New Tasting Notes

Sipdown 50

This last cup had very little strawberry flavor, but it was still delicious! I will probably purchase it again at some point.

Overpriced, but complex Gong Fu so far in 15-20 sec increments going up each time. The style leans more into a Baozhong, but the taste is a little bit closer to a Tie Guan Yin. Orchid and dense vegetal florals are the most prominent note about the very light smell and taste of the tea. Like the black, it’s got a cedar profile that sneaks into the orchids, especially during steep three. It’s also long lasting and has a little bit more vegetal and fruity build up towards the end.

Unlike Taiwanese teas, this Michigan made tea is more floral than it is fruity, but it’s a different kind of vegetal that I notice in more Chinese teas. I’m half tempted to put peony in the florals for the notes. The later notes are also more complex whereas the earlier notes are softer and more floral. It’s forgiving, but some complexity can be lost when I push the tea too far.

So far, it’s certainly stands its ground in taste and complexity against Taiwanese and Chinese teas. In terms of price, I hesitate more. I got this one to try out Michigan Terroir and support a cool business. I prefer the black tea a little bit more even if I prefer the softer profile of this one. The black tea stands out a little bit more overall, so I’ll see if I change my mind as my snobbery fluxes.

Simply put, I like this tea and impressed by the tea, but I’m not sure if it stands out enough from its predecessors to justify the price.

Michigan Grown and processed Black tea.

Yeah, this one stands up against many Yunnan Blacks. I won’t go into too much detail, but it was long lasting western. The profile is extremely close to a Bai Lin or Golden Monkey Picked Yunnan black. The flavor leans heavier into anise, licorice, and cedar, with malt and cocoa in texture. I do think it’s overpriced, but it stands out. I’ll have plenty to play with, and I don’t regret trying it. This note is a placeholder for now.

Okay, I’m ready to rate it. Given how much I paid for it and its terroir, this tea’s too weak. I like lighter blacks, but this one doesn’t have a lot going on and I feel like it lost flavor. It’s got more character in the dry leaf aroma before I brew it, and the leaves are gorgeous. Then when I go with shorter steeps, more leaf, I get a darker Bai Hao adjacent. When I use less leaves and brew it longer, I get a vaguely fruity black tea that’s flat.

I might change the rating when I figure it out. I’m disappointed anyway.

Thank you Trident for the sample! I got this with the Red Plum Dragonwell Black I purchased. I only purchased an oz of that one because I really wanted to try a Black Dragonwell, and they generously sent an 8 gram sample of this.

It’s been a while since I had a dragonwell, or since I reviewed a straight green tea. Going gong fu, 120 ml, 10, 13, 16, 20, 15, 10, 25 before getting vegetal bitter and astringent. Earlier steeps were incredibly flavorful and well balanced. I couldn’t smell the dryleaf too much, but the brewed tea was nutty. Chestnuts are prominent in every steep in this tea starting of lighter, then ramping up into steep three. Like they describe, the tea is really clean and sweet. I’m impressed how balanced the snow pea notes are with the violet notes. Two and four gave me the most violet notes.

I was really happy with this one. I wouldn’t drink this one often, given it’s around $20 an oz, though honestly worth it if you are into good quality greens. I usually think Dragonwells are too vegetal, but this one is closer to an oolong in how smooth and sweet it is. It made think again how close to green teas the oolong I get are. I’m excited to finish this one off, and more excited to try the black tea.

Let it never be said that I am not susceptible to marketing. I am a huge fan of Sherlock Homes, so when I see a Baker Street Blend, well, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that I am going to get it.
This is an Earl Grey cream blend, and its lighter on the vanilla that I would wish. I may have been inattentive in my steeping, though, so I will watch my next cup of this more carefully, so I can better judge.

Thank you Leafhopper!

This is the kind of tea I like. I was saving it for a morning that I had time, and pretty much followed the same parameters with the 4-5 grams-the entire sample left using 120 ml, 195 F, 10, 12, 15, 18, then changed it fifteen. I debated if I would use my Manual Teamaker gaiwan because the leaves are on the smaller side, and were a little bit challenging to prevent from coming into my cup or leaving the gaiwan. Luckily I had a strainer, though I had to plop some leaves back into it.

The tea doesn’t change too much with each steep, but gets more bitter, tannic, and metallic towards the end. Initial steep was strong with blood orange, cinnamon, rose, and allspice with a little bit of a lavender tail end. Lavender notes ramp up after steep two and was consistent. The combo of lavender, malt, citrus, pine, spices, and dryness reminded me of some coffee flavor combos and mocktails I used to get. I enjoyed steep one and two the best because the immense florals and malt were balanced, and the unusual cinnamon spice taste set this one far apart other Fujian blacks I’ve had. It’s like a top end constant comment without needing actual spices.

The shorter last steep made a difference in backing off from the earth, malt, and metal leaning more into citrus lavender combo. I personally couldn’t make it past this one though because the bitterness and metallic taste started to become too much for me.

I’m thankful I got to try it, and while this is totally the kind of tea I’d have in my stash, I’m pretty content with what I got for now. The drying and metallic qualities hold me back from rating it a 90 overall.

This is decently hearty, but not delicious. It’s missing the maltiness I enjoy in breakfast blends. It has strength, but it leans almost grapey at times. But that’s also muddled with some other black tea that doesn’t really go with it well. This is just far from my favorite breakfast tea.

Thank you very much for this sample, Kawaii433!  I thought this would work for the “oceanic tasting” sipdown challenge, and no, NO it does not.  It is sweet creamed corn all the way.  Nothing oceanic about it.  These dark grass clipping leaves mostly resemble a lighter flavored, less nutty Laoshan green.  But I do love a creamed corn green tea so I am a fan of this one.   The second steep has a bit of dry quality to the mouthfeel, maybe a bit of smokiness but still more of the creamed corn.  It’s a very light brew, which is always so unexpected from such a dark grassy leaf.   But I like it.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // 35 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 30 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep

Sipdown. Still aroundd, still drinking tea but just bored with the selections out there in the canadian universe. I miss places like butiki that had interesting blends that were great tasting/high quality.

This one from Maya is a bit underwhelming, the blackberry flavor is a bit sour on the first brew, and weaker on the second brew. It could be I’m brewing it too strong, or its better as an iced tea. I will experiment with the rest of the pouch, but I wouldn’t need more of this tea.