188 Tasting Notes

88

Exceptional green tea, vegetal, artichoke, butter, seaweed, sesame, yummy.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 1 min, 30 sec 5 g 7 OZ / 200 ML

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93

Mushroom, mushroom, mushroom. Walking deep in the forest sitting down on a rotting tree log covered in shrooms. Chopping creminis for mushroom consomme. Kombucha kvass. Porchini dust for lamb tenderloin. Amsterdam in my youth. All things mushroom. Outside of that a bite dry, tannin, astringency but all in a mellow way. Leaf is beautiful light brown uniform with the broth resembling, what else, mushroom consomme. Used way too much tea to water but I don’t have an intermediate gaiwan. The steeps after rinse and wait started at 45sec and gradually up from there ending after an all day session. Yummy tea glad I purchased.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 45 sec 10 g 4 OZ / 110 ML
JC

I need to try this!

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92
drank Bulang 2006 Spring by Tea Urchin
188 tasting notes

Like going from a steely Chablis to a refined Montrachet. Soft smooth buttery, lots of oak but there is one thing that Montrachet doesn’t have. Sweetness from the very 1st steep. I’ve never experienced this before probably cause I’ve never had a raw pu erh this old. It also has a gentle smoke, no astringency, and lasted forever. Used 7.5 gm in 100 ml gaiwan. I was all over the map with the steeps though, settling on 30 seconds to give a nice golden clear soup. This was added to my order as a sample from Tea Urchin and I thank them tremendously.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 30 sec

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88

Used a thicker walled celedon gaiwan. Dried leaf showed pretty good conformity a few broken leaf here and there.
Steeps 60/60/50/45/50/50/50/60/60/70/90/120
Gorgeous deep yellow color with whiffs of artichoke and gardenia. Flavors of the same with the addition of butter and sesame. Mouth-feel was thick and buttery, 4th steep brought out the sweetness so it was my favorite. During the last 4 steeps there was a precipitant drop in flavor but gladly there was no bitterness to take its place. Good brew all in all.

Flavors: Artichoke, Butter, Gardenias

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 0 sec 7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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94

Has this last week during the big snow, nothing like a shou when its snowing. Gift sample from “PUG”. What a well constructed tea this is from the dry to wet leaf, aromas, flavors, everything is consistent making for an enjoyably gong fu session. Stared out the window watching the wild turkeys gobble up the bird seed under the feeder as the snow piled up inch by inch. Flavors of cherry, fig, prune, forest leaves, smoky all good. Thickish in the mouth with a sweet good astringency. Need to get some more soon.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 10 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
awilsondc

I’ve thought about getting this cake. I might just have to pull the trigger here and get one before they get too expensive!

mrmopar

You can still find them at good prices if you search. Beware of fakes though there are lots of Dayi fakes out there. more so in sheng but I have seen shou fakes as well.

BigDaddy

OMG I can’t begin to think how I would know the difference. Is it the vendor you buy from online. I trust a few explicitly, YS, BT, Mandala a few. If it comes down to reading the wrapper I’m sunk.

mrmopar

They have a security seal on the newer ones. If you are ever in “doubt” send me the links before you buy.

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96

Another sample gift from new bud into pu erhs. Used a thin walled gaiwan quick rinse and rest. Aromas of gas, new leather cloth, tobacco, fresh timber. Flavors of pie crust, pine nut, sesame seaweed crackers, butane, sawdust. Who knows what else? But I love it. Thick sticky mouth-feel, astringent far more than sweet but its not unpleasant, actually very pleasing. Loads of energy and stamina. Brewed about 30 steeps lost count as I drank it all day long. At the end I just put it in a pot on the stove and gently brought it to a simmer for 10 minutes to make sure nothing was left in the leaf….sick. the leaves were all uniform, thick and unbroken. This tea rocks.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 15 sec 10 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
TeaBrat

sawdust? not sure i’ve ever heard that before as pertain it to a tea :)

BigDaddy

More of a fresh woody smell as apposed to the foresty decomposed smell. I was floored by all the different scents.

