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It’s time to take a quick break from reviewing black teas. I finished a 25g pouch of this tea last week, and I have kind of been itching to review it ever since. It was easily one of the most unique white teas I have tried in some time.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After rinsing, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds emitted aromas of corn husk, malt, hay, straw, and butter. After the rinse, I detected aromas of roasted almond, sugarcane, cream, and golden raisin. The first infusion introduced aromas of honeydew, cantaloupe, and marshmallow. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of corn husk, malt, butter, hay, straw, and sugarcane that were balanced by subtler flavors of honeydew, cantaloupe, and golden raisin. The majority of the subsequent infusions brought forth aromas of plum, apricot, watermelon, vanilla, wheat toast, cinnamon, minerals, autumn leaves, white pepper, caramel, horehound, camphor, honey, and sweet potato. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of honeydew and cantaloupe appeared in the mouth alongside notes of wheat toast, marshmallow, cream, minerals, roasted almond, plum, golden apple, vanilla, apricot, bark, autumn leaves, caramel, red pear, cucumber, orange zest, sweet potato, horehound, watermelon rind, and honey. Hints of lychee, cinnamon, white pepper, ginger, and camphor lurked around the fringes. Once the tea began to fade, the liquor started emphasizing notes of minerals, malt, cucumber, wheat toast, watermelon rind, caramel, cream, honeydew, and sweet potato that were chased by lingering hints of orange zest, marshmallow, sugarcane, roasted almond, autumn leaves, vanilla, bark, horehound, ginger, and honey.

This was a durable and amazingly complex Indian white tea with a very unique mix of aroma and flavor components. It reminded me a good deal of an awesome Ceylonese white tea I purchased from Beautiful Taiwan Tea Company several years ago. Compared to that tea, this one was somewhat less refined. Its aroma and flavor components grew increasingly muddled as my review session progressed, and the tea liquor thinned out a little more than I hoped it would. Still, this was a very nice white tea that struck me as stopping perhaps just a hair shy of crossing the threshold of excellence. I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone looking for a unique and challenging white tea that is also an absolute blast to drink and pick apart.

Alright, it’s time to review something I finished earlier in the year. I finished this tea sometime during the spring. I had no intentions to drink it when I did, but I accidentally tore the side of the pouch removing it from the box it arrived in, so I immediately started working my way through what I had of it. Oddly, Nilgiri black teas do not often do a ton for me, yet the ones that impress me really impress me. This was one of those impressive offerings for me.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped 3 grams of loose tea leaves in approximately 8 ounces of 197 F water for 5 minutes. I did not rinse the leaves prior to infusion nor did I attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of straw, blueberry, cream, orange zest, raisin, and strawberry. After infusion, I detected aromas of apricot, plum, honey, cherry, and brown sugar. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of straw, cream, apricot, plum, honey, baked bread, roasted almond, strawberry, raisin, malt, orange zest, blackberry, blueberry, red apple, cherry, pear, and brown sugar that were balanced by hints of butter, vanilla, and fig. Each sip then finished in a smooth, malty, creamy, and very fruity fashion.

I may be alone here, but I found this to be a knockout Nilgiri black tea. I loved its robust fruity notes and the smooth, mellow finish of each sip. What-Cha has been knocking it out of the park for at least the past year or two with their Nilgiri offerings. Each one I try ends up serving as a reminder that I need to devote some time to trying more Nilgiri teas.

This was either my last sipdown in September or my first sipdown in October. I can’t remember which is the case. I finished a bunch of teas right around that time, so my confusion is perhaps understandable. Anway, I’m normally not huge on Yunnan bi luo chun black teas for whatever reason. Even when I like the regular loose leaf/bud offerings, I often find myself less impressed by the formed versions. I’m also normally a huge fan of Feng Qing black teas, and though I am not sure whether or not there is an unrolled/unformed version of this offering, it is still almost always the one regular Feng Qing black tea offering to which I have difficulty warming up each year. That trend continued with this spring 2018 tea. It was not bad, but it also just did not excite me all that much.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of rolled tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds emitted aromas of malt, pine, cocoa, marshmallow, and smoke. After the rinse, I detected aromas of sweet potato, honey, cream, and sugarcane. The first infusion brought out aromas of caramel, baked bread, butter, and banana. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented delicate notes of malt, cream, butter, sweet potato, cooked green beans, and cocoa that were backed by hints of cinnamon, caramel, baked bread, roasted almond, banana, and sugarcane. The majority of the subsequent infusions brought forth aromas of roasted almond, eucalyptus, orange zest, and earth. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of roasted almond, baked bread, caramel, and sugarcane appeared in the mouth alongside notes of marshmallow, minerals, cocoa, and orange zest. I also picked up on hints of smoke, pine, honey, eucalyptus, grass, earth, and horehound. As the tea faded, the liquor served up notes of minerals, cream, cooked green beans, malt, marshmallow, and butter that were chased by lingering hints of baked bread, honey, orange zest, roasted almond, sugarcane, and sweet potato.

