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A great sadness has occurred, after much debate the Ark tribe on multiplayer is disbanding.We just keep losing too many resources and time to glitches, and new additions to the game have made things so much harder. We used to have a pretty secure base with our xplant turrets, but they tweaked them, meaning living in the swamp with ALL the things that want to kill us has made getting fertilizer a full time job, plus with all the bugs it is just not fun anymore. So we are going to single player, where if we die to a bug and lose everything I can just spawn it back in, the game can go back to being fun I hope.

Today I am looking at the last of the samples I received from Totem Tea, though certainly not the last since there are more of their teas I want to try, presenting Gui Fei Oolong! A classic staple on the blog, as my obsession with bug-bitten teas is well known and I will try any I can get my greedy mitts on. There is something very charming to me about the need for little nibbly bugs, that their presence causes an amino response in the plant that creates a signature taste, the result of a happy accident, as many awesome things are. The aroma of the tea is a three way balance of stewed fruit, roasted nuts, and baking bread. Sweet plums and cherries mix with walnut and pecans with a gentle honey drizzled freshly baked whole grain bread. Definitely can pick out notes of sweet buckwheat, which I always love.

Yowza, that aroma is potent once it has been steeped, strong notes of stewed plums and cherries mix with honey sweet lychees and a touch of dates. Alongside this fruity goodness is walnuts and toasted buckwheat which make sure that the fruity notes are intense without ever being cloying. The liquid is like nectar, plum and lychee with buttery cashew and raw honey, it is very sweet and mouthwatering.

This tea starts light but is nectar sweetness, a gentle mouthfeel and taste, with notes of lychee and cashews. It then moves to cooked plums and grapes with a distant note of spring flowers. With a finish of gentle toasted grains, this tea is much like a fruit pie, sweet and just the right amount of toasty.

I wasted no time chugging that first cup and moving on to the next, and I consider a good sign of Gui Fei when by steep two my tasting notes start to list to the side. The aroma is fruity sweet and toasted grains, a good blend of sweet and roast. The flavor notes of the first steep were still present, but intensified, and with a thick nectar like mouthfeel this tea has gone from wonderful to intense. One of the best aspects of this steep is the afteratste of peaches that lingers for quite a while, eventually ending off in a bit of a starchy grain note.

For the last steep this blog covers somehow manages to be sweeter in aroma, but it still manages to not be cloying, one of the things I love about Gui Fei. Thick and sweet, that is what is really to be taken away from this tea, it is like a fruit cobbler in liquid form, complete with nuts and a bit of crust. Of course three steeps is only the beginning, there is a lot more life in these leaves that keep giving sweet nectar for quite a while.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/07/totem-tea-gui-fei-oolong-tea-review.html

Curse my phone to the bowels of the abyss! I want to join the party and play Pokemon Go! but the blasted phone won’t let me, I am so sad. Granted I don’t leave my house much, but it would have been nice if I could have had fun with it when I did go out and about. I am, of course, being entertained by the internet explosion that it has unleashed, so at least I get the vicarious joy.

Today’s tea is a fun one! Recently a bunch of samples arrived from Japan via my pretty much one stop shop for all things Japanese, Yunomi! Many samples of Shincha, but also some of the more unusual stuff like dark tea and some black teas, like Chakouan: Ureshino Black Tea Leaf Stems. From the Chakouan Tea Shop in Ureshino, this is similar to the green tea Kukicha (as in it being a pile of stems) but is processed as a black tea (or Wakoucha) making for a uniquely pretty tea. What can I say, I am a sucker for teas that use the stems, it seems very efficient. The aroma is light and brisk with a surprising crispness, notes of sandalwood, malt, gentle raw peanuts, and a touch of tomato leaf. It is not a very potent aroma, but what is there is distinct and a little odd, but pleasant.

