What-Cha

Well, I got a big order in from What-Cha and as I’ll be reviewing it for my own purposes, I decided why not continue sharing my thoughts here on Steepster? I’m sure it would interest some others. I had considered not using Steepster anymore, but I guess for now I still feel like contributing. From here on, I think my reviews will be much shorter than in the past.

This is definitely a red (black) tea drinker’s white tea. The color brews up orange and closer in appearance to a red tea. The leaves are quite dark and oxidized. The flavor is in my opinion closer to a typical red than a white. Here are some impressions:

Gongfu style brewing in a gaiwan. Wet leaves smell of cacao and dried fruit. Liquor has aromas of honey, orange, cacao, and spices, light floral. Mouthfeel is incredibly thick and juicy.

First infusion tastes rich with notes of cacao, straw, wheat, honey, a returning huigan finish, slight melon note.

Second infusion has a heavier cacao note, slightly tangy, reminds me a bit of a moonlight white with its subtle sweetness, spice notes, and musty hay-like note, but missing the perfume of moonlight white. Nice minerality.

Compared to some other reviewers, I didn’t find this tea to be exceptional, but that all comes down to taste. It’s a great tea and I’m glad I bought it. A smooth daily drinker more than a conversation piece.

I promised a couple of reviews this evening, and once I post this one, I will have delivered on that promise. No one better say I never follow through-I do on rare occasions. I finished a couple of sample pouches of this tea back around the middle of May, though an exact date eludes me. I’m a big fan of Nepalese teas in general, and for the most part, I have adored the Nepalese oolongs I have tried. How did I feel about this one? Well, I loved it too.

Naturally, I gongfued this tea. 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 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 emitted aromas of hay, herbs, and straw alongside subtler scents of Muscatel, caramel and fresh flowers. The rinse brought out clearly defined aromas of amaryllis, dandelion, rose, burdock, and roasted almond. The first infusion then introduced a definite scent of wintergreen oil along with scents of malt and violet. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered smooth notes of rose, dandelion, violet, and Muscatel chased by notes of roasted almond, straw, hay, burdock, wintergreen oil, caramel, and malt. Subsequent infusions saw the nose retain a good deal of its floral, herbal, and fruity characteristics. I definitely caught a touch of marigold in there. New notes of butter, anise, nutmeg, apricot, menthol, wood, marigold, lemon, and minerals emerged in the mouth along with a slight toastiness. The last infusions retained notes of minerals, cream, lemon, and roasted almond as well as some accents of menthol, malt, caramel, and wintergreen oil.

A powerful, intensely aromatic, and unbelievably flavorful oolong, this ended up being one of the most interesting and unique teas I have tried in months. What-Cha does an exceptional job of sourcing Nepalese teas and this one was yet another winner. Unfortunately, it has been out of stock for some time, but should it ever return, I will be making a point of purchasing more.

After a long layoff, I am back again with a couple more reviews. Now that I’m slowly getting back into the swing of school, I should be able to start posting a little more regularly and get everyone who reads my stuff up to speed on more of what I have been drinking over the course of the past month. I think I finished my sample pouch of this tea sometime during the second half of May. Though I found this to be an excellent tea, I must express my irritation with it being advertised as a black tea. I get the reasoning on the part of the vendor. Though this was an oolong, it did, in fact, look, smell, and taste much more like a black tea. Still, I am notorious for (gently) calling out vendors on nonsense like this, so, for the record, there was absolutely no need to advertise this as a black tea. Just saying.

[Note: Alistair, I’m not trying to rip on you here. I have seen a lot of this “this tea is ____, but think of it more as ____” stuff from several vendors over the course of the past year and it is totally unnecessary. I see where you were coming from, so I do understand why you would have found this tea to be more similar to a black tea than any sort of traditional oolong. As a matter of fact, I would not have realized this was an oolong had I not read the product description.]

