What-Cha

From dark matter 2016

Brewed this western style. Didn’t see the instructions for 194 F water until after I poured the boiling in. Steeped 5 minutes and wondered if I may have a bitter cup. But it looks like this tea is about foolproof. Completely smooth, dark fruit like raisins, and a bit of malt and the finish. I even got two more steeps a at five minutes and then a fourth one that sat awhile. The last was a bit light but also had a bit of cocoa which was nice. No bitterness or astringency here, but still brighter in flavor than some Yunnan blacks.

It was great for yet another cold rainy day.

This is a really nice breakfast blend. It’s malty and rich, with a little sweetness. Not a lot of the higher-end EBs tempt me away from my usual bagged standards, but this one just might.

Got a free 10 gram sample of this on my last tea order (What-cha FTW),
And was quite excited as I’ve only ever had greens from Australia so thought this would be quite interesting.
After brewing the 1st infusion for about 30-45 seconds it had an incredibly sweet, malty, yeast flavour that reminded me a lot of the drink Horlicks.

After a couple more infusions it got a bit less malty and developed a slightly bitter cinnamon molasses taste that I found more enjoyable.
The brew itself has a very zesty orange colour, and the smell is like a very sweet molasses. the leaves were a little more broken than I expected but I got about 5-6 infusions out of just 5 grams of them which I was quite happy with.

While I usually prefer more refreshing black teas this was still quite a nice brew,
And would recommend to any one that enjoys very strong, sweet, malty teas.

Took a gamble and bought 6 of these cakes and I’m very impressed with the results,
First 1-3 infusions had a very smooth honey and rose taste, and the infusions after that got a definite sweet chocolatey taste as described.

After finished drinking it left a very mellow aftertaste without any dryness left on the tongue. Definitely a favourite black tea of the tea drinkers in my family and it being in a sealed cake is a nice convenience.

As a I have recently become a big fan of the P.T Harendong tea estate, I was very excited to try this tea and I am not disappointed at all with the results.
After doing a quick rinse of the leaves to wake them up a bit, a brewed it for about 45 seconds then poured it into my porcelain zen monk tea cup.

Although quite a seemingly pale infusion it didn’t lack any flavour and was quite a refreshing and incredibly clean tasting tea as described.
After around four or five infusions in it seemed to have a smooth sweetness develop to it that was still quite enjoyably clean tasting.

Overall I would recommend this tea to someone that wants quite a refreshing dependable green tea that isn’t particularly grassy, PLUS the fact that its organic is always a bonus.

Sweet, malty aroma. Very smooth and light-bodied black tea, with a faint citrus-floral note that might be best described as orange blossom. Petrichor note after longer steeping. The malt/baked-good quality is much more unassuming than I imagined from the aroma. Not strong as far as black teas go…I’d call it “pleasantly dainty”!

I find this to be an incredibly warming and relaxing tea which is why I usually drink it in the evenings.

It seems to have a slight damp wood taste and a very subtle sweetness to it that I always love in dark teas,
and Although Its very thick tasting tea it doesn’t seem to be sickly at all.

I very much like pattern and colours of the wrapper and it seemed quite easy to pry apart the cake itself with a dirk that I recently ordered from Teaware.house

All in all, this is definitely one of my favourite ripe dark teas I’ve had so far and would recommend it to anyone who wants quite a substantial ripe dark tea.

Vietnamese teas, you rock. Unique, memorable, and often delicious, every Vietnamese tea I’ve tasted has been a charmer. And this one’s exotic name made me smile before we even met.

What-Cha sources this tea through the Vietnamese wholesaler Hatvala, who with a few creative leaps christened it “Tiger Monkey.” In Hatvala’s own words: “Most of the tea produced is sold at the colourful local market which is held on the Monkey and Tiger days of the Lunar week from where our name for this tea derives.” I’m somewhat familiar with the lunar calendar, which from what I can tell makes a whole lot more sense than our Gregorian calendar. I found some information about a lunar week – which varies from six to eight days – but could uncover no reference at all to Monkey or Tiger days in this context. I’ll keep looking. The “Wild” part of the name was apparently added by What-Cha, which I find super fun as a preface to “Tiger Monkey” and at the same time most appropriate and informative, since the leaves are from wild trees.

“Like other wild green teas it is naturally sweet with little bitterness,” states Hatvala’s Tiger Monkey sales sheet. Which makes me wonder about tea made from “wild” (or at least abandoned) trees as compared to more recently cultivated and tended tea gardens. Surely there could be differences, and perhaps even differences that are consistent, such as wild green teas tending to be sweeter, per Hatvala’s nonchalant claim. Though I could also imagine the opposite, or that inclusion of the “wild” adjective is somewhere between description and marketing. I’d be curious to hear what others have to say, but in the end, what matters is what’s in the cup.

I do notice some sweetness in the dry leaf, sweetness that is intertwined with smokiness. Both characteristics are fairly light in the dry leaf and all the more subtle in the cup; during my first session I didn’t notice smoke at all. It’s there, but nothing like the smokiness of, say, a Russian Country blend. As a green tea the overall flavor and body is on the light side of the spectrum, but deeper than the bright, fresh-picked grassiness of, say, Fish Hook. Here and there I noted some enjoyable creaminess to the body, and a bit of the wood and nut notes others have mentioned.

When brewed at What-Cha’s parameters (1-2tsp, 80C/176F, 45-60sec) there wasn’t any of what I’d consider bitterness or astringency. During my second session I experienced a dryness at the back of the throat which I enjoyed so much that I resteeped probably eight times. I had that soft astringency in mind during my third and final sessions, but within the 60sec steeps, it was nowhere to be found. “No man steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.” I love that expression of life’s ever changing nature, and I love that tea illustrates it so readily. What was that astringency? Was I imagining it? Was it my own body’s particular chemistry on that evening? Whatever it was, it was of that moment. In the later two sessions I didn’t experience anything close until I increased the steep time to two and then three minutes, which yielded the slightest bitterness but still really no astringency to speak of.

“Typically, the Vietnamese prefer to brew their tea very strong and bitter and like to appreciate the sweetness in the after-taste experienced once the initial bitterness has subsided,” says Hatvala. Still curious, I upped the temperature to 195F; even after a 3min steep the tea remained mellow and enjoyable.

I also found it interesting that this tea is grown at a 1500m altitude. It’s 1200m above Hatvala’s Fish Hook and high enough to be considered high mountain, by many standards.

This was a 10g sample that Alistair included with a What-Cha order. Like many teas that I’ve received as samples and in trades, this was an awesome surprise that may have taken me awhile to get to on my own. That’s the end of the sample, but certainly not the end of my love of Vietnamese tea.

Backlog: sipdown. Sweet and roasted. Some notes of fruit and caramel, though none are strong.

150ml gaiwan, 5gish,
Dry-light roast, apple
15s- still pretty balled, hint of fruit. 30s- roasted, fruit. 45s- roast/caramel, fruit, sweetness in after taste. 1min- astringency starting.
Caramel seems to be a hard flavor to pick out. I just lose it under the other flavor or it comes off as sweet. The roast level of this didn’t work for me either. Not a tea for me. 70

This tea is rare enough that I was able to search for it by ‘black cake what cha’ without remembering the whole name. As nice as that was, it makes getting more of this tea difficult.

I didn’t store the other half of my cake properly, so I wasn’t sure if it would taste okay. Thankfully, taste was not impacted by my lack of storage.

1/2 cake, 100ml gaiwan, 195F
15s, 20, 25, 30, 40, 55, 1min, 1, 2
Thick, chocolate, dark chocolate. Flavor lasted a long, long time.

Keeping this on my wishlist. Hope it comes back someday.

195F, half cake to 150ml gaiwan.
15s- sweet, smooth. 30s- fruity, sweet. 30s- chocolate. 45s- chocolate, fruity. Continued with this for 6 more steeps. I have the other half of my cake, but I’m sad I didn’t order more of this. Just got the one cake to try. 90

Definitely one of the most interesting-looking and -sounding teas I’ve tried! The dry stems have a sweet, honey-like aroma. I let the stems steep freely in a cup, and many of them stood up straight like a little forest of tea. The flavor of the tea is initially mild and subtle, with a some honey sweetness and a touch of earthiness. After some steeping, an intense floral-sweet aroma starts getting released. Just leaning in close to take a sip is like taking a deep breath of a summer garden full of flowers after a rain. The flavor feels more complex at this point as well. Very different from other white teas out there, and a highly sensory experience.

Quick Review

I haven’t had the time to sit down and enjoy tea in the Gaiwan lately. However, I’ve decided to skip class and relax today (shame, shame). The professor admitted that “We wouldn’t be doing much, and would probably get out two hours early;” therefore, instead of wasting an hour, I came home to drink tea.

Flash Steep: Cocoa, Raisins, Apple (?), dark color, sweet, and smooth aroma.

1st steep: Light, with a nice sweet malty raisin flavor; there’s a touch of apple in the aftertaste.

2nd steep: Light, the flavors are blending together throughout each sip. However, we’re introduced to a touch of cocoa within the aftertaste.

3rd steep (3 minutes in the Gaiwan): “Aunt Gerry’s Apple Raisin Pie.” Meaning: layered with raisin, a bit of caramel, apples, and slightly doughy.

I’ve dumped the other 4 steeps into a thermos for work. I have a late meeting tonight, to get ready for summer camp. I’ve told the students that I’m also ready for summer, and by showing them what I meant, I decided to wear a clown nose, while performing somersaults and “other daring feats!” A student told me that this was her “favorite day” with me; yet, she tells me this every day before she leaves. It felt good to have all of the students, even the wild ones, giggling their little heads off. I must admit, that there are days when I need to act crazy and wild as they do.

p.s. This is from the Dark Matter series!

Smooth with kick! Round mouthfeel, a soft texture and wonderful fullness to the body. Woody orange spice flavor.

I’ve been using 2 tsp of leaf, 5-6 oz of 185°F water, for several 1 min steeps. As I commonly do with black teas, I shorten my steep time (from the 2 min spec’d). This tea has range – If you prefer a stronger cup this tea can certainly give you that punch in the face; or if you prefer gentler, a shortened steep yields a more relaxed yet still full flavored cup.

In addition to What-Cha, I appreciate my /r/tea pal lawraa for the opportunity to try this tea. She originally received it as a mystery tea, and enjoyed it so much that she asked Alistair to offer it for sale!

Indonesia Harendong Twisted Green Tea: the tea that made me fall in love with green tea. Gentle, exquisitely balanced, easy to brew. Light sweetness, smooth texture, rounded mouthfeel, that Harendong cleanness, the slightest bit of floral and vegetal — this tea is all of these and yet in other ways none of them, since they harmonize so perfectly that no single characteristic announces its presence.

Even now that I have embraced — even craved — astringency, bitterness, smoke, and other acquired (for me) tastes and sensations, it is wonderful to return to this tea. I’m excited by the comparable exoticism of teas that I once ran from, like the Vietnamese greens Fish Hook and Wild Tiger Monkey, yet still delighted by a quiet evening with Harendong Twisted Green.

Alistair recommends 75°C / 167°F water for this tea. My Zojirushi’s 175°F setting may seem like it’d be close enough, but on the occasions that I’ve forgotten to cool the water before pouring it over the leaves, I have noticed that the hotter temperature results in a hint of sharpness and a thinner mouthfeel. All is not lost, but I do prefer to first cool the water: I dispense the 175°F water first into a pitcher or teacup, wait a few seconds, and then pour it into the teapot.

Western is my usual brewing method for this tea. I use a glass teapot, one heaping tsp or two flatter tsp of leaf, 5-6 oz of water, and 1 min to start. My most recent session went 4 steeps, though I’ve done more at other times. I’ve also tried 3g in a 150ml ruyao teapot, which I enjoyed also, and for a larger number of steeps.

A very vegetal white tea…not really what I felt like drinking. This is a sipdown, though, so that feels good. The tea is somehow light in flavor yet a bit bitter and vegetal at every sip. How it can be so strong but so light I’m not sure. It isn’t vegetal in a bad way if you like Bai Mu Dan, I’m just not really into it today.

I could taste notes of young wood, bok choy, dry oak leaf, and sedge grass (like went you prune an ornamental sedge and it smells different from lawn grass—similar to corn husk, dry hay, and dark green vegetables all at the same time.) It lost its fruity notes that I tasted in previous cups, but I think it is getting older now and losing some of its flavour.