Farmerleaf

I took this tea in my gaiwan today morning.

It was more vegetal than I remember from grandpa brewing. Grassy as well, little sweetness, bit of astringency. Brews easily, I did not care much about steeping times, just when I thought it will be ready, I spilled the tea into a cup. It was good. Nothing really fancy, or some scents or aromas development, just easydrinking tea with nice taste. Reminding me bit green teas, but that is probably bit expected.

Overall, it is nice tea (especially for the price).

Some dust from bag, grandpa, around 4-5 grams.

Why grandpa you ask?
Well, I am kind of lazy. And in Monday I should have exam, but I decided to prepare more – so, 19th August is new date. I still have two attempts remaining. So, I guess I need to study :P
Moreover, I do not know if I slept badly or what was wrong, but I woke up and everything hurts. Shoulders, arms, legs… weird start of the day.
But: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRYvuS9OxdA

Haha, okay lyrics do not really mean how I feel, but the name of the song :D

To the tea:
Liquor is green-yellow, bit cloudy. Lots of leaves actually, few stems too, I kept everything in. Oh, look at the size of the this leaf! That one particular was indeed quite big – 5×2 cm maybe? And so nicely green, no bites, not even too fried one.

It smells bit vegetal, mowed grass (I know how it smells :D) and tastes pretty similar. Grassy, easydrinking tea. And it was quite sweet, maybe kind of peas? Overall, I have enjoyed it and for the price! 3 dollars for 25 grams sample?

SIPDOWN 75
Goodbye tasty tea! You will be missed. I am considering another order at Farmerleaf. Maybe one day… again.

But to the tea. Well, it is delicious black tea, with the notes that derk noticed. I am blaming myself not trying this tea in long time, and it seems it has changed its character a lot during two years I have it around. I completely get the malty base, but with citrus — grapefruit twist. Light astringency casued by the dust I had in. I have used slightly colder water as well.

I hope that it will return one day. They have autumn version available, maybe I should give it a try too. But once I will run out of the most teas in my cupoboard. Since New Year 75 sipdowns is quite impressive, but still there is lots of to drink.

I have again prepared this wonderful tea, and although it is year and half old, it is still one of the most perfect orthodox tea I had and still have something left. I guess next year, if availbable, I will order another.

It’s mild, but still the black tea notes are present. The maltiness, some of citrusy notes (I finally noticed them). And some stonefruits. I really like that even preparation grandpa isn’t bad thing for this tea, as it just remains mild and never bitter. Not even the end of the cuppa!

I see I had this tea, when I was writing tasting note 200. Now I am on 760 (my house number, what a coincidence) and I just… I just don’t care about the number. I just like seeing the “likes” and some comments now and then.

So nice, and easydrinking tea.

Prepared grandpa, one pinch and one smaller pinch, 300 ml glass cup.

Turned same as always. I guess this is my favourite black tea. I could drink it all the time. It’s nicely malty, but not just that, it doesn’t turn bitter and leaves are big and so nice to watch.

Upping a rating from 90 to 96.

Weirdly, I have only half of this left and… one tasting note?

Well, and few hours backlog; I hate it. I could not go so much into details, because, I just forget them.

Anyway, prepared grandpa, two pinches of tea – no accurate measurment, just boiled water.

Turned out very nice, this time with some stone fruits notes, malty, but still very light tea! Typical black tea flavours appear there as well and what amazes me the most, is that I was steeping it for 45 minutes and it was still delicious without any bitterness.

Anybody wants to make New Year swap (I will include this tea :) )? Just for fun. First two come, first two seved basis. I could not afford more right now.

I have decided (same as yesterday morning) to make this tea grandpa style. So, four-five grams of tea, 300 ml of hot water (was boiling 3-5 minutes before I used it). So I guess it can have about 90°C.

Anyway, my cup is fulll of leaf now. It is making dark gold, of course bit cloudy – as no rinse was performed, with aroma of sweet malt, but bit spicy and bit of forest honey.

In taste it is light, but still somehow full-bodied tea. Nothing too much to write about, as it is just black tea :) but certainly it is smooth, enjoyable, easydrinking tea with low and nice price tag . Okay, it has got medium malty flavour with hints of spices!

