Yaroster Send Message

I deleted my review 3 times it goes something like this

1st Steep:
Honey-like, sweet
2nd Steep:
Overbrewed it but it’s still very good
3rd Steep:
Nice good equilibrium on the top, very round taste, definitely one of the best offering from PDT.

- Flavor Complexity: 15/30 – What it lacks in complexity, the tea gains in balance; it’s on the lighter end.
- Brewing Forgiveness: 15/20 – Seemed to take my 95°C pretty well!
- Quality Across Infusions: 17/20 – Definitely high quality and it resisted by overbrewing.
- Overall Enjoyment: 25/30 – I liked this. It’s a good session, very light, a good breakfast tea.

- yaro

I got this mini as part of a giant purchase of samples from white2tea’s newly released teas ! (https://skoomaden.me/posts/teas-arriving-in-july/)

I actually got two of this mini by mistake lol, nice to note I also got a free 2024 nightlife mini ! (yay)

20s wash 95c

1st steep (15s):
Very bland vegetal green tea for now, nothing note worthy, no bitterness for now.

2nd steep (20s):
Boring, bitter green tea that I know is going to inevitably evolve into a bitter mess of vegetal astringency.
I can’t feel the “blend” part for sure.
Not great.

3rd steep (10s, 87C):
I don’t see where this is going at all, I’m sure a bigger fan of green teas could probably explain to me what’s going on but to me this is just not pleasant. While I admit it’s far from the worst green blend I’ve ever had, this is simply not good.
Bitter, boring, vegetal, the same traits we find in bad japanese greens, I didn’t like this one.

- Flavor Complexity: 10/30 – No complexity I could find at least.
- Brewing Forgiveness: 12/20 – Probably okay forgiveness overall.
- Quality Across Infusions: 10/20 – I mean it’s just boring throughout, and it got worse with time
- Overall Enjoyment: 12/30 – Boring (zzz).

- yaro

90C

1st Steep:
Ooooh complex this one, I really like this !
For a PDT blend I sure expected less, for a first steep this has some light notes of jasmin, just a bit smoky too with the some common features we can find in both greens and blacks. This is a surprisingly good tea !

2nd Steep:
The soup is oddly thick, but in a good way.
I cannot really describe it, it’s just a very satisfying tea, a perfect blend of both tea types where ones doesn’t overwhelm the other.
I wouldn’t be able to pinpoint specific flavors however, it really has a tiny bit of everything.

3rd Steep:
Light, thick and round.
That’s all this is, I love it.
I really love it.
Rare PDT W ?

- Flavor Complexity: 25/30 – This is a rather complex tea, yet it’s very light which makes it very pleasant.
- Brewing Forgiveness: 20/20 – Contrary to pure green tea, this seemed to handle different temperatures pretty well.
- Quality Across Infusions: 20/20 – This was all very surprising, high quality and delicious tea.
- Overall Enjoyment: 20/30 – I really liked it !

-yaro

This is a South Korean green tea.
15s wash

1st Steep (75C, 15s):
Definitely drinks like a lighted roasted tea, so it’s steamy more than smoky (if you get what i mean). Some bitterness on the front, but for now it seems like this is going to be one of the boring ones.

2nd Steep (75C, 25s):
Nothing interesting really, some floral notes that are drowned by the light astringency.

3rd Steep (75C, 35s):
Again, the same. I’m not gonna pain myself any longer with such a boring tea.

- Flavor Complexity: 10/30 – Exceptionally simple.
- Brewing Forgiveness: 10/20 – It seemed particularly sensitive around 75(± 2)C
- Consistency Across Infusions: 15/20 – Consistent, but its sensitivity scared me a bit.
- Overall Enjoyment: 10/30 – A boring tea that’s mildly enjoyable, the subtle traits that are indeed felt aren’t ones I enjoy particularly (I really don’t like boring floral notes that always turn into bitterness).

-yaro

No wash

1st steep (95C, 15s):
This is really good and light, definitely get where the “milky” comes from, this is a very creamy and round tea, light sweetness at the bottom that I have trouble identifying accurately for now, overall, very tasty, I’m glad I drank the wash for this one.

2nd steep (95C, 20s):
It’s definitely subtle, although I did have a smaller sample size, but I don’t think it needs any more steeping than this, it’s very light and pleasant, the perfect balance, I like this, this is probably on the less oxidized side of oolongs, and definitely have some young puer notes.

3rd steep (95C, 25s):
Tea evolves a bit, I’m getting smoked hazelnuts, nothing much other than that to note, it’s just a very correct milky oolong, I’m guessing this is a solid representation of what a generic one would taste like.

4rd steep (95C, 30s):
No particular change in taste, knowing I probably understeeped the tea I don’t think there’s any point in going any further.

Great tea overall.
- Flavor Complexity: 10/30 – What it lacks in complexity the tea definitely gains in balance, it’s on the lighter end.
- Brewing Forgiveness: 15/20 – Seemed to take my 95C (and sometimes a bit under) pretty well !
- Quality Across Infusions: 20/20 – Definitely high quality, and very consistent too.
- Overall Enjoyment: 15/30 – I liked this, it’s a good session, nothing more nothing less.

