What-Cha

Free sample from What Cha. Yay.

I didn’t take any notes that day. I did something I normally do not do, and I didn’t weigh it. I just put the whole sample in the gaiwan. I had it a few days ago… But I wanted to make a quick note. I really enjoyed this tea, and as Daylon mentioned in his note, it lasted a long time. I literally drank it all day, and it never stopped giving out the flavor. I’ll have to get more and give it the full gaiwan treatment (timing, temperature… Etc.) to be able to get a good flavor profile next time. It is complex.

It was citrusy, slightly floral, honey-sweet, and lots of stonefruit notes throughout the day. No matter how long I steeped it, it never got bitter and that is a plus. Overall, I am really a fan of their Vietnamese oolongs.

Additional notes:
I didn’t fry it this time and it was so delicious. :) I did gongfu and also the way they recommended it. As much as I loved it gongfu style, the way they recommended it tasted even better. All the wonderful flavor blended well in a cup.

Bumped up the rating. ^^

Very nice.

The dried leaves smelled of fresh hay. The liquor was light orangish amber with a very light floral aroma. It’s lightly oxidized, tastes like a very creamy Alishan as Daylon said and at times it reminded me of a smooth and creamy TGY without the tartness.

It is a busy day, lots of work and mid-way I fried it (cry) and put boiling water instead and well, it made it bitter >.<. Up until that point, it was lovely. Light florals notes, vegetal, smooth and creamy. Next time, I’ll be more careful.^^

Yixing teapot,
194℉, 130ml, 8g, 10 steeps: rinse, 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 1m, 1m30s, 2m

Oh, hello, and good day to you. Where do I start?

First a warning: do not listen to music while gongfu steeping this tea. Or do. Please do.

Second, a related anecdote. Working in some remote habitats doing often mindless hand-weeding, we had our share of field confessions. One of the stories that left the biggest impression upon me was a foreman’s stint working for the county medical examiner’s office. He found himself in this surreal moment, cruising across the Bay Bridge from San Francisco to Oakland on a sunny day in his work van with an unfortunate soul in the back, when on the radio this song came on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cXrEPNvRO8 There’s something special about crossing the various Bay Area bridges when there is no traffic. Time slows and the views always instantly take my mind places while a well of gratitude springs forth. This is how I felt drinking this tea. Transported into a surreality of life, death, soulful, uplifting happiness and deep, grounding gratitude.

The tea you ask? Okay. What-Cha provided a moving story about the origin of this tea. Did it influence my experience? I like to think not but I am human and no longer a research scientist with a flawlessly analytical mindset ;P

The dry leaf has that pungent dry desert earth smell I also found in the Rohini Bai Cha. That Darjeeling, spicy and pungent herbal musk. This is a Nepalese musk. Underneath are baby powder florals, cassia and chocolate. The warmed leaf transforms into spinach, cassia, cream, almonds with their skin. A hint of menthol? Rinsing brings forth cooked corn with the spinach, more cream, stronger white florals and umami.

The tea starts with a very pale liquor indicating the delicacy of the forthcoming aromas and tastes. Scents of baby powder and sweet lemon with an umami undertone transform into something much stronger and sweeter, more vegetal but never feeling like I’m eating a plate of cooked spinach. The tastes are very complex and also at first delicate with umami, sweet lemon, thyme, very light spinach and barely perceptible menthol. A lingering aromatic aftertaste of lemon chiffon presents. Salivation after sipping the first cup. Subsequent steeps bring forward a medium body with fantastic aroma in the mouth. Floral almond, light spinach, more sweet lemon and umami. A light bittersweetness in the back and an effervescent salivation. Thyme and other herbs in the aftertaste with that lemon chiffon.

Third steep has me revelling in this tea’s complexity. I note additions of green bell pepper and dill. The aftertaste has moved to a light apricot cream. WIth the fourth steep, the aroma becomes even deeper and stronger with a kind of sweetness that hits high and deep. Bottom of the cup aroma is a very sweet sugarcane, almond and cherry blossom.
And here is where I get caught up in the music and moment. A series of oversteeps, 3 of them, each several minutes long. The first one is bitter! but with an incredible sweet almond cookie taste. The second is less bitter, pleasantly astringent, still flavorful and aromatic in the mouth. The third brings out a strong buttery aftertaste. I get several more shorter steeps in, bringing the total to 9 with still tasty results, making me think if I were more mindful of the tea than my inner state, this tea would have a great longevity.

