Bitterleaf Teas

Nice dancong! I got this tea from my BLT order, and it’s relatively decent. Beautiful leaves with a slight golden sheen, rich aroma that’s pervasive through the dry, wet leaf and empty cup. Decent liquor that is viscous but slightly dull. Nice flavour that is relatively rich and nuanced but fall short of exceptional, juicy texture that still brings an astringent aspect to the session. Average to decent “shan yun” in the character with the tea slightly shifting to a more mineral, body-centric flavour from the fragrant floral notes at the start. The finish is relatively okay, good level of astringency with a decent refreshness and a sweet yet juicy aftertaste. Cha-qi is a bit disappointing but the buzziness is still there, and the steep longevity is better than average, topping out at steep 11-12.

Decent tea overall but would need to be much more to reach an exceptional status.

Sipdown! (13 | 287)

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge (October) – “A Chinese tea”

Another poor neglected tea from an old Bitterleaf sampler that I got over three years ago. Sorry, tea. I guess at least it’s a tea that ages well? :P

This is lovely. I steeped it at a white tea temperature (185°F for me) without a second thought, where really boiling water is probably more appropriate for a pressed white tea. But I have no regrets, because it’s delicious prepared this way. Light and creamy, like a fluffy oat-y marshmallow cloud. It’s difficult to believe there’s no milk added, really. There are some gentle dried fruit notes as well that add a nice honeyed sweetness. But mostly it’s reminding me of some kind of light and delicious oat-based baked good.

Nom nom.

update: BLT reached out to me and allowed me to reorder the gaiwan with free shipping. Thanks to Jonah for following up on this! Very excited for it.

pretty fantastic for the price. is this great tea? no. is it great value? absolutely. hard to call basic shou anything special, as generally seems to be the case, but if I didn’t have too much shou already (and if it wasn’t out of stock…), I would consider purchasing more maybe. I still have a gripe with BLT that they cancelled the gaiwan part of my order, but didn’t notify me until after shipping. The gaiwan was the main reason I even ordered.

generic base root, sweet taste, some slight chocolate as is characteristic of LCT. Sometimes can get a slight date/dried jujube like note. longer steeps can solve the issue w/ thinness.

Decent-ish sheng! I got the dragon ball samples of this tea from my recent BLT order, and of course it isn’t a world-beater, but for the price, I’d say it punches above its weight. Nice leaves with relatively medium bud content, with a decent aroma and a nice liquor. The tea had a decent flavour with a slight nuance but lacked richness and potency. Smooth texture with a slight juiciness to the mouth, paired with an okay-ish character throughout the session. The finish & aftertaste was there but a bit absent, and the steep longevity is roughly average I’d say. Cha-qi was definitely missing in this tea, but what can I expect from a tea that really is quite cheap already.

Definitely better teas out there, but this tea is a relatively solid candidate for daily-drinker status.

Sipdown! (50 | 266)

I’ve these packets from a Bitterleaf sampler for over 3 years now, I figured it’s time to sip through some of them. And since I often enjoy a nice hongcha as my first tea of the day, this one was finished off quickly!

It’s a lovely, super duper mellow and smooth dianhong that reminds me of eating a warm slice of yummy brown bread, like the kind you often get at steakhouses here in the States. And it also has a nice brown sugar sweetness (makes sense, given the name…) along with a hint of honey and those quintessentially Yunnan sweet potato notes. At the end of the sip, fuzzy and lightly tart apricot appears as well.

It’s a simple and deliciously smooth Yunnan black, not terribly complex but why should it be? Could easily see this one as a daily drinker, it’s unfussy and gives such a nice cozy feeling that I love to start the day with. :)

An interesting Dancong! I got this tea from my recent BLT order, and it is quite different from the other dancongs from the Bitterleaf catalogue. Nice dry leaf with a decent wet leaf aroma, paired with a decent liquor, this tea has a juicy yet astringent texture that permeates the mouth. It also provides a lot in terms of character with a wave of “freshness” in a sense going through the palate. Decent finish with a slightly above average aftertaste. The flavour is decent but can tend to be overly bitter when not careful, more so than other dancongs. However, the bitterness pays off with a beautiful permeating salinity in the tongue. Average buzzy cha-qi with a slightly better than average steep longevity makes this tea a 75ish for me.

An okay-ish leaning to decent raw puerh. I got this tea from my recent BLT order, and while it isn’t mind-boggling by any means, it does an okay job for a tea session. Beautiful bud heavy leaves with a decent wet leaf aroma and a decent liquor. This tea had a beautiful texture that was smooth yet bitey, and juicy all in one. Decent finish and relatively decent aftertaste as well. The flavour was nice and generally above average but I felt it lacked potency and nuance. This tea lacked a character and didn’t really have much going for it in terms of steep longevity and cha-qi. This tea is definitely not bad, and had definitive aspects that were quality, but just not good enough overall to be a 80+ tea for me.

