351 Tasting Notes
Ah, another Vietnamese Tea. :D Great reviews on this so I will put in my two cents. ^^
They were small tightly rolled green leaves. No tea dust. The dry leaves had a nice vegetal aroma. After the rinse, the leaves had a orchid, fruity (?), slightly floral aroma. The liquor is a very pale amber. I love the creaminess, the natural milk-buttery-like flavor of a good unflavored Jin Xuan and this one was very smooth and brothy too. It was slightly different to me to the ones that I normally drink (TeaVivre, Mandala, and Theodor), it’s almost like a hybrid of the creamy Jin Xuan combined with the familiar honey-like taste of a good TGY. Vegetal, orchid, creamy, buttery, floral and umami notes. Solid, a little different and good Jin Xuan.
Porcelain gaiwan, 5g, 194°F, 110ml, rinse, 7 steeps: 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 85s
Flavors: Broth, Floral, Fruity, Honey, Orchid, Smooth, Umami, Vegetal
Preparation
Each flapjack is roughly 7 grams, with 7 flapjacks in each short stack. Although the wet leaves smelled of earth and wet wood, it was deceiving because the first infusion was more light chocolate with a subtle sweetness. Then kaboom, on the 2nd infusion, it fully opened up, super dark espresso colored liquor with much stronger flavors of more earth, slight bitterness, and a little dark chocolate. On the 3rd, I got mushrooms, stronger earth, but bitterness dissipated completely by the 4th.
By the 6th infusion on, it was a lighter color liquor, medium amber, and it transformed in a more mellow, but earthy, daily tea type. The sweetness, maybe vanilla, and chocolate no longer hidden, it came back. Milky, smooth, creamy, with subdued almost absent fermentation flavors. The 9th infusion was especially chocolate-like, reminded me of the chocolate covered coffee beans. 10th on similar. I liked it so much better after the 5th infusion.
7g, 110ml, rinse, 13 steeps: 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 30s, 35s, 40s, 45s, 50s, 55s, 60s, 65s
Flavors: Caramel, Dark Chocolate, Earth, Molasses, Mushrooms, Vanilla
Preparation
Free sample yay. According to White2Tea this is a pressed Dian Hong black tea from Yunnan, made from sun-dried large leaf varietal material, and zero machine processing. Each mini weighs ~7 grams, shaped in a small flat disk (I really like the disks… Surface area). They sell them in singles (unlike the stacks of Smoove cocoa or flapjacks). There is a picture of a redhead on it in a nice dress, the type of dress I’d never wear :P. I live in baggy comfy clothes. lol (To my mother’s dismay lol)
I digress.
Anyway, the dry mini didn’t really have a smell to me. The wet leaves smelled like goji berries, stone fruits, spices. Hardly any tea dust, big leaves. Surprising in a mini. Smoove Cocoa was like that too. On the 4th infusion, the disk opened up, enter sweet molasses aroma and taste, lots of flavor in this tea. The liquor went from light amber to a darker gold-ish orange. It’s very clean, has a creamy thick taste, fruity with berries, stone fruits, and citrus, malt, wood. Clean, floral, and citrus aftertaste. I didn’t really find it astringent nor bitter as many did in the cake. There were lots of honey, molasses, spice notes too. It’s complex and thoroughly enjoyable.
7g, 110ml, rinse, 15 steeps: 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 30s, 35s, 40s, 45s, 50s, 55s, 60s, 65s,70s, 75s
Flavors: Berries, Citrus, Fruity, Honey, Molasses, Pepper, Spices, Stonefruits
Preparation
Just a quick note on this… So I got to visit my mom and siblings in San Diego, California this past week. I brought a bunch of these because they are so convenient, my Zojirushi thermos, a gaiwan, a couple of other stuff… Didn’t take notes, just counted silently, just enjoyed cups and cups of it. It’s so mellow for a beginner pu erh person (me me me lol). I also upped the rating. I still don’t know what I taste other than the cocoa and delicate sweetness but it was as delightful as spending time with my family. Mom nagged me about cutting my hair (it’s past my waist) and she says I look like cousin-it (haha) but that’s mom. Easy to stay mellow while sipping on this tea :P.
Flavors: Cocoa, Sweet
Preparation
I love San Diego! I’ve been on vacation there a few times. If you feel like tea-cationing, I highly recommend High Tea at Shakespeare’s Corner Shoppe. _
I bet your long hair is lovely, Kawaii433.