Into my shiboridashi the stems went, ah I do love this shibo, but I have a new one on the way that is more perfectly suited for Japanese teas and I am so excited. The stems float on top of the water, which looked really quite pretty. The aroma is malty and a bit tomato, usually I find a black tea with tomato notes smells like sun dried or leaf, but this is fresh tomato note. Alongside these notes are sandalwood and a bit of potato starch. The liquid smells very light, crisp and refreshing (not something I associate with black teas usually) with gentle notes of malt and sandalwood with a touch of starch.

The first steep is immensely light, it has the crisp refreshing quality of a green but with none of the green notes. It starts with a gentle woody notes, sandalwood and tea wood, with a touch of fruit wood. There are notes of black pepper and malt with a slightly savory finish. This might be the most refreshing black tea I have ever tasted. I went for another steep, because how could I not? This one was still light but had a bit more complexity of flavor, taking the previous notes and and adding a starchy rice milk note along with a subtle sweetness in the middle. This tea is in a whole different ballpark than the usual hong cha or western style black teas I have had, it is wonderfully light and refreshing, I find myself wondering what it would be like iced.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/07/yunomichakouan-ureshino-black-tea-leaf.html

I am sooo sleepy today, great epic piles of tired, but I only got a little bit of sleep so that is probably why. Of course the reason I was not sleeping last night was totally worth it, I was hit with the urge to paint and got two miniatures painted. One is a horned owl on a stump that is going to live with Oolong Owl, which was a bit of a pain…I learned that painting wood and feathers to make them look realistic and not cartoonish is complicated when you have never done it before, fun times! The other piece I painted was a modified reaper miniature, modified specifically to be Liliana Vess from Magic the Gathering. Lucky for me the only modifying I had to do was add her head thingy (stolen from an angel she offed, because she is a bit of a villain) I was able to find a model that worked as a stand-in pretty easily. At first I painted her with the demon lines etched into her skin, but with a combination of being a 32mm figure and recent art not really showcasing them I ended up removing them. Always glad to be in the mood to paint.

Hurry, run to Eco-Cha and buy their Organic Osmanthus GABA Tea, there are only three boxes left! Honestly this made me go ‘ah crap’ when I saw how little is left because I want to snatch them all for myself! But yes my dear tea friends, you guessed it, this is the tea the rambling will cover today, Eco-Cha’s first blended tea, it blends my favorite flower to have in tea (or on its own) Osmanthus with a Four Seasons Oolong processed as a GABA Oolong. This is one of the most uniquely aromatic teas I have sniffed, first off, it is immensely sweet, almost candy like. Notes of gentle cashew butter and honey start off the notes, they are the mildest, but then an explosion of papaya, juicy plums, apricots, and heady sweet osmanthus flowers dance in my nose. It is a party that is pretty intense in those leaves.

Into the gaiwan for a bath the leaves and flowers go, and wow, just wow, the aroma is crazy! It starts with a gentle woodiness and toasted cashews and then explodes into a tropical cascade of sweetness. Pineapple, papaya, plums (ok that one is not tropical) peaches, and very rich osmanthus and honeycomb note at the finish. The liquid has a touch of nuttiness and a tiny touch of woodiness, but the real show stopper is the papaya, guava, pineapple and plum notes. It is almost candy sweet, and the heady nectar of osmanthus at the finish just makes this tea smell decadent.

First steep, so I could talk about the taste, but before I do allow me a brief moment to talk about the killer smooth, it is buttery while also being slippery, like biting into a papaya without the sticky aspect. Speaking of papaya, drinking this tea is like eating a papaya, pineapple, apricot, guava, and plum all at once. With a generous sprinkling of pollen and osmanthus, both of which lingers into the aftertaste. It is heady in its sweetness, but is never cloying, one of the joys of osmanthus, it has flower tones without being overwhelming like rose or jasmine.

