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This is the 2016 spring harvest.

The tea is very vibrantly green and carries a fantastic aroma. The small green curls give off scents of fruit, lemon zest, and light grass tone. I can also pick up some fragrant florals in the mix. I pulled out my cast iron and filled her up. The brew is slightly thin with a smooth sweet tone. A next sip brings a slight spiked and sweet taste on the tip of the tongue along with a moderately floral body. The brew is very light and gives a nice sweet lingering taste on the pallet. The texture is interesting. This is a great lazy Sunday warm weather tea, but it is a bit too thin for my preference.

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The PTA has returned! This tea made quite a splash about two or three years ago, and it is back with a vengeance! The leaves are long, wiry, and pitch black. They carry an explosive scent of sweet caramel, cocoa, roast, baked bread (waffles?), melted butter, and a dash of salt. Sweet and savory. I warmed up my shibo and dumbed them inside. A good shake and a sniff, and I am in heaven. The warmed leaf gives a firm kola root scent along with dark cocoa, burnt sugar, more melted butter, and aromatic roast. I washed the leaves once and began my steeping. The taste blasts off with a lingering, thick, sweet, lucky charms marshmallow taste. A light malt tone weaves itself in along with some lengthy vanilla bean notes. The base has a slight wood tone, and the brew is deeply oily. This tea is completely satisfying. The next steep backs away from the marshmallow tones and presents some more woodiness with a little throat dryness. A direct fruity note burst through; I would call it chocolate covered pomegranate. The next steeping carries some dark cherry and dry dark cocoa. The malt becomes a bit more pronounced towards the end. Honestly, this is a great tea, and it is something you have to try at least once. My only complaint is that the first steeping was stars and fireworks, and the next couple were good but a little too harsh of a contrast from the initial taste. Otherwise, this is a stellar treat.

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This is a favorite of mine! The leaf quality is not the greatest, but it still makes a very nice brew. The compression is tight and gives off tones of leather, dry grass, and mild menthol that lingers in the background. I warmed my yixing up and chip some inside. The scent opens into intense eucalyptus, leather, and pipe tobacco. A warm mahogany note lifts up along with dark wood resin. The background has a faint sweetness of black cherry cream. I washed the leaves twice and prepared for brewing. The taste is incredibly thick and sweet with sugarcane. The woody astringency builds as a contrast to the succulent sugary feel. The huigan begins immediately and is nice and long. The qi begins as a calm and quiet feeling. I can note that things seem more “distant” as I drink this. I would label this effect as a separating sheng. The brew continues on with crisp apricot tones and a clean body. The qi gains force and refocuses on my scalp and commences hair prickling. The prickling quickly and effectively washes over me, and I’m thrown. The brew continues in a perfectly smooth fashion, and it is packed with flavor. Due to compression, this brew tends to last for a very very very long time. Further, the qi continues to build with each sip, so I am pretty smoothed out half way through. By the end of the session, I have gone through flavors of apricot, melon, sugarcane, honey, bright high notes, and a great base of well oiled wood. The qi leaves me feeling like a freshly pressed and steamed suit, haha.

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A very shiny buddy tea! The small golden tendrils give off a faint baked bread aroma with some salted caramel and malt. I am not big on Dianhong, but I do like the gold buds. I warmed my bowl up and slipped some inside. The aroma expands into some dark cherry, cocoa, and a woody tang. I washed once and sipped away. This is a good red tea, for it lies somewhere in between bitter/woody and sweet/cocoa. It has a good malt base with some woodiness but with a sooth baked bread taste. The astringent tone is just slight, and it shows up in the aftertaste. The next steeping brings on some yam notes with a wood shaving dryness. The tea is decent. I am more keen to the flavor sweet bombs, but this is still a fair tea.

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This was a gift, so I decided to brew the “legendary ancient tree” mini tuocha! The little guy is massively compressed with a slight earth coffee tone and some fungal aroma. I warmed my gaiwan and popped it inside. The pebble opens with some sweet cherry, dark cocoa, wet moss, petrichor, and a background of vanilla. I washed the leaf twice and picked at it, so I could begin brewing. The body is surprisingly full with earth and fungal tones. A light sweetness lingers on the palate. The brew is intensely dark. A strong woody tone comes out along with a bit of fruit. The tea is decent, but it is very basic. The inky drink continues with this earthy body and dry astringency for the rest of the session. The qi is warming and hot towards the head and stomach, but it stops there. Also, the leaves have a bit of green/ish in them. This was an average session, but I think these would be good for traveling.