-yaro

Okay, Round 2.

95C, 15s Wash.

- First Steep (20s):
Very light, transparent so it probably didn’t open up correctly, I’m getting some very vegetal notes not unlike a very light japanese green tea (?), I mean I admit I’ve only tried Palais des Thés’ Sencha Ariake but I guess that reminds me of that. Maybe that’s because of how young this sheng.

- Second Steep (15s):
Oh oh so bland, yeah this isn’t going anywhere, tea still hasn’t opened up and this tastes very generic, this next Steep I’m gonna try longer times with colder water, I wanna avoid bitterness as much as possible because this tea feels like it’s just waiting to become earwaxy bitter.

- Third Steep (35s, 90C):
It didn’t become that bitter, but it’s definitely not good.
Now, this could be due to me putting a minimal amount of tea in (3.5g) but I sure didn’t feel like this tea gave me anything interesting :(
That being said the tea isn’t unpleasant.

- Fourth Steep(40s, 95C):
It’s starting to get bitter and I already see where this is going.
The vegetal notes are gonna keep become more and more bitter and there is no complexity in this whatsoever.

N.B:
I’m not going to rate this tea, mostly because I’m scared I don’t know enough about this tea category to give a formal opinion.

I admit this is where my knowledge of Black Tea stops, Lao Chuan Hong is a supposed well know hongcha but I admit, reading the description we got, I cannot stop being curious about what I possibly await with this one.

This tea was part of the June 2024 Tea Club

Paul wrote:
“Brewing Instructions- Boiling water, even for the very fresh raw Puer. Use gongfu style brewing if you can. If you’d like a softer experience, drop the temp to 85C – 95C, this will lessen the harsher notes of the tea. 90C-95C for the black tea will coax out different aromatics and favors, but will still prefer boiling.”

Wash (15s)

Smell is… just filled with Umami I can’t describe in any different way, like how Beef noodles would smell like, with a very light tint of cinamon.

1st Steep (15s, 95C):
Yellow
It tastes exactly how it smells like, Umami with cinnamon, very very tasty ! I love it !
Nougat, Cinnamon

2nd Steep (10s, 95C):
Deeper Red this time color-wise
Dough, Toasted Bread, Cinnamon.
This is probably the best alternative to a “flavored tea” that could ever be.
It’s not too sweet, it’s just perfect.

3rd Steep (10s, 90C):
Mahogany red
Now the Nougat is overpowering, for my greatest pleasure.
Truly, this is the most enjoyable tea I’ve had in a whiiiiile, First time I genuinely cannot stop drinking !

4th Steep (15s, 85C):
85C is where it’s calmer, much calmer, yet oh so delicious.
I think this is the best w2t I’ve ever had hahah.

- Flavor Complexity: 30/30 – A very complex and full tea ! So Many different layers, Nougat, Umami, Cinnamon.
- Brewing Forgiveness: 20/20 – This can be probably withstand any temperature change (which I’ve tested extensively, trust me !)
- Quality Across Infusions: 20/20 – Layers and layers, different levels to how good this is, The hotter the water is the more we get that Umami note, then as the kettle cools down we get Cinnamon Toasted Bread to end in a sweet fruity melon taste, with no bitterness whatsoever, this is a chef d’oeuvre for sure.
- Overall Enjoyment: 30/30 – This is the tea. I’ve never enjoyed a Black Tea ever like this, most of them can’t withstand boiling water on the long run, end up being bitter and then fall appart, some have artifical fruity notes, that overpower each other in a horrible mess. The few Black Teas I’ve successfully enjoyed weren’t part of the better ones, I seem to have consistenly rated them around the 50-60s/100. This is a whole other level though, and seeing how cheap it is on w2t’s website, I absolutely will be ordering more ! I don’t give my 100s easily, and this will be my proud 1st one.

Congrats Lao Chuan Hong !!!

100/100
- yaro

The Hype is one of the if not the most well know w2t tea with “This is”, definitely one of my Spring favorites that I was shocked to see arrive in the mail. This is probably the most value we got out of a w2t tea Club, it’s just amazing and I cannot wait to review it here soon.

Let’s see if it lives up to the hype, all puns intended.
Wash: 15s.

1st Steep (10s):
Faint but very floral, this is pleasant and very well rounded.
We get some Lavander, sweet middle taste, mellow fruity after-taste.
This is amazing, would be a great morning tea.

2nd Steep (1min20):
Okay, I f-ed up and didn’t look at the infusion time correctly (I’ll definitely review this properly a later time), but this could be a happy accident.
The bitterness is not a violent one in any shape or form, it compliments rather well the fruitiness, this could be an oolong in its oxydation-like bitterness, but it truly isn’t unpleasant.

Alright, you guys don’t worry I’m going to review this properly tomorrow !