A very nice white tea! I got this tea from my BLT order, and it generally is quite good for the price. Decent flavour with decent dry leaf and liquor, paired with a incredibly juicy yet smooth texture and a decent finish. This tea also had a nice buzzy cha-qi and an incredible steep longevity, lasting up to steep 11. This tea however lacked in a richness and complexity when it came to flavour and aroma, and lacked in much character as well as in aftertaste. Despite its shortcomings, I still confer that this tea is worth it for the price, and is a good example of Yunnan white teas.

A decent dancong! I got this tea from my recent BLT order, and for the price, this tea is quite good. Beautiful leaves with a vibrant yellow sheen, paired with a decent wet leaf aroma and a decent liquor. This tea had a generally more “masculine” flavour profile with a deeper minerality and spices flavour, but still retained a characteristic citrusy taste. Juicy and smooth texture with noticeable “shan yun”, and this tea also had a very nice, refreshing aftertaste and a decent finish. This tea had a decent character and complexity, with a decent steep longevity. This tea falls apart mostly when it comes to cha qi, with a lack of cha qi being the glaring lack in this tea.

While this tea should be praised for what it does right, especially at this price, it can definitely push the boundaries of its qualities to make it a 80 or 85+ tea.

For the price, a okayish green. I got this tea from my recent BLT order, and while there are some good things, there are some inadequacies when it comes to this tea. Beautiful, vibrant leaves with a rich and relatively complex aroma, prisitine liquor and a delicate yet slightly nuanced taste. This tea also had a smooth texture that kept it interesting with a slight astringency to the mouthfeel. However, this tea fell off somewhat quickly by steep 3 or 4, and there isn’t much character to the tea. On top of that, this tea lacked any noticeable cha-qi and had a below than average finish & aftertaste. For the price, it could be worth, but I’d suggest saving up the money you would’ve spent on this tea to buy something better in the future.

A wonderful, wonderful dancong! I got this tea from my recent BLT order, and it really is a well-rounded dancong. Nice and complex aroma paired with a wonderful flavour full of complexity, really straddling the potent and delicate line quite nicely. A wonderful complexity and character of the tea, changing in characteristics between steeps, making for a unique session. Amazing orangey aftertaste with a decent finish, paired with a great steep longevity.

The main criticism I have of this tea is that it doesn’t have enough “shan yun” that is common in high quality dancongs. Don’t get me wrong, it’s there, but for the price tag, I expected more of it. The tea leaves were also slightly inconsistent in picking, and the liquor wasn’t the most inviting but decent when it comes to thickness. The texture was decent, but it could’ve brought slightly more to the table. Lastly, the buzzy cha-qi was present quite a bit, and there was a bit of a warming cha-qi, but they could’ve been a bit more potent.

Overall, a really good tea. I was looking for the ginger that is implied by the name, but it was only slightly present. Otherwise, beautiful tea which I think is worth it despite the steep price point.

Every tea for me seems to be a roughly 7/10 the past few days. I got this tea from my BLT order, and for the price, it is quite nice. Decent aroma and decent liquor, smooth texture that still keeps it interesting with a nice bite, and a decent character, finish & aftertaste. On top of that, a very buzzy cha-qi. The flavour was quite average for a young raw puerh, with a bit of citrusy floral boost to it. This tea doesn’t have much steep longevity, and just felt average when it came to complexity. However, this tea is a great value for price.

Similar yet different to a ripe puerh! I got this tea from my recent BLT order, and it really is an intriguing one. Beautiful liquor paired with a thick texture, a slight chalky finish which was interesting, paired with a pleasant aftertaste and a decent character. This tea was quite broken up though, and the aroma was quite plain and weak. This tea had a decent flavour but didn’t offer enough in my opinion, and the cha-qi is almost unnoticeable.

Not an interesting tea by any metric (other than bitterness?). I got this tea from my recent BLT order, and it just doesn’t ascend above average when it comes to young sheng. Decent leaves and liquor with a decent wet leaf aroma, paired with a decent aftertaste of sweet acidity like a pomelo and a bitey texture and finish. This tea lacked a lot in complexity in terms of character and flavour, and the steep longevity and cha-qi left a lot to be wanted. It just tastes like a slightly more bitter than average young sheng.

