Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black

Last night I had a killer migraine from nowhere that made me want abdicate my head, neck and shoulders and go live in my stomach or something. It’s still kind of lingering on the left side but it’s not even a quarter as bad as last night. It did leave me a delightful red spot on my forehead between the eyes (this has happened before, but still fml). So, I’m a little grumpy and out of sorts today.

I decided to dive into this tea because I’ve been hoarding it for too long, holding out hope that WP would get more of this or Premium Assam in stock and not sell out in 10 minutes (never happens). It’s starting to age and today it was more tart jam than powdered sugar and baked bread (still some of that though).

This is still one of my favourite teas, along with Premium Taiwanese Assam, so I thought I’d give Taiwan Tea Crafts Yuchi Wild Mountain Black Tea a try to see if it’s comparable (what do the “lots” mean? So confused), as well as some from What-Cha that look similar. Here’s hoping (otherwise, it’s good to try new things!).

Steep Count 2

I started a pitcher of this cold brewed before I left work last night and I am glad I did. While its in the low 50s outside, its currently 75 here in the office and I’ve been running around moving hardware around and getting stuff setup for today’s tasks. And I am literally sweating and really wishing I had worn shorts this morning.

So a nice fresh pitcher was so lovely to have and I swear I’ve just about guzzled half of it already.

This might actually be improved upon by a cold brew. When I iced it, I felt like it was maybe too weak or didn’t have enough presence. But as cold brew for about 16 hours, that base is there just fine.

Not my favorite, but looks like this is another long neglected tea that I will be sipping down through iced/cold brew this spring/summer.

Recently placed a relatively small Whispering Pines order. I needed more straight black teas, and this flavor profile is one of my favorites.
My first time trying this, we had a rocky start. But, subsequent cups had the sweet potato and brown sugar flavor that I favor in a black tea.
The mouthfeel is exceptionally thick and silky.
Such a lovely drinking experience.

This tea seems more about aromas than the taste or texture, even though those are interesting too if one pays close enough attention.

Dry leaves smell of forest, mint, plum and fenugreek seeds. Among the notes after the rinse are freshly baked bread rolls, ammonia, burdock, blackberry and carrot.

The taste is subtle and can at times appear to be somewhat weak. Beneath the overall mineral character and black grape note, however, there lies a multitude of fleeting flavours.

As for the mouthfeel, I found it to be quite silky and numbing. It is a slightly unusual texture I’d say, coupled with the lighter body than what one might expect from white teas with comparable character in this aspect.

Gongfu Sipdown (704)!

Many thanks to TheWeekendSessions for the tea sample! This is something that I picked up from him when I was in Winnipeg, and I was really, really excited about it! I knew WP was carrying this tea now – but I haven’t ordered from them in ages, and I generally don’t love making orders just for one tea so I’d not looked too seriously at it. However, I remember Butiki carrying this and it was amazing. One of the first straight teas I ever fell in love with – definitely a life changing tea!

So all that said, here’s what I wrote about it on instagram:

So yammy/sweet potato heavy with delicious malt, stewed plum, raisin, caramelized sugar, molasses, and cinnamon bread notes. Very thick, coating liquor and lingering sweetness. A really well rounded profile!

It’s basically love in a cup/gaiwan, and painfully nostalgic for me! I completely brewed out this tea, and it was definitely one of the best things I’ve drank all month!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B2IPrQCpsLd/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHEvjLJgWM8

Another sample from Brenden! Thanks so much! I really appreciate it. I never tried the Butiki version of this, so I don’t have anything to compare it to. But I think this is also sourced from the same place as the Butiki Wild was? I tried to steep this similar to the PTA I had the other day but I went with three teaspoons here, as Brenden suggests a tablespoon for eight ounces of water (I am using a full mug of water though.) I was worried that would be too many leaves, but I shouldn’t have been worried. The flavor practically can’t be bitter. Which is odd… such dark huge leaves could somehow never be bitter and have the sweetest flavor. The leaves here look similar to PTA, but possibly more wirey (wilder), darker, and have little brown pieces that look like twigs mixed in? I’ve never seen that before. The flavor notes are similar to PTA but subtler and less unique. The flavor is lighter: like peaches and cream, maybe only hints of the strawberry that is so abundant in the PTA. A lighter version of a Ruby black perhaps. Always smooth with an occasional mint hint which is very odd with these types of tea. Three very solid mugs of tea that were very similar anyway. All those leafhoppers must have made this tea extremely sweet. With more leaves for less flavor, I still think the Premium Taiwanese Assam is the better option. But that’s my taste buds!
Steep #1 // 3 teaspoons for a full mug // 18 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #3 // 9 min after boiling // 3 min
Harvest: 2018