Second steep, the aroma is not much changed, but it does get more intense (I was not aware that was possible) I feel like I need one of those paper umbrellas for this tea. The mouthfeel is smooth and thicker, nectar like, it clings to every part of my mouth while drinking. Tasting, the notes are similar, the start instead of directly falling into a fruit bowl eases into it with notes of cashews and a touch of woodiness, then it is the fruity bombastic intensity of the middle. At the finish there is the sweet honey osmanthus and apricots with a slightly tangy underripe plum bit at the end. The aftertaste is all osmanthus all the time and it is heavenly.

Third steeping, ok, I am going to be honest, by this point I am so tea drunk and zoned out by this tea that my notes are unintelligable. I can read ‘juicy’ ‘fruity’ ‘sweet’ and ‘dear god this is pure undiluted magic’ so I am no help. I got a few more steeps out of it before I was ready to call it quits, at which point I decided to take the mostly spent leaves and put them in my Libre for a cold-steep overnight. By morning the result was a lightly guava and papaya tasting tea that was immensely refreshing. And if you were curious, my box of this tea is about half empty, I am trying to not guzzle it all away.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/07/eco-cha-organic-osmanthus-gaba-tea-tea.html

Today is the day of the Derelict Reaper, my favorite plot mission in Mass Effect 2, I mean how could I not love it? It is crawling with reaper themed enemies (still want to paint a zombie to look like a Husk to live on my desk) and all the references to space Cthulhu make me happy. I really do love the Reapers, they might be one of my favorite things about this series and the reason why I picked Scourge as my army in Dropzone Commander. Though the inside of the sleeping god did spark debate between Ben and myself as to whether or not the interior design was at all creepy. He thinks the designers found organic (it is very Giger) things to be creepy but the ‘grimdark organic cathedral’ fails at being at all creepy, and is not a big fan. I find the design to be all sorts of awesome, but not at all scary…in fact other than the dangling wires I find it a bit cozy.

For today’s tea I am taking a look at Teabox’s blend Mountain Rose, a blend of roses, black tea, jasmine, rose hips, and cardamon…ah roses and cardamon, two of my favorite ingredients in a tea blend. As I have stated many times how rose in tea reminds me of rose milk or Persian and Indian desserts, add in cardamon and you more or less have kulfi, which is delicious. The aroma of the tea is wonderfully sweet, strong notes of rose and jasmine with underlying notes of malt and cardamon, a tiny touch of saffron and tangy rose hips tie it off at the finish. It is a very dessert like tea, the floral notes compliment the black tea base and spices quite well.

Steeping this tea was quite lovely, the aroma of rose and cardamon wafted out of my steeping apparatus and coated the area in a heady fog. There are also notes of jasmine and malt, with a touch of saffron and woodiness. Luckily for me the jasmine is gentle and not at all overpowering. The liquid is nectar sweet, with strong notes of cardamon and rose and a gentle jasmine note that dances with heavy malt and a touch of saffron.

What a smooth and sweet tea! Mellow notes of jasmine and malt at the front that very quickly give way to heady rose and sweet cardamon and honey. Towards the end of the tea is slight tanginess that is a blend of rose hips and also a bit of cherries, with a lingering rose finish. This tea is wonderful hot, but it is also pretty spectacular cold steeped as well, with the notes of cardamon and rose becoming stronger and the jasmine really taking the back seat. Even Ben, who is usually not a huge fan of rose flavored things (more for me!) liked this tea, it is well balanced and the cardamon mellows out the floral notes keeping them from being overpowering.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/07/teabox-mountain-rose-tea-review.html

I love playing Ark, I really do, being able to frolic in a survival setting with dinosaurs and watching my little world grow from a guy in undies to a god on a T-rex is very satisfying. What I don’t love is how it seems with each update the lag and crashes get worse, to the point where every time I play I either die to a glitch losing a lot of valuable gear or resources…or I end up rage quitting because I am so frustrated. I wish so much that the developers would take a break from adding cool stuff (not that I do not appreciate the new Redwood Biome) to fix the glitches that keep piling up, the game is barely playable in its current state. Gamer woes!

