Various Artists

Today I drank a 2009 Menghai Ripe sent to me by someone on Instagram, Aleen. She is doing research on the American tea market and sent me and a few others some nice samples. This was a tasty ripe tea. It was sweet with a moderate amount of fermentation flavor to it. That fermentation taste was neither too much or unpleasant. This was quite an enjoyable tea. I stopped at eight steeps becauase I shouldn’t be having caffeine at this hour at all. I was using a 50ml gaiwan with only 3.6g tea too. Trying to limit my caffeine intake.

I steeped this eight times in a 50ml gaiwan with 3.6g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. I would guess it would have gone twelve steeps.

Today I switched over to a sheng I got at my local tea shop. I suspect her storage was flawed. She had her sheng, shou, and hei cha all stored together. This tea started out with what I would call a note of tobacco. However, in my opinion it was too young at 2012 to have developed that note. That’s usually a note older teas develop. Never encountered it in a 2012 sheng before. I suspect I was tasting the hei cha it was stored with. It did go away, after about four steeps. Afterward the tea wasn’t too bad. But I would be hesitant to buy more puerh from this woman. She obviously doesn’t know much about puerh or she wouldn’t have stored them all together. That’s one of the most basic tenants of puerh storage. Only store like with like.

I steeped this tea eigiht times in a 100ml gaiwan with 7.4g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec.

Today I drank Top Rougui #1, an unreleased Yancha oolong from Chaceremony. Thank you Marcus Reed for this sample. I am really just learning to like yancha. The charcoal roast flavor was not a natural thing to me. But this one has a comparatively mild roast profile. I’d say the roast was a major flavor note for the first four to six steeps, somewhere in there. I gave this tea more than my normal. I steeped it sixteen times and it didn’t get too weak. There is a note that develops after the roast profile is history. It is a sort of burnt caramel note. There is always a little bit of the roast there. It never completely disappears, just largely. Overall this was very good tea.

I steeped this 16 times in a 50ml gaiwan with 4.8g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and what ended up being a 5 minute rest. I was told that you are not supposed to give yancha a rest after the rinse. I am used to puerh where this is recommended. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, 1.5 min, 2 min, 2.5 min, 3 min, 3.5 min, and 4 min. These were some long lasting leaves. If I wanted to I’m sure I could get a few more steeps out of this tea.

Drinking an unreleased Yancha from Chaceremony today. Thank you Marcus Reed for this sample. This was called Top Shuixian #1 and was quite tasty. I think I didn’t use quite enough tea for my teapot so later steeps were a bit weak until I started using less water. The roast profile was quite light as yancha goes. I’d say the roast lasted the first three or maybe four steeps. I don’t quite know how to describe the flavor that was left behind but I did like the tea.

I steeped this ten times in a 150ml teapot with 7.8g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min.

Drinking a 2007 Mengku raw I got in a swap from Liquid Pruost. I agree with him that this is well stored tea. I has not developed any noticeable storage tastes. Certainly no wet storage taste. There was a bit of an unpleasant aged taste, leather or tobacco in the first steep but that was it. After that first steep it was very smooth. It developed something of a fruity note but with a muted sweetness. It did not have the apricots of a young sheng. It’s good that I liked this tea because I was putting in an order with Taobao Focus and ordered one, less than $10 before shipping.

I steeped this ten times in a 150ml yixing teapot with 7.4g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min. The leaves were not done yet. I’d get a few more steepings out of them if I hadn’t already had too much tea.

Today I am drinking Top Rougui #2, an as of yet unreleased Yancha from www.chaceremony.com. Thanks to Marcus Reed for this sample. This is of course a charcoal roast tea. The roast profile was not too overwhelming at first but it did persist for six or seven steeps. This tea is described I think as having peach notes. I have to admit in the seventh steep a fruity note did emerge that could perhaps be described as peach. I am probably not the target audience for this tea because I usually don’t like charcoal roast tea but this one was pretty good. It also had a nice qi, not overwhelming but relaxing. I gave this tea ten steeps and I don’t think it would have gone much more, maybe two if I lengthened the steep time by a bit.

I steeped this tea ten times in a 150 ml teapot with 8g leaf and boiling water. I ave the tea a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min.

Today I drank an unknown type of tea. All I know about it is that it was mislabeled puer and was from Hunnan. It was some type of hei cha or dark tea. It had a most interesting flavor. I am on the fence as to whether I really liked it or not. Bought it from a local store called The Pleasures of Tea. It is hard to describe the taste and I don’t know how to describe the prominent note it had. This note was both sweet and a little bit sour in truth. It was some form of dark tea. It was dark like a shou but without any real fermentation flavor to it so I don’t think it was a fermented dark tea. I have no real idea as to the age of the tea. The best way I can describe it’s taste is as a cross between a sheng, a shou, and a black tea. It had little bitterness to it and in it’s own way was quite smooth. I didn’t seem to have any qi. I don’t think that the store, The Pleasures of Tea, lists this on their website. I don’t think I would buy it again. I don’t really hate it but I don’t really love it either. To me this tea still says “I don’t know” even after eight steeps.

