359 Tasting Notes
Sorry, but skip this note if you’re looking for some insightful adjectives on how good this tea tastes.
I’ve been a sleepy head all day…just can’t shake the blues and the tiredness.
Just wanted something magical, that might chase those feelings away. Think I may have found it.
Wild Monk is one of those tea I keep in case of emergency.
Thank you Garret for making this so special, it nearly brings me to tears…good tears that is.
I just got “shengged” by The Monk, and I liked it…a lot.
I had a nice oolong afternoon with this baby. All gone now, I had just a enough left to make a Gaiwan session.
This baby is a decadent one.
Floral notes of lilacs, creamy and buttery, with a minty fresh finish.
Love that thick texture, a total PUDDING MOUTH!!
It’s from the highest plantations in the world, maybe that’s why it tastes like the sky…
I’ve reviewed it a few times before, this resteeps for a while, and though it looses its floral notes, it remains creamy and buttery all “oolong”…
Just yum.
Oh. Well poo. :(
MzPrizz that’s a pretty good price for that one. The store where I first saw that type wanted 4-6 dollars more. If you do buy from Shanghai story, I’ve heard that their jinjunmei is pretty good.:)
I wish I had the fairy powers (and the money), to travel all around and drop a sample of this marvel of tea in each of your mailboxes, Steepster friends…
For real…
Sweet goodness coming from what seems to be a Vanilla Tee Tree.
It’s just blissful in my newly seasoned VANILLA DREAMS yixing clay pot.
Upping the rating, it’s just perfection!
(See previous note for more details)
I would help you fight that battle. Cheese is serious business
I wonder if that’s why I don’t have a ghost… No cheese!!!!!! Maybe my house had a ghost but the poor thing ran away!!!
I’ve had a discussion recently about bread notes in tea, and it made me think about which tea in my collection was the “breadiest”.
This won my vote.
To me, it smells and tastes like dark crispy sourdough bread crust.
I also have some Yunnan blacks in my collection that have yeasty notes, but nothing feels as baked goods as this tea.
It’s pastry like, with a very distinctive fruity taste, a little boozy also. Makes me think of raisins soaked in rum for some reason.
Also, it’s bug bitten. So yeah, welcome honey sweet tastes, with zero astringency.
I’ve reviewed it many times, not much else to say…it’s already a fact that this tea is spectacular.
A must try.
Foxy- I meant MY future Butiki purchase was approved. I won’t police you b/c Dex seems to have everything under control LOL
Tiff- it’s ok. Not my fave, but my boyfriend is crazy about it and he picked the tea this AM. Hope you are having a great day, too!!!!
MzP- I was a little sad about the cake, but it workd out just fine. I broke off a small piece from the back, at the indentation. I wrapped it back up carefully and you can’t even tell it was violated! I hope your taster gets back to normal ASAP!
Oh, so happy that you’re having such an awesome friday Sars, and WOOT for breaking Pu’erh!! (And don’t worry, you’re cake won’t even notice you cruelly poked it with a knife)
This is my “Hot Cowboy” sheng.
Heart Of The Old Tree…How did such a zen and peaceful name ever became “Hot Cowboy” is absolutely preposterous. And would be too long to explain. All I will say is this: gather a few silly minds together and that’s what you get… MzPriss and Sarsonator, I will not say your names
(If you are crazy curious and feel you must know, you’ll find the answer somewhere in there):
http://steepster.com/TheTeaFairy/posts/254006#comments
This is a sheng, and therefore, I drank it all afternoon long a few days ago, and took some notes.
It’s fresh and clean. The early steeps gave me peaches.
I found citrusy notes, flirting with a light astringency. It’s almost effervescent, like a sparkling wine. I got the tingling tongue.
I did not get that the first time I drank it a few months ago, but there seemed to be a very faint campfire smoke taste this time around, barely noticeable.
Later steeps brought buttery, vegetal and mineral notes…a little oolong-esque I’d say.
I did not count the steeps, but my session lasted all afternoon…this is a delicate and delightful sheng. It’s wonderful.
I’ve had this tea twice, and can I say that my cat Wizz is going berserk over the smell of it? He does all kinds of weird things, as if this was kitty grass.
I guess even the cat got all “shenged up” :-)
I’m waiting until the 28th when he comes back. Hopefully then I’ll find out the cost of 25g of their dark teas and have an idea of shipping rates. I’m tempted by too many things there. The good thing about time is it gives me time to edit.
The prices are just amazing, and there’s a great variety. Let us know what you find out, yyz :)
First time with this brick. I grabbed an 8g chunk for 5oz yixing clay pot.
One sniff of this beautiful purplish brown brew, and I’m transported in my grandparent’s house attic, full of old books and vintage furniture.
Yes, if I had to find one word to describe the scent, it would be “vintage”.