Bah, I forgot to write a review on this yummy tea.

Update on those people upstairs that caused 7 cop cars, ambulances and more to come to our unit. They were evicted. Apparently, the guy beating the dog and his girlfriend wasn’t a tenant here and so because I called 911 on them, they were also busted for having extra pets (I didn’t know about that) and the guy wasn’t on the lease. So there ya go. It’s finally over and they are out. Looking forward to the next neighbors (not).

Back to the tea… Great tasting notes/reviews on this tea (which is why I purchased it) so I just wanted to put my two cents in. Lots of delicious notes. Fruits, nuts, cocoa with honey and caramel sweetness, malt and minerals. :D

Summer of 2018 Harvest

Quick log: I’ve been deeply satisfied with this tea, and again, I am so glad I pre-ordered it. The notes are all top notch, especially the immense blackberry ones I get in the tea. The minerals are also thickly sprinkled in like caramelized sugar crystals. I also get a little bit of a spicy sage or blackberry leaf note in the accents amidst its malty fruitiness, though the tea does have a savory quality bordering on a refined desert. Brenden’s description of funnel cake and pastries is also apt, especially the fig descriptor. My mom was close to stealing my cup of this one because it was so sweet and satisfying.

Easteaguy’s notes does this one the most justice, so I’ll leave this note here as a quick experience and recommendation. It is a little pricey, but it’s not too far off from similar teas I’ve had that were more expensive, very few of which were cheaper. I’ve only had this tea western so far and can vouch its durability for five cups straight. I’ve yet to do it gong fu. I’ll write a more detailed note in the future. Other teas await, after all.

It’s time to get one of my few remaining August reviews out of the way. I think I finished my pouch of this tea either shortly before my injury or at the end of the month when I was about done recovering. I recall it taking awhile for me to get used to this tea. I was expecting something a lot more boisterous and powerful, but instead got something that was very layered and sophisticated with tremendous depth and complexity.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of honey, plum, raisin, and cinnamon. After the rinse, I detected aromas of malt, toast, caramel, roasted almond, and blackberry. The first infusion allowed hints of cream and butter to shine through on the nose. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of malt, cream, honey, raisin, plum, blackberry, roasted almond, date, and black grape that were accented by hints of butter. Subsequent infusions saw cocoa, pear, sweet cherry, date, vanilla, and black grape aromas emerge. In the mouth, I found belatedly emerging impressions of cinnamon, toast, and caramel accompanied by notes of minerals, wood, cocoa, pear, vanilla, sweet cherry, red apple, and powdered sugar. The final few infusions emphasized lingering notes of minerals, malt, wood, and cream that were underscored by delicate impressions of roasted almond, blackberry, raisin, and honey.

This was an incredibly nice Taiwanese black tea. There is not much more I can say about it. If you are looking for a black tea that offers wonderful aromatics as well as tremendous flavor, body, and texture, then this is your tea.

Found Whispering Pines Teas from a steepster member while I was looking for a quality tea to purchase. I decided on Jabberwocky. When it arrived I was so impressed with both Jabberwocky and Blackbear teas that I purchased two more teas. The second order I purchased the Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black tea. Was I glad I did. This tea blew me away with the first taste. A sweet tea without sweetener of any kind? A surprise indeed. Yes, Jabberwocky is an excellent tea and Blackbear has a wonderful smoky taste, but I think the Wild Mountain Black is my favorite from Whispering Pines. Just ordered more today.