What-Cha

This tea is very forgiving. I forgot about it while gong fuing it, and it was lovely as ever, not bitter! Not a milky as some I have had…though those probably had artificial ingredients. Beautiful full leaves. I like this tea on lazy days since Milk Oolongs have such a rebrewing power. I go for 10 rebrews. Saw another reviewer for 12!

068/365

Another from Dark Matter. It feels good to be finally getting around to these! I went with another oolong today after yesterday’s success. It’s not something I’d usually pick out, but while I’m on a roll…

Brewed, it’s a pale gold colour with the scent of dried fruit. It’s a surprisingly strong scent for a tea that doesn’t look all that strong. The flavour is more muted, although surprisingly long-lasting. It starts off fairly innocuous; cream with an undertone of starch. After that it develops quite quickly into brown sugar, with a warming, mildly spicy cinnamon note into the aftertaste.

I’m beginning to think that I might have got oolong wrong – or perhaps the ones I tried were just wrong for me. These last two I could happily drink lots more of because they’re great (and have none of the characteristics I dislike…) If I’d tried these at the beginning of my relationship with oolong (as unlikely as that is), maybe it would be a very different thing today. That’s an interesting thought.

Opening the bag the leaves smell ultra fruity and chocolaty. The leaves are a golden color just like the name to.

1st Steep: I get the strong taste of fruit punch and subtle hints of chocolate. Smooth on the palette. The wet leaves smell a bit like caramel.

2nd & 3rd Steeps: The fruit flavor becomes even more intense and a strong hint of malt remains on the swallow.

4th and beyond: The flavor weakens and dry mouth begins to set in. By the 7th it was almost entirely astringent.

I will defiantly get some 100g bags of this. Its a lovely tea while it lasts.

One of several reviews I have needed to post for a while, I finished off a 10 gram sample of this tea somewhere between one and two weeks ago. I don’t know why I never got around to posting a review here on Steepster in the meantime. It is perhaps most likely that I simply prioritized other reviews and this got placed on the back burner until now. I know that this was a tea I had built up in my head, perhaps to an unreasonable degree. Prior to acquiring and trying it, I had seen a number of incredibly positive reviews for it in several places, Steepster chief among them. How did it hold up for me? I found it to be an excellent tea, though I was a bit taken aback at first. As others have implied or outright stated, this is a white tea that does not have all that much in common with other white teas.

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 7 seconds. This infusion was chased by 14 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 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, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted a powerful mix of plum, apricot, autumn leaf pile, hay, honey, and cucumber aromas. After the rinse, I began to note emerging scents of roasted almond, cream, malt, honey, and molasses. The first infusion then brought out hints of caramel and eucalyptus on the nose. I found notes of cream, malt, hay, and autumn leaf pile immediately in the mouth. They were quickly balanced by notes of molasses, caramel, roasted almond, apricot, and plum that were chased by something of a cooling eucalyptus note on the finish. There was also a surprise hint of cocoa at that point that quite literally came out of nowhere. Subsequent infusions brought out new notes of orange, lemon, vanilla, fig, wood, marzipan, and minerals. The eucalyptus presence grew stronger in the mouth. I also began to note a subtle, belatedly emerging cucumber flavor and interesting notes of fennel and basil that joined with the eucalyptus on the finish. The later infusions had more to offer than anticipated. I found lingering impressions of minerals, caramel, wood, malt, and roasted almond balanced by cooling touches of fennel and eucalyptus and vague hints of citrus and autumn leaves.

An incredibly interesting, complex tea, I can see why so many people adore it. While I enjoyed it tremendously as well, I do have to opine (more nitpick) that it was almost too much at times-I was a little overwhelmed in several places. In a lot of ways, it was almost as if the producer had somehow taken a traditional white tea and an extremely mellow hong cha and smashed them together, somehow coming out with an almost perfect blend of the two. This was most certainly not a white tea in the vein of the classic Chinese white teas I have tried, and as such, I could easily see it being used to rope in those who tend to avoid white teas. If you try one white tea this year, make it this one.

This was another tea I forgot I had. I acquired it at some point within the last year, rediscovered it while organizing my stash, and just had to crack it open and try it. I finished the last of it this afternoon while doing a little light house cleaning. I’m normally a big fan of African teas, especially some of those coming out of Malawi these days, but this one was not quite my thing. To be clear, it was in no way a bad tea, it just was not what I normally tend to go for in a green tea.

I prepared this one gongfu style. After a very quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 167 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 14 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, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I detected interesting aromas of butter, straw, toasted rice, and soybean with delicate undertones of sorghum molasses. After the rinse, I ended up getting stronger aromas of toasted rice and butter, as well as emerging scents of collard greens and fresh spinach underscored by hints of seaweed. The first infusion produced a slightly stronger seaweed aroma and also revealed a subtle scent of cut grass. In the mouth, the liquor offered delicate, smooth notes of butter and grass on the entry followed by hints of soybean, collard greens, toasted rice, and seaweed. A touch of straw and a subtle sweetness emerged on the finish. Subsequent infusions brought out the seaweed, soybean, toasted rice, straw, and collard green notes in the mouth, and naturally, the spinach also started to make its mark on the palate. I found emerging impressions of minerals, tart cherry, orange zest, and malt accompanied by backing impressions of sorghum molasses, smoke, and honey. The later infusions offered lingering notes of butter, minerals, and grass balanced by fleeting hints of soybean, collard greens, and seaweed.

This was an odd and rather challenging tea. All of its flavor components were mellow and well-integrated, making it somewhat difficult to determine what was going on in a number of places. It also did not change a ton from start to finish. Still, I must emphasize the uniqueness of this tea. It offered a mix of aromas and flavors one simply does not find all that often. Furthermore, it displayed very respectable longevity, holding up throughout a rather lengthy session. As mentioned above, this was the sort of green tea I do not tend to go for all that often, but I’m glad I took the opportunity to try it and most certainly appreciated what it had to offer.

A light floral & citrus high mountain oolong…very smooth, light, complex. Delicious. Now on to my 3rd steep.
(Spring 2017 Harvest). I was just on the perusing the What-Cha website- looks like Alistair is running low on this one so if you want to purchase, now is the time.

The dry leaves smell a bit floral and sweet reminding me of green tea.

1st Steep: The first steep brings a light floral and sweet flavor. The wet leaves smell of oats and barley.

2nd Steep: As the leaves begin to wake up it gets sweeter and more of a roasted flavor.

3rd Steep & beyond: The flavor gets a bit stronger and then tapers off into astringency when you hit the 5th.

This is a decent tea, nothing special in my opinion. I can’t recommend it, not that its bad. Just bland.

My struggles with winter unfortunately continue. The temperatures plummeted and what started as an icy mix of precipitation gave way to a freak snowstorm that settled in yesterday and blanketed the area. By any realistic measure, 3 inches of snow isn’t much, but when you live out in the sticks where infrastructure is poor, it’s enough to seriously ruin your day. My internet and phone have both been touch and go and the roads are too treacherous to drive anywhere. I’ve been stuck at home for the better part of three days now. If anything good has come of this situation, I have been able to spend a lot of time with my cats and polish off some more tea samples. This was one of my more recent sipdowns. I know that many Southeast Asian teas tend to get a bad rap, but I found this to be a very good one. In all honesty, I found it to be better than some of the Taiwanese Jin Xuans I have tried.

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 7 seconds. This infusion was chased by 13 subsequent 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, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I detected aromas of cream, butter, and vanilla underscored by hints of violet and hyacinth. After the rinse, I found emerging scents of custard, sugarcane, and lilac underscored by a hint of citrus. The first infusion brought out strong floral scents. The violet, lilac, and hyacinth were still there, but were joined by hints of daylily and honeysuckle. In the mouth, the liquor offered notes of cream, butter, vanilla, and sugarcane that gave way to hints of custard, violet, and hyacinth before a somewhat grassy, vegetal finish. Subsequent infusions brought out stronger notes of hyacinth, violet, and grass. The notes of daylily and honeysuckle started to appear in the mouth too. New impressions of orange zest, minerals, bamboo shoots, daylily shoots, green apple, lettuce, and pear also started to appear. The later infusions were dominated by notes of cream, butter, grass, and lettuce balanced by subtler notes of minerals, sugarcane, and vanilla. On a couple of the later infusions, I was just barely able to pick up some lingering, almost ghostly floral qualities.

This was a very rich, sweet, smooth, and satisfying Jin Xuan. Compared to several Taiwanese Jin Xuans I have tried fairly recently, this was more complex, more durable, better textured, and less vegetal. I could see this tea making an excellent introduction to the Jin Xuan cultivar or a great daily drinker for established fans.

Opening the bag the tea smells similar to a roasted green tea. The brewed tea smells like popcorn. The tea has a heavy taste of toasted rice. Given what is in this that’s unsurprising. However it has an underlying sweet taste thanks to the green tea. The combination turns it into something like Cracker Jacks. Later steeps do a reversal and the sweetness takes over after the leaves wake up.

Very unique. Highly recommended

This is a pretty complex tea. The dry leaves in the bag smell exactly like chocolate and then the hot water hits the leaves the room will smell of it to. However when you taste the tea its shockingly complex. The chocolate is not the dominate flavor at all. Its floral and fruit in addition to the chocolate. Later steeps add a slightly roasted flavor as well.

Highly recommend this.

Decent green tea. This is my first experience with purple tea. I’m a big Prince fan, so anything purple will be purchased by me.

I got two brews out of it. I really really like Assam coming from the Kenya region, and I was interested in trying this varietal. It was different, can’t really say it’s like Japanese, Indian, Chinese green tea. It’s on its own. There’s no astringency. Not a bad cup. Though I have a leaning towards Japanese fukamushi, so that’s the type of greens I go to most.

It was nice to try, and I am looking forward to trying the white and oolong from the same tea grower!!!!

EDIT: I have to up this. After it cools just a tad after brewing, the flavor comes out to play more. It livens up!

An interesting tea that is defiantly not for everyone. It starts off with a strong taste of cinnamon and as the steeps go on a lemon flavor takes over.

1st & 2nd Steep: The tea has a roasted smell. My taste buds find both cinnamon and a hint of lemon in the flavor. An interesting combination. The aftertaste is on the nutty side.

3rd & 4th Steep: The lemon flavor gets stronger and lingers with a bitter-like after taste.

5th & beyond: Bitterness gets laid on harder and dry mouth sets in after the sips.

Was a very interesting tea I will return to again in the right moods.

This winter weather is killing me. It’s been up and down (mostly down) here for the past three weeks. Over that span of time, it has gone from sunny and warm, to bitterly cold and damp, back to sunny and warm, then to cool and wet, and now back to bitterly cold and damp. Naturally, it’s supposed to warm back up again in like three or four days. At this point, I’m guessing that my sinuses are going to keep going crazy all winter regardless of what I do, so expect me to keep whining about them for at least the next two months. I hope I’m wrong about that. Anyway, I finished the last of a sample pouch of this tea earlier in the day. My opinion of unflavored Jin Xuans has started to slip over the course of the past year, but I ended up enjoying this one more than I anticipated.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a very quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 7 seconds. This infusion was chased by 12 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 10 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, and 3 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I detected aromas of cream, butter, and grass coming from the dry tea leaves. After the rinse, I found emerging scents of sugarcane and vanilla. The first proper infusion brought out daylily and some stronger grassier and vegetal aromas. In the mouth, the liquor offered notes of cream, butter, and grass accompanied by hints of spinach and sugarcane. Subsequent infusions brought out impressions of cantaloupe, coriander, orchid, green apple, minerals, and something along the lines of lilac. I also noted stronger spinach and sugarcane notes as well as belatedly emerging vanilla, daylily blossom, and daylily shoot flavors in the mouth. The later infusions were mostly dominated by mineral, cream, grass, spinach, and daylily shoot notes with faint underpinnings of orchid, vanilla, and sugarcane.

Not a particularly dynamic or deep tea, but very drinkable and pleasant nonetheless, I enjoyed this tea’s fresh vegetal qualities and subtle floral, fruity sweetness. I did not find it to be as buttery or creamy as some of the other Jin Xuans I have tried, but that did not detract much from the overall drinking experience. This was definitely worth a try. I continue to be impressed by the Indonesian teas What-Cha sources.

A very nice black tea with lovely malt notes with just enough sweetness to combat any astringency. The dry leaves smell of apples and berries. The wet leaves have a strong malt smell.

This can be a nice daily drinker if you like a strong malt flavor.

A decent tea thats a nice smooth combo of fruity and floral. Nothing really changed throughout the steeps then the usual astringency after a while.

Gong Fu Sipdown (290)

I saved 4 grams of this tea to try it in a gaiwan. I am not loving it though. The steps have been astringent and metallic – two things this never was when brewed western style.

I reviewed my spreadsheet of teas and then realized that somehow I had more teas in my steepster cupboard than I had on the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is a more thorough inventory of what I own so I realized something was off and after reviewing my cupboard, it would seem there was about 9-10 teas that I managed to not remove from my cupboard, despite finishing them off. Oops. I think it is fixed now though.

Most mornings I have been having either a matcha smoothie or a plain black tea and so around 3 pm today when I realized I have had 0 caffeine, I decided it was about time to make a cup of something. None of my blacks were appealing to me so I went to the next best thing.

This tea doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves because every cup I have of it is great. Yet I don’t have it as often as I should. I feel like that sorta just comes with the territory of having a lot of teas though. This is cup is no exception. Malty, smooth, a bit of hay and some corn. I am enjoying it a great deal since it has nice flavors of white teas combined with the robustness/maltiness of a good black tea.

This was so good yesterday I made it again today but I think I should have rinsed my Tea press better because this tastes like white rhino + our Palmolive soap. Oops. Not terrible though :P

I made this in the Tea press which it sat in all day cuz no food and caffeine, combined with work stress, is not a great combo. I had one sip at work and that was delicious and now I’m drinking it with my bacon and eggs dinner. Even after 12+ hours I can tell this is awesome. Full flavored like a black tea and yet flavor notes often found in white teas, I.e. corn. Yum!

Alright, I’m finally getting around to posting this one. This was another sample I finished a week or so ago. I can’t remember the exact date I initially reviewed this one because I failed to put a date on my written notes. Regardless, this is actually the sort of tea you don’t run across all that often. From what I understand, Tieguanyin is not always harvested in the winter, and even when it is, the winter harvests do not often carry the best reputation. I could be wrong, but the general consensus seems to be that the spring and autumn harvests are best, the summer harvest is lower quality, and the winter harvest usually falls somewhere between the two extremes. What surprised me so much about this tea was that not only did I enjoy it to an almost ridiculous degree, but it was just so different from both the spring and autumn Tieguanyin harvests to which I am more accustomed.

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 10 seconds. This infusion was chased by 13 subsequent 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 tea leaves produced aromas of sweetgrass, parsley, butter, cream, and vanilla underscored by hints of lilac and violet. After the rinse, I found slightly stronger lilac and violet scents as well as an emerging aroma reminiscent of watercress. The first proper infusion brought out some hints of cooked greens (lettuce and spinach) on the nose. In the mouth, the liquor offered strongly vegetal notes (cooked greens, grass, parsley, watercress) on the entry that soon gave way to smoother notes of cream, butter, and vanilla. Toward the finish, I began to note emerging hints of pear and green apple. Oddly, there were no floral notes in the mouth, though there was a lingering vegetal sourness after the swallow. Subsequent infusions brought out subtle floral notes in the mouth. The tea also began to take on a number of fruitier characteristics. I started to note emerging impressions of sour apricot, sour plum, tart cherry, honeydew rind, and white grape accompanying somewhat stronger notes of green apple and pear. Impressions of radish and minerals also emerged on these infusions. The later infusions primarily emphasized butter, mineral, sour plum, and sour apricot notes balanced by lingering hints of pear and green apple. Surprisingly, I could not find much in the way of vegetal character toward the end of the session.

This was a very interesting tea in that it remained consistently pungent throughout the session, yet went from emphasizing vegetal notes to fruity ones. Compared to the more readily available spring and autumn Tieguanyins that seem to permeate the U.S. market these days, this was a truly unique drinking experience. I would recommend this tea highly to those looking for a punchier, more challenging Anxi oolong experience or those interested in some of the more uncommon oolongs.

Mellow, medium level of astringency. I liked the brew I got from 3 minutes and 30 seconds, and water that’s just shy of boiling best. If you want more astringency, do 4+ minutes. Delicate sweetness. Again, What-cha has a tea with “raisin” in the flavor profile that’s tasty!

This tea has a briskness like an Assam or Ceylon would have. Though a medium level. Makes for an excellent everyday morning tea.