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From Dark Matter 2016

I really couldn’t get into this tea. After a 10 s rinse, the first cup tasted extremely bitter, with dirt underneath the bitterness. Second steep was pretty much the same. Third steep, I could detect a bit of cherry, but it mostly tasted like dirt. I’m now suffering from the extremely unpleasant aftertaste.

I feel like I should be writing more reviews. I realize I’ve been only doing teas that I feel obligated to review (TTB donations) or teas that affected me strongly one way or another. My dashboard on steepster has been sparse lately, so I suspect many others are drifting into the same mode of operation.

This is a nice average sheng. The only thing that stands out is the fairly strong cha qi. I was feeling it in my shoulders after drinking about one ounce. I took a break after my second cup so can’t fully estimate its power, but it’s pretty strong. For me the feeling is more physical than mental. The tea has a pleasant toasted straw flavor, with some bitterness at the beginning of the finish and some tropical fruit that comes out from behind the bitterness late in the finish. I was going to recommend the tea as an inexpensive tea drunk, but see that it is now out of stock. Another opportunity missed.

Another overdue review from Puerh TTB #4

I wish I hadn’t waited so long. This is just the type of tea I enjoy: lots of different flavors vying for attention. First steep (10s) was very rich for a first steep. Powerful apricot flavor with a hint of earthiness underneath the fruit. Very good mouth-feel, depth, and finish. I probably should have waited for the second steep, as the finish from steep 1 was still very strong in my mouth. But I didn’t. Second steep had a strong nose with hints of wood. The wood is more obvious in the flavor, along with a lot of smoke. Builds in the mouth to a huge finish. This is not for the timid! I’m also feeling the cha qi in my chest and shoulders, though not so much mentally, which is how it usually affects me. As the cup cools, the apricot comes forward and the smoke and wood recede a bit, though are still present. The cha qi has now reached my head and I’ll need to take a break after drinking 4 ounces. Powerful tea in multiple ways. After about 10 minutes, the finish was barely noticeable, and the qi had faded enough for another cup.

Around the 8th steep, it became very sweet. Taste is more like corn than apricot with some wood underneath. Less powerful, but no less pleasant or interesting.

Thanks very much to Essence of Tea, who donated the samples for the tea box.

From the Puerh TTB #4

This may have to be the first shou that I’ve bought in nearly a year. After a quick rinse, I did a 10 s steep. I was distracted when I started to drink and for a moment thought I was drinking sheng. Despite the young age I don’t taste any fermentation flavor (after my review I went to the web site and discovered the tea is from the 2012 harvest and was pressed in 2015, so that makes more sense). It tasted a lot like a sheng that has a few years of age on it. Slightly grassy flavor with some earthiness. 2nd steep: Color more red than orange, and more of a shou aroma. This sheng-like flavor may be because the leaves hadn’t separated in the first two steeps.

The 3rd steep was the next day: Dark red color; really looks like shou now. Smells and tastes like one too. Fair amount of fermentation flavor, some cherry fruit, and some bitterness. The bitterness dominates the finish. The different components work together pretty well, so it isn’t unpleasant. Much stronger than the first two steeps. By the 5th steep it was much more pleasant. No fermentation flavor and only a hint of bitterness. Flavor is a mix of wood and stone fruit. Finish is still bitter. I’m still drinking (up to about the 7th or 8th steep) and still enjoying the tea. It’s milder and less complex but has no negatives. Just a really nice taste.

I’m pretty much an exclusively sheng drinker, but every once in a while try shou. This tea could make me keep coming back.

From the Sheng Olympics 2015.

Very unusual visually. There are bright orange bits that I’ve never seen in a non-flavored tea. Looking at the website, I discovered that they are flower petals. The tea has an unusual vegetative taste that came to taste like peppermint. It wasn’t unpleasant but didn’t really excite me. Part of the problem may have been that I thought I was drinking an unflavored tea. Not a lot of cha qi, but i did notice a bit of effect.

I bought mine from ebay rather than Yunnan Sourcing. Supposed to be 2008, but I have doubts.

Strange. I got some of this in a travelling tea box a few months ago and really liked it. Anxious to find more, I bought this from ebay because shipping was included. I had one cup and really enjoyed it. Rated 82, which is what I gave the TTB sample.

