tperez Send Message

Drinking the loose leaf version of this. The first two steeps had a strong musty basement aroma and flavor, so I tossed them. It fades in later steeps and gives way to honey, kale, and mineral flavors with a bit of fruityness and floral aroma. This is mellow and easy drinking.

Those of you who have the cake, does it smell/taste musty at first? For me that was the biggest downside to this tea.

This is a unique and very tasty Fujian black! Fruity and malty with a floral aroma similar to a jade TGY or Taiwan high mountain oolong. With the silky mouthfeel plus tastes of mango and peach it reminds me of a juice nectar.

More on the blog: https://themellifiedcup.wordpress.com/2018/03/23/first-white2tea-club-2009-jingmai-sheng-and-2nd-flush-auburn-black/

Very nice storage on this brick; well matured for it’s aged without being dank or earthy. Tastes of dry herbs and honey with some tobacco, mineral, and citrus in the background. It’s unobjectionable, but not super “great.”

I went for a sample of this tea based on the very red color of the liquer in the pictures and the “lightly fermented” description. Both of those are common attributes of ripes that I like.

It brews a red-brown, though not as red as in the pictures. The brewed tea smells of pumpkins a earth (but not the bad kind of earth), taking me back to the time that I helped some friends from a church unload a semi-truck full of pumpkins for a pumpkin patch. I always found it sort of strange that a Christian church sold pumpkins for what is essentially a pagan holliday. :P

But back to the tea. It tastes mainly of dry earth, pumpkin, and light roast coffee. It’s has more bitterness than I’ve ever encountered in a ripe, but definitely not enough to be unpleasant. No fermentation funk to speak of. There’s a slight herbaceous greenness in the back ground, perhaps like bayleaf. There’s a light brown sugar sweetness and a fruity background. If I had to pick a fruit I would say cranberry. This tea reminds me a lot of “craft” or “third wave” type Central American coffees.

I get some qi feels from this tea, which is unusual for a ripe. Fairly complex, and it goes many infusions. This is a pretty unique tea, and the lowest fermentation ripe that I’ve tried. I’d strongly recommend it if you’re a fan of YS’s Rooster King cake or light roast specialty coffees.

The second of my two Leafy Green samples. Creamy with notes of brown sugar, dry wood, candied citrus, and incense supporting a fresh vegetal background. Extremely tasty tea.

Full review here: https://wordpress.com/post/themellifiedcup.wordpress.com/59

Received two samples from Leafy Green. This is a very tasty Jin Xuan, fresh and refreshing with notes of cream, kale, and wildflowers. It has a lingering sweetness, and that reminds me a bit of biting into a juicy plant.

Longer review on my blog will be posted soon.

Received a sample of this from a tea friend. Initial steeps were a bit funky and sour, but once that faded it gave way to a very pleasant brew. Tastes a bit of camphor and leather, but also lemon and dried herbs. Nice light honeyed sweetness. Also a bit of Belgian ale funky yeasty-ness. Very little bitterness, just a hint of astringency. This is a tasty tea, and the storage is excellent.

Oh hey, just realized I’ve passed 300 tasting notes!

Brewing in my new hong ni shui ping from Chawangshop. Fairly bitter, maybe because this new pot has a slightly slower pour. Initially tastes of sugarcane, green wood, and wildflower honey with a considerable floral aroma. In later steeps I start to get a sort of cinnamon-like note and the tea becomes somewhat vegetal, maybe pumpkin or squash. I start to notice the cha qi pretty early on, this is a powerful tea, very focusing/sedating.

New blog post: https://themellifiedcup.wordpress.com/2018/02/26/essence-of-teas-2017-jingdong-ancient-wild-sheng/

This came as a free sample with my Chawangshop order. The dry ball smells pungent and green, making me prepare for a bitter tea. When I brew it however, it is not as powerful as I expected. It tastes of mineral and green wood with a bit of coriander and a sugarcane sweetness. Bitterness is low-moderate, astringency is quite low. Pretty good tea, one of the better dragon balls I’ve had.