t expect them to review anything, so I am voluntarily stepping in for this honorary delegation duty. It is one of forms I only sent to others direct from vendors as these are more taste friendly. I do drink a lot of liubaos so I kind of know whom might benefit from it, medicinally. Anyways, I dump 80% of my blind buys so opportunity to give someone tea seems more aesthetic than compost legacy. This person were into oolongs which seems to be a marijuana of teas. The gateway. So all they had were ripe tuochas, dogwood berries, gotu kola, Hainan kuding, apart from that they are fermented liver diet proponents. So their report is that this guangxi chenpi is facilitating contemplation and “flushed in the face”. Moldavite flush ? How do I introduce someone to green brick. Tough. There is a site I bought few times called “liu-art-tea”, it could be my obsolete tablet of workplace setting but I can’t copy/ paste text and/ or images. Not sure when I feel enthusiastic to print descriptions and type them manually. Maybe at next eclipse ? But I checked, and they do have orange liubao brick. Pricey. Shipping from Germany costs as much as DHL from Kunming. So my plan is to roll-out tianjian, mojun and old tree liubao instead. I still think it is intuition that is guiding people towards tea. And their body immediately knows it is good. And then it is just tweaking of nuances. Myself prime example, was sceptically eyeing my ex Czech gf years ago having white tea in a plastic bottle that she would occasionally heat in a microwave. I was into scotch whiskey at the time. So there is time for everything. Like seasons in politics. Hope they never run out of fruit to stuff heicha with. I mean, 6 billion people, 6 million dolphins, what is ratio of tea to tangerines on this planet ? If there was a war between tangerines and tuochas, would we have northern Irish style of make love synergy ? Is it silence, is it breeze tumbleweed emptyness, is it a snowcoated cockroach melting inside my head. Oh, brewing, they don’t have gas, which takes 45 mins to bring slowly to boil from cold, which is my new fav as it super economical. I mean 5g for 8 cups. So they had electric hob and it took 20 mins. I would push it for continue boiling for 20 mins, but that’s me. Accidental discovery when got fresh as opposite to dried gotu kola that smelt gorgeous but wasn’t as oily when brewed. So boiling from cold took care of that. And it works for lots bearable brews. Not sure what metallurgy behind it. Maybe it is additional kill-green processing ? Who knows, will see if it gets it artificial intelligence cookbook in 200 years from now.
https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/the-bee-sanctuary-of-ireland-biodiversity-5456430-Jun2021/
I had this quite few years ago and possibly was mesmerized by the numerical code. But it was unusual at the time, more shengy if that’s even a thing. Now coming back to it I see how greener bricks can develop. Basically, sampling and deciding to buy bulk raw liubao to time lock for few years. Ideally in two different humidity microclimates.
Preparation
I would say this is way biased but it started more than few days ago. First, somehow I didn’t finish two decades old liu bao in work last Thursday. Mad idea, knowing that will be back today, just le n thermos. That means drinking cold first thing in the morning while waiting on blend of shu minibrick and gotu kola to brew. Worse, grabbed sugar free grape fanta in local minimarkt. On top of that, kvass offered by eastern European colleague. Then packages started coming in. Two liubaos, sample of shu, and then this. It was intense. The only shous i really was drawn to procure were either bricks or loose. If this was my first liubao, I would have been scrambling for the wrong one, probably would have stumbled into green brick and maybe hubei one. But looking forward to drop a chunk of it into mirror glazed thermos tomorrow morning to see if I was just having detox aftershock trembles. The trouble is, the lastbtea I got today was Sichuan brick and I left it brewing in thermocup as had to leave work earlier than expected. You can’t plan these things, it will be cold in the morning, then thermos grandpa brew of what is being reviewed and then 2nd gonat Sichuan. If I don’t make it thru the day, the autopsy will be inconclusive. That’s the best legacy.
