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The pictures do not do this cup justice. Period. It’s beautiful, well made, the silver shines so bright and feels really good on my upper lip. I got this for sipping shou while studying. The cup has some serious substance, thick and heavy, perfect for holding while contemplating late into the night. It retains heat very well. So well, I have to let the cup sit for a few minutes so I don’t scorch my widdle fingahs. But I don’t see the heat retention as a negative. What this means to me is that I’m in no rush to drink the brew before it cools. I did a side-by-side comparison in this cup and an unglazed clay cup with several steeps of some lower-grade shou that was brewed in a clay gaiwan. The silver cup seemed to neutralize the muddy qualities I found present in the clay cup’s brew. I’ll have to try some other shou between the two cups to see if that holds true.

I am super stoked. Totally worth it. Thanks Crimson Lotus.

Finished up the remaining 4g of my 10g pouch this afternoon. I didn’t follow exactly MST’s guidelines for gong fu. 4g to 100mL in a covered glass mason jar. The last time I brewed this, I experienced an almost distracting dryness at 190-195F which is the recommended temperature, so I kept all steeps today at 185F. That definitely helped. I did a flash rinse followed by 6 steeps at 30/45/60/70/80/90s.

Reaction: I think this tea shines when doing shorter steeps that allow for the crispness and distinct flavors to come out. Following MST’s steep times and using 185F water, the brew was very smooth and thick but after the first steep, it became thick with spinach which detracted from the fruity, floral, citrus, creamy and light vegetal qualities. If I were to buy this again, I would definitely stick to shorter steeps at 185F. I think it would be best that way. Plus I picked up ripe pineapple in one steep. Don’t come across that very often. I mentioned in the other log that this could be a good daily drinker (gong fu) and I still hold to that, but only for somebody with fat stacks.

Turmeric is a polarizing flavor. I’m in the love camp but don’t let my bias discourage you from reading further. If you 100% hate it, consider moving on.

I started off my morning with this tea and some toasted steiner bread topped with fried eggs. I felt like I could conquer whatever came my way after that.

Gone western. 2tsp, 195F, 8oz, 2/5/20m while I showered.

The base of this tea is the India Nilgiri First Flush Black which I reviewed some time in the past month since I’ve been here. I found it to be a very fragrant, clean and refreshing tea.
Mixed in with the black tea are chunks of turmeric root. The tea leaves are covered in powder but I don’t think it’s turmeric powder added separately but just what has rubbed off of the pieces. The scent of the dry leaf is pure turmeric. Not some ancient grocery store yellow turmeric powder but powerful, bright orange, warm, medicinal, spicy, earthy. It’s crazy strong!

All three brews were fairly similar to each other in aroma, taste, color and texture – mostly tasting of that awesome turmeric. The black tea served as a great base, yielding nicely to the spice. If you read the review for the India Nilgiri First Flush Black, you can see how the tastes I picked up on work well with the turmeric. There were no interfering flavors between the two ingredients. In terms of texture, the turmeric chunks did not disintegrate and the powder did not create a grainy mouthfeel at all which is appreciated. This tea remained as smooth as it’s counterpart black. No bitterness and the slight astringency I picked up on in its counterpart was masked by the turmeric. It was a very clean and warming cup.

If you’ve had a bad experience with turmeric but are still curious, I’d recommend you give this a try. It’s completely different from the typical bagged turmeric blends. Much more assertive and a taste that is true to the freshly ground root. I’m not going to claim any medicinal benefits, but I will keep this around for when I’m bound to catch a cold later this year and need a moderate dose of caffeine. It just feels right for that occasion. I think I might like the blend better than the black tea alone.

I finally finished my 50g bag of this. One heaping tbsp to a liter of water in the fridge for 24 hours seems to be my preference. It’s a good, light hop refreshment to have on a hot day. Fresh basil is a great complementary addition for cold-brewing. Not too much basil though.
It can easily overpower the flavor of these buds. It’s not a bad tea, but I can’t justify buying more especially since I don’t like it brewed hot. I’d rather have puer anyway.
Upped the rating from 56 to 60.

When purchasing teaware from BTTC, proceed with caution. Get all the information you can, including return policy, before making the purchase.

This is both a review of the teapot and my experience with the vendor.

Ah. So, I had been looking for 2 years for a teapot when one finally caught my eye. This one was it. I had recently passed a brutal Calculus 3 six-week summer session and decided to reward myself with my first ever teapot purchase.