Overall, I’m really looking forward to the rest of this bag and sad that no more is available. Very aromatic and flavorful, high quality tea, kind on the stomach. Delicate and fleeting, moving to something more substantial and complex. I can smell and taste the grafting of spirit and tea, Japan with Nepal. I greatly appreciate the moving story that accompanies this tea. It’s an experience.

Edit: Note #400.

Hihi. Moving through my oolong stash. Another one I prefer brewed gongfu. This one does do well with shorter and longer steeps.

I didn’t look at the reviews for this Nov 2017 harvest until I did a few sessions. Given eastkyteaguy’s thorough review, I don’t think there’s anything to add in terms of aromas and tastes. My general overview: this is a very chocolate-dried fruit fragrant tea with similar, complex tastes. If it just had more texture and body for my preferences, I’d buy this again with no hesitation. But if those aren’t things you specifically look for in tea and you like some light bitterness and slight astringency that produces tongue tingles, I’d say go for it, you won’t be disappointed in its complexity! It really does have a great flavor profile and offers a delayed returning sweetness like a dark muscovado sugar. It’s a very mellowing tea when had first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, and in the evening, I’ve fallen asleep within an hour of a session.

Mixed reviews on this one. Lots of reviews so I’ll just add a lazy my two cents. ^^

I like it a lot. I saw a lot mention stonefruits but I get a lot of cherry, baked tart cherry notes. For most of my bag, I used a gaiwan with 8g, 130 ml, rinse, 9 steeps, 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 45s, 1m, 1m15s, 2m. My liquor was a dark amber brown due to it being so concentrated. No astringency, nor bitterness, smooth, full of fruity flavor, splash of roasted nuts and spices, a good mixture of tart dried fruit and honey sweetness.

Sipdown (601)!

I’ve been sitting on this sample for a while – but I realize how easy of a sipdown it would be so when I was feeling much better in the week I decided to treat myself to a late night Gong Fu session and brew it up. It was actually a damn good tea.

It’s been so long since I last ordered from What-Cha but if this is still being carried on their site whenever I next order then I would definitely consider restocking. Plus, it was a very aesthetically pretty tea to look at and I don’t think the photos that I took capture that. The leaves were this splendid rusty red/brown colour. Very striking!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwa2kFfH4d3/

Here’s what I had to say about the flavour on instagram, since I did a pretty good job capturing my thoughts/feelings there when I was actively drinking the tea:

This is a weird and wonderful tasting oolong tea; thick infusions with initial floral tasting notes and an upfront sweetness. Progressed in a way that was still floral, but more strongly hay/straw tasting with plum-y, sweet stonefruit undertones and an almost candy floss/spun sugar delicate and airy sweetness.

It’s been a while since I had a tea that just naturally reminded me of cotton candy, and it’s always very enjoyable – I do quite enjoy sweet and sugary things.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nQoBAKZy9Q

I believe I bought this tea in 2015, possibly because it was on sale and I wanted to try something from Africa. I couldn’t have known what I was in for. I steeped 5 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 195F for 10, 12, 16, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

Whoa! These leaves are massive and twisty. “Handmade” is right! Dry, they smell like alcohol, veggies, and dark rye bread. The first steep has notes of pumpkin, carrot, malt, earth, wood, and tannin. The second steep adds citrus and herbs and is strangely creamy. Something like cabbage emerges in the next couple steeps, and the liquor becomes even more astringent. By steep five, it’s a mix of pumpkin, carrot, cabbage, and other veggies over an earthy, woody base. These flavours persist into the eighth steep before fading into generic black tea notes.

This is one of the strangest teas I’ve reviewed so far. I struggled to pinpoint the flavours, and judging from the two previous reviews on Steepster, others have found it quirky and complex as well. A daily drinker this is not, but I enjoyed the experience.

Somehow this tea fell really flat on me. It definitely is quite a bit on the malty side for an Oriental Beauty, and it definitely has a tannic/citric finish and drying aftertaste too. However, the fragrance seems to be missing and I suspect it could be attributed to the fact that it’s almost 2 years old. The body is fairly light too and the taste is also not as pronounced and rounded as I would expect from an Oriental Beauty. I get a decently strong apricot note, more so than peach and nectarine, even though those are present too. There is a decent bitterness which is nice to see and also some woody flavours (maybe rosewood?). Sweetness is also strong and it reminds me of very light maple syrup. I must say that the aftertaste is a little bit more palatable and pronounced than the taste, thus saving this tea a little for me.

Thanks for the sample, derk! :)
Somehow, Oriental Beauty is a type of tea that often varies only in details, but this one was quite different, so I am definitely glad to have tried it, even though I am not going to be ordering it in the future.