I have a liking for earth and leather in shou, and this one has both. Reminiscent of spongy forest soil and wet autumn leaves.
It is smooth and very sweet. I get notes of coca, with a powdery texture. The finish is minty fresh, hints of camphor that disappear in later steeps.
A nice warming feeling develops. Very “easy” shou, not overpowering and very forgiving.
Another wonderful tea from Mandala.
This was such a bargain for 250g of delectable tea!
I did stub my finger with the knife trying to get a chunk of very tightly compressed cake . No joke. Be careful. I also got a cake break tray .
I am fine, my lovely. And are you kidding? It’s kind of hilarious.
When I came tumbling down the steps the other day, I scraped the front on my right shin. I hit the ground and my boyfriend was sitting in a chair across the living room. I put my legs out in front of me on the ground to inspect the damage and he kind of paused for a second, like he could not believe I just fell down the stairs, then he started over, but it was like slow-mo. I was in pain, then he started moving my way in a faster manner (after the pause) and I was whining, and something about his reaction and my reaction struck me as SO FUNNY. So I’m half crying, half laughing and this poor man is probably wondering if I really have officially lost it.
I make falling down the stairs FUN. Actually, it was only 3 steps, thank goodness!
Jabberwocky …
Any references to Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland or Through the Looking-Glass make me happy. Partly, the reason is I’ve learned some of my English in their company. Crazy, right? The riddles and the unintelligible language just had me fascinated. I had both the French and English versions and used to read both at the same time to understand. Well at least try to understand. This quote was tailor made for me:
“Speak in French when you can’t think of the English for a thing – turn your toes out when you walk – And remember who you are!”
How could I not fall in love with this magical world?
I find also that magic in the tea blends concocted by our Tea Whiz Of The Woods (aka Brenden of Whispering Pines) or better yet, tea hobbit Brendenol PinePeaker as MzPriss affectionately calls him.
I think his teas have put a spell on me, cause every time I am sent a new sample to evaluate, I keep thinking, how could it be better than the previous one? I mean, I can’t go higher than 100 on that rating scale anyways!
HoneyBelle (aka MzPriss) and I did our tastings simultaneously, like we always do.
First thing to notice is it has in its base two of my favourite black teas: Fujian Black and beloved Ailaoshan Black. At the first sip, I went, whoa!!! This is good.
But what’s that fresh menthol taste that feels like a light winter breeze?
I am told it comes from a high-mountain wild picked purple leaf tea. Same as in my “Gold” tea PORT!
The taste opens with subtle floral notes and quickly transforms into a honeyed creme caramel mouthfeel, I call that feeling “pudding mouth”. It’s thick and coats the entire mouth.
This tea is so smooth and sweet, it will take any steeping abuse. (I tested it!) There also a certain saltiness to be found, a bit like honey crackers if you’ve ever had one.
The smell is out of this world, fresh baked crusty bread.
But what really gets me to the core, is that complex morphing eucalyptus ending. It provides such a warming feeling…a great tea that opens your mind the way a good Sheng does.
Hard to explain how special this is…
If Alice was drinking this Jabberwocky, she’d say the same thing she said after reading the poem:
«Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas—only I don’t exactly know what they are! However, somebody killed something: that’s clear, at any rate.»
Well this tea fills my own head with beautiful things….Then who killed what you may ask?
This Jabberwocky… yes, this tea nearly killed me: that’s clear, at a hundred rate :-)
Thank you Dr.Roughage, great compliment coming from you. And thanks for my daily bear pun fix ;-)
You’ll be bear-gging me to stop before long, bearcause I shall be dredging the bottom of the bearral! :) Now I really should get back to work instead of reading Steepster.
Sooo…some awesome person that may be the creator of this fabulous tea has suggested the idea of a pot devoted to the VANILLA DREAMS family of tea. My own family of VD teas consists of GO, PORT, ELDERWOOD, and soon to be received COCOA AMORE. (Not counting new EL DORADO cause it’s a chai).
Since all those teas are blended with hand-cut vanilla beans, I can only imagine what kind of flavour this will be rendering later.
I started the seasoning process very late last night, and kind of fell asleep during the soaking part. Oops. Does that mean that my pot bathed in awesomeness all night long?
Hell yeah! Now, that cannot be a bad thing…
Well, let me tell you I am drinking GO right now Gongfu style for the first time and it is just dreamy….Awwwww this is soooo gooood!!!
It’s a lot more concentrated this way, and the vanilla seems a little boozy somehow, hard to explain. Probably the minerals from the pot has to do with that.
It maltier this way, also fruitier and more fudgy. All the flavours are so condensed and smooth.
This will turn into a serious addiction, I can tell. Oh my.
Great idea Brenden, and this will make me drink even more of your tea, if that’s possible!!
