Various Artists

Decided to follow the advice of a fellow steepsterite and mixed up a 50-50 mix of Salted Caramel and Peanut Butter Cup, and it was a fantastic idea! The blend was very heavy on the salted caramel tastes (which I’m glad had a decent amount of salt; I feared it wouldn’t be noticeable) with a light peanut/chocolate taste in the background. The two teas mix nicely. I’ll certainly finish off the last tsp. of my sample of Peanut Butter Cup like this.

Today was Happy Tea Mail Day !
I received a care package from Grill. Samples of 2 sheng. One is a mystery.
I love mystery teas.
Dry leaves are gorgeous, long, golden tips ,silvery and dark. Smelled a little like FF Darjeeling, somewhat floral and hay.

5g 75ml gaiwan 200F
rinse/ pause/ short steeps, almost flash

The brew is bright yellow with slight orange tint. Wet leaves smell a little smoky but it didnt translate into taste. its smooth, pleasantly bitter, and somewhat astringent (that didnt bother me at all)

By the 4th steep i was tea drunk and had a dumb smile on my face. I felt the energy concentrated on my eyes, i tried to open them wide haha . Also my face feels numb on a cheeks and around the mouth.

I have a feeling this tea has long legs and i will continue it tomorrow. For now, i need to make a dinner.

Thank you so much Grill for sharing this sheng with me. its excellent tea and quite an experience.

PS He promised me to tell what tea it is after i finish my sessions ;)

https://instagram.com/p/6ngCMWBwgq/

https://instagram.com/p/6ni8o3Bwn7/

2 grams of Sir Thomas Lipton Earl Grey from Lipton, plus
1 gram of Origins Darjeeling Tea from Twinings

I have these two big tins of teas which I don’t like. I don’t find them any good, neither black nor for builder’s brew. But I don’t want to forget about them and leave them to waste. So I thought, why not blend them together and see how it comes out?

Glad that I experimented. The result was surprisingly nice. Not that they tasted wonderful together, but at least I didn’t have the urge to make a “meh” face like I did with them individually.

The bergamot flavor from the Lipton EG was still there, it was light and quiet, in the background. The Ceylon from Lipton and Darjeeling from Twinings blended together they produced this interesting sweetness that was quite pleasant. And then their astringent taste… how should I explaine… It was like, when tasting these two teas individually separately, they broadcasted their loneliness by producing astringent taste. Now that I married them two, they broadcasted their happiness by producing a sweet taste.

Oh geez, sorry I sound like a 5 yr old… I will just shut up and go drink more tea now.

It’s that time of year again for great tea value opportunities! …
TeaVivre’s 4th Anniversary Celebration!
http://teavivre.com/sale/anniversary-celebration.html

I’m actually drinking a green tea called blue butterfly, but it’s not getting its own entry yet because I’m not sure if it just tastes like a combination of gentle fruits with bubblegum and dish soap, or if my bottle absorbed some of the flavour of the Fairy Liquid when I gave it a really thorough soak last night. UGH. :(

Da hong pao bought on eBay.

Dry leaf: grapes, roasted, peaches.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlgqIBiHdtI/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988

Wet leaf: grapes, wine, chocolate (?), roasted.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlgqOKYn8Td/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988

Light steep: I smell/taste:
(Smell) light —→ wine, chocolate.
(Taste)light —→ grapes, metallic (iron). medium —→ grapes, wine, chocolate.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlgqKQ_n4f-/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988

Medium steep: I smell/taste:
(Smell) light wine.
(Taste) slight metallic (iron). Light, rock/stones. Medium —→ roasted, chocolate.

Heavy steep: I smell/taste:
(Smell) light wine.
(Taste)slight rocks/stones. light —→ wine, chocolate.

All in all a yummy tea. I rate 75/100 only cause when brewed strong you get strong rock and chocolate tastes. I paid 10-15 usd for 250g. Cheap teas does not always mean bad. If I remembered who sold this I would have suggested the seller

now that Christmas season is over ill get back to reviewing here is an unpublished review from last year

2003 red da Yi 7542 menghai.