This was one of my sipdowns from around the end of March and the start of the current month. It was also a tea I kind of rushed into blindly in the sense that I did not research it much. I tend to be a really huge fan of Red Jade black teas, so I was eager to see what a Red Jade GABA oolong would be like. Ultimately, I found this tea to be a unique and rather enjoyable expression of the Red Jade cultivar, though I also felt that it would probably not be for everyone.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After the rinse, I steeped 6 grams of rolled tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 8 seconds. This infusion was chased by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of baked bread, sweet potato, brown sugar, chocolate, and molasses. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of spinach, wintergreen, and red grape. The first infusion then introduced aromas of plum and malt. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up notes of baked bread, malt, sweet potato, molasses, red grape, plum, and wintergreen that were backed by hints of chocolate and spinach. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of geranium, grass, earth, pear, horehound, wood, blood orange, red apple, and straw. Notes of cream, minerals, geranium, pear, grass, red apple, wood, straw, horehound, earth, honey, and blood orange appeared in the mouth alongside belatedly emerging brown sugar notes and hints of leather and tobacco. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, sweet potato, plum, malt, cream, earth, red apple, pear, straw, and grass that were balanced by hints of geranium, spinach, brown sugar, horehound, molasses, and wintergreen.

Overall, this was an odd, interesting, and rather enjoyable GABA oolong, but it was also very challenging and prickly. Personally, this was a tea for which I would have to be in the mood. I could not ever imagine it being a regular basis tea, let alone an everyday tea. Still, it had a lot to offer, and I could see drinkers curious to see how the Red Jade cultivar handles being processed into anything other than a black tea or those who enjoy quirky and/or experimental teas getting a kick out of it.

Hi, everybody! It’s been a rather long time, hasn’t it? I’ll go ahead and admit that life has taken precedence over reviewing for the last couple of weeks. Work has been a killer for me, and I have had lots of personal stuff to deal with too. Even when I have had free time, I have not been able to force myself to post here. For whatever reason, I have just not been able to focus on writing. I’m still drinking tea like crazy, though, and I have been steadily building up quite a backlog in the space of the past month. This was one of my sipdowns from the first half of last month, and quite frankly, it is still a tea I think about often. I wish I had purchased more of it when I had the opportunity because this was a fantastic black tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of malt, honey, baked bread, strawberry, blackberry, and red grape. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of sweet potato, roasted peanut, brown sugar, cocoa, plum, and menthol. The first infusion introduced aromas of candied orange, eucalyptus, and black cherry. The menthol scent also grew somewhat stronger. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of sweet potato, malt, baked bread, cocoa, red grape, candied orange, plum, strawberry, brown sugar, and menthol that were backed by hints of black cherry, blackberry, cream, eucalyptus, and vanilla. The subsequent infusions brought out aromas of black currant, blueberry, cream, date, orange zest, vanilla, melon, wood, and marshmallow. Stronger and more immediate cream, black cherry, menthol, and vanilla notes appeared in the mouth along with impressions of honey and roasted peanut. I also noted impressions of minerals, blueberry, marshmallow, wood, black currant, red pear, date, red apple, and orange zest as well as some subtle hints of watermelon. As the tea settled and faded, I was left with impressions of minerals, malt, baked bread, wood, sweet potato, menthol, plum, cream, and orange zest that were underscored by subtle hints of black cherry, blackberry, blueberry, eucalyptus, brown sugar, honey, cocoa, and roasted peanut.

It is very rarely that a Taiwanese black tea disappoints me, but it is also a rare occurrence when one impresses me as much as this tea did. For a tea displaying such incredible depth and complexity, it was neither poorly balanced nor overwhelming. It was also incredibly lacking in astringency, rendering a smooth, silky liquor that was never lacking in approachability. Overall, this was a fantastic Taiwanese black tea. It even reminded me a bit of some of the more consistently hyped Taiwanese black teas to have gained a following on Steepster and elsewhere (Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black and Premium Taiwanese Assam, anyone?) but with one important difference: this tea may have been slightly better than most of them.

Wanted to add a few things while sipping this tonight with the mechanic. He said it has some maltiness and a pleasant tannic dry finish. Shared some knowledge about leaf-bitten teas. Btw, these leaves are very healthy and clearly hand picked. I’m on the edge of having a gongfu partner.

