84
drank 2013 Shoumei by white2tea
4280 tasting notes

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – August Tea #1 -A tea you’ve never tried before

Looking at the fresh challenge list, this tea that I have been drinking for days just happens to fit for this prompt. From derk a LOOONNGG time ago, thank you derk!  I debated about putting the entire BIG piece of this in the infuser, figured this poor tea has waited long enough, and I’m glad I used the entire piece.  It was a slow unraveler.  I may have steeped this the most of any tea, over three days, six big mugs making sure to put the steeped leaves into the fridge for that third day, as I don’t usually steep the same leaves for THREE days. I think it could have kept giving. The flavor was definitely shifting and changing, but it was also difficult for me to tell what those flavors were.  It was also never too strong in flavor.  I steeped delicately at first, then really going for boiling water and long steeps towards the end. The last steep brewed for ten minutes. At first tasting like minerals. Towards the end, the color and flavor of autumn leaves.  I’m not doing this fantastic white tea justice.  But I sure enjoyed it!
After I wrote the above, I read derk’s note on this tea and was pleased to see derk also mentioned it tasted like “minerals” and “autumn leaf”. I feel like derk has the superior tasting ability, so there you go. :D
2022 sipdowns: 91

Cameron B.

I love steeping this kind of tea grandpa style, and I actually have a couple of shou mei coins that I need to sipdown…

Leafhopper

Derk is a super taster! :P I need to find my sample of this tea.

Mastress Alita

I drank this one last month for “a tea you’ve forgotten about.” I never did get the leaves to fully unravel, either.

tea-sipper

NEVER unraveled? Yeah, it was MANY minutes of steeping.

Mastress Alita

I left mine in the fridge cold steeping over night after I had done a gongfu session, and still had bits the next morning that hadn’t come apart.

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Comments

Cameron B.

I love steeping this kind of tea grandpa style, and I actually have a couple of shou mei coins that I need to sipdown…

Leafhopper

Derk is a super taster! :P I need to find my sample of this tea.

Mastress Alita

I drank this one last month for “a tea you’ve forgotten about.” I never did get the leaves to fully unravel, either.

tea-sipper

NEVER unraveled? Yeah, it was MANY minutes of steeping.

Mastress Alita

I left mine in the fridge cold steeping over night after I had done a gongfu session, and still had bits the next morning that hadn’t come apart.

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Bio

Hi! I love tea and trying new ones – it adds a bit of variety to my day! Books, music, TV & movies are my thing… and tea, of course.

Some of my favorite tea shops (still operating):
birdandblendtea.com
teavivre.com
52teas.com
svtea.com
whisperingpinestea.com
justea.com
harney.com
Dammann Freres
fusionteas.com
shop.Javateaco.com
Lupicia
Octaviatea.com
Davidstea.com
eco-cha.com
what-cha.com
singleoriginteas.com
teasenz.com
tealyra.com
Mandalatea.com
verdanttea.com

Favorite tea shops (RIP):
butikiteas.com
steapshoppe.com
steepcityteas.com
aquartertotea.com
dellaterrateas.com
zentealife.com
angrytearoom.com
theteamerchant.net
joysteaspoon.com
tealiciousllc.com
Rivertea
Specialteas

My icon photo is Richard Mayhew from the graphic novel ‘Neverwhere’ by Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry.

Most of the teas listed in my cupboard are actually sample sizes. I don’t really have 2,000 ounces of tea around here! Many of my teas have only one teaspoon left… maybe two. But I like keeping them in my cupboard list for reference to what I could be sipping. Usually, I write tasting notes once for each tea. I’m still drinking them, just not writing tasting notes each time!

I’m always in search of: Hattialli, Qu Hao black, Jin Jun Mei, teas using marshmallow root.

My dislikes: hibiscus, ginger (unless in chai), turmeric, bee pollen, charcoal type flavors

My ratings:
95-100 – Super awesome deliciousness favorites – cupboard essential
80-95 – Also pretty delicious
65-80 – Pretty good
50-65 – Okay
1-50 – Probably won’t want to sip it again

I’m planning on being a Steepsterer as long as there IS a Steepster, so if you’re not hearing from me, that means something happened to my health… if you know what I mean. (Or as evidenced by the great computer hiatus of 2019, something happened to my computer… I have a dumb phone so can’t access internet on that. As of 12/20/21 my wifi might start getting unreliable.)

Happy sipping!

Location

USA

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