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Well, hiya Steepster – ol’ buddy, ol’ pal.

Once again, it’s been months.

Since that time, my tea backlog has quadrupled. That and I occasionally get gifts, like this Earl Grey from my Mum.

It’s in my Top 5 Earls List, now. Yes, there’s a list. I love me a good Earl. (Wow, that sounds wrong.)

Anywho, yes, this has everything one wants in an Earl including an extra bit o’ wood-sweet-citrus-ness. If that can count as “a thing”.

Full review with photos: http://lazyliteratus.tumblr.com/post/127600247242/sipdown-n-chadup-ep-1-red-lodge-books-tea

Well, hiya Steepster.

It’s been awhile. Like, almost a year. Time flies when drenched in caffeine. I finally thought about updating this here port when I noticed a favorite of mine was the TOP pu-erh on this site. Naturally, being a bit of a whore, I thought I’d weigh in as well.

I’ve liked pu-erh, I’ve loved pu-erh, but I’ve rarely deemed a pu-erh to be perfect. That all changed when I came in contact with the autumn 2014 pluck of this stuff. I’ve had several different years from this farm, but late-2014 – I dunno – something special was in the water, soil, processing, what-have-you. It was fruity, sweet, luscious, nuanced, medium-bodied, and brimming with tasting notes yearning to be sonnets.

Nan Nuo used to be my favorite pu-erh mountain. Yiwu is, now. That’s kind of a big deal.

More recenty, I had the opportunity to do a private tasting with the Misty Peaks seller. If you want, you can read about it here: http://steepstories.com/a-young-yiwu-pu-erh-afternoon/ (As well as marvel at the sight of a huge pu-erh ball.

Round Two with TeaVivre offerings today. What? I had the day off, I can do what I want. Still haven’t left my pajamas, yet, either.

This was unlike any Dian Hong I’d ever come across. The earthen, sweet-like lean wasn’t there at all. If anything, this was more in line with a Ruby 18 or a Korean semi-oxidized tea than a Chinese one. Yunnan black characteristics didn’t show up until the aftertaste.

In a word: Gaaaaaaaaaaa….!

Okay, that wasn’t quite a word.

Well, hello Steepster, ol’ buddy ol’ pal,

How ya been?

In my effort to be more active with the various social media outlets at my disposal, I completely forgot about the one that is directly tea-related. Leave it to a day off to allow me to make steep-related reparations.

I actually received this sample a few months back, but with my major tea backlog, I didn’t get to it until – well – now. I hate that about myself.

This is…whoah.

As far as Keemuns go, it is perhaps the cleanest sipping experience. Floral, wood-sweet, but with a Keemun kick toward the end. It’s more medium-bodied than robust – unlike Mao Feng or Gong Fu…or even Hao Ya grades of Keemun that I’ve had. That said, still a mighty fine experience.

Major backlogging here

The first thing I noticed about this roasted bancha was…well…how roastly and – uh – bancha-like it smelled. All leaves and burnt nuts – a very autumn smell. The leaves basically looked like cut leaves – brown and oxidized-looking. All pleasantries and no pomp, regardless of circumstance. It reminded me of a San Nen (three-year-aged) bancha I had some three years back. Whoah, how fitting!

The Tealet profile on this bancha recommended bringing water to a boil, letting it cool for up to three minutes, then steeping for about the same time. I cut the “wait” part out and just waited until the water came to almost-a-boil before stopping the kettle. However, I did adhere to the three-minute steep.

The liquor brewed dark amber instead of radioactive green (like other senchas). The aroma was just as autumnal as the dry presentation, all nuts, leaf, and…tartness? Okay, now I had to sip this to make sure that was what I smelled. Oh my, yes it was. This was both roasty and tart, not unlike another bancha I tried – an awabancha (pickled green tea). However, this didn’t taste like pickles – just like a green with a dash of hibiscus on the palate. I first noticed the tartness in the middle, but it continued with the trail-off to the finish. The aftertaste lingered on the roasty notes but still had a bit of zest to it. Very unusual…-ly wonderful.

TeaCuplets: http://lazyliteratus.tumblr.com/post/81024471310/teacuplets-tealet-kyoto-obubu-kyobancha

The cat woke me at the crack of 8
Begging for water, attention or some other ill-fate.
Since sleeping in was no longer the ideal,
I figured I’d start the day with a liquid meal.

TeaCuplets: http://lazyliteratus.tumblr.com/post/80892039954/teacuplets-o5-tea-yunnan-golden-curls

Let’s get the “dirty” outta the way.

I’m kinda drunk as I write this..today?

I needed a tea capper for an evening well spent.

Joseph Wesley was where I paid my black rent.

TeaCuplets: http://lazyliteratus.tumblr.com/post/80849224791/teacuplets-joseph-wesley-tea-no-3-chinese-classic

I was having a conversation with A Gift of Tea earlier this eve – via Twitter – about pomelo-scented black teas. Then I remembered, Oh yeah! I have one!

So…I brewed it up.

Unlike jasmine, honeysuckle, rose congou-ish, or other flower-scented teas, this one had a distinct taste of fruit to go along with the honey-ish lean of the Bai Lin Gong Fu black tea base. It lasted a good four steeps at three minutes each, and the sweetness was thirst-quenching.

In the running for my favorite floral-scented tea.

Pic: http://instagram.com/p/l8XRgRknfS/

I needed some caffeine as the sis, niece and I plopped down to watch American Hustle. No idea why I felt a white tea was necessary for this viewing, but I’m glad I went with it. First off, it’s a resilient white tea. There was even a steep that I forgot about for an hour, and the brew still turned out good.

Second, the taste: Holy whoah.

I’ve had wild and semi-wild white teas before, but this was the best of the lot. It was fruity, herbal, and just altogether robustly awesome. I can’t think of anything more fitting or flowery to say other than that. The perfect nightcap tea.

Now, if only I could find a way to go to sleep.

Pic: http://instagram.com/p/l8l-zoknSo/#