My stomach is still feeling a bit off after becoming ill with a virus, but I’m slowly reintroducing tea into my routine after feeling really under the weather. This tea is a very decent Dancong that I got from my recent BLT order. Beautiful and rich wet leaf aroma with a rich and deep flavour that possesses the “shan yun” that is sought after in dancongs. This tea also has a decent character and a decent cha-qi, with a steep longevity that can go into the fourteens or fifteens. This tea doesn’t have the most appealing look as the leaves were a bit broken and inconsistent, and the tea was pretty bang average when it came to the finish & aftertaste, dry leaf aroma, complexity, and texture. If these areas were better, this definitely could’ve been a top drawer dancong.

Not worth the price. I got this tea from my recent BLT order, and while it is decent, it isn’t worth it. Beautiful leaves with a nice and fragrant aroma, decent cha-qi and decent aftertaste. Everything is nice but just not special or not stand out compared to other dancongs. This tea has poor steep longevity and it just didn’t offer much in terms of complexity and character. Definitely not a bad tea, but for the price? Not worth.

A nice yet average pu-erh! I got this tea from my recent BLT order, and while there wasn’t much to rave about this tea, it isn’t bad by any means either. Beautiful pickings and liquor with a potent wet leaf aroma, average texture, finish and aftertaste. The big stand out for this tea is its cha-qi, with it being persistently present even from steep 1. This tea lacked in character and complexity, flavour lacked in potency and dimensionality, and the tea didn’t hold up for that many infusions. Overall, decent decent, but there’s better for this price.

A unique yellow tea! I got this tea from my recent BLT order, and it is the first time I had a yellow tea cake. Smooth aged aroma with a unique and relatively complex taste (reminds me of ripened avocados), along with a thick texture and a juicy finish, this tea is quite interesting! This tea however lacked in cha-qi and flavour potency, and was pretty bang average in aftertaste and leaf & liquor. Overall an interesting tea, but probably not worth the price.

An interesting pu-erh! I got these dragon balls as samples from my recent BLT order, and while this tea lacks in some areas, it makes up in others. Beautiful leaves and vibrant liquor with a holy truck load finish where the astringency in the mouth lets way to a tsunami of juiciness. Decent aftertaste with decent cha-qi as well. The flavour however was a bit lacking in complexity and strength, and the aroma had the same problem too. Slightly thin texture with a subpar longevity and average character makes this tea decent but not something to rave about.

Grandpa Style!

Spent most of the afternoon sipping on this interesting tea that’s sort of a white tea and sort of a purple tea. The combination of a bad ankle and a cold have kept me very home bound the past five days. With the last two in particular. I’ve been very congested, and that’s created some hesitancy on my part to brew some of the more nuanced or delicate teas I brought with me on this vacation to enjoy. I had a moment earlier today, though, where my fever seemed to break and I was feeling more clear – that’s when I steeped this up! Though I do think my sense of taste is a bit too dull to fully appreciate this tea, I’m still finding pleasure in the soft anise sweetness and gentle herbaceous notes. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CvODWACONKU/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHxTw_iK3aQ

Decided to go with a Western style mug for my first tasting. Not sure why exactly, it just felt sort of right!? This “not quite a purple tea” and “not quite a white tea” is really interesting, and I totally get why my IG friend Justin Other was so content having this as a ‘go to’ while traveling! I felt like it had a lot of more savory and herbaceous notes of things like fresh basil and dried krishna tulsi, with an anise like sweetness!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/Chudu88LKBZ/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWaJ3drIeaA

A mediocre Dancong. I got this tea from my recent BLT order, and it really isn’t much good. Beautiful leaves and potent wet leaf aroma, while packing a decent and pleasant flavour. However, this tea has a thin texture and an overtly drying finish, not much character and complexity and a lack of cha-qi. For a dancong, this tea is also unable to handle too many steeps as well, which is a bummer. Don’t recommend buying this tea, it’s better to put your money elsewhere.

Gongfu!

Almost immediately I felt like the was a lot going on with this tea on multiple levels: taste, texture, and body feeling. Though initially on the softer side, this picked up asteingency and bitterness steadily with a very strong aromatic and woody taste to match – notes of kale and other bitter leafy greens, slightly medicinal but still somewhat sweet yuzu zest, incense, and bee pollen came to mind while drinking the infusions. Most of those notes are not something that resonate with me typically, though I loved the more pithy citrus elements and there was a floral green sweetness in the back end/aftertaste of some steeps that reminded me of garden peas. This was not necessarily an immediate favourite of mine, but I can really see why there’s a lot of people put there who love this material/region!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/ChkaNjZOqpi/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMSu30JswMs