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 8 seconds. This infusion was chased by 14 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 seconds, 13 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 emitted pleasant aromas of raisin, prune, fig, and nectarine. After the rinse, I detected aromas of wood, roasted almond, and honey. The first infusion brought out some hints of brown sugar and malt on the nose. In the mouth, I found flavors of raisin, prune, fig, malt, roasted almond, wood, and honey chased by a sweetness that reminded me slightly more of caramel than brown sugar. Subsequent infusions saw the nose take on characteristics of chocolate, cream, and caramel. New flavors of eucalyptus, camphor, cream, chocolate, minerals, and butter emerged, while fleeting impressions of nectarine belatedly showed themselves along with hints of orange zest and stewed apricot. The final infusions offered lingering mineral, cream, malt, honey, and roasted almond impressions balanced by subtler notes of butter, chocolate, and caramel.

As stated in the note section above, I would not have known that this was an oolong had I not read the product description. In this case, I may not like the way this tea was marketed, but I can totally see why someone would choose to think of this more as a black tea. As a matter of fact, it may actually be helpful for some people to consider it as such because, if you do not have a ton of experience with a variety of more heavily oxidized oolongs, this tea could be one hell of a hammer curveball for you. I may be a bit of a weirdo, but I loved this tea. In terms of aroma and flavor, it occupied a perfect middle ground between an orthodox Yunnan black tea and a more heavily oxidized oolong. This was a unique offering and a little odd, but totally lovable nonetheless.

I think it was Crow Kettle who sent me a sample of this. I wanted to try this tea, but didn’t end up purchasing any on my last what-cha order. I appreciate the chance to try this unique white tea.

There is a slightly vegetal (honeysuckle? pea shoots) but there is a lot of sweetness (honey). This is much closer in flavour to a black tea than a green, with a lot of honey and tannin flavour.

Here is another review from my backlog. Getting at least a couple of these previously neglected reviews up today will go a long way toward making me feel more productive. I polished off a sample pouch of this tea back around the middle of May. I was on a huge Chinese black tea kick at the time and still kind of am, though I have continued to devote a considerable amount of my free time to consuming various oolongs as well. I’m a fan of Golden Monkey in general, so I went into my review session for this tea with high expectations. Fortunately, it did not disappoint. Actually, I will go ahead and state that this was perhaps one of the best Golden Monkey black teas I have tried to this point in my life.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased 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, I detected aromas of dark chocolate, malt, caramel, and plum coming from the dry tea leaves. After the rinse, I found a much heavier dark chocolate scent as well as new aromas of dark wood and burnt toast. The first infusion then saw the previously noted caramel aroma grow stronger and a hint of honey emerge on the nose. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of dark chocolate, malt, plum, burnt toast, caramel, and dark wood chased by a hint of honey on the swallow. Subsequent infusions saw new impressions of minerals, tobacco, black pepper, raisin, and cinnamon emerge alongside slightly more pronounced caramel notes and subtle impressions of orange zest and cedar. The final infusions offered lingering mineral, dark chocolate, dark wood, and malt notes balanced by subtler burnt toast and caramel flavors.

This was a nice black tea with great body and texture in the mouth. Also, the range of aromas and flavors it offered worked very well together. Nothing was shocking or out of place. Overall, this was an incredibly satisfying, well-constructed tea. It offered nothing new or all that unique for the style, yet it wound up being virtually impossible for me to fault much. Aside from me feeling that it perhaps started to fade just ever so slightly too soon, I cannot think of anything to really knock. Check this one out if you are a fan of Fujian black teas.

I didn’t care for this tea gong fu or western brewed to be drunk hot. With that, I give the tea a 70ish rating. But iced, this tea become very tasty to me, would give it a 85. I feel this way with Darjeeling. I only like it iced.

It’s just so much sweeter and much more flavorful.

I am to the last of my samples, and I know exactly what I want to rebuy from What-Cha. This is one of the teas that I’ll want more of. It just hit the spot yesterday at work. Floral, brisk, levels of flavor. Astringent yet coy sweetness. I brewed at 3 minutes, and I wouldn’t do a second more. Next time I might do 2 minutes.

Excellent Ceylon, and one of the best I’ve had from the region. Glad to read it’s fair trade! Makes me happy to support a company like this!!!