Last week was wonderfully cool and I celebrated the cooler weather with some Shou! I find myself enjoying it sooo much more when the weather is not scorchingly hot, to me that is Sheng weather. I took a look at Denong Tea’s 2005 Denong Ginseng Scent Ripe Puerh Tea, a Shou made with Xishuangbanna material and exudes a ginseng aroma. It is not blended with ginseng, so if you are a person who is not a fan of strong ginseng no need to run in terror of this tea. The aroma of the nuggets of tea (the tea itself is sold as a box of already broken tea brick, so no need to break out the puerh knife) is woody and a touch sweet, the woody note is a blend of dry pine and dry fruit wood, with a distinct note of dried peat. There is, of course, a ginseng note, smelling of gentle licorice and a medicinal cooling quality that makes my nose tingle.

I decided to brew this tea in my new serpentinite gaiwan, carved stone holds heat like a beast making it perfect for Shou. The aroma of the wet leaves is soggy pine wood, wet loam, forest floor, and a camphor, licorice, gingery note, a pleasant medicinal quality at the finish. The liquid is surprisingly sweet after such earthy, robust, leaves. Notes of licorice, red dates, wet leather, and pine sap waft out of my cup.

The first few steeps were light and sweet, it seemed like this tea was a bit slow to wake up, but once it did, wow. Notes of gentle red date and thick wet wood and loam blend with more gentle notes of peat and a touch of moss. Towards the end of each of the steeps a gentle tingling coolness blend with a tick sweet brown sugar and ginseng note linger for a long while after the steep. This is one of those instances where I really perceived the ginseng note with my nose more so than my mouth, picking it up on the inhale in the long aftertaste.

I actually decided to put this tea on hold until the next day, since I fell asleep, this Shou has a very relaxing feel to it. After a wake up rinse, this tea was ready to go again with a richer color and richer taste. Strong earthy loam and wet wood mix with an intense sweet red date and pine sap. Like the earlier steeps there is a cooling and thick sweetness that lasts well after the cup has been drained. I will admit, the finish is what is really selling this tea for me.

The final steeps go out with a gentle sweetness, the loamy earthiness is still there but it fades fast. What is mainly left is the wonderfully sweet red date note and the pleasant lingering thick sweetness at the finish. I pulled several steeps out of the tea, pretty much bowl steeping it at the end to try and pull as much of that red date sweetness out as I could. I really liked this Shou, it was distinct while also being mild, it could make a really great everyday drinker, I foresee myself getting a box when colder weather comes around.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/07/denong-tea-2005-denong-ginseng-scent.html

I am full of sadness, summer has returned and it is gross! All last week I got to have the windows open and it was cool and often rainy, I was so happy with the beautiful weather…even if having the windows open means somehow the blasted orange May Beetles found their way in past the screen in droves. At least I got to have a bit of fun with them, I would jokingly make them quote Harbinger but in a very tiny bug voice, hilarity ensued.

Today I am taking a break from tea to look at a new piece of teaware that has found its way into my collection (a collection that is slowly taking over the bedroom) Yunnan Sourcing’s Glaze on Clay ‘Oxide Blue’ Kyusu a truly spectacular kyusu with a wooden handle and an unglazed clay interior, meaning perfect for dedicating it to a single tea. A tiny bit on the ‘big’ size at a whopping 175ml, I got it with the idea that its size is perfect for a gongfu session for two, since Ben has been sharing tea with me a lot lately, especially Hong Cha, which is what this pot was dedicated to.

I admit to falling in love with this teapot immediately, the speckled blue and green glaze matches my usual aesthetic, as it is well known by now that I am a sucker for the color blue. When the box arrived I was immensely pleased, sometimes I have bought teaware that once it arrived I was less enthusiastic, but Yunnan Sourcing has never disappointed with their teaware. First I was surprised by the weight, you could really bludgeon someone with this teapot if needed, not that I would want to, if some other dimensional monster busted in on me mid tea session I would clearly want to use my puerh knife rather than risk a teapot. This does mean that if I drop it I am less likely to ruin things forever, plus with it being such thick clay it holds heat like a beast.