Don’t feel bad, Kawaii433, I have waist/hip-length hair, suffer from tonsurephobia, and have had to deal with comments like that from family before, too. I’ve just had to learn to block them out, and have learned from watching fierce Drag Queens that you do what makes you feel beautiful, not what others tell you. ;-)
@Mastress Alita Next time I go there, I’ll try the High Tea at Shakespeare’s Corner Shoppe. I will save that in my yelp bookmarks hehe… And I’m for learning from “fierce Drag Queens”, Mastress Alita! I have tonsurephobia for sure. o.O
@Derk Thank you derk. <3 I may look like cousin-it but I like it.
A cute little stack of 7 flapjacks, each flap jack is roughly 7 grams.
This is an intense, very young raw pu erh. The first two quick infusions, it was pleasant with light floral with some fruit, maybe of stonefruits along with some dirt taste. On the 3rd infusion, the tight flapjack was completely opened and bitterness crept in, as well as some floral sweetness. On the 5th, it was a very strong bitter and the bitterness peaked out on the 6th steep. The sweetness became more intense, but so did the bitterness. Throughout the rest of the 10 steeps, the strong bitterness was always present with some grass, stonefruit, and floral notes. At the point that the leaves opened up fully, it became astringent as well which also seemed to increase on each steep.
If you like bitterness with a slight offset of floral sweetness, you’ll enjoy this tea. If you don’t like strong bitterness, this one is not for you. I’ll be setting this aside to try much further down the road. It’s not bad at all, it has some lovely notes… It’s just bitter and astringent. That’s how I would classify it anyway.
Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Dirt, Grass, Honey, Peach, Stonefruits
Preparation
I think raw is usually steeped with much cooler water? I do anyway? But I’m usually steeping in a full mug for 30 seconds for raw puerh.
Yeah, you’re right and it was too late for me when I thought of it. Other than TeaVivre’s Moonlight raw pu erh 194F (that’s my favorite raw pu erh), I think all the others are usually at 170ish or something. I will try again at 160 or so. Thanks for the reminder :D.
Yeah, I made the mistake of steeping raw pu-erh too hot in the early days, so I know all about bitter raw pu-erh. haha
hehe :D
It depends. These mini cakes often have small leaf particle size, which means the extraction is super fast once they unpack. There’s various ways to counter it. If you want to retain thickness, the best is to keep the infusion times as short as possible, but still use high temperature. Another option is to lower the temperature, which will generally enhance floral elements and mute the bitterness. Another option is to use more water per infusion, which is generally not the best idea as far as I can tell.
I often like to cold brew these mini cakes. Maybe have a rinse or two and steep overnight at room temperature (or below). You get the thickness and the florals, but not that much bitterness that way.
And finally, you can learn to embrace the bitterness :D
It’s probably not for everyone, but there is something exciting about that too.
The above is with respect to teas with fast extraction. For raw pu-erh with full leaves, I would recommend sticking to high temperatures, 200F and above. Coupled with high tea to water ratios and short steeping times, that seems to yield the best results. Also, combining several infusions together can be a way to avoid the overly bitter outliers.
@Togo I’ll try all those suggestions with it. I did 10s, 15s, 20s infusions but I’ll try like 5s. I’ll also try the lower temperature and cold brew. I’m so trying to embrace the bitterness! Little by little, teas that were too bitter before don’t bother me so much anymore so maybe I’m getting used to it. I can only hope. haha Thank you so much for your input!
Starting at 3 seconds on the younger stuff seems to help. I normally do just off boil and quick steeps till I see where the tea is going. Another trick is to allow the tea to rest after the rinse. It will almost take on its on weight in water. Letting it soak in a bit seems to help my brews.
@mrmopar kk I think because of the high bitterness, I’m going to go for that 3 secs or less too. Pour in, pour out. I have never let the tea rest after the rinse (well, at least not on purpose hehe). Lots of good hints on dealing with this little raw beauty. Thank you!
Reading the great review on this while enjoying this. I just finished my first steep after a quick rinse. mmmm Like banana nut bread on this infusion. I have many infusions of yumminess ahead of me and it’s just past midnight. lol
Automatic favorite. I loved all their Vietnamese oolongs, and it looks like I’m going to love their Thailand tea too if they are like this one.
Update: 5g, 110ml, 200°F, rinse, 10 steeps: rinse, 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 85s, 120s, 130s, 140s
Flavors: Baked Bread, banana, Fruity, Malt, Mineral, Roasted nuts, Stonefruits, Vanilla
Preparation
I got this because they are sold out of the non-roasted version. It’s a spring harvest 2017, medium roast and medium oxidization 35-40%. The dry leaves were long dark twisted strips with a yummy aroma of roast, floral and nuts. The liquor is light amber. The texture is comforting, smooth and thick. The first couple of infusions were floral, perfumey, light sweetness. Around the 4th steep, I got some roasted nuts notes but it’s still very floral. It’s a perfumed, highly aromatic, toasty cup of tea.
Porcelain gaiwan, 5g, 203°F, 110ml, rinse, 8 steeps: 25s, 35s, 45s, 55s, 65s, 75s, 85s, 160s (still flavorful)
Flavors: Floral, Gardenias, Honey, Mineral, Pleasantly Sour, Roast nuts
Preparation
“An engaging and balanced tea with a complex flavor profile and a silky smoove body. An ideal shou for both new and veteran Puer drinkers alike. Drink immediately or age as you please.”
Each mini is ~7 grams, 7 minis in each stack… So cutely wrapped. Because of the shape, by the 2nd infusion, it had pretty much dissolved. I didn’t detect any fermentation flavor. No fishy fermentation flavor, no mildew… And not really any strong earthiness nor leather… Aroma nor taste. The cocoa is barely noticeable (wish there was more) but it was there, and it was so soothing and creamy to my mouth and throat, with a nice delicate finish of sweetness. I want to say plain, no taste but it is not. It’s my inexperience with ripe pu erh.
Gentle to my sensitive stomach, smooth mouth-throat feel and since I’m still getting used to the earthy-leathery tastes of ripe pu erh, I enjoyed Smoove Cocoa due to the very mild clean and soft taste, and I put this in the keeper category. Perhaps other Pu erh drinkers who don’t like the strong fermentation flavors will feel the same.
I wish there were other reviews available on this, and to think someone like myself who usually has no idea what I taste or smell unless I don’t like it, it won’t be too informative. I can’t really provide a good taste profile for you experienced tea enthusiasts. White2Tea did say it was a complex flavor profile and I would take their assessment over mine. hehe. I can only say that I liked it and am glad I bought the minis and the cake. I think with time, it’ll be much better too.
7g, 110ml, rinse, 5s, 10s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 30s, 35s, 40s, 45s, 50s, 55s, 60s (then I tried it at double the time, still extremely mild)
Flavors: Cocoa, Sweet
On the other hand, I am looking forward to trying these as they are on the way with my recent W2T order :)
Yay, I’m so glad. I am looking forward to your review of it. I can’t wait to read it because I really like it but have no idea why. There is so much there, I just don’t know what it is. :)
3rd note on this. I got the tea bags for a trip and it tastes different. Still good, similar but different. I had noted that they changed it for their 10th anniversary in 2017 in my first note, and I didn’t notice the difference. Now I do. The bitterness seems to be toned down (different mate blend), little more woodsy. Either formula is good for me because it’s a simple morning kickstarter.
Flavors: Lemon, Lemon Zest, Lemongrass, Wood
Preparation
I finally got my package. Our post office is the worst. The nightmare was worse than usual. The past two weeks it was an egg hunt but not particularly fun lol. For one, the post office who had it all along kept the phone off the hook. On the site they said they shipped it back a long time ago so I couldn’t pick it up. Had to talk to Thedor and well they couldn’t really do anything either. Finally, on the umpteeth trip, my package magically appears at the off-the-hook post office. Hallelujah.
So the tea, it’s everything everyone claimed it was. It is an unbelievable unflavored (yet so flavorable) milk oolong. The cream, the butter, the vanilla, everything was what I hoped for. Could it have been that I was just so frickin’ happy I finally found it? I don’t think so. It’s extremely smooth and a buttery mouthfeel but not oily, I tried it gongfu cha and western brew. It’s excellent. Having said that, TeaVivre’s is a little more vegetal and Mandala’s has a lovely coconut & brown sugar notes. Depending on my mood, I’ll happily cycle through them.
To get free shipping and the ungodly VAT charge removed, I had to buy a LOT. So it was a gamble but I love Jin Xuan so if it was 80-ish rating, I’d still eventually drink it. If any of you just can’t afford the shipping/VAT and don’t want to spend tons of money to try it, I’m more than willing to send you a sample of it. Since I’m relatively new, just give me a P.O. Box or something. I don’t blame anyone. It’s the net. :)
Flavors: Butter, Cream, Creamy, Milk, Smooth, Vanilla