Alright, I’m finally back. Not only have I been swamped at work for the last week, but I have had very limited internet access at home, so posting reviews ended up falling by the wayside for me. I finally managed to regain consistent internet access this morning, so now I am taking a break to get some stuff posted here. My lack of activity would not allow anyone to know it, but I have been on a huge Shui Xian kick for the last little bit and have taken to comparing teas from different terroirs. This tea went head to head with an old bush Zhengyan Shui Xian, and surprisingly enough, it came out the winner in my eyes.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 6 seconds. This infusion was followed by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 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, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaves emitted aromas of char, pine, honey, and raisin underscored by a hint of cinnamon. After the rinse, I noted the emergence of stronger char and pine aromas as well as a hint of baked bread. The first infusion then introduced a hint of rock sugar to the nose. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up notes of char, pine, honey, raisin, cinnamon, and rock sugar backed by hints of baked bread. Subsequent infusions saw the nose turn creamier and a bit spicier. New notes of minerals, cream, spruce, and juniper showed up in the mouth. The final infusions offered notes of minerals, char, and pine that quickly gave way to subtler notes of cream, raisin, and rock sugar.

At first, I did not know what to make of this tea. I am very used to Wuyi Shui Xian, so this seemed very soft and subtle in comparison. Taking my time with each infusion, however, yielded tremendous rewards. Once I adjusted to the tea’s softer, smoother, simpler character, I found an easy-drinking tea with admirable longevity and great texture in the mouth. Should What-Cha ever restock this tea, I will most definitely be buying more. It made for a great break from the heavier traditional Wuyi Shui Xian oolongs to which I am so accustomed.

I’ve let this one settle in my cabinet. The dryleaf smell is close to the vanilla used in a Klondike bar combined with the mint. Unfortunately, the leaves are fragile as every, and are almost fanning like in how easily they crumble.

I used less leaves today because I know how powerful this tea can be if left unchecked. Letting it brew in my tumbler for no longer than 2 minutes, the tea’s cantaloupe flavor takes center stage. It’s surprisingly sweet like honey, and has a little bit of the menthol in the mouthfeel. It build up more in the later steeps. It’s vaguely leafy like autumn just before winter. Ironically, it’s spring pushing its way out of winter right now in the Midwest.

If you want a more vivid description, here it is from my previous review:
“The dry leaf smell like hay and fresh linens hanging in the sun. Tasting it, it is smooth, clean, and lightly cantaloupe sweet with the cooling menthol taste that Alistair describes, and that is expected with the #18 Red Jade varietal. It is a little creamier gong fu, but pretty much the same overall. It also has some fresh cotton notes in the taste, but the liquid is a light yellow like a high mountain oolong without being nearly as grassy. This is not a delicate white tea, however, and the klondike menthol is not to be underestimated. It can get drying like a white Darjeeling, but not too try to take away from the other notes. That’s why I need this tea to cool off sometimes.

I could get seven steeps minimum from gong fu, and the menthol notes would get higher…if that makes sense. A honeysuckle floral would pop up, and the fruity notes spread out. I’m actually getting something that reminds me of cinnamon butter as a hint. I am going to have to write more about this one because I can get a little overwhelmed by the later steeps…a little bit of a buzz. Cha qi, caffiene, or menthol? Or I just need to let my cup cool down."

It is an energizing tea, and since I’ve had it for a while, I’m ready to rate it. In terms of taste, complexity, and energy, it deserves a high 95 and is by far one of my favorite white teas in my stash. In terms of how easy it is to brew, 85 because it’s a little challenging. The only thing that makes me rate it down is the finicky nature of the leaves. So 88 is my end score for this one, though it could be easily higher when brewed right.

Eastteaguy, you own this too?

Anyway, I was fairly impressed with this batch. I saw oolongowl’s earlier review of a Red Peony on Floating Leaves, and when I saw the price tag, I opted out of it. But when I saw one on What-Cha, I knew I had to try it.

The leafs with this one are very delicate and thin, so I had to opt with a French press. However, the flavor is a little bit sneaky because it can become robust after a while, so I have to use less leaves and or shorter steeps for my preferences.

The dry leaf smell like hay and fresh linens hanging in the sun. Tasting it, it is smooth, clean, and lightly cantaloupe sweet with the cooling menthol taste that Alistair describes, and that is expected with the #18 Red Jade varietal. It is a little creamier gong fu, but pretty much the same overall. It also has some fresh cotton notes in the taste, but the liquid is a light yellow like a high mountain oolong without being nearly as grassy. This is not a delicate white tea, however, and the klondike menthol is not to be underestimated. It can get drying like a white Darjeeling, but not too try to take away from the other notes. That’s why I need this tea to cool off sometimes.