Edit: My Tasting note No. 200 !!! Woohoo!

This is very sad SIPDOWN. I am not really sure when I will place another order on Farmerleaf, as the shipping even not during corona crisis was very slow and moreover I had to pick it in Prague in customs post office, pay customs fees and so on.

It has “aged” pretty well. Noticed mostly malt and leather notes, brisk and little tangy flavours. It was coating my mouth with velvet feel, it was wonderfully smooth, haven’t noticed much tannic today.

Gonna miss you Yingpan Shan. You were worth the money. Maybe underpriced.

Apparently this tea lost its nutty flavour it got when fresh.

But still, it is exceptional black tea which don’t turn bitter even prepared grandpa with freshly boiled water.

Yes, that’s how I prepared it! Took two pinches into my favourite tall glass cup, and… boiling water in.

It was more malty than usual, although still very fine tea; simple drinker today. I was not paying too much attention too today. Now, I have one tea for one last cup or last gaiwan. Or I will send it elsewhere? I am haven’t decided yet. Maybe I should pick another pouch as it is still quite cheap (2 US dollars per 20 grams, or 6 US dollars per 100 g) Hmm, decisions, decisions… I still remember how I was nervous last time and getting it home. Is it worth it?

Gong-fu time, I have not did it for long time.
4 grams, 85 ml gaiwan.

I was not very precise in steeping times, so it all was in 10 seconds – 90 seconds period. Spiciness was gone, it turned out very malty. But it was great. I liked the taste. Then some sweetness. And in the end, it was like red fruits tea. Interesting development, honestly I miss a bit the spices I had with first steeps in spring-summer, but the red fruits notes were interesting as well. Although I have not listened to it while drinking, here is a song pairing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q89Urbqe7QA – as it was stuck in my head.

Enjoy the song. Enjoy your tea. Enjoy the life.

I took it bit stronger today. 5-6 grams per 300 ml grandpa style.

My parents were enjoying the coffee, while I was enjoying great tea.
It is still same as previous notes I wrote. We were talking about lots of things. Some job is needed in garden, so – actually I am bit avoiding it by writing this tasting note. Meh, I really do not want to do anything, just staying at home, listening to music and relaxing. Not this time I guess.

And guess what! As we were sitting on the patio, we have a little bit of flowers there including few sunflowers. A goldfinch arrived and started to eat the seeds. He was there for 10-15 minutes and enjoying it apparently! It was so nice. So nice as this tea.

PS: I know this is rather diary entry than tasting note.

Grandpa style this time. 3 grams / 300 ml.

Battiling with my anxiety since yesterday. I don’t know who is winning. It is a tie. Tomorrow I am moving for a week to my friend’s place and honestly can not wait for it. More over I have today headache and upset stomach. Meh. I hope I can keep up my tea per day. Probably I will bring my DF boxes with me.

This tea – fragance is wonderful. Honey, roasted nuts. Just perfect. Looks perfect. Tastes perfect. Wonderful price!

Oddly perfect for that price tag.

Finally! My Farmerleaf order. I placed it 15th April and yesterday I got it. I had to go to only customs post office in whole country which is in Prague. So, travel there – I had about 2 hours extra for it, but no, the railroad switches were faulty and I arrived with delay approx. 40 minutes. So, from 2 hours I had only 1 hour before closing time. And guess what! So many people there. I did some small talk with others, while all of us were compaining there is no AC, weather was terrible (around 35 °C).

At first to postal part, where I got some papers, then to customs, where they do not know what Pu-erh tea is, if it is green tea or not (and I gave them my order which I of course did not remember). There is a tax 3.2 per cent for green tea in direct wrapping (maybe pu-erh cakes?), then there is some black tea too. So, by declaration I have “foodstuff suplement”, no tax, just VAT – so I had to pay VAT (of course different counter) return back to customs, where I signed that I paid VAT, return to post office, pay them they will give the parcel to me…
And then leave! About 45 minutes spend there (and it was rather quickly as I have heard). So, free shipping was not really free for me.

But as a logistics student it was good example how it does not work in this country.

Anyway to the tea:
I used 3 grams in ball strainer (meh I know), 4 minutes in boiling water.
This is one of the nicest colour I have seen. Bronze, but shiny, completely clear, just pure eye-candy.