First the pot. I received a beautiful matte black clay teapot, not nearly as striking as the blue metallic finish pictured. It feels great in my hand, is a good thickness for high mountain oolongs (as in it won’t cook them or release heat too quickly) and rarely leaks when the hole in the lid is covered. Even when filled full with water, as the lid is placed no liquid comes out the top. The pot has an internal filter that allows for a 7-second pour both with only liquid and with expanded leaf. The pour cuts off instantly with no drips as soon as the pot is tipped back. The hand-pressed detail on the sides is amazing. The artist’s name is carved into the bottom along with the year of crafting.

Which was awesome and all except I ordered the blue teapot pictured. There was no information nor were there pictures on the page that alluded to different colors being available, nor a drop-down menu where I could pick a color. After receiving the wrong color teapot, I contacted the vendor. I will say the vendor’s response had scammy language and I decided not to follow up as it’s not worth dealing with people like that. Maybe he thought I was trying to swindle him and got defensive. I don’t know. I also had to deal with three different email addresses in my correspondences. Consistency is appreciated as a customer. Three email addresses is excessive.

The teapot itself is very well made and perfect for my desires. BTTC needs improvement in customer relations. I will continue to drink, enjoy and review the tea I ordered while remaining impartial and have some good sessions with this teapot.

Edit: I hemmed and hawed for a few weeks about writing this and still managed to make it sound a little dramatic, which I don’t want, so I made some changes. I just don’t want anybody else to have unfulfilled expectations regarding their teaware.

As a learning experience, I wanted to compare Old Master Baozhong, a spring harvest, to a different company’s winter (November) harvest that I drank yesterday. Unfortunately, I screwed up with this tea and ended up overbrewing the sixth steep by about 5 minutes while I was rushing around getting ready to head out for a game of tennis. And while it was still a fine steep, I decided to end the session. I’m kind of bummed I didn’t get to play this session out in a respectable fashion.

That said. Gone gaiwan, 6g, 150mL, 185-195F, flash rinse/10/12/15/20/25s/:(

Dry leaf looks very much hand-processed and is a mix of shapes with shades of green and some yellowish leaf. The scent is intoxicating, heavy with sweet pea floral, vanilla custard and violet. The flavors were strongest in the first 2 steeps with golden delicious apple, bartlett pear, sweet lemon, mineral, floral sweet pea, cream, custard, white peach, was that pineapple?!?, lilac, vegetal sweet pea, raw green bean, spinach. The liquor was a light yellow-green, very smooth but drying and slightly numbing on my tastebuds. Aroma was lilac, custard, peach and spinach. Persistent floral and fruity aftertaste.

Third through fifth steeps lightened in aroma, taste and texture and the liquor darkened into a yellow-gold. In addition to the above flavors, the apple pushed forward, then moved into a strong peach/apricot/mango/nectarine and the fifth steep had an addition of wet green hay with a very strong white peach aftertaste. The mouthfeel almost became distractingly drying so I played around with temperatures in these steeps but that didn’t change anything. The sixth steep at 5+ minutes was not a wash but I decided to end the session there as I didn’t think there would be anything left to give. Spent leaf was lined with red along its serrated edges and had some more oxidation on the petioles.

For what this tea was missing in depth and richness in comparison to yesterday’s winter harvest, it produced a wonderful crispness, clearness in taste and a very pronounced peach aftertaste that could easily make this tea a daily-drinker. They’re different and respectable teas in their own rights. I have 4 grams left so I’ll try MST’s recommended brewing parameters for gong fu and rate it after that.

I think I’m falling for baozhong.

I received this as a 10-gram freebie with my order, thank you. I don’t know much about this tea beyond what was stated in an email. Made of autumn 2012 leaves, ‘pressed and sent source direct in the early days of the company’ and stored in Taiwan since. As of this review, it’s not listed on the website.

5g, 100mL, 205-212F, 10s rinse, 5/10/15/20/25/30/45/1m/1m15/1m30/2m

Dry leaf has a fragrant pu’er smell and looks and smells like it’s getting some age. Mostly dark brown leaves with some still light gold and beige needles, velvety and catches the light. A 10s rinse produced aromas or plum, smoke, tobacco, dark wood, resin, very warm scent.

The first steep zapped my tongue with something like sour plum. The sensation was similar to placing a 9V on the tongue. The taste was already thick with stonefruit, prune, butter?, cream, mineral with some sourness in the back, a tingling tongue and persistent aftertaste.