This was a very sensitive and subtle tea. It seemed to not react well to infusions that were conducted in rapid succession. It also seemed to hold back a lot throughout each session I conducted with it. Though the body and texture of the tea liquor were nice, the tea’s bouquet was a little more simplistic than I expected, and it was a bit too stuffy and reserved in terms of the way it expressed its flavor components. In the end, this was a pretty good tea, but it was not the sort of Yunnan black tea I typically enjoy. Out of all the regular Feng Qing offerings, this is the one that I will continue to look forward to the least each year.

Here is a slightly more recent sipdown of mine. This one came from either early or mid-September. Considering that many of the reviews I had seen were mixed, I did not expect to like this tea all that much. Well, it ended up surprising me. I found it to be an excellent offering overall.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds produced aromas of baked bread, hay, malt, sweet potato, sugarcane, and chocolate. After the rinse, I detected aromas of roasted peanut, roasted almond, and banana as well as a subtle camphor scent. The first infusion brought out more camphor on the nose. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of baked bread, malt, cream, butter, sweet potato, hay, sugarcane, and roasted almond that were chased by hints of chocolate, roasted peanut, maple syrup, brown sugar, and banana. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of black pepper, cream, butter, eucalyptus, honey, clove, red apple, red grape, and orange zest. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of chocolate, roasted peanut, and brown sugar appeared in the mouth alongside mineral, black pepper, camphor, earth, eucalyptus, red apple, pear, honey, plum, clove, orange zest, and red grape notes. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to offer up notes of minerals, malt, roasted peanut, baked bread, roasted almond, butter, and orange zest that were balanced by lingering hints of sugarcane, red apple, pear, hay, honey, sweet potato, chocolate, and black pepper.

For me, I think the biggest issue with this tea was its name. There was a honey aroma present, but I found the tea’s overall bouquet to be nuttier, creamier, spicier, and more herbal. The honey aroma was not particularly consistent or dominant. I have that complaint a lot with so-called “honey aroma” teas. Ignoring that quibble, though, left me with a very pleasant, balanced, and complex Yunnan golden needle black tea. My advice to anyone interested in this tea would be to ignore the name and do not expect an overwhelming honey aroma. Approach it like you would any other golden needle black tea, and you will likely find it to be a tremendously rewarding offering.

Okay, people. It’s time for my weekly wave of tea reviews. This is one of the golden oldies that I have been meaning to review for some time. I recall this sipdown coming from late August. Unlike a lot of the Yunnan Sourcing teas I had tried up to that point, this one was entirely new to me. I had missed out on all of the previous productions. I’m kind of sorry I did because this ended up being a very respectable offering.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of straw, cedar, malt, honey, baked bread, and cinnamon. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of roasted almond, grass, and pine. The first infusion introduced aromas of roasted peanut and butter. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of malt, butter, cream, straw, baked bread, pine, and roasted peanut that were balanced by subtler impressions of oats, roasted almond, grass, smoke, pear, honey, and cedar. The bulk of the subsequent infusions introduced aromas of smoke, oats, cream, chocolate, black pepper, orange zest, and green bell pepper. Stronger and more immediately evident impressions of oats, grass, pear, and roasted almond appeared in the mouth alongside notes of cinnamon, red apple, minerals, orange zest, plum, earth, and green bell pepper. Hints of black pepper, chocolate, beeswax, and brown sugar were also present. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized impressions of minerals, malt, butter, cream, grass, straw, green bell pepper, roasted peanut, pear, roasted almond, and baked bread that were balanced by fleeting hints of beeswax, red apple, honey, orange zest, oats, and cinnamon.

This was a very approachable and likable Yunnan black tea. As anyone familiar with this offering knows, this tea was processed in the Taiwanese style, and it did a good job of approximating the character of many Taiwanese black teas. I could see it being a good stepping stone into the world of Yunnan black tea for Taiwanese tea drinkers. I also could see it being a good option for fans of Taiwanese black tea that are searching for a value offering capable of standing up to both rigorous gongfu preparations and basic daily drinking.

