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The leaf is long and threaded loosely. I am picking up tones of sweet roast, fresh greens, butternut squash, and popcorn. I warmed my pot up and placed some inside. The scent explores into some sweet steamed greens and minor tobacco with smoke. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The taste starts with sweet sugar water. The thickness is on the medium side and a wildflower honey tone comes up in the aftertaste. The brew moves into some peppercorn spice territory along with a heavy green base. The brew balances out with smooth and bitter grassy tones with an alternating sweetness. This tea is pretty average, but it isn’t a bad drinker.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRs0JGEAEQr/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel&hl=en

I’ve been searching for a decent aged puerh to stock up on, so that I can have something to sip on and relax with. However, this will not be the one. The leaf is incredibly compressed and very dark with tones of intense spiced wood, dry, tobacco, and faint antique furniture. I grabbed my zini and warmed it up and placed a few crumbly pebbles inside. The aroma opens into some dry pipe tobacco, leather, petricor, and wood. I washed the leaves once and preparred for brewing. The taste begins sweet and smooth with some dustiness and earthy tones. The brew continues in the same manner and pronounced dryness arises later on. The body is medium thick and the brew is mostly clean. The qi is present, but I wouldn’t call it particularly involved with the tea. The brew continues in this manner and it doesn’t develop any further. My problem with this tea is that I believe the high price is only due to its age; which I don’t think is fair. The brew is very dusty, the taste is bit unclear, and there is no prominent complexity, and the qi is quite lacking. If this was lower, than I think this would be a fair lil tuocha, but at just under a dollar/g plus high shipping; this is not a good buy for me.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BP2rul1AWDY/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel&hl=en

This is tea sold as loose maocha, and it carries a sweet and fruity aroma. To me, it smells exactly like first flush darjeeling with undertones of apricot. I warmed my shibo and placed a bit inside. The warmed tea gives off sweet grass scents with some pineapple and brown sugar. I washed the leaves once and prepped for brewing. The brew begins with sweet tones with a tad bit of sourness. The brew is thin, but it carries some and pear and green apple tones. This brew has the familiar wuliang lemongrass aftertaste. The leaves are not the best quality, for I can spot several “hongcha lookin” leaves that were waaaay over cooked and oxidized. In conclusion, this is a tea to throw in the pot and really not care too much about; However, at .26 cents a gram I think that’s a bit too for an IDGAF tea.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BR_7i3BAenm/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel&hl=en

This was an odd green tea for me. The leaves are a very dull green and give off a stale scent with some woodish and fig tones. I brewed these in my kyusu. The tea itself is very rough and slightly rancid. The drinking experience was not pleasant. It tastes close to a very low quality sheng puerh. The flavor was a rigid green taste with a slight sweet sugar aftertaste. I did not finish the pot.

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I had a perfect sample size of this tea, so I grabbed my gaiwan and brewed away. The dry leaf is dark black and slightly curled with aromas of malt, dark coco, black cherry, and grapeskin. I warmed my gaiwan up and scooped a bit inside. The scent opens up into a familiar red tea scent of burnt sugar, resin, char, and molasses. I washed the leaves once an prepared for brewing. The taste is sweet and woody with dark fruits, sugars, dark wood, and some resins in the background. The brew drops down significantly with each steep and becomes a very dry wood with some heavier malt. All in all, the first steep is good, but the next are average. This is a one and done kinda tea.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSKXMtog2EW/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel&hl=en

I have a been a bit spoiled with my Shu puerh consumption, so I am difficult to please. I wish to state this at the beginning, so if you’re a different Shu drinker than I, please disregard my harsh words. As I stated, I am very picky with my Shu consumption, for I have heard too many horror stories of the disgusting lake bile out there categorized as the “ripe”. This is a gong ting loose, so I didn’t go in with absurdly high expectations. The description reads “smooth, clean, and does not require a rinse”. I will disagree firmly with all three counts. First, I do not know of many Shu puerhs (or puerhs in general) that should ignore a rinse. Second, this was a very harsh drink. Third, a prominent cloudy factor and dirty notes were constantly encountered. Now, into some more details:

The dry leaf is small and tippy with a slight aroma of fresh soil, minerals, and minor cocoa. I warmed my yixing and scooped the bits inside. I washed the leaves and began my brewing as usual; however, I used flash steeping, for this leaf did not need the extra time to open up, for it was loose leaf. The initial flavor was brandishing and drying on the tongue. I would put it as bittersweet heavy dark cocoa. The brew was coarse and chalky. I thought maybe it was my water, so I changed and cleaned the kettle quickly, and I reboiled a fresh pot. Turns out, it was not my water. The brew continued in a simple statement of dirty tasting. The drink was very harsh to get down, but it wasn’t a pleasant harsh such as: leather, mineral, or dark wood; rather, it was just plain dirty tasting. I kept brewing, for maybe it was going to improve. I experienced a slightly decent period around the fourth steeping when the harsh features tuned down and it was of the earthy Menghai profile Shu; however, the next steep brought this back into the Sahara dryness category. I then gave up soon after. This might be Shu for someone that likes the extreme Shu, but I am not in that group of drinkers. I have had some bitter Menghais before, but this one takes the bing (cake, get it lol).

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRbg57CAZek/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel&hl=en

A chunk of this bing made its way to my door, so I grabbed my yixing and started the kettle. The leaf is lightly silver and green with some yellow. I can pick up interesting tones of corn husk, sweet wood, some honey, and a light floral. It smells alike White2Tea’s plantation Mengku, except this has some distinct corny tones (lol). I warmed my pot up and threw this in. Now, this was a very interesting aroma. There is a Ben & Jerry (Vermont Ice Cream) flavor called spectacular speculoo cookie dough (or something??), and this tea smells almost exactly like that. Its a mix of dark caramel, graham cracker, and butter cookie. The scent is thick, tangy, and sweet. This intrigued me quite a bit, so I washed the tea and began brewing. The taste begins sweet with a strong background of grass. The astringency is mild in the back of the throat, and it mixes with the sweet greens. The qi is slight buzz that hits the forehead. However, this tea kinda goes downhill from there. The taste becomes plain and bitter with basic plantation tastes of grass, slight sweetish, and soft woods. I can pick up a bit of undertones of floras, but that is the extent of this brew. So, all in all, this is special for its aroma, but that is it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRq6MtTAEps/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel&hl=en

I’m working my way through these odd and unusual teas. This one was verrrrrryy difficult to photograph. This is probably one of the least photogenic teas I’ve ever had, but i still was curios as what beans and oolong tasted like. The leaf is made up of small bundles of dark oolong balls along with lots of black beans. The aroma is some roast and black beans (duh). I warmed up my gaiwan and placed the snack inside. The scent opens into lots of roast along with prominent edamame notes. I washed the leaves once and prepped for brewing. The taste of the drink was full of starch and sweetness. This reminds me of Americanized mole sauce on an enchilada. Its an odd sweet tone with bean and pungent smoke . I was not a fan of this tea.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRUI-6eAF5n/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel&hl=en

First!

This is a beautiful new photogenic cake from whispering pines. I haven’t drank from a 100g cake in awhile, so it seems so cute to me and bite sized. The leaves are long and several shades of pale yellow, green, and silver; in which, they are threaded in a mass of puerh goodness. The cake has a very faint aroma of soft grasses and some light florals, but it is hard to tell. The cake is a bit tight in compression, but I managed to jimmy off a section. I warmed my pot up and placed the fox inside. The tea opens into a sweet grassy and wet wood aroma. I can hint at what I call opaque tones (they are cloudy, somewhat milky, its hard to describe…) I washed the leaves once and began my brewing. The brew is incredibly light and subtle, but it has a decent thickness. The drink has the consistency of milk along with tastes of beans, grass, chrysanthemum, and a bit viscosity. The brew hits the tongue with smoothness and softness, but it retracts and bites with a brief tannic bitter. The session continues in this manner. This is a very clean and “springy” tea. The cup never colors darker than pale jade, and the tones never leave the grass and high floral notes of the spectrum. This what I imagine early spring tastes like. I liked the cake, but I am going to be keeping it in storage for bit. This is a fair cake at the price.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRbQfqXg2Yr/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel&hl=en
its a multipic, so you gota scroll for more.

This is probably the first Georgian tea that I’ve ever had, so there’s that… The leaf is scraggly and dark black with wafting of roast, dark wood, pomegranate, and tobacco. I warmed up my pot and tuck some in. The scents opens to a great aroma of ginger snap cookies and pancakes. This was an unusual aroma for me. I washed the leaves and set to steep. The first sip brings direct taste of dried berries to the tip of my tongue alone with some wood (pine? maple?). The brew is sweet but a tad dry. The tea tastes a bit flat, and its a little thin. The brew grows with some thickness, but it also brings sour notes and with some salted caramel. This was a very “alright” tea, but I wouldn’t chase it down.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRbQfqXg2Yr/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel&hl=en