AllanK Send Message

This is a very tasty tea. It started out on a bitter note. There was a fair amount of fermentation flavor but I didn’t really notice it. Slowly over the course of fourteen steeps the bitter note turned to a sweet note. I would have to say it had a bit of a nutty flavor to it. Mushrooms might be another possible interpretation of it. In all it was very good. This is not a cheap brick at around $245 for a 1000g brick. I gave it fourteen steeps because it was so expensive. But it would have gone a few more. Judging by the color in the fourteenth steep I would say it would have gone at least another four to five steeps with longer times on the steep. But I lost my patience at 3 minutes so I didn’t want to keep going. Overall this is one of the best ripe teas I have had.

I steeped this fourteen times in a 160ml solid silver teapot with 12.3g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, 2 min, 2.5 min, and 3 minutes. I definitely recommend a sample of this.

This is a very tasty tea with that Muscatel grape note to it. There is a little bitterness but not much. It has a very light taste for something classified as a black tea. I think of first flush Darjeelings as more of a cross between a black, a green, and an oolong. It does not however have any of the vegetal taste of a green or an green oolong. It is really har to describe this tea.

I steeped this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 minutes.

Drinking a sheng today that I got from Dragon Tea House a couple of weeks ago. However they sold out and removed it from their website so I am not certain what it is. I think it is the 2015 Dr Puerh Small Bing Dao raw tea. But I am not sure. If anyone can read the Chinese on the wrapper I will post the photo.

This was a fairly nice sheng with very little bitterness at the start and a sweet note that developed into what I would have to describe as apricots and stonefruits. I gave this twelve steeps and it certainly would have gone a few more.

I steeped this twelve times in a 110ml teapot with 8.1g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 minutes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BTgtrhHBYbP/?taken-by=allanckeanepuerhtea

It is odd how you can drink a tea for a second time and get a completely different result. This time I found it was bittersweet at the start with notes of dark chocolate. After about four steeps this bitterness went away and a sweet note began to emerge. There was a little fermentation taste to this tea but not too much. It still needs five more years to clear. I am not sure how to describe the sweet note I tasted in the end, not quite fruity but almost. Overall this was a very good tea.

I steeped this twelve times in a 130ml gaiwan with 10.7g leaves and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 minutes. Judging by the color of the tea in the twelfth steep I would say there were another four to five steeps left if I wanted to continue.

Thank you to the Tea Guy for this sample. This is a strong, very malty tea. Although I didn’t put any in it would hold up well to milk. If this tea doesn’t wake me up nothing will. It has a nice sweet note oon the back burner that I don’t know how to describe. I have not had too many Irish Breakfast Teas but I like this one. It is very good but a little stronger than I am used to. Hopefully it has a nice caffeine kick to jump start my day but I won’t be sure of that until I finish my cup.

I brewed this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 minutes.

This was in many ways a good tea. It did however have a lot of wet storage taste to it. So much so that I rerally couldn’t taste the fermentation over it. There was not a lot of fermentation taste but there was some. In the end it developed to a sweet note with a slight aftertaste of wet storage flavor or wet wood as it is referred to. I find that I dislike wet storage taste a little less than I did a couple of years ago. It still bothers me a little but not as much. There were of course other flavors behind the wet storage but it was hard to pin them down. Overall this was a good tea as long as you can tolerate some wet storage flavors. Some people really won’t like it. This is not one where I would order a tong, but I will put the cake in dry storage for six months and see if the wet storage flavors go away. This is what happened with the White2Tea White Tuo. Six months in dry storage and the wet storage flavors were gone.

I steeped this tea twelve times in a 130ml teapot with 10.1g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 minutes. Judging by the color of the tea in the twelfth steep I would say there were two or three more steeps left to this one if I wanted to continue.

Bought this in a recent order from Dragon Tea House and it is pretty good. Either it had partially cleared or the fermentation on this was very light. It had some fermentation taste but not a lot. There was no bitterness and a nice sweet note developed. A slightly sweet note with just a hint of a bitter aftertaste, making me think of bitter melon even though I admit I have never eaten that fruit but it is as I imagine that would taste. The was very good overall.

I steeped this twelve times in a 130ml teapot with 10g of leaves and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 minutes. The leaves were not done. There were a few more steeps in them not sure how many.

This is the first border tea I have tried. It was fairly good. There was an initial note for the first two steepings which I found unpleasant. About the third steeping a little bitterness crept in and lasted maybe two or three steeps. This was replaced by a sweet note. I am not sure what to call this sweet note either. I don’t quite get apricots but maybe that is because this tea has turned a corner on aging and lost that flavor. It was still a nice note.

I steeped this twelve times in a 75ml teapot with 5.5g leaf. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 minutes. The leaves were not done at twelve steeps. I am sure I could have gotten another four to five steeps out of the leaves if I wanted to continue.

This is a very nice shou brick with a bit of fermentation flavor left. I really only noticed it in the third and fourth steep, once the leaves had opened up. But this was a remnant of the taste, not a strong flavor. The tea did have a moderate amound of wet storage taste. I noticed it up until the eighth steep but it was not strong. I suspect a year of dry storage here will clear the tea of that. Overall I really enjoyed this tea. It had a really nnice sweet finish in the last few steeps. I am not sure what to call these notes but for some reason roasted hazelnuts came to mind. This may be inaccurate however, it is just what I thought of while drinking this tea.

I steeped this tea twelve times in a 110ml teapot with 8g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, and 2 minutes. Judging by the color of the tea I would say there were about two to three more steeps left in the leaves if I wanted to continue.

This is a tasty black tea, malty and somewhat chocolaty in nature. As I recall it didn’t cost a lot. It is not quite so malty as I find the average Chinese black to be but less like a Darjeeling than a Chinese black.

I steeped this one time in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 minutes.