Okay, here is my final review of the day. This was one of my summer sipdowns, likely coming from either early or mid-August. Though the 2018 Feng Qing black teas have proven to be more variable in terms of quality and appeal than I would typically expect, this was an excellent offering overall.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds produced aromas of malt, baked bread, marshmallow, hay, sugarcane, and sweet potato. After the rinse, I detected aromas of honey, roasted almond, roasted peanut, and eucalyptus. The first infusion introduced aromas of clove and black pepper in addition to a subtle chocolate scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of malt, cooked green beans, sweet potato, marshmallow, grass, hay, caramel, roasted peanut, and sugarcane that were balanced by hints of baked bread, honey, chocolate, black pepper, and eucalyptus. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of green bell pepper, camphor, roasted pecan, earth, and roasted walnut. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of baked bread, black pepper, eucalyptus, and chocolate emerged in the mouth alongside notes of minerals, molasses, earth, roasted almond, green bell pepper, orange zest, celery, camphor, roasted pecan, and roasted walnut. I also picked up on hints of clove, cinnamon, plum, caramelized banana, and red pear. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized mineral, earth, malt, cooked green bean, baked bread, sweet potato, and marshmallow notes that were underscored by lingering hints of hay, chocolate, orange zest, roasted pecan, roasted almond, camphor, eucalyptus, plum, and sugarcane.

This was a very impressive black tea with the expected herbal, vegetal, and spicy impressions so typical of the Feng Qing style. Aside from the relatively minor quibbles that this tea faded a little faster than I would have liked and there were a few instances in which the herb and spice notes were a little overwhelming, there was not much to fault with it. Fans of Feng Qing black teas would likely be highly satisfied with this offering.

This was one of my most recent sipdowns. As a matter of fact, now that I have gotten into the habit of dating the rough drafts of my reviews, I can assure all of you that I finished the last of my pouch of this tea on Saturday and that I composed my review Friday night. Interestingly, Feng Qing #17 continues to both underwhelm and confound me. I know a lot of people absolutely adore teas produced from Feng Qing #17, but I have yet to have one that blows me away. This one obviously did not buck that trend. It was a pretty good golden needle black tea though.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 19 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds produced aromas of malt, chocolate, cream, cedar, tobacco, and brown sugar. After the rinse, I detected aromas of raisin, roasted almond, and banana as well as a subtle scent of smoke. The first infusion brought out aromas of vanilla, maple syrup, baked bread, and butter. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented delicate notes of malt, cream, butter, baked bread, and chocolate that were backed by hints of roasted almond, banana, brown sugar, vanilla, raisin, marshmallow, and tobacco. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of eucalyptus, honey, lemon zest, camphor, praline, marshmallow, black pepper, plum, roasted pecan, and sweet potato. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of roasted almond, vanilla, marshmallow, and banana appeared in the mouth alongside notes of minerals, maple syrup, cedar, eucalyptus, camphor, honey, lemon zest, roasted pecan, black pepper, plum, praline, earth, sweet potato, and orange zest. I also picked out hints of smoke, peach, pear, and red apple lurking here and there. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized mineral, baked bread, lemon zest, orange zest, sweet potato, earth, and roasted almond notes that were balanced by lingering hints of red apple, roasted pecan, butter, cream, tobacco, cedar, plum, pear, eucalyptus, and honey.

This tea displayed admirable depth and complexity, but it was also a little too even-keeled to make much of a lasting impression on me. It ultimately just struck me as a sweet, smooth, approachable, balanced, and steady tea with deceptive depth and complexity. I tend to prefer Yunnan black teas that are a little pricklier and more commanding.

In case anyone who reads my reviews has missed it, I have been focusing on polishing off a lot of the spring 2018 black teas and Dancong oolongs that I purchased that year. I spent way too much money on tea in 2018, and quite frankly, I only realized how many 2018 teas I still had when I recently went through my tea hoard. I’m trying to finish them all prior to the end of spring 2021 since they will likely be more or less at or near their peak up until that point in time. That being said, expect many more reviews of 2018 black and oolong teas over the next 5-6 months. This was one of my last sipdowns of September. At the time I was working my way through what I had of this tea, I recalled liking the spring 2017 version of this tea quite a bit. Fortunately for me, this production had not seemed to have been impacted by its lengthy time in storage and was about as impressive as the previous spring’s offering.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds emitted aromas of smoke, malt, pine, cedar, and butter. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of banana, sweet potato, roasted almond, cream, and vanilla. The first infusion introduced aromas of geranium and baked bread as well as a more subtle roasted peanut scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of malt, roasted almond, cream, and butter that were backed by hints of baked bread, smoke, roasted peanut, sweet potato, caramel, and molasses. There was also a bit of a meaty impression left on the palate after each swallow. It reminded me of smoked or barbecued pork, as crazy as that may sound. The subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of caramel, dark chocolate, orange zest, plum, red grape, roasted hazelnut, sugarcane, and roasted walnut. Stronger and more immediately detectable impressions of baked bread, caramel, sweet potato, molasses, and roasted peanut appeared in the mouth alongside notes of earth, minerals, dark chocolate, red grape, pear, plum, roasted hazelnut, roasted walnut, orange zest, cooked green beans, and sugarcane. I also picked up on hints of pine, red apple, cedar, banana, vanilla, and geranium. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, malt, cooked green beans, roasted peanut, cream, earth, and roasted walnut that were underscored by hints of smoke, dark chocolate, roasted almond, roasted hazelnut, sweet potato, caramel, baked bread, orange zest, and sugarcane.

Overall, this was a great Yunnan black tea. I tend to be a huge sucker for any sort of high grade Yunnan golden bud black tea anyway, but this one really did strike me as being a great offering. I was especially impressed by how well its aroma and flavor components worked together. There were a few things in there that could have easily thrown the liquor off-balance, but they never rocked the boat.

This was the last of the Japanese black teas that I finished in September. Of the three, I found it to be the most challenging and least consistently likable overall. That being said, it was still not a bad tea. I am fairly certain that the way I chose to brew it brought out more bitterness and astringency than would have been present had I opted to dry a different approach.

I brewed this tea in the Western style. I steeped 3 grams of loose leaf material in 8 ounces of 194 F water for 5 minutes. I did not rinse the leaf material prior to infusion nor did I attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material produced aromas of hay, malt, and autumn leaves. After infusion, I noted new aromas of cinnamon, cream, butter, baked bread, pine, cherry, and orange zest. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of hay, grass, malt, cream, butter, baked bread, autumn leaves, orange zest, lemon rind, vegetable broth-like umami, apricot, earth, cinnamon, Asian pear, red apple, plum, pine, kumquat, roasted walnut, oak, and cherry that were balanced by hints of bitter hickory, blackberry, and grapefruit pith before a bitter, astringent, tannic, and earthy fade.

As stated earlier, this was the most challenging and least approachable of the three Japanese black teas I polished off last month. I should have followed the brewing guidelines recommended by What-Cha, but I tend to brew my black teas strong in order to bring out the most in terms of aroma and flavor. I had also had success with longer infusion times for Japanese black teas in the past, so I did not see a reason to alter my usual approach with this tea. Honestly, I was just being lazy and trying to finish it off as quickly as possible. It deserved more attention, consideration, and respect than I showed it. Despite the distracting bitterness and astringency (again, very likely the result of me insisting on sticking with a 5 minute infusion time), this tea had some very nice aroma and flavor components. I would be interested in seeing in what someone with a lighter touch would be able to get out of it.

This was another late summer sipdown. I think it actually may have been either my last sipdown of August or my first sipdown of September. As usual, I can’t remember. Anyway, this struck me as being a pretty good autumn flush Darjeeling black tea. I tend to be quite picky about such offerings, though, so some people are bound to enjoy this tea more than I did.

I prepared this tea in the Western style. I steeped 3 grams of loose leaf material in 8 ounces of 203 F water for 5 minutes. I did not rinse the leaf material prior to infusion nor did I attempt any additional infusions.

Prior to infusion, the dry leaf material produced aromas of malt, baked bread, red grape, and fig. After infusion, I detected aromas of plum, earth, black cherry, oak, smoke, cream, and cocoa. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cream, earth, grass, oak, fig, black cherry, blackberry, plum, red grape, cream, baked bread, cocoa, hickory, roasted walnut, and orange zest that were balanced by hints of smoke, straw, blueberry, lemon zest, caramel, roasted peanut, cooked green beans, and red pear. The finish of each sip was dry, oaky, and fruity, reminding me a bit of red wine.

This was a complex, deep, and in some respects, extremely refined offering. I absolutely loved the heft and texture of the tea liquor in the mouth and the way it finished on each swallow, but there were also some aroma and flavor components that clashed for me. Like several other Darjeeling black teas I have sampled from 2018 to the present, this one struck me as a mixed bag, though there was considerably more to like than to dislike about it.