What-Cha

Note: I believe I reviewed a version that came from a different source than the other reviews. What-Cha’s site said this year’s (2016) is from a different supplier, and I didn’t encounter the issues others had.

So, I was looking for a chocolatey tea, and this hits the spot. I managed to set off the fire alarm while making dinner, which meant my first pot of this steeped far longer than I’d intended. Despite this, no bitterness at all, just smooth and rich with a cocoa taste.

…and it goes better with frozen pizza than you’d expect.

I used 4 pearls for an entire pot of tea, and there was plenty of taste.

Dark malt and molasses with a hint of raisin and smoke, and a slightly bitter edge to the finish. While mildly sweet, this tea is decidedly focused on the malt. It is stronger than the other Georgian teas offered by What-Cha, but still fairly smooth, as an old gentleman should be. Aptly named.

Full-bodied and sublimely smooth, there is an immediate honeyed sweetness that quickly transitions to notes of maple syrup, cinnamon spice, and baked apple pie. The finish is long and persistently sweet. Simultaneously gentle and rich with flavor, this tea is quite a treat.

Earthy malt with some bitterness and astringency. There is a vague note of wood and peppery spice, but very little sweetness. This is a relatively unrefined tea that requires care while steeping.

Fragrant, woodsy malt is immediately present and reveals a fruity nuance; pear and apple. This is accompanied by a slight bite, and the liquor is fairly thick on the tongue. Altogether, a robust tea that I found enjoyable, though sensitive to oversteeping.

One of the best green teas I have tasted so far. The toasted corn aroma and grass notes are right up my alley. A great tea to drink every day.

Light and completely smooth, with a mild floral note paired with milkiness and a slight acidity that hints of lemon or citrus. The taste of milk becomes even more apparent in the finish and transitions to butter as it settles on the tongue. Thoroughly enjoyable and reminds me of a more refined Jin Xuan.

Quite sweet up front, with gentle notes of cherry and raisin on top of the soft malt and lingering into the finish. This is a lovely tea, completely smooth and with a thick texture. One of my new favorites alongside What-Cha’s Assam Kanoka.

From the Regional Group Buy.

Brewed in an infuser mug: 3 minutes, then 6.

The dry leaf aroma is a surprise: smells like apple cinnamon! The wet leaf aroma is more typical of a black tea: malty and with a little chocolate. The liquor has a thick and silky texture, and tastes like an 85% chocolate bar. Very delicious!

Light in color, Light on the tongue. Crisp and if over steeped slightly astringent. I like the floral background and almost bergamot aftertaste. This one is a good tea for a rainy day.

I was super excited to order some teas from Georgia, where I lived and consider one of my homes. rhinkle wanted this one yesterday but I’d overheated the water, so I made it to have ready right as she arrived today.

I feel like this tea waits to assert what it has to offer. No aroma hits me in the face, the liquor is a rather unassuming, albeit deep, reddish amber. The first steep is smooth and offers a blend of tobacco, bread and malty flavors with just a hint of citrus and a subtle sweetness. The aroma left behind in my mug smells faintly of sweet citrus.

::sighs:: I swear, I should not be allowed to do western style because I always forget about the tea. My resteep went for a very, very long time, but the leaves withstood it. The citrus comes through clearer in this steep, and just a bit of bitterness at the very end, probably thanks to me oversteeping.

The leaves have expanded nicely after a couple of steeps, and they’re very intact. All-in-all, while this is different from my most preferred teas, I find it to be of good quality and it is actually quite enjoyable. My body was even able to tolerate it after having matcha this morning, so I feel nice and even right now. And, of course, I’m very happy to have tea from Georgia. Tea that is better than any tea I ever actually had in Georgia, funny enough.

Backlog. I tried this three times all westren. I just haven’t had time to gongfu lately.
1st time
3m- roasted (slightly) with minor flower notes, creamy. I’m sensitive to roasted teas so I was glad that this wasn’t overwhelming.
3m – sweet, creamy, flower – violet?
2nd time – sweet, vegetal, roasted
3rd – floral, faintly sweet, roasted. It was the most floral on the last steeping.

I felt like maybe I missed something, but I don’t like the tea enough to reorder in order to try it gong fu. Sipdown.

A sweet enriching taste in honey and also a right amount of sweet to still keep it smooth.

Drank some of this on Friday just to wind down but I still ended up staying up way too late. I think I probably didn’t do a good job sealing this back up after opening it, as I think the flavor faded a bit. Then again, I think I also leafed a bit lighter than I usually do. Just need to make sure I keep it properly sealed up and leaf liberally.

Steeped this western style today to drink during a meeting I anticipated would be stressful. For some reason, today, it just tasted of toasted coconut to me, which is a first. I’m grandpa styling the leftover leaves now, getting some creamy sweetness and just enjoying the lasting fragrance.

Love that I have so much of this.

Drank this with some macarons yesterday after dropping Zeus off at the vet. Glad I’ve got more on the way!

Alistair threw this in as a free sample with my What-cha oarder.

The washed leaves have a faint sweet smell that, after the first steep, transforms into something fragrant and roasty. The expand quickly during the first steep, coloring the liquor a medium dark, golden red.

The taste is very creamy with a hint of roastiness. The texture smooth and somewhat thick.

The second steep brines more creaminess, remains smooth, and introduces a nuttiness that also tastes faintly of sesame.

The liquor seems to have become redder in the third steep, which remains nutty and sweet, but is somewhat less creamy.

By the fourth steep the flavor has lightened up quite a bit, so I’m going to try another, significantly longer steep.

I was able to squeeze a bit more flavor out in the fifth steep, but I think the leaves are telling me they’ve had enough. Still have some left of this sample, so I’ll look forward to enjoying it soon and I can definitely see myself putting in an order of this!

Interesting tea. It has a complex and strong scent to it, but the taste itself is somewhat bland to me. I can’t quite articulate what the scent is, except that I’ve smelled it before…I almost want to say mineral chocolate without there actually being any chocolate smell. Would that maybe be malt instead? It’s not earthy, it’s not nutty, it’s “not” many things…

I don’t know. It’s not a terrible tea, I just struggle in explaining what it IS, instead of what it ISN’T.

You know…I think the scent is similar to a cinnamon-tasting tea I had, except there’s not really a cinnamon taste to the tea. It’s has a similarity to the scent of a cinnamony tea I had, minus the cinnamon. But I suppose that’s another round of saying what this tea isn’t, instead of what it IS.

This’ll be my new puzzle as I try to figure it out in future steeps. I’m pretty sure it’s just because I haven’t had enough organoleptic training…

Sipdown (158)!

Brought the rest of my sample bag of this to work; I ended up making a mug for myself and then one for my coworker Kandyce. I had also brought tea infused chocolates, but felt bad she couldn’t have any because she’s allergic to cocoa. Tragic, right!? So I offered her a mug of this instead of chocolate.

Mostly guzzled this while helping customers; didn’t pay super close attention. When it’s busy like that I really appreciate having a tea on hand I can just enjoy without conscious thought though. At some point in the night I had time to scribble some tasting notes on the side of my cup in Sharpie though: Malt, sweet potato, French bread, honey. So take from that what you will.

I enjoyed this one! Especially since it was the tea from my last What-Cha order that I didn’t choose for myself. I think there are Assams I’d rather stock over this one, but definitely wouldn’t turn my nose up at it in the future.