I’ve had this Summer 2017 harvest of Oriental Beauty sitting around for a while, sipping on it here and there western style 2tsp to 8oz. I didn’t write anything about the body of the tea or the aftertaste just some hasty tasty notes written on the label: autumn leaf, almond, citrus, honey, nectarine, peach and light cream and butter. It was definitely up my alley.

I did a teapot session this morning using 5g to 100mL, 205F. So this Oriental Beauty is composed of the traditional Qing Xin cultivar used for this tea blended with some Jin Xuan cultivar. When I drank this gongfu, the contribution of the milky Jin Xuan was much more apparent than when prepared western style. It was more like sipping on peaches topped with cream and creamed honey. Mellow, almost milky, still with plenty of almond nuttiness, nectarine-peach-fruit tree flowers and even some peach pit or almond hull mixed with wood and leaf. Thanks to the other reviewer, MarshP, I can also attribute some rosehips and even rosewood to this. Smooth, liquor deposited a moderate lingering nectarine-peach aroma in the mouth. Can get a little bitter later on but I enjoy it. Not sure if it’s due to age or different brewing technique but the citrus I very much tasted brewed western fell out. A different experience, for sure, but just as lovely. I remember third steep in I was thinking “I love tea.”

I’m heading out tomorrow morning to do some contract work for Juniper Ridge, the company whose teas I sent samples of to Martin and Togo recently. Going up to northeastern California near Oregon and Nevada to harvest juniper to distill into essential oils. Weird how things work. Life sure has been taking some turns lately and I’m at a point in my physical location and states of heart and mind to go with the flow. It’s all very foreign to me, a general practitioner of forceful vision.

I’m not expecting much for internet on my phone, so I might not be around these parts until late this coming week. Ciao!

Maybe my new favourite green. I’ll review again after a few sessions, but I like it. It’s conceptually like Dragon Well Long Jing for me, but more of the specific tastes I like. More hay, more butter. And with a thicker, syrupy feel.

Edit: I brought this from an 85 to an 80 because it strikes me differently on different days. Also subsequent steepings fall off quickly. But it’s still a marvellous tea, solidly 80.

Edit: 80 up to 82 after a marvellous four-steep session. That’s now settled. Definitely.

I don’t think there is anything that I enjoy more than a good roasted Jin Xuan. Thank you Derk for this sample. They have been sold out of this one and I wanted to try it. There is a wonderful review on this already by eastkyteaguy so check that out if you want the taste profile. I certainly can’t add to it. lol

So often I fall in love with a roasted oolong only for it to be short-lived. This one lasted many infusions and the taste profile changed as the infusions continued. It was complex with its roasted-toasted goodness, full of fruits like berries and stonefruit with some floral, woodiness, minerals and honey sweetness.

Thank you Martin Bednář for recommending this! It arrived a few days ago but my first cup was really underwhelming.

I gave it another go tonight, doubling the amount of leaves, and I’m so glad I didn’t give up on this. It’s smooth and malty and rich, yet it still feels light.

I brewed up a 3-cup teapot western style – the first cup was smooth and malty but relatively flat. The second cup, however, had steeped for quite a while longer (probably 5 to 6 minutes instead of the recommended 3 to 4) and the resulting tea was richer and far more complex. The jammy, fruity notes are subtle at first but they grow as you take more sips. It’s definitely a raspberry jam but there’s a hint of strawberry too.

I’m onto the third cup now and it’s getting quite strong and not so smooth. The jam notes are holding up though. I can’t detect any of the spicy notes that other tasting notes have described.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this tea and writing up my full review: https://www.immortalwordsmith.co.uk/what-cha-india-assam-mancotta-tea-review/

Sipdown. Backlog 3/3/19
200F, 2 min, 12 oz
I don’t like roasted teas that much. The char and sour flavors I get from them just don’t work for me.
Roasted, sour

Sipdown
Finished this off at work today. Pretty good amber oolong – creamy and honey. Endured well – I was able to get 4 or 5 short steeps out of the leaves today. Solid and comforting tea.

Backlog. 2/18/19.
This packet’s been in my stash for a while unopened.
It’s more of an amber oolong. Not quite roasted, but darker than the greener oolongs.
200F, 2-3 min, 12 oz, 3 steeps
honey, milky or thick, cooling, soft, creamy
Honey is the most consistent flavor from this tea.

What-Cha, ya’ll are on POINT with selecting your Assams. This beaut is just perfection to start the day. Strong, brisk, rich, and not a bit of astringency. Wonderful big leaves, which I think really improves an Assam. Can’t believe I just have a small portion. When I buy again, this will be be on list. I prefer this one hot, but I think it would be proper iced.

