338 Tasting Notes
I seem to be amassing red/black & green teas at the moment so I’m trying to sip them down. This was one of those mornings that a cold snap in the night, and lack of decent sleep had made everything cold & I was dozy. So, I broke out these wonderful soft golden furls & stuck them in my Gaiwan & had three quick steeps before stopping. I used a small pinch in my 160ml & did 10/20/45 seconds just off boiling.
This one is interesting as its a Mao Feng which has been processed into something like a Dian Hong
By the 2nd steep I had that caffeine hit that is like tinnitus in your head, and was up running around trying to tidy everything at once while showering myself :D
As for taste, I agree with CCR that there is some fruity something in the aroma, I actually have found this one quite soft. All the standard malt & chocolate hints, but also this other note which is definitely like tomatoes. Thick & soft mouth.
I always give my red/black/gold teas to my friends who as for an English breakfast blend as its the closest I have, this one is perfect for that. Great pick-me-up tea for the cold mornings
I didnt get much floral notes, probably need a different steep parameter but its a bit strong caffeine-wise for me even flash steeped like this
Flavors: Chocolate, Fruity, Malt
Preparation
Random cheap eBay Tie Guan Yin, was originally for trial for bulk alcoholic tea making, it turns up and its a roasted version. bummer. Didnt mention that in the listing. I was presumptuous :D
But – its not too bad, hints of milk, chocolate & hazelnuts in the medium-light roast, if steeped strongly the floral/vegetal tgy comes through and while isnt the best ive had it isnt bad either. Quite sweet, so it reminded me of cadburys dairy milk or even galaxy (shudder) type of chocolate (but only hints). Later steeps became a mix of vegetal and lighter roast, aroma was hard to place. Nice though.
£8/200g, pretty cheap. I dont really drink roasted TGY. I always wonder about perceived quality when drinking cheap or expensive tea but I havent any other to compare it to so I just have to judge on whether I liked it or not. It was ok – Im not knocking it, and probably nice if you like sweet chocolate milkshake :)
Flavors: Chocolate, Hazelnut, Milk, Roasted, Sugar, Sweet, Vegetal
Drinking a competition grade unsmoked Lapsang Souchong.
Its quite nice, the closest cousin I can compare it to would be a Keemun. Interesting aroma from the leaves and cup, slightly sweet & dry, not too dark or strong & not malty like a standard red tea.
Im currently not feeling all my malty teas – they seem to be growing in number, tasting a bit meh to me. This was a nice refreshing change. It was woody & a bit spicy (slightly dongfang meiren but not)
Interesting session, and worth hunting out if you like Keemuns! No idea where it came from – I think he has a friend from China – thanks RuiA! :)
Award for the ‘Most autumn pile/forest floor looking tea’ goes to this one.
I listened to other reviews and have had it airing out for a long time. I tried it at 1/2/4/7/10m with a hefty chunk in my gaiwan & there was a definite aged flavour, some humid storage taste & some odd fruit I cant put my finger on what it is. Oh, and autumn pile/forest floor. Also a tangy taste that was interesting..
The body and mouthfeels werent thick or heavy, there was a very very slight mouth cooling. Whatever the headfeels/qi was, it was nice. I felt nice and relaxed
For some reason my brain kept thinking this is the sort of tea you give actors in films like LoTR when you want them to get into role properly as a druid.
But while the taste wasnt something amazing (have been drinking some 10+years Mengku also today & this is a bit bland compared) I enjoyed the session. There was an odd complexity to the tang & aged taste. You seriously need to steep it for ages to get the flavour to be strong.
Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Fruity, Tangy, Wet Wood
This tea is meant to be boiled, as it is so in Tibet. I have this same brick from another vendor and mine produces so much heat in my body I can hardly stand it. Definitely a tea for harsh and cold weather for me!
Those are some long steep times! I’m glad my 25g sample is enough to try a buncha different stuff with it, including boiling and doing long steeps.
@cwyn I was going to say this needs to be boiled somehow to get the most out of it, I honestly thought that yesterday.
I don’t have this exact tea, so I cannot speak to it, but you described it the same way I would the 2003 Tibetan Kang brick I purchased from Taobao. These peaty, forest-flavored teas, not flowery oolongs, were what lead me to raw pu’er. After noticing that cooling sensation for the first time tonight, I saw your description and wondered what the cause of the cooling could be.
I’m under the impression that camphor is a terpenoid, and tea does contain these compounds. So it may well be of a similar structure
Triple Laos border tea taste test:
This was my favourite of the three. I loved the rounded less fruity but dense flavour. I would like to say hints of veg & cream in there. I really enjoyed it, and every round this one just had a bit more than the blue one had.
I didnt take notes per se, just noted every round which one I preferred and this one was the winner.
Realised I hadnt tried these yet & did a triple taste session.
This was the fruitiest of the Laos ‘border teas’ but also had some weird bitterness occasionally. I wasnt bad though, and turned into a nicer tea a bit later. I think brewing times are important with this one. It had a cooling effect & tasted younger/sharper than the others, It was a little feisty with its flavours, perhaps a good one to age.
I didnt really take notes, I just tried them at the same time and noted which I preferred each round. This was my least favourite but I still liked it enough to pick up a cake, which shows how much I liked the teas from Chawangshop.
I’ve had a tong of this tea crocked for two years now. It is definitely in a fermentation stage and the taste is much more sour bitter now. Will be a few years before it is drinkable again.
I would like to age stuff here but I need to get a decent setup. My place is so dry. Good for clearing fishy puerh smells though :D