The aroma reminds me roasted nuts a bit, some sweet notes like nuts in sugar.
And taste: chesnuts, I agree with previous rater. Smooth, honey, nutty.

Great tea with great price (if I do not count customs). I suggest getting it before it is gone!

This is a very nice black from Yunnan and, for now, quite affordable. According to the website description it’ll keep the low price until the organic certification comes into place.

My tasting note would be: Very well balanced, earthy, no astringency, mild bitterness.

This is my very first review in Steepster. I was impressed enough with this tea to come and start logging the experience.

It’s part of a limited batch that’s sold out, I got a 20g sample I’m splitting in 3 sessions. 125cc zisha and 95c-ish water, 20 sec first steep then adjusting as I progress.

It’s a fantastic young sheng as it is. Large, whole leaves that make for a light yellow honeyed translucid soup with noticeable viscosity.

Taste is sharp, with notes of citrus, bitter almonds, watercress, moss. Aroma is mostly orange skin. Aging should take the edge off of it and balance them, but not that I’m complaining as they are now… Controlled bitterness, a bit of astringency and a lot of body. Good huigan aftertase.

Qi: pleasantly stimulant. Drinking this one on an empty stomach may result in getting tea drunk.

Teabox Tuesday! This is another of the old samples I snagged from the Here’s Hoping Traveling Teabox, so thank you to tea-sipper for organizing and to all those involved who were nice enough to share their teas! I decided to prepare the 3.1g sample I had gong fu style and sip on it while watching a movie I brought home from the library.

Apparently this is the summer 2016 harvest of this tea, according to the note I wrote on the front of my sampler packet. I do not drink white tea very much — most of the white tea I do drink are flavored blends that I prefer by and large to cold steep and drink in water bottles as refreshing iced teas — so pure white tea brewed warm is very much still in my realm of exploration, so I wouldn’t take anything I say too seriously. I’ve always brewed my whites warm in the 175-185F realm, but after reading the other reviews on this one that recommended bumping up the heat on this one, I just decided to opt for those suggestions and turned up the heat on my kettle from the get-go.

3.10g / 80ml (in a 100ml capacity shiboridashi) / 205F / 20s|30s|40s|50s|60s|75s|90s|120s

The wet leaves were very aromatic, smelling of damp autumn leaves, grapes, and floral perfume. The tea steeped a light yellow color, and the first steep had a soft floral and muscatel aroma. The flavor was very grapey, with strong muscatel and floral notes, and a more subtle leafy note in the background. It was a very sweet infusion! The second infusion brought out a more fruity aroma from the tea, and the flavor was less sweet, with a fruity flavor at the beginning of the sip with notes of grapes, berry, and currant, but the end of the sip was more of a vegetal note of autumn leaf and hay which settled toward the back of the tongue and left a mild astringent/drying after the sip. The third infusion brought out a citrus flavor in the fruity notes, tasting very much of orange rind; the vegetal notes were still quite strong in the third infusion, but the citrus note became more pronounced in the next two infusions, hitting its peak by the fifth. The fruity notes started to drop off quickly after that, and the rest of the session was mostly a soft but pleasant floral tea. By the eighth infusion the aroma on the tea was fairly weak; I was still getting floral flavor in the tea but it was noticably weaker, so I wrapped up the session there.

I really enjoyed this tea! It had quite a bit of variety in flavor and I was surprised by how much it had to give, especially for the age. Maybe I’ve been sleeping on whites for too long. Most of the ones I’ve tried in the past just tasted really strongly of autumn leaves, occassionally of florals, and I don’t think I’ve ever had such a strong fruity presense. It was a fun exploration!

Incredible example of Jingmai tea. Mouthfeel is light but full bodied. I taste well balanced flavors in here. From my experience with other teas, this is noticeably old tree material. The brew carries forth slow and steady cha qi and at its climax is floral and elevated with orchid flower notes. I described the taste of this tea to a friend while we were drinking: “This tea tastes like a bitter tree leaf that was dipped in orchid flower essence water mixed with coconut oil and then shaken off.” Great job Farmerleaf I’m continually impressed.

Obtained through Sheng TTB#3 The dry smell of the dry leaf is extremely strong and sweet and thick. Its what I imagine snorting icing is like.

Steeped for about 11 steeps, opening with a thick texture and an almost painful chemical sweetness which was odd, hadn’t had that in a sheng before. It ALMOST has a huigan but not quite there yet, I think this needs more time. By middle steeps develops some up front bitterness to counterbalance the sweetness, And steeps out very sweet. Not unpleasant, and overall very enjoyable, but I think needs to rest a little longer before I can truly evaluate if this is worth the price.

I actually tried this for the first time a few months ago, but I loved it so much that I wanted to wait until after ordering a cake before posting my notes here:

Quick rinse. Smell is light spicy wood, made my nose tingle.

10s (started at 200F): Warm woods, my nose is tingling, and it has that sort of big air mouth-stretching sensation I enjoy and have mostly gotten from some of bitterleaf’s teas before. Afterwards, a sweetness builds in the depths of my throat.

15s: A bit of slightly tart fruitiness and the barest hint of bitterness join in.

15s (switched to boiling water now): More bitter, in a good way! The liquid feels thicker, brothier, and I feel that mild/moderate bitterness go down my throat. The path it follows feels vivid for a while after, carved and memorable. After the sip, that path slowly fades to cool and sweet. Really enjoying just sitting here and experience that transformation.

20s: Pop rocks at the back of my mouth at the start of the sip. More umami and astringency joining in. Cheeks going fuzzy. Breath going colder, faster.

25s: OH this tea just really came into its own. Initial pop rocks and brightness. Bitterness is more direct and aggressive, but at the same time there’s a higher airier note accompanying it, adding some needed complexity. Then the bitter charges down my throat and leaves cool air and teeth and sides of tongue and throat in its wake, but also that higher unidentifiable aroma note stays in my mouth to elevate the whole experience. My cheeks are warm and lightly fuzzy, my teeth and palate and throat are cold, my heart is starting to pound. Feels like ice at that spot right behind my top front center teeth where I tsk at people who are rude on the train. This is where it’s at!

30s: Same except now my tongue is starting to go numb after.

35s: My first thought: tastes like liquid gold. Staying bright, getting sweeter and also more mineral overall. Oh, I like this one a lot!

40s/56s/70s: Mellowing, fruitier in the throat. This tea could easily go longer, but I’m out of time for this morning.

On the walk to the train afterwards: Tongue feels almost gritty. Lips feel almost numb. I feel like I’m glowing. Not a manic high, I really just feel GOOD.

I first bought a cake of this on a whim in december 2017 (drunk, impulsive, same thing). It was coincidentally also one of my first shengs and I hated it. Coming back to it now after six months and having developed my taste more, here are my thoughts.

The leaves are easy to pry off. You can do it easily with a butter knife if you wanted. I did 1gr to 15ml gongfu style in a jianshui teapot. The tea started out soft with an astringency that sticks with you throughout the sessions. It settles in the back of your throat. The tea soup is quite thick and in the mouth it feels smooth and almost oily.

Only in the fourth steep or so did a bit of sweetness come through, but only peeking out so much before the taste turned flowery. It is hard to explain, but once you’ve swallowed the tea, you’re left with a strange bitter and flowery aroma and taste in your mouth. Like you’ve munched on some rose petals is the best to describe it (and yes, I have done that to know). It is not at all unpleasant, but I can see why I did not like this tea very much back when I was new to puerh tea.

The bitter flowery taste becomes more apparent and around steep number seven I found it leaning just a little bit towards orange peels. The soup kind of sticks against the back of your throat and with further steeps, I found it to begin to have some tardiness to it. Astringency is still there. Towards the end, it was mostly bitter with no further notes or aromas.

Cha qi is quite strong. I felt very alert and aware of my surroundings after, some lightness in the head and almost fidgety. Something I don’t get often either. It gives me great energy.

This is a tea that is not for everyone. I remember regretting buying a whole cake of this, but having revisited it now I can see how I might crave a tea like this once in a while. It’s definitely not a daily drinker for me. There’s still quite some bitterness in it and I was glad to have the jianshui teapot to take some of the edge off. I don’t think most people would enjoy this tea. It’s not necessarily complex in taste, but it has a very straightforward character that will only do for some. I enjoy it, but only once in a while.