Review:

Ru Yao dragon teapot, gongfucha

Dry leaf: slight musty.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcNQa0VAhbX/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988

Wet leaf: slight musty and earth
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcNTkcTAt3x/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcNTiAZgHGb/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988

Light steep; I smell/taste:
(Smell) light —> earth, honey, cookies.
(Taste) light -→ earth, honey, tangy, metallic (iron). Medium fermentation.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcNTeT3A_Ps/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988

Medium steep; I smell/taste:
(Smell) light —> earth, honey, cookies.
(Taste) medium -→ earth, honey, tangy, metallic (iron).

Heavy steep; I smell/taste:
(Smell) nothing
(Taste) light —→ earth, tangy, fermentation, metallic (iron). Strong bitterness.

All in all; a yummy tea. Nice flavour, aromas and all. I rate this a 99/100 only because I do not think this tea should be so expensive.

Fun note: this is a sheng but before,it confused me making me think it was a ripe!

a Notice to my dear followers:

i will be doing a blind tasting of a few YS oolongs and ys shengs in the coming months

TenFu shu puerh mini bricks. Unknown seller.
Review:

Engraved dragon head yixing teapot gongfucha.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYTNgNgAM6b/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988

Dry leaves: sweet, musty.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYTNre8Af9Z/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988

Wet leaves: earth, cookies, peanuts(?), butter, caramel.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYTRUiXAkIr/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYTRmZ0gP4-/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988

Light steep; I smell/taste:
(Smell) light earth. Medium —→ cookies, butter, peanuts(?), caramel.

(Taste) light —→ earth, fermentation, mineral, metallic(copper), metallic(iron?), forest floor.

Medium steep; I smell/taste:
(Smell) medium —→ cookies, caramel, butter.

(Taste) light earth. Medium —→ fermentation, metallic(copper, iron), forest floor.

Heavy steep; I smell/taste:
(Smell) light roasted(?)

(Taste) light —→ earth, fermentation, forest floor.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BYTRBqzgvhw/?taken-by=kirkoneill1988

All in all a yummy tea! Nice cha qi, nice huiguan, and nice aromas/tastes! I rate a 80/100.

i did an experiment! so i tried some jia ji raw tuo sheng and some lemon slices. weird tasting sheng notes with a lemony twist :P not doing this again

so after being on hiatus from reviewing teas, I’m back. hopefully my fans will be relieved that I’m back.

Wuping green tea.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BO-IhSygcfy/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BO-IkRDABZw/

Review:

Ru Yao dragon teapot, gongfucha.

Dry leaves: peppery, grass.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BO-I5eegyYG/

Wet leaves: freshly cut grass, vegetal, similar to sencha (?)
Forgot to take photo. Looks just like sencha.

Light steep; I taste/smell: (smell) slight fruity(?) light —> grass, pepper. (Taste) light -→ grass, pepper, vegetal. Medium bitterness.

Medium steep; I taste/smell: (smell) slight pepper. Light —> grass, nuts.
(Taste) light -→ grass, pepper, vegetal, bitterness.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BO-Ky3kAGZS/

Heavy steep; I taste/ smell: (smell) nothing recognizable. (Taste) slight grass. Light metallic (iron) note: I thought this steep was going to be super bitter. however, it’s super weak.

All in all a unique tea. Not the best, but tasty none the less. I rate a 75.

Side note: does anyone know? Is this supposed to be Chinese sencha? It sure tasted like sencha.

Random menghai shou puerh from Aliexpress. 2008?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOF33o_AmGm/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BOF39kKAhth/

Review:

Engraved dragon yixing teapot. Gongfucha.

Dry leaf: musty, light fishy.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BOF4StNAwQn/

Wet leaf: earthy, light fishy.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BOF8wZng-o1/
(is that just the light or is it mold?)

1x medium steep.

Light steep; I taste/smell: (smell) slight —> oranges, fishy. (Taste) slight -→ oranges, earth, fishy.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BOF4dDIAW18/

Medium steep; I taste/smell: (smell) slight —> oranges, fishy. (Taste) light -→ oranges, earth, fishy.

Heavy steep; I taste/smell: (smell) light earth. light to medium —→ oranges, fishy. (Taste) medium earth, fermentation (?), fishy (?). Note: either the fishy has disappeared, or it was actually fermentation.

Wow! This one is very tasty, It surprised me! Lovely tastes in heavy steeps. Because it had fishyness, I was going to give it a 75. but because if completely surprised me, I give it a 85. Maybe someone can look at the photos and clear up for me the note I left in the heavy steep.

I say it might just be worth the money.

Compressed da hong pao. By Aliexpress.