OK out the door with my GO. Have a great day y’all
Thanks for the suggestion, MzP! Have a great day!!!
My friend Dexter inspired me to drink Special Dark last night. We both had unseasoned yixing pots and have both recently decided to take care of them (well at least some of them!)
I’ve spent quite a few months without a yixing clay pot…(I was left with no pots after a series of unfortunate events).
I was using the gaiwan and my cute little glass gongfu pot. T’was ok, but I think I had forgotten how much more rewarding this is.
I replaced all my pots slowly, but would never take the time to season them for some reason.
Last week, after the last two pots came in, I seasoned the smallest one with Special Dark. I chose this shou cause it’s so rich and flavourful.
And I’m drinking it tonight. And it’s good.
This tea is all chocolate and raisins, yes, dark slightly bitter cocoa and plump soaked raisins. It feels a little powdery in the mouth. I get a nice mineral flow from the clay, it makes the tea smooth and creamy.
Clay pots just add another dimension to the experience…they create a ritual, and somehow, you start caring for them more than any other teaware you own.
Maybe because they are the only ones that give back?
The pot might be new, but it’s already being generous with me…and I am so grateful I have it.
Dexter, boychik, & TheTeaFairy, Thanks for reminding me about the importance of rinsing. To my surprise, it’s not listed on the SD package brewing instructions. However, Garret does recommend a 10-15 sec. rise on the instructions that were included with his recent Ripe Pu’er Sampler. Rinsing helped a great deal!
Dexter, I tried your suggestion: 2tsp / 12oz / 95c / rinse / 8 min. Both my wife and I found it to be too light for us. So far, 1 Tbsp. / 10oz / 212 / rinse / 5 min. appears to provide a good balance for us. I may fine tune this further. Time will tell.
Thanks everyone!
My S.D. farewell: https://steepster.com/looseTman/posts/399892
So…our little Snaily has a new playground: spice!
Chai lovers of this world, this is something to try.
I like that this is pretty traditional and not too over the top. Chai blends are often too busy or not enough. This one is an excellent example a true balance.
But there are many other decent chai blends out there…
What makes this one special?
Vanilla beans and Golden Snail.The naturally creamy base tea paired with the vanilla bean soften greatly all those spices. They are usually bitter when you don’t add milk or sugar. But here, you end up with a dessert-like cup of spicy honeyed goodness, without having to add anything.
And the beauty of this blend is that I can taste all the spices…ginger, cinnamon, clove and cardamom. Add to that the buttery taste of the base tea, and you have something reminiscent of grandma’s apple pie.
Today, we had thundershowers all day. Grey sky, cool temperature. Thought it was the perfect day to try this for the first time.
But the next time I have it will be on a hot day, cold brewed in almond milk with a little maple syrup…mmmm.
Dexter – I have not tried that but I would LOVE it – I LOVE cardamom!
I don;t find the ginger stronger than anything else – in fact when I make my on chai – I pump up the cardamom and the ginger because those are my two favorite chai spices
i don’t really like chai tea :(
hugs
Sorry you’re being chased by the blues. But I’m glad this helped! I haven’t tried my wild monk yet. Sounds like I need to do that tomorrow. :)
i need to buy this
Thank you sweet girl..I will get by. This tea is just fantastic, and I need some time alone when I have it, it’s just that good. I’ve had that now and feel much better :-)
Apt, this one is a no brainer…and I believe there’s only a few 2012 cakes left…
<3<3<3<3
<3
Hey! I put way more hearts on that comment! Steepster ate my hearts!!!!!
No worries, one heart from you is already full of special meaning :-)
This is one of those teas that makes me feel better too – glad that it’s working for you – enjoy your time with it and feel better. :))
Feel better dear TF!
Wild Monk to the rescue! Hope you feel better!
Sounds like this will end up on my list of Magic Mood Teas, but I won’t know for sure til tomorrow. :)
Seepster has been eating my characters all day. This sheng <3. I’m grumpy headache girl as well. Grrrr Instead of sheng though I just made up some GO in my newly-seasoned Vanilla Dream pot! LTF!!!! It worked. It steals very little even at this point after that long hot bath. I would say it takes a wee bit of the chocolate flavor and pretty much none of the vanilla. It’s awesomely good.
Thank you deaf friends <3
Sars, I cannot wait for you to try it…
(“deaf” friends??? I OBVIOUSLY DON’T KNOW HOW TO WRITE!!)
I don’t hear that well…
Haha!
But I DO have some badass tea!
Same here…shitloads of badass…
You win the typo of the day award, Foxy!
Whaaaaat? I can’t hear youse!!!!!
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW????
Hugs, TTF! I hope tomorrow is a better day :)
Thank you sweet mj, feeling much better this morning :-)
Excellent :)