This is a fine oolong and I wanted to have a proper reflective sitting with it, but life often doesn’t go as planned, eh? I tried drinking it at the office (nasty water and not worth bringing nice teas there), at home, and now here. I’ve stretched this last serving over the course of three days, hoping I’d have time to savour it (nope).

First steep: grassy, orange blossoms, citrus, silky, almost creamy. Honey-fruit notes to finish that become more apparent as tea cools. (I got to here).

I guess I’ll just have to order more. Life’s tough.

Steep Count: 4-5, usually

This tea came as a sample from Alistair in my last order. I must admit this tea surprised me with the floral notes. It’ll probably be in my next order!

This was yet another recent sipdown of mine. I only had 25 grams of this tea to work through and finished them over the course of two or three days toward the beginning of last week. I know that I have gone a bit crazy with Taiwanese oolongs this month, but I have had quite a few good ones to work through, and this one was yet another winner. I will probably switch to something else the moment I hit one that does not move me in any way, but that may take some time at this rate.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After the rinse, I steeped 6 grams of tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 8 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of brown sugar, chocolate, burnt toast, golden raisin, pine, and plum. After the rinse, I detected aromas of cherry, roasted almond, vanilla, red apple, and malt. The first infusion introduced aromas of cinnamon and butterscotch. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of brown sugar, cream, vanilla, pine, burnt toast, chocolate, golden raisin, malt, and roasted almond that were chased by hints of red apple, cherry, pear, cinnamon, and hazelnut. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of pear, fig, white grape, nutmeg, blackberry, coffee, and hazelnut. Butterscotch and plum impressions emerged in the mouth, while stronger and more immediately evident cinnamon, red apple, hazelnut, and cherry impressions made themselves known. I also found impressions of minerals, fig, nutmeg, white grape, cream, coffee, and blackberry. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, pine, vanilla, cream, cinnamon, brown sugar, malt, roasted almond, and burnt toast that were underscored by hints of chocolate, pear, golden raisin, hazelnut, plum, butterscotch, and cherry.

This was one of those oolongs that was easy for me to write off at first because it was just so balanced and drinkable. More patient, focused sipping, however, revealed a simultaneously complex and approachable tea that was truly masterfully crafted. The liquor was both aromatic and flavorful yet lusciously thick and gorgeously textured, and it offered tremendous longevity and sneaky, gently invigorating energy to boot. In the end, there was not much of note for me to criticize about this tea. If you are looking for a high quality GABA oolong, this would be one to consider.

This was another of my sipdowns from earlier in the month. I tried to keep as open of a mind as possible while reviewing this tea because Nilgiri teas have never been favorites of mine. Despite the fact that the previous Nilgiri teas from What-Cha that I had tried were impressive, I was not expecting much out of this one since I find Indian green teas to be very hit or miss. Lo and behold, this Nilgiri green tea ended up greatly impressing me. I have not been drinking a ton of green tea so far this year, but this one will likely remain one of the most satisfying and interesting green teas of the year for me.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 158 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of malt, raisin, dried cranberry, and sorghum. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of apricot, mustard greens, and spinach. The first infusion introduced aromas of honey and grass. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of malt, grass, sorghum, sour apricot, honey, mustard greens, and grass that were balanced by hints of butter, pear, dried cranberry, and spinach. The subsequent infusions introduced aromas of sweet corn, butter, pear, sour cherry, and citrus. Stronger and more immediately noticeable butter notes came out in the mouth alongside belatedly emerging raisin notes and impressions of minerals, sour cherry, sour plum, cream, kumquat, and bitter orange. I also noted hints of sweet corn, umami, grapefruit, and juniper as well as touches of wintergreen after each swallow. As the tea faded, the liquor began to emphasize notes of minerals, grass, spinach, malt, bitter orange, sour cherry, sour apricot, and sour plum that were backed by fleeting hints of grapefruit, honey, dried cranberry, cream, sorghum, umami, sweet corn, raisin, and wintergreen.

As Indian green teas go, this one struck me as being unique. In terms of body and texture, it reminded me of some of the better Yunnan and Vietnamese green teas I have tried, while its aroma and flavor profiles were like a mixture of Assam, Yunnan, and Vietnamese green teas with some truly unique and unexpected characteristics that one would not normally expect to find in any of those teas. Overall, this was a very likable and satisfying tea that more than held its own in a relatively lengthy and intense review session. I would have no issue with recommending it to anyone looking for a vibrant, memorable, unique, and challenging green tea.