Preparation
Very unusual for me to crave anything than proper tea/ coffee/ alcohol but it could be perfect storm of weather and lack of vegetables. All fruit is there so it must be absence of vegs in diet that make someone appreciate true herbal tisane. Isn’t that why dark teas are so prevalent with nomads, to compensate their mineralless diet with microbiology ? Anyway, I had access to company car during first few weeks of pandemic, more accidentally so, and was forced to shop closer to stone layer arteries. Result – raiding shelves with herbals. Some teas didn’t arrive so had to brace for the worst. Since then I casually check supermarket shelves for those. The last one, only got because delayed regular heicha restock, and knew there would at least few days of fermented detox overlay. But the taste is kind of wintery. That’s why I am surprised that I am enjoying it. Maybe there is a portal to Australia. Normally, anything with turmeric tastes dusty to me. This one, probably because of star anise, is sublime. Always cautious of licorice but this is less common and not as heavy. Orange bit in would have dismissed but maybe there is a variety that glided into this soup. This is the 2nd blend from this brand that I actually consciously keep in mind between reboils. Maybe I should start making my own blends, like stuffing melons with tian jian. Should have patented this before the supply of both was disrupted by you know what. Will have to wait for next big calamity like alien invasion event. I’ll be ready then with my digital copyright alibi.
Preparation
One of the stranger phoenix Oolongs that was, well, different. A bit oilier and had great effect on echoes inside my head. It is like enjoying formula one roar as opposite to traffic noise. I tasted several offerings from other vendors and the effect was very similar. But this one was affordable. And it was honestly graded as premium as opposite to higher grades. The guy used to trade as per logo on image on eBay but pandemic cleared lots of reliable sellers, probably had to do with PayPal and/ or getting stars for transit. I believe he was based in shanghai and was really quick with listing what I found on taobao and even bringing to my attention as to what might be potentially fake. Then he contacted by email advising details of his new site. I believe they are based in different location now.
Preparation
This was the best last dark oolong I ever binged on. Take into consideration my starting point was local shop, then all kind of obscure sellers on eBay until I realized that the best variety and within budget was this vendor. You go with minimum purchase of 50g and somehow I knew this was the one making a big leap forward. This is the first tea I ever bought 500g of. By the time I was half way thru 2nd bag, I was already eyeing lighter Oolongs alike golden key one. But it was the richest taste I experienced at the time. I am still drawn to black teas once in a while but none really gave same thickness of taste.
Subtle? Interesting, I actually find gyokuro and matcha to be some of the most “in your face” experiences one can have with tea. I’d think it’s part of the reason why they receive probably the most polarizing reactions from people when I serve them. The other part is the fact that people tend not to expect such strong umami in a drink.
As for smoked wakocha, that sounds strange, but I’d like to try it at some point (as anything else that’s weird really) :D
I did see new listing from last night of below
https://steepster.com/teas/curious-tea/97177-benifuki-green-tea-powder
Which highlights polarization issue in this review
https://steepster.com/teas/yunomi/77349-benifuuki-green-tea-powder-dobashien#tasting-notes
In terms of serving people, in my case in randomly what in get on the day to people i know and from their feedback I decide whether to offer anything to them next time. I don’t mind being a laughing stock because tea is antidote to almost 100 herbal overdoses so if it helps someone, I am delighted. There was a Brazilian guy at work who took half cup of what I recall was tianjian and it immediately took away his discomfort. He was on potentially cancerogenic medication for his stomach. Since he is buying full sheng cakes ! Same day I got some gift oolong box and it was a hit with his wife. Oolong taste and heicha benefits, who is gonna come up with voodoo potion ? Thought it was this
https://steepster.com/teas/caj-chai-teahouse/53922-2014-yamabuki-nadeshiko-belleza
But the re is no depth
Another one is actually yours
https://steepster.com/Togo/posts/370180
I got muratake version from chanomiya but higher grades were only available from rakuten.jp