224 Tasting Notes
can’t find this on the OWT site anymore. Was $15.50 for the pack of apparently 10g? I didn’t measure the rest after the 6g, but it seemed more like an 8g pack.
6:90, 212. From 2019, but seems to retain a lot of roastiness? Not too happy with this one. Did 4 steeps and mugged it after. Started out sharp and almost bitter that moved into some sweetness on side of tongue. Not sure if my nose was desensitized from burning incense, but it didn’t seem too aromatic at all. subtly sweet and slight celery/mineral notes for rest. Didn’t sit well with my body for whatever reason today and felt some anxiety after.
remainder in yeti mug. 212. some sweetness, fruit, and mineral/celery taste. still didn’t sit well with my body again for whatever reason. Some anxious feeling, despite being noticeably more drinkable.
5/90. bought a quarter cake from Puerh uk a while back after seeing mattcha’s review. we’ll see how future sessions are, but this one was incredibly disappointing for the price. I haven’t tried too many CYHs and def not often enough (so pricy!!) to draw definite conclusions though. started as a light bitter sour to a woody minty sweetness, with a dried cherry like and slight medicinal note. subsequent steeps had no development and remained a straightforward woody with some sweetness. mugged it after a few steeps, and it reached the leaf taste rather quickly. will try again in a few months, but RH shouldn’t be an issue since it’s been sitting with other samples and bovedas for months since it arrived. No feeling except for caffeine and the blood sugar drop
2020 harvest. Tian Geng Da Hong Pao on the packet. Can’t find the OWT listing anymore. 6/90. gaiwan lid floral starts out as a sort of deep floral and softens. I’m sure I say this far too often, but these gaiwan lid aromatics are something else — probably more enjoyable than most of my perfumes, and I really like my perfumes!! wet leaf here is mostly roasty notes. I never thought of it as metallic, but seeing that somewhere abt oolong roasts makes me associate it now. overall kind of soft, some salivating effect initially. some cocoa, not sure if it’s my imagination that my Brita filter needing to be swapped has muddled it somewhat. ended with a cold cup of the 2nd steep and it was pretty great. I’m generally surprised by how drastic the changes are coming back, as everything seems to be enhanced, even if the tea didn’t seem rich initially. Keeps me humble, even though realistically I’m not terribly good with evaluating oolongs. At .96/g when I got it, a good value.
3-ish remaining grams in a yeti. was creamy floral, with some of the celery/mineral notes apparent. Very nice.
I don’t think OWT sells this exact RG anymore, which is kind of a shame. I went back to my email and it was 15.80 for the pack, but the link is broken. the two up on the site are slightly cheaper, and different packaging.
6/90. slight floral, lingers slightly on tip of tongue. sweet and sugary throughout, some bread, honey, spiced, and woody metallic notes, with some slight bitterness. Didn’t catch the mineral/celery note until 4th steep. mugged after fifth. I had this in the morning and felt somewhat noticeably happier than usual. No one gets oolongs as a bang for the buck (hard to say whether I’d repurchase given budgeting; maybe antidepressants are cheaper?? /s), but I’ve been on an oolong kick and enjoyed this.
mugged remaining 2 ish grams in a Yeti rambler and it was decent. Still somewhat uplifting. Overall taste was muddled in the yeti, but I liked it
5/90. WS storage note mostly gone now. something apple and green tea floral like ending in some cups, a little dry but sweet. very comfortable. not very exciting, but enjoyable. Probably wouldn’t purchase, though .51/g (before shipping) is reasonable pricing for this.
4.65/90. 212 with PS origin water and was surprisingly quite decent? Very fragrant. Not something I’d really reach for often, but infinitely more palatable than with my usual water. Maybe due to low TDS of PSO. too bad it’s so darn expensive and somewhat morally problematic to give more money to nestle/blue triton.
Zhengyan Old Tree Shui Xian. can’t find in on the OWT site anymore, but was the 2018 batch. Wish I’d bought more, but I don’t really drink yancha that often and so have been trying to be better abt my purchases. can only leave my impressions of this packet.
6g/90: fragrant, starting out medicinal, sweet and root beer like with good mouthfeel. Later was sharper and slightly metallic, with florals beneath the woodiness, and some greenness in aftertaste. overall seemed more like rou gui instead of shui xian, and the roast was really nice.
rest was aired out and forgotten by accident when i went home for break until now. 1.7g in a 200g ish mug yielded 2.5 solid refills with boiling water. Grandpa brewing is the great equalizer, as they say. fruity (in a borderline plummy way), woody, and sweet. Solid tea, and not cheap (slightly under $2/g when I purchased), but hardly expensive for yancha category.
5/130, pot. okay, but this was a sample with a Wistaria order and it retains mainly the brine-y notes that people complain about on Qingteng. slight warmth and happy feeling, I think, but it gave up fast. will let the remaining 5g rest for longer before reassessing.
6/90. Got this from TXS at some point, but I can’t find it on their site anymore so it must’ve been a long time ago. Assuming it was pretty cheap, but I can’t remember.
dry: roasty, bread, berries, almost sour. wet: roasty, medicinal. taste is medicinal and bitter chocolate, with some of the celery/mineral notes. some astringency at front of tongue. not a great experience overall. My pack was pretty crushed, so that didn’t really help.
