Shang Tea

Hubby brought home a couple of vanilla beans for us to play with. I snipped off a few slivers into a second steep of this.

Even at Steep 2, the honeysuckle is so strong, I’m not sure I was getting any of the vanilla. I think can steep this same batch of leaves well into tomorrow without putting a dent in the strength.

P.S. Have any of you seen the lid to my Finum brew basket that mysteriously disappeared from my kitchen counter? It’s green.

I made a cuppa last night with a big wad of leaves (yep, it calls for a whole tablespoon) and let it go as far as I dared—two whole minutes. Added a generous squoze of honey, and it tasted/smelled so authentic, I felt just like a bumblebee.

(Been watching old SNL Season 1 shows…loved the bees.)

Nothing like a tea bag tag hanging out of a cup to make a great conversational opener with a new co-worker….and a whole new avenue for swaps :)

New Guy was highly complimentary of this little tea vendor in downtown Kansas City and brought a generous sample. Huge, fresh-fresh-fresh looking leaves, gently floral without being perfumey, I’m getting some white tea flavor (and you know that says a lot if I can detect anything white-teaish after only a 1 minute steep)!

Another soft hint of spring on a cold, clammy day with used snow on the ground.

OK, I haven’t tried this, but it seemed like a fair place to post the beginnings of a backyard experiment. We have honeysuckle in bloom. LOTS of it. Copious amounts of it. Husband did a little research about the appropriate way to harvest and dry, so we’re going to attempt a little home alchemy to see if we can make our own blend-in. I’ll let you know if it’s a disaster!

This tea is another sample from TeaEqualsBliss thank you very much. This tea is light but with flavor. This tea like white tea. This tea is really good and this does not need much sugar even for me,that always adds sugar. I does have abit of its own taste to. This tea does not need a very long steep time either.

I am having tea fail with this tea. My first steep was so light to be almost untaste-able, and the other I over-reacted and oversteeped the other direction so the jasmine is trying to kill me.

It’s all my fault, I didn’t steep correctly. And it was a sample size – so I’ll have to go get more to try it again. SIGH.

Hrm.

I was at Whole Foods the other day, getting some Rishi tea in bulk, and the sales girl started telling me about Shang Tea and it sounded lovely. So, I picked some up and thought I’d try it. I am at work, and that means uncontroled steeping variables. And I think it’s hurting its tea. It’s bitter, but it’s not a extra tannic bitterness. It’s more a too-much Jasmine bitter. So I need to go and try this again at home where I can make sure I’m controling the parameters better.

I’m holding off on rating this for now. Has anyone else out there tried this tea?

forgot how refreshingly stellar Shang silver needle is!

Excellent white – pure bud leaves, lives up to it’s accolades!

Very strong read – high caffeine, great start for mornings!

Awesome green, hot or iced. Not too grassy, just right!

Sipdown! 27/365

Ooh, I should have probably just used the rest of this as a natural sweetener in other teas – I brewed up a whole cup of it and MAN was that sweet. Cloying, actually. There was a bit of an aftertaste that reminded me of artificial sweeteners/stevia, but I suspect if it was added in low amounts to other teas, it wouldn’t be nearly as noticeable.

Recommending this not as a standalone drink, but as an addition to others.

Thanks for sending me a bit of this to try, Azzrian!

Had this not been labelled, I definitely would have assumed it was an oolong, by the appearance of the rolled up leaves. I have to admit that I wasn’t a big fan of the smell of the leaves while this tea was steeping. It was a very vegetal, somewhat familiar aroma, and it just didn’t appeal to me. It almost smelled… fridgey? You know, that sat-too-long kind of smell? Luckily, the tea doesn’t have that same aroma, and smells more like Nestea’s green tea with lemon, or something like that.

…. oh my. This is crazy sweet. It seems I should have used about half the leaf I did! This is quite good though, but honestly WAYYYYY too sweet for me at its current level. I used the whole baggie of tea that I received (I didn’t measure it, but maybe 1-2 tsp) in a large-ish mug, and it’s very, very sweet. Almost… like golden raisins… why am I getting that association?? I’m getting a bit of that fridgey taste, but I have a feeling it’s just something in the leaves that’s causing it, not an age thing.

The flavour definitely reminds me of when I’m plumping up raisins for oatmeal raisin cookies, so raisins in water in a bowl in the microwave, making lovely raisin water that I drain out.

