What-Cha

For a moment there, I was running low on good loose leaf. Only had a few tins with more than 20 grams of the good stuff in them. Probably won’t see my pre-existing orders from Hatvala and YS for a couple more months, at this rate. Thanks to Whatcha and their weirdly fast shipping to US, I’ve got 100 grams of this and a few other quality teas to replenish my stash. You’re my hero in these trying times, Alistair.

This is a lovely tea for the price point. Softly sweet with hints of caramel and raw sugar, cherry notes in the body, and a pronounced cinnamon aftertaste. Red Buffalo is still my favorite red oolong with it’s heavier flavor and chocolate base, but the light character and simplicity of this makes it a better casual cup. Don’t have to worry about brewing it multiple times so you aren’t wasting the leaves, just throw them right into the compost bin after the first Western-style steep.

From derk!    Thanks so much!  Had this a few days ago. Jun Chiyabari is UP THERE on the list of stellar teas IMO.  I’m very thrilled to try a couple more, due to derk’s generosity!  I tried to use delicate parameters on this one, in the hopes of not oversteeping it.  And whoa what a unique flavor profile this one is.  I guess I used fairly close to the suggested parameters, without checking first.  The brew is golden.  The steeped leaves have a ridiculously sweet fragrance — almost like maple syrup!  The flavor is like white grapes with even that dry mouth feel that a quality white grape juice might have (not that I’ve really tried white grape juice?)  But then there is also a flavor to the tea like it’s a much lighter version of Premium Taiwanese Assam.  It’s definitely a fruity profile – featuring many fruits – white grape, strawberry that I’m usually getting from fresh PTA and maybe even a hint of a sweeter lemon.  All around unique!!  The third steep was a bit overdone and flat — which is what I was trying to prevent with my delicate steeping.  But maybe the leaves were toast by then. Next time, I will try a much cooler temp on the third steep.  The first two steeps though – the quality of a fine white wine in a mug! derk describes this as SUNNY and I agree!
Steep #1  // 2 loose teaspoons for full mug // 31 minutes after boiling  // 1 minute steep
Steep #2  // 26 minutes after boiling //  2 min
Steep #3 // 16 minutes after boiling // 2 min

We’re jumping in the wayback machine for this review. I know I have mentioned in the past that I have a number of unposted reviews from 2019, and until now, this was one of them. I actually finished what I had of this tea back in July or August of last year. Yeah, I really am that far behind. Anyway, I found this to be a very nice, solid oolong. It did not strike me as being as rich or as enjoyable as most Taiwanese baozhongs I have tried, but it was still a more or less very good tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After rinsing, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 7 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 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, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of baked bread, cream, vanilla, lilac, and gardenia as well as a subtle scent of orchid. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of custard, sugarcane, and butter. The first infusion introduced something of a brothy umami scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up notes of grass, cream, vanilla, butter, baked bread, and sugarcane that were balanced by hints of umami, spinach, green apple, bamboo, and apricot. The subsequent infusions coaxed out subtle aromas of green peas, sweet pea, and violet. Stronger and more immediately evident notes of umami, green apple, and apricot appeared in the mouth alongside impressions of sweet pea, lilac, orchid, gardenia, green peas, lettuce, minerals, and custard. I was also able to pick out hints of white grape, plum, violet, pear, and tangerine zest. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, grass, lettuce, cream, butter, and baked bread that were underscored by subtler impressions of orchid, violet, apricot, pear, green apple, white grape, umami, tangerine zest, and spinach.

Compared to many of the other baozhongs I have tried, this one was much subtler, much creamier, and more vegetal. Though it did display a number of very pleasant fruity and floral characteristics, this tea struck me as leaning more heavily on savory and vegetal notes. In some ways, it almost seemed to occupy an odd middle ground between a green tea and an oolong. It was a very balanced and enjoyable offering overall, though I doubt I would ever reach for it over a truly great spring Wenshan baozhong.