I could get seven steeps minimum from gong fu, and the menthol notes would get higher…if that makes sense. A honeysuckle floral would pop up, and the fruity notes spread out. I’m actually getting something that reminds me of cinnamon butter as a hint. I am going to have to write more about this one because I can get a little overwhelmed by the later steeps…a little bit of a buzz. Cha qi, caffiene, or menthol? Or I just need to let my cup cool down.

Well, I do recommend this one. No idea how to rate it. I personally would not drink this one often because it does overwhelm me a little bit. It does merit a rating in the 90’s although I’m personally taking my time to savor this one. It deserves some special attention. I also need to try it out grandpa or in a tumbler before I make a decision.

I cannot believe that I am the first person to get around to reviewing this tea on Steepster. One of my more recent sipdowns, I finished a 10g sample pouch of this tea last week. First thing, what is going on with this tea’s name? I always been under the impression that teas of this sort were called Yin Jun Mei. Sorry, but “Silver Jun Mei” just seems weird to me. Silly name aside, this was an excellent black tea. I actually preferred it to What-Cha’s also totally excellent Jin Jun Mei.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a very brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in a 4 ounce gaiwan filled with 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 15 subsequent 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 emitted aromas of dark chocolate, malt, pine, and roasted nuts. After the rinse, I found heavier pine and dark chocolate scents plus a new aroma of smoke. There was a hint of charcoal too. The first infusion brought out cleaner aromas of dark chocolate, pine, charcoal, and smoke as well as a stronger malt scent and a clear roasted chestnut aroma. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of malt, smoke, cream, pine, roasted chestnut, and dark chocolate. There were alternating notes of caramel and charcoal as well. On the swallow, I found an interesting and unexpected hint of cooked green beans. The subsequent infusions saw the nose turn a bit smoother. Stronger caramel and cooked green bean notes asserted themselves on the palate, while new flavors of brown sugar, orange zest, mesquite, raisin, date, and minerals emerged. When I pushed myself, I could also identify subtler impressions of honey, tobacco, sweet potato, and ginger. By the time I reached the final infusions, the tea was mostly presenting me with milder notes of minerals, orange zest, cooked green beans, malt, and cream balanced by vaguer honey, date, brown sugar, and raisin impressions in places.

I did not know what to expect going into this one, but I ended up being thrilled with what I got. This was an incredibly durable, complex tea with great texture and a unique combination of aromas and flavors that set it apart from some of the other Wuyi black teas I have tried recently. If you are looking for a black tea with a ton of character and do not mind a few interesting quirks, this would be a tea for you.

Here is yet another blast from the past. I think I finished a sample pouch of this tea around two weeks ago, but failed to make an attempt to post a formal review until now. I know several previous reviewers really enjoyed this tea, but honestly, it did not do as much for me. I am used to the Laoshan black teas offered by vendors like Yunnan Sourcing and Verdant Tea, and compared to such offerings, this tea seemed to be harsh and a bit lacking. It was not terrible or anything, but it did suffer a bit compared to some of the other readily available offerings on the market.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a very brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in a 4 ounce gaiwan filled with 194 F water for 3 seconds. This infusion was chased by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 5 seconds, 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 emitted aromas of cocoa, honey, and brown toast underscored by hints of cinnamon. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of roasted chestnut, roasted walnut, and malt. The first infusion then brought out aromas of raisin, pine, and black cherry. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of honey, malt, brown toast, and pine balanced by hints of cinnamon, cocoa, roasted nuts, and cream. Subsequent infusions saw the nose turn woodier, maltier, and fruitier. Heavier notes of roasted nuts, cream, and cocoa appeared in the mouth. Raisin and black cherry flavors emerged alongside new notes of caramel, minerals, jujube, plum, burnt sugar, butter, juniper, damp grass, and butternut squash. Hints of anise and black licorice made themselves known on the swallow, leaving herbal, spicy impressions in the mouth. The final infusions were dominated by mineral, butter, cream, malt, and roasted walnut notes, though hints of cocoa, jujube, burnt sugar, caramel, and anise could be detected in the background rather consistently.

