39 Tasting Notes

This is my first da hong pao. The cake is not hard to break down.

The wet leaves has a strong mix smell of tobacco, fruit and smoke.

The brew is quite dark for 4.35gr of leaves and 110ml with boiling water.

Now let’s go with the taste:

1- boiling water, 30sec: tobacco, fruit and sweet.

2- the same as the first brew, the only change is that the taste is not as strong as the first one.

3- 85ºC, 2min lighter flavour, the stronger flavour is the tobacco one.

I don’t like it much but because it seems that I don’t like dark oolongs like da hong pao, I prefer greener oolongs such as Nilgiri ones. So this is personal taste, not saying that this da hong pao is bad.

Flavors: Astringent, Fruity, Sweet, Tobacco

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec 4 g 4 OZ / 110 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

92

This is a really good (in my opinion) sheng.

I use to drink shou because I hate bitterness and strong smokey flavour, but this one is the opposite to all this.

It’s smooth, with no bitterness (5sec and rinse, 15sec with 3.8gr of leaves).

I can find a floral taste and something like peaches in the first brew. I’ll keep you updated to see how it develop in following brews.

What I don’t like about this tea is the price, 7.50€ for 50gr is quite expensive.

Flavors: Floral, Peach

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 4 tsp 3 OZ / 100 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

83

The cake smells smoky.

6sec and rinse. 100ºC

10sec 96ºC — Clear orange infusion. It smells less smoky (really low). It’s smooth, sweet. No bitter. some sweetness. Really soft.

20sec 100ºC — As the last brew. No bitterness, sweet and soft brew.

I will continue brewing it at night, but at the moment is the best sheng i have tasted and also (if it’s true that is a 2006 sheng) the oldest.

Flavors: Smooth, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 4 OZ / 130 ML
AllanK

As the Lucky Dragon ripe cake was good I have been thinking of trying this. May have to buy it now.

stock man

I was thinking the same about the ripe. If you’re looking for a ‘soft’ sheng this is a good option.

I’m going to buy 1-2 more cakes and keep it for 3-5 years more to see how it ages.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

This is a sweet bai mu dan, 0 bitterness, not floral flavour. Low body.

Is a good deal for the price.

Flavors: Floral, Sweet

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 0 sec 4 g 7 OZ / 220 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

As I have read that the best way to brew this kind of tea is boiling water and flash steps that’s what i’ve done.

The color is quite dark, like many black teas.

It tastes sweet, smooth. I can’t find that famous honey taste but i like this tea more than bai mu dan (and I really like bai mu dan). I only find a really soft astringent aftertaste after 4 steps.

Is a good deal for the price.

Flavors: Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec 4 g 4 OZ / 110 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

86

I have received a sample of this 2015 FF Darjeeling with an order from Golden Tips.

It has light flavour, light body, It tastes green, floral and it has no astringency or bitterness.

Flavors: Floral, Green

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 7 OZ / 200 ML
Kirkoneill1988

nice review :) however i have fallen out of love with black tea :(

stock man

why? Black tea is just awesome… Not at the level of pu erh (they play in different leagues) but is awesome.

Kirkoneill1988

i dont really know :( it seems i’ve lost taste with the pepperyness

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80

15sec and rinse. /96ºC The leaves smell like sweet potatoes. (Dark amber colour)

15sec /94ºC No bitter. Smooth.Slight sweetness at the end. Forest/wood. Mid-low body. (really dark colour).

20sec. /90ºC Really slight bitter aftertaste. Remembers me like some wood or something simmilar. (really dark colour). No bitter. Earthy

20sec /97ºC Sweet. Less wood flavour. Still not bitter. Is not as strong as the 2 first brews. It has lost some body, now is lighter. In my opinion it has improved. Still not bitter. Earthy

20sec /92ºC The leaves still smell like sweet potatoes. lighter than the previous brew. Not bitter. Sweet. Earthy

30sec /85ºC The leaves lost the strong-medium sweet potatoes smell. Now is really soft. Still dark. Really light bitter aftertaste. Now its more like leather. It has lost the strong earthy-forest flavour and some sweetness.

I don’t know how to describe this brick. I like creamy, cocoa and sweet pu erhs, with no bitterness, but I enjoyed this one. It has some earth/forest/leather flavour, not too strong, but still not weak flavour. It also has some light earth flavour.

At the begining the weat leaves has a strong sweet potatoes smell that has lost in the last one.

The first steeps had a medium body, with some sweet aftertaste that has lost at the final steps, becoming a really light bitter aftertaste.

This has been the fisrt time I reviewed a tea while I was drinking it. It’s been a nice experience.

PS: I bought it in dragon tea house.

Flavors: Earth, Leather, Smooth, Sweet, Sweet Potatoes, Wood

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 3 OZ / 75 ML
Kirkoneill1988

one of the best reviews i have ever seen :D

stock man

thanks! :)

I really enjoyed ‘the process’ of doing a review like that. It was the first time that I sat to write a review while I was drinking the tea.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

82

This is a fairly good tea.

The first time I brew it western style with 90ºC aprox and it was astringent and bitter, but the second time I brew it faster and it was sweet, with fruity tones, I think it was a peach or apricoat flavour.

I recommend to brew it fast.

Flavors: Apricot, Bitter Melon, Fruity, Peach, Sweet

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 110 OZ / 3253 ML
stock man

This receipes, use to be the same every year right? So then the flavour doesn’t change much between years (not taking into account the aging). I’m right?

Kirkoneill1988

im not sure, but it is a great tea :)

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

80

This is a not too strong english breakfast. I have tasted the twinnings (sachets) and this one and this is softer than the twinnings one.

It’s malty, with some bitter and sweet after taste.

I only give a 80 rating because I was expecting something stronger of an english breakfast.

Flavors: Dark Bittersweet, Malt

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec 4 g 3 OZ / 90 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

I love every kind of tea, but my ABC are:

-Black: for a good shot in the morning, I love assam ctc and strong english breakfast (both with milk).

-Green: for spring and summer are the best in my opinion, I love Long jing and an ji bai pian.

-Oolong: For those days when you need something not to strong and not to weak. Nothing like Darjeeling and Nilgiri oolongs.

-Pu erh: For autum and winter. I love shou pu, I love it to be mellow, medium bodied or with chocolate notes.

I also have this blog where I upload some reviews of what I drink: http://finetealeaves.com/

Website

http://finetealeaves.com/

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer