127 Tasting Notes
S’ mores!
Wow as soon as I threw the leaves into the warmed yixing I was slapped awake woth the smell of something toasty and sweet. I imagined a warmer graham cracker and immediately thought of s’ mores after. Unfortunately my paranoid was confirmed my yixing is still not season thoroughly and is sucking all the flavor out out out tea. Every steeping no matter how short or how hot/cool of water I tasted nothing but the assamica varietal.
Putting off reviewing this until I throw it in a gaiwan to see if this tea is all bark and no bite aroma/flavor wise or my pot is a flavor sucker.
Flavors: Graham Cracker, Toasty, Toffee
Preparation
A high quality TKY for sure but not as complex as I would have hoped. The leaves are surely hand picked and judging but the calming effect I would say this is probably gaoshan cha or close to anyway. I got the generic basic TKY flavor with a little more sweetness and a little less roast as you would guess from the appearance but just no big shockers here maybe my interests have just swayed. I would defiantly drink this tea again maybe seasonally in spring when it is fresh again but I can’t see myself buying it.
Didn’t peak my interest enough personally but if you like lighter TKY this is definitely your tea. It was faintly floral with a very light vegetal sweetness like celery and a slight dry nutty finish like raw walnuts.
High quality for sure and from a fairly high altitude with little to no roast to really show off the freshness but just didn’t wow enough to warrant purchasing.
Flavors: Nutty, Osmanthus, Vegetal, Walnut
Preparation
The tasted improved dramatically when in a gaiwan versus regular open glass brewing, glad I wanted to review this one until I had time to respect the leaves. Usually I just dragonwell village style glass brew it before the gym which results in a plain jane green tea taste. I got the daintly sweet asparagus notes with a whiff of ever so slight floral nature I would have got off a higher end shi feng but a little bit of the complexity was missing.
Not a bad example but I think this takes fourth place of long jings for me with verdant’s shi feng and tevivre(premium xihu) offerings tied for 2nd and jing tea shop shi feng AAA a clear top place for the unbelievable quality of leaf and complexity.
Flavors: Asparagus, Floral, Lima Beans, Sweet
Preparation
Beautiful Eyebrows gotta love the name.
Just realized this is an all bud plucking….. whooops no wonder why it slaps you awake. In an effort to drink within freshness and find an excuse to open something new I once again jammed by yixing full of leaf, which being small tender buds is extra dangerous because one oz volume wise can easily weigh 10-15 g or about twice as dense as most rolled and 3x as dense as most twisted oolongs.
Flavors wise this time around everything got muddled and all I tasted was generic hong cha, tickle of spice like a diluted chai with a slight toffee bitter sweet finish. Not the highest quality as it did seem to bubble (tea scum on only the first 2/3 steepings) on every infusion but depending on much hong cha you drink I doubt it’s worth spending double the price for a slightly better quality just be sure to rinse your tea a tad longer than usual possibly.
A reliable, cheap, SUPER caffeinated but balanced calming energy due to its spring plucking, hong cha that will never brew bitter. I am noticing a trend of only appreciating teas as my stock runs out oh well given my current inventory Im sure I will live with the 65+ other teas crowded my cabinet. A sure staple, Win Win Win.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Malt, Toffee
Preparation
Smells and tastes like a thai green curry amazing vegetal creamy sweetness slight citrus lemongrass sour tang. Honestly cant say much more thai green curry is the exact image I get in my head. Of course accompanied by that gaoshan heavy dose of theanine for extra relaxation.
Not something I could drink everyday but I would easily pay $5-10 for a bunch of small sample bags to pop open when the time is right.
Flavors: Coconut, Floral, Lemongrass
Preparation
Awesome daily drinker
The size of the leaves are telling of the spring nature of the tea so while lacking in much body they are extremity aromatic and sweet. Usual flavors coming of this typical hong cha, matly bitter sweet chocolate that lasts.
Will never buy overpriced/hyped hong cha again now that I have sampled what yunnan sourcing has to offer, only issue is shipping so most people will order in bulk.
Cheap, reliable, affordable
Flavors: Dark Chocolate, Malt
I couldn’t get into this one. Sad because everyone else seems to love it
Yeah I have yet it air out a little and it still reaks like a dusty attic, I will give it a go in a week or so I unfortunately bought a cake luckily it was only $20-30 but I think I like young sheng more than aged I will have to try a few more aged samples
Put this in a place to get some moisture. I think it will open up for you. If it’s not to you liking after that hit me up and we may do a swap.
Thanks Dr Pu worked like a charm but I still wouldnt mind a swap as I have a decent amount of this tea.