There was a lot going on in this tea, but it never came together in a way that satisfied me. Moreover, there were a few components that seemed either out of place or out of whack, rendering this tea somewhat unbalanced both on the nose and in the mouth. Though it was a deeper, more complex, and more challenging offering than the Laoshan black teas I have tried in the past, it was neither as pleasant nor as approachable. In the end, I would not caution Laoshan tea aficionados to avoid this tea, but I certainly would encourage people to think twice before committing to the purchase of a considerable amount of it.

I have a few free minutes right now, so I will at least get a start on cleaning out the backlog. I finished a sample pouch of this tea several weeks ago, though I cannot pinpoint a precise date. While I generally tend to like the teas that What-Cha sources from PT Harendong Green Farm, this one ended up being my least favorite of the ones I have tried. It was still not a bad rolled oolong by any means, but it did not display quite as much character as I would have liked.

Naturally, I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of rolled tea leaves in a 4 ounce gaiwan filled with 185 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 12 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 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, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted mildly floral and fruity aromas. I could not pick up on much of anything specific. After the rinse, I found more pronounced scents of orchid, cream, and vanilla underscored by some stone fruit character. The first infusion then introduced aromas of violet and butter to the tea’s bouquet. The tea liquor started off crisp and clean in the mouth before hints of orchid, vanilla, butter, cream, and apricot started to emerge. Subsequent infusions saw the nose turn a bit fruitier, though vegetal qualities also appeared. Stronger flavors of orchid, vanilla, butter, cream, and apricot were apparent in the mouth, while new impressions of sugarcane, minerals, grass, spinach, seaweed, pear, and peach also made themselves known. Violet notes appeared in the mouth as well. The final infusions emphasized lingering orchid, mineral, and sugarcane notes, though some faint wisps of butter, spinach, and seaweed were also still present in the background.

This oolong was decidedly different from the Taiwan Cui Yu oolongs I often enjoy, but unfortunately, it started off timid in the mouth and then faded rather quickly. The mouthfeel of the tea liquor was also somewhat thin for my liking. The aromas and flavors that were present during this tea’s comparatively brief peak were highly enjoyable, however, and that alone pushed me to appreciate what this tea had to offer. Harendong produces better oolongs, but I still do not regret trying this one. Fans of Taiwanese jade oolongs should at least consider giving this tea shot. If nothing else, it very capably demonstrates the effects that a different terroir can have on a tea cultivar.

I want more of this one, but I also do not want too much more. What-Cha is always tempting, but there is something about this one that makes me want to get more in a small amount to deeply savor it. That’s how good it is. And this tea is more for Nepal, Darjeeling, and Oriental Beauty lovers or foodies because of it’s nice balance between dry peach seed, cocoa, and autumn leave notes with the sweet pollen, honey, and stone fruit ones. The brew is fairly flexible, though I prefer a lighter western 1 minute steeps with this. I’m odd.

Good frick easteaguy, we would probably restock the same selection of teas if we were to ever swap because you added this one first.

Well, this oolong is certainly special. Although I would easily re-order all of the teas I got in this recent order, and I am staving off drinking them down to keep them as long as possible, this one has a special place out of most of them so far. I expected this tea be something similar to a Darjeeling or an Oriental Beauty, but there is more to the tea than stonefruit notes, muscatel red grape notes, and slight woodiness.

First off, the dry leaf scent is amazing. Autumn leaves, honey, fruit flowers, fried rice, and butter was what I got. Drinking it, this tea had the nectarine-peach-apricot note that I’m used to from Nepal teas, but it also was brimming with the scent and the taste of bee pollen mid-sip, and ever lingering in the honeyed thick aftertaste. They combine so well with a slight and pleasant dryness in the mid sip to be finished off by honey sweetness. The color was amber, and so that was the color of its energy….whoah…shades of gold displayed naturally …Again, that bee pollen note makes me think I’m drinking a sunset on an orchard in the spring, or even a sunset in the fall with the trees aging and the fruit ready for harvest. This really should be a fall tea because of its autumn leaf qualities, and it is the kinda tea that you read a book near an ornate fireplace, but the bee pollen note….it’s so good.