I brewed this eight times in a 120ml gaiwan with 9.1g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec.

Decaf and Herbal TTB. Drinking etaM from Liquid Proust Teas. Although this is considered an Herbal it has Mate in which has caffeine. I could use a jolt about now. This teat is kind of grassy for lack of a better word. There is a little sweetness from the rock candy. I’m not really tasting the green rooibos.

I steeped this once in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 4 min.

Today I am drinking a shou puerh that came with my Crimson Lotus order. It was marked only mystery tea and I have found out only a little more about it. They told me it was too pricy for them to sell. I also know it’s a small batch from old Jingmai trees. That is about it. Judging by the amount of fermentation flavor left in it I’d say it was maybe three or four years old. It had a fair amount of fermentation flavor to it but that flavor was sweet, not fishy. The fermentation taste lasted three or four steeps and then was largely gone. There were some notes of chocolate in there and it developed a fruity taste in later steeps. This is one I wish I could get more of. I have to rate this at at least a 90%. It’s that good. It was a large sample so I can drink this a couple of more times. When they said it was too pricy for them to sell I wonder just how expensive it is. At some websites I have seen 1kg bricks go for $450 so I wonder. All I can do is speculate about this tea.

I steeped this tea ten times in a 120ml gaiwan with 8.9g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min. The tea is not weak at ten steeps. I’m sure I could get a few more out of it but I have had a lot of tea. I know when I give this tea a rating it will rerate all my previous teas reviewed under random steepings.

Today I’m drinking a black tea I got in a swap from Marcus Reed, Red Jade #18. If I am correct it is from the Jade Leaf. This was a tasty tea. It was mildly astringent but not too much. There was a little malt in there but not too much. It also had another note that was prevalent. However, I am at a loss as to what to describe it as. It just worked as a flavor. This was very different from the black tea I am used to. I usually brew my black tea early in the morning before work so I don’t get much time to Gongfu brew black tea. Gave this one eight steeps. It would have gone a couple of more I think but I was at my caffeine limit for today. The problem with giving this tea a rating is all the previous teas I have reviewed under Random Steepings will be rerated as this rating.

I steeped this tea eight times in a 120ml gaiwan with 6g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec.

Today I am drinking the Mystery Dayi, a freebie from my White2Tea purchase. This tea must have some age to it because there was very little fermentation flavor to it, it had nearly cleared. There was no wet storage taste so I’d say it was dry stored. It was very flavorful in the first four or five steeps. Then there was simply put a fall off in flavor during the last few steeps. It was still decent mind you just not as good in later steeps. There were notes of chocolate in there and some fruity flavor too. Just not as much flavor in steep eight as steep two. I guess this is not quite up to White2Tea standards. That is probably why they never sold it on their website. I don’t actually know what model Dayi it is or what year it is.

I steeped this eight times in a 180ml teapot with 13.1g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a ten second rinse and a ten minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec. The leaves were not finished at eight but I didn’t feel like continuing.

Thank you Marcus Reed for this sample. I am reviewing the Chaceremony Qilan here because he doesn’t yet have it on his website. It seemed easier to review it here. It is a roasted oolong but a very light roasted oolong. I am getting a surprising note from this tea. I’d swear I taste apples. Slightly burnt apples but apples none the less. What roast flavor there was did dissipate over the six steeps I gave it. The tea wasn’t finished at all but I am drinking tea later than usual and I have to watch my caffeine intake so stopped at six. I am pretty sure I would have gotten ten or more out of the leaves. This tea has a natural sweet flavor to it too. I usually add sugar to tea but found myself drinking this without it. It is quite good. There were no unpleasant notes to this tea. Just mild roast flavor.

I steeped this six times in a 130ml gaiwan with 6g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, and 20 sec.

Today I’m drinking an oolong I got in a swap with a blogger from Singapore, thanks Wilson. It is called Tie Lo Han oolong and it is quite good. It is lightly roasted from what I can tell.It had a roasted flavor in the first steep that began to go away by the second steep. By the last and fifth steep it was all but a memory. There was a hard to describe sweet flavor behind this roasted flavor. This was good tea that you just can’t get in the states.

I brewed this tea five times in a 220ml gaiwan with 9.3g leaf and boiling water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 15 sec, and 30 sec. Judging by the color in the fifth steep there were one or two steeps left to this tea had I wanted to continue.

Butiki Educational TTB, #1 Black Orthodox, Kenya. This is another tea that I can see why Butiki chose not to sell it. It is slightly bitter and somewhat malty. It is not bad, just not incredible.

