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I have my wife to thank for getting me into this tea. As she’s sensitive to caffeine, houjicha and herbals are the only teas we can drink together. Despite not being big fan of houjicha, this bagged Asian grocery store tea has slowly won me over.

It’s not ashy or earthy like houjicha can sometimes be. It’s roasty without being aggressively so. Very smooth with a rich body and mellow comforting flavor. Can sit forever in a mug of hot water without becoming bitter.

I’ve had higher grade houjicha and while they were good, the subtleties are sadly lost on a houjicha-heathen like me. Sometimes, the bagged stuff is the best.

TJ Maxx find. Was hoping this would be similar to Tim Horton’s Apple Cinnamon Tea but unfortunately it doesn’t even come close. It tastes like you’re drinking a boiled cinnamon stick. The apple flavor is absent and the stevia adds an odd sweet tone. A very one dimensional cup.

Spring 2022 harvest.

First time trying Eco-Cha’s Wenshan Baozhong and it did not disappoint. This is an all around excellent tea.

Out of the bag, the dry leaves are beautifully aromatic and fresh with a fragrant aroma of stonefruit, sweep sap, and flowers. Lilac and balsamic aromas appear in the wet leaf. It has that classic Baozhong lilac forward taste. This is accented with notes of water lily, bergamot, and orchid. Clean and medium bodied with lingering perfume in the finish. The top notes disappear and the flavor lightens when topped off but still very pleasant.

I mostly steeped it grandpa style @ 190-195 F topping off with boiling water. I preferred it this way to gongfu which was richer but missing some subtleties.

Spring 2022 harvest.

First time trying Eco-Cha’s Wenshan Baozhong and it did not disappoint. This is an all around excellent tea.

Out of the bag, the dry leaves are beautifully aromatic and fresh with a fragrant aroma of stonefruit, sweep sap, and flowers. Lilac and balsamic aromas appear in the wet leaf. It has that classic Baozhong lilac forward taste. This is accented with notes of water lily, bergamot, and orchid. Clean and medium bodied with lingering perfume in the finish. The top notes disappear and the flavor lightens when topped off but still very pleasant.

I mostly steeped it grandpa style @ 190-195 F topping off with boiling water. I preferred it this way to gongfu which was richer but missing some subtleties.

This one smells very minty, like Junior Mints candy. The mintiness is also present in the tea which bears some similarity to DavidsTea Cold 911 except there is an unpleasant herbaceous-medicinal taste which I suspect is due to the chamomile in the blend.

I was intrigued by the list of ingredients which includes chamomile, lemongrass, rose, lemon peel, blackberry, and different varieties of mint. However none of them are discernible in the cup as the mint overpowers everything .

Spring 2022.

My second Yunnan Sourcing Long Jing and easily the better of the two.

This tea has a sweet, creamy aroma and the leaves are longer and less broken than the Imperial Grade. I steeped it the traditional grandpa method: tea leaves directly in the cup.

In a warm glass, the leaves emitted a nutty aroma that reminded me of Rice Krispies. The brewed tea has a very nice nutty freshness. Chestnut and lima bean are the dominant flavors but there are green bean and pistachio notes as well. It’s more chestnutty than any dragonwell I’ve had. Pleasant and smooth throughout with zero bitterness.

Holds up well in cold storage and makes an excellent cold brew.

Spring 2022 harvest.

Anji Bai Cha has quickly become one of my must-haves when it comes to spring green tea. This one was good but not as sublime as last year’s crop from Teavivre.

The color of the leaf was also different. Dark green needles instead of the light green leaves with white streaks I’m used to. Very vegetal aroma with notes of raw zucchini, okra, and straw. I steeped 2g of leaf grandpa style in my tumbler.

First sip tasted like creamy cannellini beans. Then as I continued to sip, I got notes of aloe and blueberry. Straw and dry grass appear as it cooled. Flavor profile resembled another Teavivre Chinese green, Tian Mu Yun Wu.

When gongfued, it had fuller flavor and body but also a slight bitterness. Bean curd, straw, aloe, and fennel notes. The fennel and straw soften with later steeps and the tea overall becomes smoother, cleaner.

It’s best steeped when fresh and doesn’t take too well to sitting on the shelf or cold storage. I noticed the flavor began dropping after a couple of months.

Spring 2022.

Just when I thought I might be getting tired of Laoshan tea, this year’s production comes along to remind me why I loved this tea in the first place. First flush greens can often be a little bland but this one is robust with layers of flavor.

A wonderful aroma of fresh grass, oats, flowers, and boiled milk greets the nose. The flavor is exquisite with its melon sweetness and notes of soft fennel, basil, and soymilk. A hint of toasted grain in the background adds a nice warmth to the cup.

Cold brewing amplifies the sweetness and really brings out the fresh, vegetative notes.

Last shincha of 2022.

This was delicious when fresh. Aroma is like freshly cut wet grass. The tea brews up a nice mellow green color. Notes of dairy and cornflakes. Second steep is very green, fukamushi like. It practically slaps you in the face with grassiness which I love. The third steep is soft textured, crisp, and refreshing. Less grass, more spring vegetation.

A wonderful tea but the flavor and aromatics have dropped since I first opened it 4 months ago so I have to lower the rating slightly.

A 5 year old sample that I finally broke out last week. The slew of bad reviews had discouraged me from this tea and it ended up being banished to the back of my cupboard.

I was initially going to use it in oolong milk tea thinking it was a heavy roast. Turns out that wasn’t the case. In fact, it smelled lightly floral and had notes of pine and juniper berries. The taste was pleasantly woodsy with a hint of spice. Good but basic dark oolong flavor. I don’t know if the tea aged at all sitting in my cupboard for all these years, but it certainly didn’t go stale. An unremarkable yet serviceable tea.