This was another of my sipdowns from either March or April. I’m pretty sure I finished this tea around the start of March, but as with just about everything else these days, I can’t be sure. I know I have polished off a rather significant number of Nepalese teas in the past four months (at least four or five). All have struck me as great offerings, and this one was certainly no exception.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After rinsing, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 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, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of malt, straw, pine, chocolate, rose, and apple. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of roasted peanut and violet as well as a subtle scent of smoke and a much stronger rose aroma. The first infusion introduced aromas of plum, pear, roasted almond, orange zest, and black cherry. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of malt, straw, pine, apple, rose, roasted peanut, and black cherry that were balanced by subtler flavors of roasted almond, pear, plum, smoke, violet, butter, and orange zest. The majority of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of grass, green bell pepper, blackberry, baked bread, butter, earth, dandelion greens, and spinach. Stronger and more immediately evident notes of roasted almond, violet, butter, pear, and orange zest came out in the mouth along with impressions of minerals, earth, baked bread, cream, grass, tobacco, chocolate, blackberry, dandelion greens, spinach, and green bell pepper. There were also hints of caramel in places, and there were some rather interesting hints of lychee, apricot, and tobacco that lingered at the back of my throat after each swallow. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, grass, dandelion greens, earth, malt, green bell pepper, roasted peanut, and roasted almond that were underscored by hints of butter, cream, orange zest, pine, spinach, caramel, apple, pear, and black cherry.

This was an extremely enjoyable and truly fascinating tea. In a lot of ways, it reminded me more of a second flush Nepalese or Darjeeling black tea than many of the oolongs produced in that part of the world. It was also a very heavy tea in that the tea liquor had a ton of weight and texture in the mouth and both the aromas and flavors were very rich and vibrant, almost explosive in many places. It was a tea that absolutely demanded to be taken seriously. That being said, it could also be a bit tiring and it did start to fade a little earlier than I expected. Still, this was a great tea and one that I would highly recommend to anyone interested in Nepalese teas.

Okay, I’m back at it again. This is something of a change of pace for me, as I usually do not manage to post more than once or twice in any given month these days. Is everyone looking forward to Memorial Day weekend? I know I am. Anyway, let’s get back on track. This was another of my sipdowns from either March or April. Again, I have no clue when I actually finished what I had of this tea. I found it to be a very good and very unique Chinese 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 followed 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 produced aromas of cinnamon, baked bread, dark chocolate, tobacco, and brown sugar. After the rinse, I detected aromas of roasted almond, roasted peanut, grass, straw, and caramel. The first infusion introduced aromas of pine, apricot, and plum. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented rather delicate notes of dark chocolate, baked bread, brown sugar, black raspberry, and plum that were balanced by hints of pine, grass, straw, raisin, and roasted peanut. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of minerals, black raspberry, mulberry, orange zest, lychee, blueberry, and lemon zest. Stronger and more immediately evident notes of pine, grass, straw, raisin, and roasted peanut came out in the mouth alongside impressions of minerals, caramel, earth, roasted almond, mulberry, blueberry, apricot, lychee, orange zest, and lemon zest. There were also some subtle touches of smoke, tobacco, cinnamon, and brown sugar here and there. As the tea faded, the liquor settled and began to emphasize notes of minerals, orange zest, lemon zest, earth, blueberry, and mulberry that were underscored by subtler impressions of plum, roasted almond, lychee, black raspberry, pine, and roasted peanut. There were also very pleasant, cooling impressions of tobacco that lingered at the back of the throat after each swallow.

This was a very unique and complex Chinese black tea that was also very light and drinkable. I normally get a lot of malt aromas and flavors out of black teas, but I didn’t find them in this one. It came off as being all about sweet, fruity aromas and flavors. Though I would not find myself reaching for this tea on a regular basis, I was very impressed by how much it had to offer and how much it stood apart from the overwhelming majority of Chinese black teas I have tried. I could see it going over well with people who are not into malty aromas and flavors or who are looking for a light, sweet tea that can still be taken seriously.

Apparently it’s few days only since I drank this one for first time and now it is sipdown as well. Well, thanks for sample derk!

Prepared same as 9 days ago — 3 grams of tea, western. 4 minutes steeping.

Aroma is storngly toffee! Then honey, stewed fruits. Oh wow, such different!
Taste is different too… do I steeped it longer today? It is stewed fruits, malts, little but noticeable astringency. Certainly this tea feels heavier today, I don’t notice any roasted nuts today. Not even that citrus zest. I am not that sure about easy-drinking tea too.

Whoa, 9 days difference, so big difference in tea as well. There is only one same thing. I am tired. I woke up about 3.30 am (after going to bed in 10 pm) and haven’t slept since. I don’t know why.

Got this tea from derk, so big thank you!

I woke up in 2 am… way too early. In 7 am, I didn’t wanted to stand up and do something…
And then in 9 am and I was so sleepy. But it was already necessary to do something.

Anyway, I actually wanted to use all 6 grams and prepare gong-fu. But then I thought it is not good solution for Ceylon teas.

So, prepared oldschool western style and after 4 minutes of steeping I got brisk tea.

Aroma of roasted fruits, bit malty and honey brought thoughts this will be very nice tea, although bit simple in flavours.

And it is easydrinker for sure. The aroma is as I said very nice, and flavours? Well, it is simple in flavours, but they are very, very nice! Citrus zest, again some malts and roasted nuts. Not much of that honey aroma pronounced in flavours, but…

Enjoyable tea!

Song pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX1QsCjyg44
Translation: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/voda-živá-water-life.html

And found out one funny song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3BVMkpmC2M — https://lyricstranslate.com/en/králíci-rabbits.html

I know it for ages, but the transaltion is just great.

This was another of my sipdowns from either March or April. As a matter of fact, I am pretty certain that I finished and reviewed this tea immediately after the China Fujian Non-Smoky Lapsang Souchong, but I could be wrong about that. Anyway, I found this to be an excellent Taiwanese black tea. To be honest, I am rarely if ever truly disappointed with this type of tea, but this one still struck me as being a great offering.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 19 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, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves presented aromas of honey, baked bread, sweet potato, cinnamon, blueberry, blackberry, and strawberry. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of roasted peanut, roasted almond, cream, and butter. The first infusion introduced aromas of candied orange, raspberry, geranium, and black grape. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of candied orange, butter, cream, baked bread, and roasted peanut that were balanced by hints of roasted almond, blackberry, raspberry, sweet potato, Asian pear, blueberry, green wood, and plum. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of Asian pear, caramel, green wood, menthol, and plum. Notes of honey and black grape appeared in the mouth alongside stronger and more immediately evident notes of roasted almond, blackberry, sweet potato, Asian pear, green wood, and plum. I also detected notes of minerals, caramel, malt, lemon zest, and menthol as well as hints of earth, cocoa, cinnamon, geranium, strawberry, and nutmeg. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized lingering notes of minerals, candied orange, plum, black grape, green wood, butter, and lemon zest that were chased by hints of caramel, malt, baked bread, roasted almond, Asian pear, cocoa, blackberry and earth, as well as a slight touch of menthol after the swallow.

This was a very complex yet approachable Taiwanese black tea. The tea liquor produced great body and texture in the mouth. Throughout my lengthy gongfu session, it also remained more or less perfectly balanced. While I do wish that some of the fruitier aromas and flavors had been a little clearer and more assertive in places, that is a fairly minor complaint as this was a fantastic offering overall.

Hey, I finally found some time and motivation to get some new tea reviews posted. Of course, it also helps that I have now been able to log in to my account for two straight days. As with everything else I seem to post these days, new is relative. I have such a huge backlog of tea reviews now that I have stopped counting and dating them. This one I think comes from either March or April, but I cannot be certain. Those of you who read my reviews probably know that I am a huge fan of unsmoked lapsang souchong. Since the only other unsmoked lapsang that I had tried from What-Cha was great, I had really high expectation of this tea. Unfortunately, it proved to be something of a let down. It was not exactly bad though. To be fair, it really just struck me as being mediocre.

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 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 produced aromas of baked bread, pine, honey, sweet potato, cinnamon, malt, and chocolate. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of smoke, brown sugar, and roasted peanut. The first infusion introduced a hint of straw to the nose. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of baked bread, pine, cinnamon, malt, sweet potato, chocolate, and brown sugar that were balanced by touches of lemon zest, smoke, grass, straw, red grape, honey, and roasted peanut. The subsequent infusions introduced scents of mineral water, red grape, earth, fig, orange zest, and plum. Stronger and more immediate notes of red grape and grass appeared in the mouth alongside impressions of minerals, earth, cream, plum, red apple, fig, orange zest, and pear. I also detected hints of cooked green beans, and black cherry. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized lingering mineral, earth, baked bread, malt, lemon zest, orange zest, and brown sugar notes that were balanced by hints of red grape, pear, grass, chocolate, pine, sweet potato, and roasted peanut.

This tea had a lot to offer in terms of aroma and flavor, and it did have a surprising amount of longevity in the mouth for what I’m guessing was not as high grade of an offering compared to some of What-Cha’s earlier offerings of this type. Unfortunately, the texture and body of the tea liquor were nothing to write home about. Furthermore, the qualities this tea offered were nothing new for this style and have been much better highlighted in other offerings I have tried. In the end, this tea struck me as being a mixed bag. It was not terrible, but there are better offerings of this type out there.

Oh man, I feel bad I never made a proper note of this one while I had it. We will all just have to make due with this belated note.

This tea was consumed enthusiastically and without care by the tea drinker. It was wispy and sprite-like in nature, both in its fleeting non-committing flavour profile and brief but flighty sojourn in and out of my cup. Sometimes it tasted like nothing at all. Other times, like the sweetest of sugar crystals and smooth sensual grass. Gone before you know it – with memory altering effects that are sure signs that this tea might just be another moniker for the Springs of Elysium. Like, I don’t even remember the year I bought and consumed most of this tea.

You think this tea note is fluff but it was the tea that was fluff! And I want more despite not having the foggiest clue why. Thanks for all the confusing feels tea.

I had a few 2018 Nepali teas from What-Cha once upon a time. I’m pretty sure this was my least favourite, and the only one not to disappear almost instantly upon arrival . That’s not to say it’s a bad tea; it’s actually pretty awesome!

Aroma of liquid: browned butter, wood resin, brown sugar, chocolate, malt, and weirdly enough, veggies (Togo’s Bell Pepper Note is spot on).

The smell gave me the impression that this would be a bright but woody/dry tea, but it’s surprisingly creamy and liquid sweet to taste (liquid honey, brown sugar, or the creamy sweetness of processed malts). the astringency does build with each subsequent sip but it’s quite pleasant.

For beer lovers, this tea’s profile is a close approximation of a rich stout.

(2018 fall harvest)

June 2019 harvest, January 2020 grind

I am inexperienced with matcha. No sieve, no scoop, no bowl. My only tool is a bamboo whisk. It’s like when I started gongfu brewing and was using a mason jar to brew in and a fork to strain the leaves as I poured the tea into another mason jar. I got good results that way. In the same manner, I feel like I’m getting good results with matcha using only the whisk and a glass condiment bowl. Frothy and smooth, silky, always in suspension.

I preferred using water off the boil instead of water temperature as low as 150?F. Off the boil produced a more deeply aromatic cup and more bitterness. The taste seemed earthy, almost like cacao, with a deep and dark grassy umami. The sip was semi-sweet moving to a fast, spreading bitterness on the swallow.

The experience of drinking matcha is a big adjustment to my palate. I couldn’t pick up any nuances in flavor. I still so greatly enjoyed the 25g over only a week that I ordered another 100g. This matcha was really a perfect morning drink. The taste was bracing enough to wake up my senses and it was surprisingly kind on my stomach. I barely noticed the caffeine buzz because it was so dang smooth and long-lasting. That’s what really drew me into consuming the entirety of the bag so quickly.

I had no idea Oolong tea could be so good. I’ve had countless bags of Oolong and they weren’t that good. I couldn’t figure out what all the fuss was about. This has changed my mind. I like floral teas anyway and this one was nice and slightly floral. I don’t like it steeped too hot. It can get a little bitter. I like to use less. It says 1-2 teaspoon and definitely prefer using 1 teaspoon…but then again I am using a Gaiwan. I really liked it!

Eldest daughter, Superanna, ordered tea for me for Mother’s Day and had it shipped straight to me. It came yesterday – my first ever What-Cha order! I was intrigued by the name of this one alone, but reading the description and info made it even more intriguing.

The leaves are very narrow but long, deep dark green in color, with a purple sheen that made me double check to see if there was cornflower or lavender added. But no, it was just a purple sheen. Wet, the leaves are so shiny and such a deep green. They almost don’t look real!

I should have started with a white cup since this is the first tasting so we can enjoy the color, but I used dark blue Tianmu type cups. After we had already had a cup, I looked it up on the site and saw that lemon juice will make it turn pink!

I fetched a white cup, and here I saw that the color of the tea is grayish, not yellow or green or gold as I would have expected. Where the tea meets the edge of the cup it looks purple.

We added a few drops of lemon juice, and it swirled like pink cloud through the cup until the tea was all pink. I tried to get a good picture but it really didn’t capture how pink it looked in person.

Taste: I started with the lower recommended amount of leaves since we are just getting to know each other. Water was 160F. Steep was 45 seconds.

It was a fairly mild, grassy Sencha with a little briskness. Very pleasant.

I went for a second steep, same temp but a little extra time. My husband says he likes the second steep even better, and I think I do, too. It is definitely grassier with more briskness, and tingles the tongue, but the flavor is great and this would pair really well with something sweet, like hazelnut M&M’s (cough cough) or even with food. It would hold up to being served with a meal.

Neato tea! Thank you, Superanna, for the experience!

I really enjoy a light roast applied to Taiwanese balled oolong.

April 2019 harvest. Freebie from an order last year.

Gongfu longer steeps starting at 30s:
Dense lilac and orchid aroma. Lubricating, viscous mouthfeel. Taste — getting a lot of milk and green cardamom in this one. Lilac, orchid, grass, green stems, sugar cookies, nectar, mineral, aluminum, dry grass, walnut, spinach. Cooling, complex. Fruity aftertaste I cannot place, something tropical-custardy? Excellent for 3 infusions. From the 4th on it becomes increasingly drying like walnut skin, bitter and more metallic.

Grandpa is so pectic thick!

Really nice tea for the price.

A short round of gongfu steeps didn’t do a thing for me, so I threw the leaves in a jar for cold brew. It was refreshing, sweet and toasty.

The remaining 3.5g of the pillow went western. Very mineral with a smooth roast, chocolate, raspberry. Tangy mid-tone. What-Cha describes this a being reminiscent of a Da Hong Pao; I can definitely see that. Perhaps the minerality isn’t as deep as in rock oolong. I don’t know. This week was rough. (Haven’t they all been lately?) Regardless, this oolong drank hot outdoors hit the spot as I finished up planting some native shrubs while the wind picked up and the temperature dropped near sundown.

Wow! It’s been a while since I posted a review. I’ve been drinking teas I’ve already written about and wondering why I bought so many of them in 50 g packages. This is yet another 50 g pack of tea, which was harvested in 2015 (yikes!). Maybe I was intrigued to try a black Jin Xuan, or maybe I got it as a mystery tea. Who knows at this point?

I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml porcelain teapot at 195F for 10, 12, 15, 18, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds. I debated brewing this as an oolong and might do that in a future session.

The dry aroma is of dark chocolate, honey, and malt. These flavours appear in the first steep, along with some sourness and plant stems. The second steep has more pronounced malt, honey, cocoa, and wood notes, with a bit of dryness and a lovely cocoa aftertaste. There are slightly more dryness and tannins in the third and fourth steeps. I also find a pronounced grassy flavour that is typical in many oolongs. By the sixth steep, the chocolate starts to fade and the honey, malt, and grassy notes take over. The tannins are making this tea taste a bit metallic. The final steeps have notes of malt, tannins, minerals, and faint chocolate.

This was an enjoyable, if not very nuanced, tea that petered out quickly and had some off notes as the session progressed. The first few steeps were pretty good, though. I’m not sure how much of this is due to age, so I won’t be giving it a rating. Next time, I’ll try using longer steeps to see if I can maximize the chocolate.

Sipdown (277)

I am completely lost timing-wise with gong fu steeping because it’s been a while. The gongfu session from the other day had timing thanks to teabento. In fact, I’m so out to lunch with timing that I literally just poured the water, zoned out, and then poured it out. I have no clue how long my first steep was but the tea came out nicely – leather and nutty.

Steeping the rest super haphazardly while watching season 3 of Good Girls. The following steeps are similar to the first. It’s been a nice way to finish this off.

This was best before February 2020 and I finally opened it today. Despite being past it’s prime, it’s quite good. It’s bready and caramelized with sweet Potato and brown sugar notes. It can be the slightest bit minerally at time but mostly it’s just caramelized bready goodness.

The cloudy and chilly weather this morning combined with a trying work day yesterday called me to a gongfu session with this oxidized and roasted red oolong. It has the aroma and flavor of sweet recuperation. Much needed.

This Spring 2018 harvest Hong Shui, like many other red oolong, is high on the aroma factor. When dry, I smell brown toast, rye, raisin, cinnamon, pear, golden syrup, pecan, straw, dried fruit. Warming the leaf brings cedar, cacao and plums. A rinse bring some strange things like sweet pickled vegetables, dill, roasted tomatoes and carrots, perfume, vinyl, raisins and blueberry.

Its character is lightly toasty and musky with cinnamon-pear sweetness and mellow nuttiness. Raisin, floral grape and minerals provide support. As the tea develops thicker, stronger flavors, I also pick up on something a bit like rancid butter but that could be due to sinus issues. The complexity lies more in aromas than it does in the actual flavors. A little drying and a brown sugar returning sweetness.

This is a tea that I think might captivate tea drinkers looking to explore the oxidized/roasted Taiwanese balled oolong. I would recommend it as a western brew. When prepared that way, the long steep time allows the full thickness and sweetness to shine.

This was one of my sipdowns from around the middle of last month. It was also the first of three Japanese black teas that I plowed my way through in just under a week. Of the bunch, it was easily the best. This tea had a mild and mellow character as well as a refinement that the other two teas lacked.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped approximately 3 grams of loose leaf material in about 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not rinse the leaf material prior to infusion nor did I attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material emitted aromas of dark chocolate, straw, and pine. After infusion, I detected aromas of cinnamon, cream, malt, raisin, caramel, and baked bread. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of dark chocolate, raisin, straw, hay, pine, malt, cream, butter, umami, oats, cinnamon, peas, baked bread, damp grass, roasted peanut, roasted hazelnut, earth, moss, minerals, and orange zest. There were also hints of cinnamon, caramel, and plum here and there. The finish was very smooth and creamy with a gently invigorating afterglow.

Overall, this was a subtly rich, earthy, nutty, and vegetal black tea. It was easy to tell that it had been produced from a cultivar normally associated with green tea production. I particularly appreciated its lively, textured liquor and its skillful integration of aromas and flavors that had the possibility to clash badly. I wish it had been just a little sweeter and fruitier, but that’s me nitpicking. This was a wonderful black tea and one that I would have no difficulty recommending to open-minded tea drinkers.

A wonderful tea with a pleasant taste.

3,25 grams of tea in a 50ml/1.6ounces gaiwan. Started at 25 seconds and added 5 seconds for each infusion.