If only this were not one of the pricier ones. Obviously, this tea ranks as a good one if it gave me synesthesiatic visions. A part of me preferred this to the Bouquet because I could drink it any time of year with its sunny bee-pollen notes, but the Himalayan Bouquet did have some of my favorite notes in a greener oolong without the grassines… Anyway, I deeply enjoyed this one, and I recommend it more for tea snobs, or for someone that you can see turning into one because it is that seductive.

This was my most recent sipdown. I had difficulty sleeping last night due to neck spasms, thus I stayed up late drinking tea and listening to music. At first, I was unimpressed by this flavored/scented oolong, but it grew on me in a big way over the course of my review session.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of rolled, scented tea leaves in a 4 ounce gaiwan filled with 194 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 13 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 15 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 leaves emitted aromas of cream, butter, vanilla, and sticky rice. After the rinse, I noted emerging sugarcane and custard aromas and an almost overpowering sticky rice scent. The first infusion saw the sticky rice absolutely dominate the nose. In the mouth, the liquor offered strong notes of sticky rice, cream, butter, vanilla, and custard chased by hints of sugarcane and banana. Subsequent infusions gradually softened, revealing mineral, popcorn, grass, daylily shoot, spinach, and seaweed impressions in the mouth. The scent of sticky rice continued to dominate the nose, but it gradually smoothed out, allowing the scents of cream, butter, vanilla, sugarcane, and custard to reassert themselves somewhat. A hint of popcorn also gradually became evident on the nose. The final infusions were very soft and smooth, offering lingering sticky rice, butter, and mineral notes balanced by somewhat subtler impressions of vanilla, cream, popcorn, and seaweed.

I was tempted to give up on this tea after the first three infusions. Though I love sticky rice, this tea was way too heavy on the sticky rice aromas and flavors in the early goings. As I pressed forward, however, the characteristics of the tea began to assert themselves more and a nice balance of Jin Xuan and sticky rice was achieved. Due to this occurrence, I found that my opinion of this tea had done a complete 180 by the time I wrapped up my review session. Definitely a tea worth trying, give this one a shot if you are the sort of person who enjoys flavored oolongs.

It seems like every time I get started on getting my backlogged reviews posted, something happens that puts me further behind. This week it has been a combination of work craziness and a neck injury. The latter is nothing too serious, but my mobility is somewhat limited at the moment and will continue to be for at least the next two or three days. I’ve been able to keep up my drinking schedule, however, and have made more progress on the sample mountain, finishing a sample pouch of this tea around three or four days ago. Though Jin Jun Mei is normally not one of my things, I greatly enjoyed this one.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a very brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in a 4 ounce gaiwan filled with 203 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased 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, I detected aromas of honey, smoke, sweet potato, and sorghum molasses coming from the dry tea leaves. After the rinse, I noted emerging aromas of malt and roasted walnut. The first infusion brought out a creamy scent as well as a quality that was almost floral. In the mouth, I noted flavors of smoke, cream, malt, sweet potato, sorghum molasses, roasted walnut, and roasted chestnut. Oddly, I detected no honey in the mouth, but I did get a fairly pronounced note of brown sugar on the swallow. Subsequent infusions displayed even stronger honey, sorghum molasses, and sweet potato aromas as well as something of an increased nuttiness. There were some touches of brown sugar on the nose too. New flavors of candied ginger, minerals, orange peel, and caramel revealed themselves alongside stronger notes of brown sugar and subtle, belatedly emerging impressions of honey. The final infusions offered mineral, cream, and caramel notes balanced by touches of candied ginger, brown sugar, and orange peel.

A pleasant and relatively durable Wuyi black tea, this was not quite what I was expecting. I figured that this tea would be incredibly honeyed and sweet, but this was smoother and more balanced with a nice, crisp, sharp texture in the mouth. I’m still not entirely sold on Jin Jun Mei, but this tea made me appreciate teas of this style more. For fans of traditional Wuyi black teas, this would most certainly be a tea worth trying.

So, this is not too bad grandpa if I get the ratio right, and if the leaves can expand because I get the sweet pea notes with sweet vanilla, honeydew, and honeysuckle that style. It also serves as a great summer hot tea….yeah I’m crazy. I need to cold brew it.