Second steep was similar but thicker with mushroom broth, some faint notes of thyme and fennel. I noticed my gums felt tingly, too, and my teeth felt like they were buzzing. The aroma of the leaves here transformed into bold apricot, tobacco and some smoke.

Third steep was quite herbal, with stonefruit, tobacco, leather, blackberry and faint non-cooling spearmint. Creaminess faded. Strong astringency noted. I noticed the aroma of the liquor here. The cha qi began kicking in mostly in my head, with a pressure felt in my eyebrows, sinuses and ears. It was very warming. These sensations subsided soon enough and I was left with a relaxed concentration that was suitable for nighttime studying.

Fourth and fifth steeps became lighter in flavor and texture with some bitterness showing up. Still very astringent, though. It felt like my whole mouth was being sucked inward to a concentrated point of astringency on my tongue. The astringency loosened in the sixth steep and I noticed some salivation. The flavor became more medicinal with a bittersweet aftertaste of a dark floral like violet.

Seventh steep became a little more bitter and sourness began developing on the sides of my tongue. Eighth and ninth steeps became almost unbearably sour, causing some indigestion. Despite this, I kept brewing and was rewarded with a lightly sour meatiness much like salami in the tenth steep, and a faint smoke. I had to stop at the eleventh steep because of of the indigestion but that one produced the lightly bitter dark violet from earlier with the sourness persisting and the return of astringency and minerals. I would’ve liked to keep pushing but I just couldn’t handle the sourness any longer. The spent leaves definitely look like they’re getting some age; they’re light brown with a tinge of green. Some needles present and it’s kind of stemmy.

Overall, I really like the flavors and strong aroma. I can move past the astringency but the indigestion-inducing sourness in the later steeps killed it for me. I’d be excited to see how a whole cake transforms after another year or two in storage. I think I’ll tuck the other 5 grams away and try again in a year. I’m thinking the cakes need a change in their Taiwan storage to get rid of that gut-rotting sourness.

Refraining from a rating since as of this review it’s not listed on BTTC’s website.

eastkyteaguy and Daylon R Thomas nailed the tasting notes of this tea.

Nov 2017 harvest.

This tea is fabulous. Incredible aroma, taste and aftertaste but too intense for me to be a daily drinker. It’s super floral without being entirely heady, green, fruity, citrusy, sweet, creamy and buttery. Long-lasting. Does well with a range of leaf amount and temperatures, today being 5g/150mL and 190F. I’ve used a gaiwan every time and will venture into western someday. I’m looking forward to drinking this baozhong on a cold and clear winter day. Even though it doesn’t snow here, I’d recommend it as a stunning accompaniment to an early spring snowmelt. Sitting outside, feeling the long-forgotten warmth of the sun, birds chirping. Oh yeah.

Edit: get all you can out of these leaves by doing a cold brew with the spent material. Oh yeah.

Back into my 5g sample box. Brewed this 2 different ways today, grandpa for me and
twice western for the partner in crime while I stole some sips for tasting notes. This tea doesn’t hold up to grandpa style as well as western. Grandpa numbed my tastebuds for some reason. Western had a clearer aroma and taste and greater longevity. The second round of western was more experimental in which I purposefully let it overbrew and used 190F in a few steeps since I was making a baozhong oolong for myself. Neither long steep times nor high temp killed the tea.

Noted below is the first round I brewed western style since that’s what I preferred.

1 tsp, 8oz, 175F, 1/1.5/2min

Dry leaf is yellowish-brown-green and smells like cashew, white sesame and whipped cream… I think. (Will I ever be able to train my nose and palate to green teas?) First and second steeps smelled really good and savory. They had the pungency of a nut butter, like tahini mixed with some cashew. The taste was similar with the addition of a light sweetness, marigold and edamame (Verdant noted both, I’m not sure I would’ve picked up on those otherwise) and an aftertaste of sweet cream. The liquor was kind of thick and creamy. Easy to drink quickly. Third steep thinned in aroma and mouthfeel and tasted like freshly fallen autumn leaves and marigold.

I’d say this autumn harvest is worth a try. FWIW, the partner in crime is willing to sell somebody else’s belongings to acquire more.

Finishing off the 25g sample. Not much to add besides my arms are heavy and I’m super relaxed, bordering on couchlocked. There’s a persistent light camphor up by my sinuses that started around steep 7. It’s aight. Oh, this tea needs boiling water, nothing less. Not sure how it would age but the body feels are nice in its youth. Upped the number. Might purchase another sample.