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This tea is very ugly. However, we do not drink beauty pagent winners so into the pot she goes. The leaf is incredibly compressed with strong notes of bitter greens, oak, parchment, and slightly sweet raisan-y tobacco tang. I warmed my pot up and tossed the rock inside. I nice sauna yielded some intense tobacco scents along with melon, apricot, and a sweet/spicy medley. I washed the leaf twice and began my boil. The taste is very nice and sweet. The leaf opens up, and I get some brown sugar in the forefront with a nectar sugarcane aftertaste. The ta progresses with sweet corn, tobacco, and fruitiness in the cup. The huigan is beautiful and lasting; I am really enjoying this brew. The body is amazingly full, and the flavors continue to be complex and transfer about. The next steeping move into a wood base with the familiar intense sugarcane aftertaste. The qi begins with a steady flow of energy that emits a calm focused power. The last steeping jump over to hay and peat moss with an undertone of daffodils. This tea is superb, and I should probably get more of it. I can’t stress enough to not judge a tea by its appearance. I’ve noticed that some of the ugliest are the best!

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I am not a big shou drinker, so I have been picking away at what I had of this for a couple years now. This past session took up the last chunk that I had left. This is a really great shou. The leaves are heavily compressed and give off no fermentation stank, rather they have high notes of spiced wood and earth. I warmed up my zisha, broke the chunk in half, and threw in both pieces. The warmed shu smells great with burly nuttiness, sweetness, and damp wood. Honestly, I was picking up a definite nutella tone. I washed the leaves three times and proceeded with brewing. The taste is somewhat thin with a slight dryness at first, but it builds in thickness and smoothness as the session goes on. The tones start with a great nutty base along with a great sweet syrupy background. Due to compression, this session lasted for quite a long time. The dark leaves became sweeter and sweeter with more pronounced earth, hazelnut, dry dark cacao. The qi is an intense warming sensation in the face and lower abdomen. I can feel brief bursts of energy the ebb and flow with the session. This is a great tea, but I think its a bit too high priced for me. I couldn’t see myself spending this kind of money on shou. However, it is a stellar tea, and it will always please!

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I heard a few mixed reviews on this tea. I’ve heard people saying it’s 100% damn good, and others sayin nah. I’m sorry to say it, but I am leaning towards the latter. The leaves are long darkened tendrils with a strong aroma of buckwheat honey and apricot. I brought out my shibo and warmed it up, and then I placed some leaves inside. The aroma moves about and expands into some fig newton with an undertone of sour kale. I washed the leaf once and prepared for brewing. Now the taste is what drove me away. Quick anecdote, a loooooooong time ago I acquired some “rare” tea from a foreign friend of mine. They instructed me how to brew said “mysterious tea”, and that after I brew it I can sun dry the leaves and resteep this “mystical” tea. Me, giving benefit of the doubt, believed my foreign friend and did just that, I brewed the tea, drank, and then put the leaves outside to dry, so I can steep again. I feel you can see where I am going with this if you know tea. The “rare” tea was bad, and the sundried version was not good as well. The taste was foul, sour, and badly fermented. Now, back to the review, this tea’s background notes taste just like that sundried pre-steeped leaf. The forefront is heavy honey tones, but the base and undertones are sour and cloudy. I’m not sure what it was, but when you taste what I’ve tasted you don’t forget a tone. Maybe it was a bad sample, maybe someone gave me their steeped leaves, maybe it was poor storage, I don’t know….

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I got this merely out of curiosity, and there was a sale going on, ha. The leaf is moderately compressed with notes of sweet plum and a tobacco tang. I took up a chunk and placed it inside the hot pot. The scent opens into some sweet cherry candy (jolly rancher), and a mix of sweet/sour tobacco. I washed the leaves once and began sippin away. The taste begins good with a fig ending. The fig moves about the tongue; however, it ends with a bite on the palate. The tea turns up the sweetness in the next steeping with a comforatable base. However, I noticed this tea dropped rather quickly. the sweetness is the first to fade as its space in consumed by bitters, tobaccos, and smoke (light on the smoke). The mouth-feel was still semi thick, but the great flavors were gone. I peeked in the pot and noticed that leaves are still pretty green, which explains the lively feeling in my mouth. I continue drinking a bit more, and it soon diminishes to a basic sweet/bitter mix. The qi is not too noticeable with some heat in the face that stays put. The tea is a big “eh”, so its not terrible, but it’s not great. I don’t think it fits the price. Afterwards, the qi did come back at me with a very relaxed stoned feeling, but that was the extent.

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I haven’t had hongcha in awhile, so I pulled this out. The dry leaf is long fuzzy gold and black tendrils with a smooth light milk cocoa aroma. I take another inhale to grasp at salted caramel and malt. I warmed my gaiwan up and placed what I had inside. The scent deepens to Hot dark cocoa and marshmallow. A burnt sugar note peeked through alone with grapeskins. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The taste is very smooth and sweet. The brew is a little thin, and the tones are not as powerful as I had thought, but it was good hongcha. The tones and smooth malt with some cocoa and base of caramel. A good tea, but I wouldn’t call it great.

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