The next thing I noticed when examining the teapot was the beautiful leaf on the side, cut-out of the glaze to show the clay the teapot is made from. I find that the leaf ties into the wooden handle, which, might I add, feels wonderful in the hand. I love the kyusu style teapot, sometimes my arthritis makes handles hard to grab, the kyusu is just much more ergonomic. Plus it is balanced very well, which makes pouring a breeze, and speaking of pour this pot is very smooth, no dribbling!

I have been using this pot pretty consistently since I procured it, and it is getting a good bit of seasoning. Both Ben and I have been enjoying using it, since we frequently start the day with a Hong Cha (usually a Dianhong) this teapot gets used most days. I think my favorite thing about this teapot is not the blending of beautiful form and functionality, but that it is a pot that brings together two of my greatest loves.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/07/yunnan-sourcing-glaze-on-clay-oxide.html

I might be the only person in the history of gaming who likes scanning planets in Mass Effect 2. In the joint play-through Ben and I are doing, guess who is in charge of scanning the planets, it is just so satisfying to deploy all the probes and deplete a planet’s resources. Really though, I love reading all the little blurbs on the planets, most of them are quite unique bits of world building.

Today I am looking at what I consider to be a truly unique tea, Totem Tea’s Cui Yu Jade GABA. I have had several GABA Oolongs, all of them fairly heavily oxidized (technically they are exposed to a nitrogen rich environment rather than oxygen) and dark, making them more similar to hong shui. This one is green with a gentle roast, giving it that familiar light roast feel but with a slight distinct difference that makes this tea stand out. The aroma of the curled leaves has notes of sesame seeds, buttery cashews, freshly baked bread (specifically sweet farm bread) delicate flowers (the website description is not wrong with the dandelion flowers) and a tiny bit of toasted buckwheat at the finish. It is not an overwhelmingly floral oolong, focusing on the gentle nuttiness and sweetness that usually accompanies a lightly roasted oolong.

Gaiwan time brings out notes of toasted sesame and cashew with a buttery thick quality. Alongside these nutty notes is a distinct dandelion flower jelly, it is sweet with a pollen note that lingers in the nose. There is also a gentle herbaceous and green spinach note that is very light but still present. The liquid is golden in color and aroma, something about the dandelion jelly, pollen, and sesame nuttiness reminds me of sunlight and golden things, so to me it smells gold.

The first steep is unique and light, I think I fell in love after the first sip. Light mouthfeel with a distinct mineral quality blends wonderfully with dandelion flowers and sesame seeds. Specifically the sweet taste of honey sesame seed candies. Towards the end of the sip I pick up notes of toasted rye and buckwheat, with a gentle sweet finish of raw honey and cashews that lingers.

Steep two takes the previously delicate mouthfeel and turns it into thickness, creamy and smooth but very thick. This steep brings out the more green quality of the tea, along with toasted sesame there are notes of buttery cooked cabbage, and a bit of lettuce. There are also gentle notes of dandelion flowers and sesame seeds, both of which linger well into the afterataste.

This is the last steep I write about, but it is not the last steep I enjoyed of this tea, it kept going for quite a while, it was great to keep drinking this tea well into the wee hours. This steep is a perfect balance of nutty sweetness and gentle buttery vegetation notes, neither one overpowers the other. Like before the gentle notes of dandelion flowers and sesame seeds linger well into the aftertaste. Comparing this to other GABAs I have had, I think I like this greener one better, it lacks any of the woody sourness that the darker GABAs can have, plus that dandelion note is fascinating!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/07/totem-tea-cui-yu-jade-gaba-tea-review.html

Ah, the weekend of July 4th, also known as the weekend of perpetual fireworks. They started last night and have been consistently going off around my neighborhood since then, luckily the cats have lived here long enough that they no longer fear them or storms, so win. I love it, the air smells smoky and vaguely brimstone like and there are occasional very pretty flashes of light I can see through my window. Fireworks are one of those things that I absolutely love, and silly as it might sound, one of the few things that can make me weep over the beauty, not many things do that for me. Also happy Canada Day to my more northerly tea friends, and know that I perpetually envy your weather.