In terms of rating, I was personally hovering around the high 80s and nineties. It’s in the nineties in terms of versatile steeping, refined floral tasting notes, creamy Jin Xuan like complexity. There are some days where I prefer this tea to a Li Shan because of it’s sunny vanilla sugarcane thing going on. But it feels like a friends with benefits tea-relationship. It’s a partner that should work well with you everyday because you are compatible with it stable sophistication and occasional eccentricity, but it does not get the engine roaring into you doing something incredibly stupid like spend a lot on it…never mind there is nothing wrong with that.
oo
So really, it could be a boo tea. This is my Boozhong, while I am having a sweet and sensual affair with Iris and Li Shan, and a long distance accord with Ali Mountain. Li Shan can be a little uppity from her high altitude, but she is underlyingly one of my favorites. Kona also gets me to do some bad things, though when you go coffee, you end up in an acidic, or toxic relationship. Yes, I’m personifying beverages again in a romantic life much more existent than the one I have. Again.

Yeah, I got this tea, and pretty much second eastteaguys notes, but I am not sure about the rating yet.

I tried this thinking “Yeah, this is what I’d expect from a baozhong slirp-ooooh apple. But there are so many other teas to purchase, maybe I should not have gotten fifty grams-slirp mmm violet…..” And then I drank this for three mornings. It is particularly bright, green, immensely creamy, and immensely floral. Sweet pea, cream, vanilla, gardenia, green apple, and violet are the most prominent notes I get from this bad boy, and they can shift depending on how I do the gong fu. I do like this western a tad bit more since I’ve gotten more apple notes then with a touch of citrus in the aftertaste, whereas gong fu has brought out the more floral notes in momentary dividends.

Although I’d drink this tea anytime because Baozhongs are teas that I can’t really say no to, this is a spring tea for sure, when the cool air of the winter meets the sun for the new buds of the season. And this is not a tea that I would drink at night from the little buzz I get from the green notes and the caffeie. Again, this tea is very sunny.

Rock sugar vanilla goodness, you are home.

I highly recommend this GABA because very few will have the crystalline sugar notes and mineral texture this one possess, and it is one of the most flexible teas with the minimal amount of leaves used possible. Less leaves and steep time bring out the sweeter fruitier notes, and longer steeps and more leaves bring out the roast and black tea like malt notes. The tea snob rates this one as a 92-96, but my preference for sweet flavor, nuance, texture in the mouthfeel, versatility, aroma, and price makes this one of the best teas I’ve bought so far with the added benefit of the GABA. There is a little bit of funk, but that funk is easily displaced by the unusual vanilla note and lighter steeps. I hope that more people try this one because it certainly stands out as a GABA.

Why didn’t I get this when it was on sale, because this is one of the most versatile teas that I’ve had to date. I could drink it western or grandpa with just a sprinkle of leaves, and the notes of pear, vanilla, and rock sugar blended with minerals in a smooth texture. I got the same thing with lighter splashes gong fu, but with more leaves, and occasionally longer steeps, it can become sticky sweet, malty, and roasted with the vanilla in the background. The same logic applies western with more leaves. Of course, I could rebrew it twelve times gong fu….with about 6-7 grams of leaves in 6 oz.

That pretty much described why I really enjoyed the tea, but it was able to be sweeter than my high mountain oolongs, and smoother WITHOUT vegetal notes. As for the roast notes, those could be avoided with lighter steeps if I wanted to.

This was one of the few roasted oolongs that is sweeter because of its roast for my palette, and this is something that I highly recommend to anyone who likes roasted pear or wants something unique because I’ve had few teas with the same notes that this one has.

It starts off with almost no taste. Let it soak a bit at first to get the ball open. After its open you get an extremely earthy strong taste straight up tastes like grass and moss. Just like a forest smells. Tastes way more like a pureh typically does and almost nothing like an oolong. Lasts for a ton of steeps. Just not really my thing.

It starts off with a light roasted and sweet taste. It quickly grows into a heavy roast and then around steep 8 switches around into a sweet taste. Not a heavy one but an extremely pleasant flavor that contrasts and enhances the toasty flavor reminds me of apples somehow. Been steeping it for a couple hours now and it hasn’t given out at all. Highly recommend it.