Butiki Educational TTB, Taiwan Oolong Alishan #3. This tea was quite good in the first two steeps. About the third steep an unpleasant flavor developed. I have not had good luck with the oolongs from this box. Mostly they start off tasty and finish just blah. This one is not terrible in the fifth steep, its just not as good as it was. I don’t know how to describe the unpleasant flavor this tea developed. This box has certainly been an education in tea for me, I’ll give them that. I have bought so many good teas that I never have gotten to taste the ones that just weren’t quite good enough. None of the teas in this box give any specific information about them and I don’t think any previous people have added teas to it. There is something to be said about the fact that I am learning something new about tea. I can only imagine the number of samples that a company like Butiki had to try to get just one tea they wanted to sell. If this one had just held the flavor it had during the first two steeps it would have been incredible.

I steeped this five times in a 120ml gaiwan with 6g leaf and 190 degree water. I gave it a 10 sec rinse. I steeped it for 10 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, and 25 sec.

Drinking another tea with no name from the Butiki Educational TTB today, a tea called Oriental Beauty #2 from Taiwan. I know nothing more about the tea’s origins. This tea was I think another tea rejected for sale by Butiki. I can tell you why. While it was only perhaps ten percent of the flavor of the tea, it had the slight taste of vinegar. No other word describes the note I got from this tea. It did eventually go away, but it was there. There were a mixture of pleasant and unpleasant notes to this tea. I could see why they never chose to sell it. This is one I’d be very annoyed with if I had bought 100g of it. I have to say that this tea box has in a way been educational. It has reminded me of just how good some of the teas I have gotten from places like Butiki and Yunnan Sourcing have been. It’s not that these teas have been all bad or terrible, they just have not been up to par with what I am used to buying. I am sure that neither Butiki or Fang Gourmet Tea would sell this oolong. It’s not terrible, but it clearly doesn’t make the cut.

I steeped this tea six times in a 180ml teapot with 7g leaf and 190 degree water. I steeped it for 10 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 30 sec, and 45 sec.

This is another tea from the Butiki Educational Traveling Tea Box. This one was simply labeled Chinese Black. It is a black tea from somewhere in China, I have no idea what province. The main note that jumps out at you here is malt, followed by a little bitterness. I guess this was another sample that wasn’t good enough for Butiki. It’s not that great, but it is waking me up. It’s strong.

I brewed this once in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and boiling water for 3 min.

Darjeeling 1st Flush #2 Butiki Educational Tea Box. Drank this this morning before work so my memory is a bit foggy. While I did not think it a spectacular tea it was tasty and it had what I think you would call the classic muscatel flavor. It was good.

Brewed in once in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker/Gravity Steeper with 3 tsp leaf and 190 degree water for 3 min.

Hong Shui #2 Butiki Educational Traveling Tea Box. This tea was very tasty in the first two steeps. It had a light roast flavor and a honey sweetness. However, around the third steep it began to develop an unpleasant flavor. Not sure if this was the tea or if it was my taste buds. I just had oral surgery so my taste buds could be off. It’ll be up to the next person who receives this box to try this tea and see if they get the same result. This was a fairly long lasting oolong. I gave it six steeps which is respectable for an oolong, or any tea other than puerh. Overall I still enjoyed this tea but I could see why it didn’t make the cut with Butiki Teas.

I steeped this tea six times in a 180ml teapot with 6.3g leaf and 190 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a ten minute rest. I steeped it for 10 sec, 10 sec, 20 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 2 min.

Today I’m drinking a tea from Lulu, thanks for the free sample. I could not find it in the catalog however, so I am reviewing it here. It is called Sun Moon Lake Black Tea No. 18 and it is fairly tasty. I brewed it gongfu style in a 150ml gaiwan and gave it five steeps. It is fairly malty but not overly so. There were some notes of dry grapes in the mix. My first steeping was way too weak at 5 sec so I gave the next infusion 20 sec and it was better. I think I would have gotten better results with a larger sample but 4g was all I had. All in all it was enjoyable.

I brewed this five times in a 150ml gaiwan with 4g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 5 sec, 20 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min.

Today I drank a ripe puerh tuo cha purchased from Royal Tea Bay very cheap. I was really expecting something terrible. I didn’t even know if it was ripe or raw because they were not marked and I bought one of each. It was fairly sweet with notes of camphor, not at all bad. I thought as cheap as it was it would score below a fifty percent but this one gets a better rating.

I steeped this eight times in a 120ml gaiwan with 8g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, and 30 sec.

Today I am drinking a 90’s Liu Bao in a swap from a good tea friend, an international swap. This is a powerful, in your face sort of tea. It has a strong taste of either wet wood or bamboo, not sure which is a better descriptor. I gave this tea ten steeps because I do not have to be up early tomorrow so caffeine is not an issue today.

I steeped this tea ten times in a 150ml gaiwan with 6.5g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 min, and 1.5 min.

Today I drank a Chinese Black tea procured from the Asian Market. It was fairly good. Definitely worth the eight bucks. It was a little malty and a little smoky in nature.
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Thank you Marcus Reed for this sample. Drinking a 2007 ripe puerh from Tea Source today. It is a relatively tasty ripe with a fair amount of fermentation flavor. Its got a nice sweet flavor to it.

I steeped this four times in a 220ml gaiwan with 12g leaf and boiling water. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 10 sec, and 20 sec.