Today I am looking at Ocha & Co’s Organic Japanese Kabusecha Shade-Grown Green Tea, one of my favorite forms of Sencha, it is shaded like Gyokuro, but for less time, making it a bit of a halfway point between the two. It is wonderfully refreshing like a Sencha but with that extra level of savory richness to make it similar to a Gyokuro. The aroma of the richly green leaves is savory and nutty, blending notes of bok choy, sesame seeds, toasted nori. grass, a bit of spinach and broccoli sauteed together in Kombu Dashi (that is a very specific thing it smells like, but that is what I got!) and a finish of gentle toasted soybeans.

Into my houhin the leaves go for a bath, the aroma is strong, intense notes of soybeans, cooked spinach, kombu, toasted nori, a bit of grass, and a subtle sauteed bok choy note.Not a lot of sweetness in the steeped leaves, mostly it is wonderfully savory. The liquid, which is a gorgeous bright green in my new tall snow yunomi, smells of toasted nori, sesame seeds, spinach and fresh kelp. There is a touch of grassiness which comes off as very summery to me, a contrast to the winter themed yunomi!

Like Gyokuro, Kabusecha is intensely smooth and thick, though it is not quite the almost syrupy thickness that a traditionally brewed Gyokuro has. It is what I love about Kabusecha, in so many ways it is similar enough to Gyokuro that I can get that fix I frequently crave but without paying the lofty price that Gyokuro has. The taste has a subtle nutty sweetness of soy beans and sesame seeds, a tiny touch of astringency (or shibumi if you are feeling fancy) in the form of cut grass, and a strong lingering spinach, bok choy, and nori umami that lasts well past the finished cup.

The second steep, while being a more vibrant green, manages to be a touch more subtle. This steep brings out the underlying sweetness, notes of sesame and toasted soybean very gently mix with spinach and nori. It is very refreshing, there is no astringency at all and the more green notes are played down this steep. A very enjoyable tea, especially on a lovely firework filled night like night!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/07/ocha-co-organic-japanese-kabusecha.html

Ben and I are, after many years, replaying Mass Effect, the whole series. It was my favorite game series ever, well until the infamous ending of Mass Effect 3, which in all honesty burned me out on fiction and games with an RPG element for a while, but I might have taken it too seriously (I do that) With the talks of Mass Effect Andromeda in my future, and having finally gotten over the ending, it was time to revisit my favorite series, but problem is we both wanted to play again. Joint playthrough time! It feels good, very nostalgic, so much so I had to bring my Dropzone Desolator…which just looks like a Reaper…to live on my desk once more.

When one is busily playing video games and snacking on Haldiram’s Kaju Mix snacks, one needs a robust Masala Chai to provide sustenance. Today I am looking at Teabox’s Assam Masala Chai, a blend of CTC Assam, cinnamon, cardamon, ginger, cloves, and pepper corns. I love Masala Chai blends that include lots of pepper and cardamon, so this blend makes me happy. You can really smell the cardamon and ginger too, the pepper is not faint, and the other spices are robust but less so. A lot of Masala Chai blends tend to go heavy on the cinnamon and cloves, both of which I like, but to me they say Christmas rather than tea, so I am happy for those two being on the milder side. The Assam adds a sweet and robust malty quality that is not totally overpowered by the spices, which is most excellent.

Into a pot of milk and a bit of water the tea goes for a simmer, my kitchen smells great now, strong cardamon and ginger, pepper and cinnamon, and of course a bit of cloves and rich malty tea fill the entire room. Making Masala Chai smells great, and I love how it just inundates the entire area like a spicy potpourri.