Next in the saga is the 2015 mandarin tea that was included in Liquid Proust’s Dark Matter group buy. When I tried it a few days ago, it had a very strong fishy smell and taste; I hated it. I tried this again today largely to renew my pleasant memories and guess what? Big fishy smell.

So, what is going on here? Am I somewhat predisposed to taste fish after the previous tea? Was it there before but I missed it? Is some of the tea fishy and some not? I’ve had this sample for about a month, but took the wrapper off a few weeks ago when I had it for the first time. This isn’t as fishy as the W2T mandarin, but the fish is definitely there. Bottom line is that I’m confused and disappointed. I used to really like this tea as a daily drinker in the evening, but now I’m afraid to try it. Worst is that I bought an 8-pack so have a lot. Also, I gave one to a friend at work to introduce him to puerh, and I’m thinking it probably wasn’t a very good introduction.

I’m still working my way through the Sheng Olympics teas.

I was fully prepared to dislike this tea. It didn’t help that I’m drinking it the morning after a session with 2014 Last Thoughts, which is one of the best teas I’ve ever had. However, this tea stands up to the comparison.

I started out a bit disappointed. The dry leaves consist of fairly tightly compressed small chunks. Not the whole leaves I’ve come to expect from premium teas. The first steep was light in color, with a mild aroma reminiscent of butter. The taste was light and viscous, with an incredible feel in the mouth. As I sipped that first cup the tea just grew on me. Every sip seemed a bit better than the last. I’m sure this was in part due to the extremely powerful cha qi, which started in my chest and arms and is now a whole-body experience, on a par with the Last Thoughts.

The flavors are mild, reminding me of some green-style oolongs I’ve had in the past: butter, straw, and hints of flowers. Strong, long finish, which is probably part of the reason why each sip seemed to improve.

Third steep is a bit darker: medium straw. Nose is still modest, but now is spice rather than butter. The taste is completely different: strong spice character, with the older, buttery flavor barely visible underneath. I like this flavor almost as much as the first, and give the tea credit for added complexity. The viscosity is still there but there is a bit of sharp bite riding on top, and a subtle bitterness underneath, which extends into the finish. I’m not a fan of bitter teas, but this is just a hint, adding interest. The fourth steep had the same characteristics as the third, but more integrated.

I don’t recall the exact price this tea sold for, but recall it was reasonable. I suspect that purchasers got fair value despite the marketing hype. If it hadn’t sold out I’d be buying some.

I got this sample as part of Liquid Proust’s group order from What-Cha. I’ve been enjoying those teas, mostly in the form of “wow. I didn’t know they grew tea in ___.” This tea was just a wow. It can compete with just about any black tea that I’ve drunk.

Starting out prior to steeping, the large, loose-packed leaves made my 1.6 gram sample quite large. The first steep had a mild, slightly fruity aroma. Taste is similar to the nose, but the stone fruit flavor is much more obvious. Taste leans toward sweet rather than astringent, and has a good finish. As I sip, I notice hints of herb and spice. Good texture in the mouth, with just a hint of acid balancing the slight sweetness. Several minutes after the cup is empty, I am still enjoying the finish.

The second steep not quite as good, as the astringency is stronger than the sweetness, though the other elements are still there.

This is a pretty good daily drinker with a lot of cha qi. I had my pot set at 190 F for the first two steeps, resulting in alight straw flavor. After setting it back to 200, the tea had more bite, with a fair amount of tannin, and the straw flavor drifted more toward wood. However, I could still detect a bit of stone fruit under the wood and tannin, and there wasn’t much bitterness, despite a fair amount of dust in my sample.

Tangerine stuffed puerh is one of my guilty pleasures, so I was anxious to try this portion of Liquid Proust’s Dark Matter 2016. I was very disappointed. The fishy smell and taste completely overwhelm what should be a delicate orange flavor. I managed to finish the first cup, dumped the second without tasting after taking a sniff, and am now forcing myself to drink the third. I’m probably going to toss the rest. This isn’t something you can lay down in the pumidor, as it will add flavor to the other teas.