Anyways, I don’t think this is a tea I’d drink as tea… however I noticed that the recommendation was to add a bit to other teas to sweeten them, and I think that’s a great idea that I’ll have to try sometime… because I think I spotted an extra baggie of this in my box from Azzrian so I do have some left (that must have been an oops?? :P)

Thanks for a sample of this one, Azzrian! I’m always up for trying new, interesting things! :D

Backlog:

A really enjoyable black (Red) tea from Shang Tea … thank you Azzrian for sending me a sampling of it! This is really good, hints of chocolate-y tones, lovely fruit notes with a honey-esque undertone. One of those teas that you just … want to keep drinking and start missing the moment you finish the last sip! A delight … a very memorable tea!

Sipdown, 235. Thanks to Kasumi no Chajin for this tea! I brought this sample home yesterday because I wanted to brew it in a smaller mug than what I had at the office. So I have it now!

I have always wanted to try more of Shang Tea’s teas, because what I have had from them has been great. This has a lovely, soft jasmine scent, but its not as honeysuckle sweet as some jasmines. The flavor is nice and light, without being perfumy to ‘thick’ in the florals. The white tea is nice; it prevents the base from being too vegetal, but it isn’t so hay-ish like some whites. There are a hint of savory buttery notes as well which are quite nice. Overall quite a lovely jasmine that is fairly unique. I could drink it all the time!

Wow. This stuff unfurls to crazy size!!

And wow, does it ever sweeten. I used 3 pieces and steeped along with some Sungma darjeeling from Harney. There is a slight aftertaste that I associate with non-sugar or honey sweeteners. Enough so that I wouldn’t use this again with a tea not as light as this darjeeling. However, I will definitely try using it with the afternoon chai at work tomorrow. This should be a good compromise with those who don’t want sugar every afternoon and those of us who like our chai sweeter. :)

Rating is based on how likely I am to use it again, not as a tea to drink on its own.

Loose
Appearance: dark bi coloured med curl
Aroma when Dry: floral, sweet, (eastern) buttery, malty
After water is first poured: light floral, buttery, salty
At end of first steep: floral, jasmine notes noticeable, buttery, creamy, salty
Tea liquor:
At end of first steep: light meadowy yellow
Staple? Yes
Preferred time of day: any
Taste:
At first: deep buttery floral, sweet (eastern) jasmine notes, hints of rose,
As it cools ? gets a bit salty, notes mellow, melon notes surface, tea gets creamy
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? yes, with mild buttery floral notes

Second Steep (3 min)
gets grassy, brothy, salty, floral notes start to fade out

Would be lovely chilled

Loose
Appearance: crinkle, curly bicolor, deep black leaf
Aroma when Dry: salty, vegital
After water is first poured: intensely floral
At end of first steep: floral, vegital
Tea liquor:
At beginning of steep: muddy green
Staple? Possibly, first tasting
Preferred time of day: any
Taste:
At first: deep floral, buttery
As it cools ? Malty notes surface, salt notes increse, floral notes lengthen, cocoa notes and nuttyness close
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? No
Lingers? Yes, floral, hints of spice, slight chewyness, lastly, slight sea salt notes

Second steep (3min)
Aroma: salty, hints of malt
Taste:
At first: malt and salt notes
As it cools: malty notes lessen, salt stays, tea gets brothy

Another real winner from Shang Tea!
Full review on SororiTea Sisters on the 28th but here are some snippits:

Bai-Lin Kung-Fu Classic Red Tea from Shang Tea is quite spectacular! The aroma is like a malty black tea with aromas of cocoa, hay, and maple. My first reaction when smelling this while steeping was Mmmmmmmm. A deeper inhalation of this tea brings forth some berry aromas as well. Yet there is also something savory about this tea. My mouth was watering while I patiently waited for my tea to cool just a tiny bit so I could indulge!

This is not a tea for the faint of heart, it is bold, robust, not shy at all. It wakes you up and perks you up as it presents itself with a hearty “Hey there! Bet you weren’t expecting me!”

Its a bit sweet, a bit saucy, and all attitude!

If I were going to take a trek through the country I think I would take this tea along with me.

I can’t believe I haven’t logged this yet. It’s yet another of Shang’s reds made from white tea that is amazing. So smooth, so clean. An exceptionally clear tasting tea.

I need to go pick up some more soon!

FINALLY a good tea for the evening. After 2 bad choices, I decided to go back and try this one again. I followed Nicole and Shang Tea’s advice and steeped for 1 minute. It made a huge difference. I love how delicate the flavors are in white teas. This one is smooth and light. Floral teas like this are soooo yummy! I could see this being a staple on my shelf :)