Review:

Ru Yao dragon teapot, gongfucha.

1x medium rinse.

Dry: chocolate.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNPr51pAnNp/

Wet: chocolate, roasted.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNPr-tBgqDJ/

Light steep; I taste/smell: (smell) slight —> fruity (?), chocolate, roasted. (Taste) slight -→ chocolate, fruity (?), roasted.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNPsDIigmTM/

Medium steep; I taste/smell: (smell) slight —> chocolate, roasted, fruity (?). (Taste) light -→ chocolate, fruity (?), roasted.

Heavy steep; I taste/smell: (smell) light —> chocolate, fruity (?), roasted, floral. (Taste) medium -→ chocolate, roasted.

All in all an amazing tea. Not as good as the other one but still has lovely cha qi, aromas/tastes. I rate a 99.

Bonus time!

Extreme steep: so I got curious and I steeped it quite some time and this time I also get roasted peanuts!

White 2 tea basics set – cake 1: medium sized leaves.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNPrX3zAnSt/

Review:

Yixing engraved dragon teapot. Gongfucha.

1x long rinse.

Dry: musty, sweet.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNPrtYwANrz/

Wet: sweet, earth, autumn leaf pile.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNPrRgaAQaP/

Light steep; I taste/smell: (smell) slight cream. (Taste) medium —→ earth, camphor.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BNPrPIbgG2Q/

Medium steep; I taste/smell: (smell) light cream. (Taste) medium —→ earth, fermentation, camphor.

Heavy steep; I taste/smell: (smell) slight cream. (Taste) light earth. Medium camphor. Strong fermentation.

All in all an ok tea. A tad plain. I rate a 80

White2tea basics – cake 2: large coarse leaves

Review:

Engraved yixing dragon teapot, gongfucha.

Dry leaf: musty, sweet.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BM__uu6Dmb1/

Wet leaf: mud, musty, autumn leaf pile, earth.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BM__SPmj4K8/

Light steep; I taste/smell: medium (smell) —> cream, oranges (?). Light (taste) -→ earth, camphor, mushrooms. Medium fermentation.

Medium steep; I taste/smell: light (smell) —> cream. Light (taste) -→ earth, fermentation , camphor (?), mushrooms (?).
https://www.instagram.com/p/BM_9syhj5Ym/

Heavy steep; I taste/smell: slight (smell) cream. Medium (taste) —→ earth, fermentation, camphor (?) mushrooms (?), autumn leaf pile.

All in all, an awesome tea! Nice tastes/aromas and cha qi. This tea is also stronger and more flavourful. I rate a 100

Bonus photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BM_75k8Dagi/

Where to buy: http://white2tea.com/product/basics-puer-tea-sample-set/

A funny side note, grandmas doing laundry and the washing machine is going bang bang bang bang. I find this hilarious. Maybe it’s the tea. I don’t know. Lmao

black tea borneo.

Review:

1 tsp/200ml mug

tastes like a lovely orange lemonade. i had to strain the powder which clogged my filter. however, i did get enough to add dome cool water. idk whats with this tea but i had this before bed and had a few dreams that i was starring in my favourite tv show “Stargtate Atlantis”.

all in all i rate this a 100. i suggest you give it a try

white2tea basics set – cake 3: buds small lesves

review:

yixing engraved dragon teapot gongfucha.

dry leaf: sweet, musty.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMuMRBtgoCC/

wet leaf: berries, sweet, earth.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMuMT5PgkCr/ (old pic)

light steep; i taste/smell: little to no camphor. slight —→ earth, metallic (unknown). Light Mushrooms, medium fermentation.
(note: could not take pic as i had to charge my iPod. it was blood red, rarely do i see this)

medium steep; i taste/smell: light —→ earth, mud, camphor, metallic (copper), mushrooms, fermentation.

Heavy steep; i taste/smell: medeium —→ earth, metallic (copper), camphor, mushrooms, mud. Strong fermentation.

all in all a wonderful tea! lovely flavours/aromas, nice cha qi. i rate a 100

http://white2tea.com/product/basics-ripe-puer-tea-sample-set/

bonus photos:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMuMOXFg6cV/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMuMZ6DASD5/

white 2 tea: basics set cake 4 – old reliable

this tea tastes a bit better when using boiling water and more grams. so ill do the other cake’s reviews with boiling water and more grams