I decided to sweeten the Masala Chai with a sugar stick, because I never get the chance to use them, Masala Chai and Ostfriesen Tea are the only time I ever sweeten my tea anymore, or use creamy additives for that matter. This is a wonderful Masala Chai, but I am a sucker for a Masala Chai with an Assam base, it gives the tea a richness and a briskness that I love. The spice blend was quite well balanced, with more focus being put on the cardamon and ginger, with a more gentle accompaniment of pepper and cinnamon, with a bit of cloves. I actually wish the spices would have been a bit stronger, I can always go with more pepper or more cardamon, but for people who like a milder and well balanced chai with a wonderfully tasty base tea I highly recommend it.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/06/teabox-assam-masala-chai-tea-review.html

Today is a day of pros and cons, the big pro is I have finally found a curio cabinet! For a whopping $30, beautiful combination of chestnut wood and a light…however, it is missing shelves. I thought it would be a piece of cake to get pieces of wood cut to size at the hardware store. I found the wood I liked and they wouldn’t cut it, turns out cutting along the length of the board is not something the local harware store was interested in doing. So now the quest goes on to find shelf inserts in a price that is within my budget, so far my quest has been not spectacular, but I have high hopes. Soon my cups (and other teapots and such) will have a protected and easy to access home.

The tea I am looking at today is from Totem Tea, their Amber Forest, which has a wonderfully evocative name, like a forest in autumn with dappled sunlight making the woods glow like amber. It is a Jin Xuan (and it is well known my love of this cultivar) but instead of its usual green glory, it is roasted over longan charcoal. I love LOVE roasted oolongs, and Jin Xuan is one that I only rarely get to indulge in. The aroma of the dry leaves is wonderfully nutty, strong notes of toasted sesame and sweet chestnut with a creamy Jin Xuan notes that are familiar. What really pushes this tea over the edge are notes of pistachio, mochi (with a bit of red bean paste too) and cashew butter, those pistachio notes are killer, seriously, nutty notes are one of my favorite aspects of roasted oolongs.

Gaiwan time! The aroma of the soggy leaves is super nutty, lots of cashew, chestnut, pistachios, and of course toasted sesame seeds. It is very sweet, and very autumnal, I might be sniffing this at the wrong time of year, but I am ok with that. The liquid for the first steep is immensely sweet, notes of honey drenched cashews and pistachios with a tiny bit of buttery toast.

Oh wow, the first steep is so sweet and wonderfully nutty! I feel like this is a tea that someone who really likes eating nuts as a main snack would love…and I do eat a ton of nuts. Notes of sesame butter, cashews, honey, and autumn leaf pile are all tangled together with a wonderful creamy quality that was present both in mouthfeel and in taste. It borders on buttery for the beginning, this is a tea I could crave on cold days.

The second steep starts to really bring out the toasted notes, not longer just notes of nuts, now there are notes of gentle char and a touch of toasted grains. It is rich and still quite sweet in the nose. Like the first steep this one starts out wonderfully creamy and nutty, with strong notes of sesame and cashew and an accompaniment of pistachio and chestnut. Alongside the nutty sweet goodness is gentle char and toasted grain heavy bread drizzled in butter, a classic roasted oolong taste that pleases me, the mouthfeel is much creamier on this tea than a lot of other roasted oolongs, probably due to it being Jin Xuan.

The third steep is not much changed from the second, and while there is not much change I can say this, I was able to steep this tea for what seemed like a roasted happy eternity. I was sipping it a night I was unable to sleep, and I can say even though it was hot and I was cranky from the heat, I was in bliss mode because this tea just did not quit. I went through ten steeps before I finally had to call it quits, this tea outlasted me! I love it and must add a large pile of it to my collection, especially for autumn where this tea is going to be guzzled in large quantities.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/06/totem-tea-amber-forest-tea-review.html