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85
drank 2014 Jingmai Raw by Mandala Tea
188 tasting notes

Another gift sample from “PUG”. Used a 100 ml Jingdezhen gaiwan, thin walled so not to over heat the leaf. One rinse then let it rest with the gaiwan lid on to allow for leaf expansion. The first 4 steeps were basically 5 seconds and then gradually added 5-10 second until the 15th steep then 30-40 seconds. 25 steeps and it started to peter out.
The aroma was not that big for me. New sneakers, hay a bit of pine nut. The flavor profile was also not that large. The pine nut and hay predominate for me ultra smooth with a slight astringency. Later the sweetness comes out to caress just when the astringency picks up, offering a nice balance. This is a good tea, but not showy or flashy, and when you have so many flashy showy shengs out there this one can get lost on your palate. I would brew this one for nubes who are expanding from greens to the pu erh world like my brother-in-law. Again not a bad tea just not a shiny jewel.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 0 min, 15 sec 10 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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95

Shut the door!!!! Another sample gift from “PUG”. Mellow, straw, pertol, honey flavors a touch of appropriate bitterness and a slam dunk sheng. The steeps were 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 75, 90, 120, 150, 180, 240. This made for a thicker and more flavorful brew but it certainly did not disuade. Could easily drink this every day. I enjoyed the cha qi, as it was; easy on, easy off, no jarring or jitters.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 15 sec 11 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
boychik

i had it yesterday. love it!!!

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92

OK gonna get all Proustian on ya. This was a gift from a new tea buddy “PUG”, and since I had a big day ahead and there’s snow all over, why not a shou. As if I need an excuse.
Dry tea has aromas of forest leaves happily decomposing on the forest floor. Used my 210ml shou yixing and 10gm tea. 2 quick rinses and left it sit in pot for 10 minutes while I took some pics of the snow. First steep was essentially in and out. Here it comes. In the vein of Sophia Petrillo, picture it…….. Wilkes Barre PA. 1964, Christmas, opening my presents under the tree. Etcha-Sketch for me, a new pair of boots for my uncle. I want the boots, so I go over and stick my feet in and they obviously don’t fit but I get this great smell of well oiled leather and 50 years later, its the same aroma in this tea. But there is something else jostling in the old noggin, oh now I know, its all the cardboard from that day as well. So there you go leather and cardboard. You’d think anyone with any sense, would ever think of drinking something with leather and card board but then I never had much sense.
The first 3 steeps gave the flavor of the leather, cardboard, smoke, decayed leaves, but it was so smooth and it tastes so good. Next few steeps were 5-10 seconds and now in addition to the a fore mentioned is slight plum, date and sweetness of brown sugar. Still very smooth and aromatic. At about the 8th steep come the cha chi and the húigān is so pleasant. I guess the name of the teas fit it just perfect, “Real Taste”, indeed.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C
boychik

i do love leather notes in pu

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95

What a sultry brew this is. Dark, smokey, woodsy maybe teak or mahogany, creme brulee crispiness, Brasil nut, hint of patchouli. All the thing one loves in roasted oolong. This is pretty imposing 10 year old, not for the faint of heart. That said I did have a quick sensation that it may be over roasted, but got over it after another sip. If you like big & bold this is for you.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 30 sec 3 tsp 5 OZ / 150 ML
Charles Thomas Draper

After my session was over I put the tea in a Mason jar and covered it. I let it steep overnight and into the fridge for many days. When I finally tasted it I have only one word to describe it, whiskey….

BigDaddy

Now you’re talking, maybe boil it down, make an extract for a new bitters. Use it in addition to Bourbon and sweet Vermouth and voila the “CTD Manhattan”

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Food and Drink fanatic. Expanding my horizons with new teas. Accomplished cook with a love of wines, liquors, cocktails, coffees and teas.
Semi-retired Interventional Cardiology Registered Nurse

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East Village NYC, Red Hook NY, USA

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