1155 Tasting Notes
Backlog. I’ve still been experimenting with this one, and I admit that I’m a bit challenged. Only a few Dancongs have been this finicky. The tea does have some tropical fruit and citrus notes amidst a floral barrage and flecks of woodiness, but it becomes very sharp and florally bitter a little too easy…if that makes any sense. The aroma is strong and milky, and the mouthfeel is definitely oily, but the flavor balance has been a little overwhelming. I usually love lighter dan congs, but this one was almost too floral without a decent balance of fruit in the other notes. One of my favorite dancongs is on the floral greener spectrum right now, but I have yet to figure out this one without making it too bitter or too light with short steeps. I’ll get this one to budge eventually, as typical as it is for this varietal to be so particular.
I’m enjoying this slowly. Rough, incoherent day amidst twenty degree weather. Hyperglycemia clouded my head to the point of me running into my bosses office’s wall and turning of the lights for 5 seconds.
Now, onto something positive, I cannot thank Alistair enough for this opportunity. Opening up the cake, it was a thin one made out of wire tendrils of black leaves tipped with an amber hue giving off some scents of bakers chocolate. I dropped the subtle, yet aromatic cake into the vessel. The seal of the cake opened just a little bit, revealing the delicate and precise holds of each leaf.
Steep one was nice after about 15-20 seconds. Cocoa in the aroma, and something not too far off from gotu kola in terms of nuttiness, albeit faint nutiness. Tasting it, more cocoa, rose hints, and an oily but sweet finish.
Second steep at 30 seconds was much the same, more rose and a little bit of honey accompanying some mild savoriness, like the butter in chocolate chip cookies. It got a little sweeter as it cooled.
Third had more intense cocoa in smell, and a bit of something tannic peaking through the background like you would in coffee or darker wine. Initial sip after about 50 seconds lead to more of a honey taste, or mildly fruity and salty. Think chocolate covered raisins, though not nearly as think or pronounced. Nice drying finish despite the tea not being astringent or bitter. Smooth, and almost silky, but not quite there yet.
Fourth steep after definitely over a minute (probably a min and 45 sec), more honey sweetness. More cocoa. Malty aftertaste. I keep thinking cherry, but it’s not that strong.
I might write more about this one, but know that I enjoy it and recommend it for lighter black lovers. It’s a comfort tea for sure.
I swear, Gaoshan’s are always the fruitiest at the bottom of their bag. Today was a sipdown of this treasure, and I am a little sad that it is gone. Pronounced sweet notes of melon, lime, honeysuckle, blossoms, and lilac, almost akin to Skittles….I’m tasting the rainbow. Or, I’m just tasting a special tea. It is a shame that the production of these has slowed down. I might get some more Da Yu Ling in general before the bell tolls in the next few years…unless something else happens. This slowly grew into a charitable favorite from the club. I’ve actually drank my Eco Cha club teas daily, to think of it. I’m still waiting on the Fo Shou….it is taking way too long to arrive considering my subscription is about to renew.
…I just got it today.
I’m so close to giving this one a hundred because it is doing insanely well with the cold. Melon pressed sweetness accented by viscous notes of violet, chard, nutmeg, and just a bare hint of toastiness akin to fresh scones. In short, the same tea with the same notes, but better this cold fall day by combining the green floral notes amidst the savory ones.
I finished this one off last night with a friend, and I never quite got the same notes no matter how consistent or different my brewing styles were. Gong fu cha in my shiboridashi yielded an influx of buttery corn bread notes accented by osmanthus and lilac, and then passed into a floral crescando of honeysuckle, osmanthus, lilac, and then ended with some faint honey hints and lime hints in the end. Western had more honeysuckle notes, with fresh greens, collards, and lime zest barely in the accents. There were times were it was more sweet like butterscotch, and times more vegetal. I’ve gotten more fresh notes like sugarcane and watercress with a very small amount of leaves western. Butter, lilac, honeysuckle, osmanthus, and lime zest reoccurred the most in flavor.
This was almost my favorite of the sampler because it was fairly versatile. I did occasionally have some astringency here and then reminiscent of a sheng because of how I brewed it, but it was definitely oolong and on the greener side. I’d recommend this for those looking to get a cheaper alternative for a snow pick. I’ve coveted others for a heavier price, and this one was different enough to stand out from previous Li Shan’s I’ve had. Rating for me personally as a result of the occasional astringency is between 88 and 92
This is a nice one. They used nutty and peaty on the descriptor card, and those notes are accurate. It is smoky, earthy, and it does develop a little bit of a stone fruit note in the third brew gong fu, but it is incredibly smooth and very easy to drink. There were times that it reminded me of a smooth yancha. I liked their main Dong Ding on the website a little bit better because it is more caramelized, but this one is so easy to drink western, grandpa, or gong fu. This is earthy roast at its best.
I have some on hand, and it’s decent. More play time is required before I make my decision on rating. The tea has been quite floral and bold. I brewed it in my new tumbler first gong fu, and it smelled and tasted the garlic butters that you get with pizzas. It was still floral and more herbaceous, but so oily and thick. I’ve also got some citrus hints and notes that I swear tastes like apricot, which I’ve gotten in some darker oolongs. I look forward to this teas capabilities.
I was excited to try this one because it seemed like a heartier version of a tea bag via bamboo leaf. The flavor was more than I anticipated. The bamboo was a little overwhelming, and there were some nice charcoal accents, but the texture of the tea resembled a darker tea, maybe a shou, than the usual black tea. I did get some sweet potato and savory notes amidst a whole lot of malt, but it just tasted off and musty. I was only able to do about three cups in very short western steeps of 2 min, 3 min, 5 min and was not a fan. Someone more accustomed to this style of tea might know what they are doing.
Quick note: used this in my new tumbler, and I used too many leaves for grandpa style. I brewed it western and it was impressive. I gotta say that this 2018 harvest is a major comeback considering the new notes of violet and strawberry I’ve been getting with the typical ripe green and floral ones.
I stashed two of these pyramid bags from a year back for a special Friday at work. I had one last winter while student teaching to get me through a tough day, and the other today to celebrate the creeping of the cold. I am currently substitute teaching Algebra 2 for a wonderful teacher at Port Huron Northern and am greatly enjoying the students that I get to spend some time with for her maternity leave. An oil leak was prevented at the school, but the additive odor lingered in the building, so the building was ventilated for 30 minutes with everyone outside. The cold permeated into the building making the thermostats register at 62 Degrees Fahrenheit, this was a great warm comfort at lunch.
This blend is not too atypical of say a Lady Grey, but it is in how the ingredients were blended. The rose blossoms occupied the majority of the back and there were less black tea leaves than the usual blend, but since they were Zealong leaves styled like Tawainese Shan Cha blacks, they were strong enough to color the tea and provide a viscous body. Now, I’ve had the base on its own before, and it is a naturally fruity tea with a bit of a floral kick amidst the usual cocoa and malt notes, so I wanted to see how it would do as a mega floral earl grey. The rose, lemon myrtle, bergamot, and tea blended very smoothly, and the lavender and rose where compliments and hints. I would not have told you that I tasted mint the first time I had it, but after knowing about it, it is in the very finish of the tea making it more refreshing than tannic.
This tea can become a little bitter from overbrewing, but it is otherwise very steady and can handle long steeps with a high water volume. It does take sugar and or cream and sugar extremely well, but it is all the more tranquil on its own and better brewed at least 3 times over. My only criticism: it’s too fricikin’ expensive.