First time I tried the Jingmai Shengtai Maocha, harvested in February 2018, from Farmer-leaf.com was two weeks ago. It had just arrived and been in a closed off bag for quite some time (took one month or so to arrive). The smell was very fruity and the taste was fresh, like it was just picked.

That freshness and also the fruitiness has muted a bit. Had it again today and if I hadn’t known what it was and someone had told me it was a green tea I would have believed it. Grassy, steamed vegetable flavours that most people traditionally associate with green tea were abound.

According to William from Farmer-leaf, these ‘green flavours’ should go away for the most part after several months and should be replaced by more ‘sheng-like’ flavours. Also, he said that the later harvest (of March 2018) was actually more fruity and flavourful. They didn’t produce this maocha for it’s initial flavour but they wanted to focus more on creating a tea with a powerful qi and a long finish, because those are more important when creating sheng-pu-erh for aging. I must say the tea has indeed some powerful qi, however not in a way that it overwhelms you, it gave me a feeling of calm alertness and ‘well-being’ and I could drink quite a number of cups without getting ‘tea-drunk’. The maocha also has a nice finish that gives a lingering sensation of sweetness in the mouth.

It will be interesting to see how this maocha will develop in the coming months, so expect another review a couple of months from now.

Tossed it in my sheng order because some red tea for breakfast is my way to go. Had it in the afternoon 7g/140ml silver pot.
Smelled the leaves and there was a lot of banana maltiness going on. As im writing this im currently at the 4th steep and it has a nice deep red colour. There is a good bitterness coating the mouth and slight astringency lingering in the cheeks. Sweetness is not super high but its there and fits the overall tea.
Quite a surprise after being slightly disappointed by most of the shengs i received.

I got a sample of the 2017 version.

Gongfu’d at home, 1g:15ml, 200F:

There was a bit of toastiness with the first steep and then the rest were big flowers with just enough tangy salt blown on them to keep things interesting, with sometimes a surge of salt/acid immediately afterwards, always finally fading into a long lingering sweetness.

By the 6th steep or so, my mouth had gone pleasantly fuzzy.

I didn’t get much energy or flavor transformations, but it was enjoyable to drink, just sort of endless flowers growing near distant ocean breezes.

Grandpa-style at work:

Started out as slightly spicy wood with some flowers, then settled down eventually into sweet straw for the rest of the afternoon.

quick rinse, smells sweet and strongly of GUAVA, of all things

7s: Still smelling guava, but mixed with something else now. Light sweet barnyard orchid guava? The infusion is very pale, and the taste is, well, light sweet barnyard orchid guava. Truth in sniffs right there. Faint dryness after, just the barest pinching in of the cheeks, and after a delay the tightness fades out and cool breath fades in.

12s: The scent is now floral straw, the guava seems to be gone. There’s a brief roughness across the roof of my mouth with the sip, and then again with the pinched cheeks but now they’re kinda sticky (which has bothered me in other teas but for some reason I’m kinda into it this time). This time my cheeks stay a bit sticky even when after a delay the brief huigan comes in.

15s/17s: A bit of the guava has returned to the scent, and finally even hit the flavor a bit! The texture is a bit astringent from the start of the sip now, but the huigan is coming in sooner after and feels more floral. I wish it lasted longer. I think my lips are vibrating.

20s/26s/30s: Hay with slowly decreasing flowers. The texture is maybe a bit less sticky dry than before, instead getting just barely a bit fuzzy now. Feeling sort of little muscle twitches at various places around my body. Jumped up after each steep to do chores around the house. Definitely more of a bwee! tea than a sneepy tea.

40s: This is the first bitterness I’ve gotten from this tea. Not really sharp, a sort of floral scented front-loaded dull bitterness that’s fading into into slightly stickyfuzzy cheeks and oh hey the sweetness afterwards is going further down my throat now. Then it finally lingers for longer as sort of an airy floral note by the roof of my mouth.

50s/1min/80s/2min/5min: Floral hay, with vegetal bitterness getting a bit stronger each time (still fairly mild, though), and flowers in the huigan. Could go longer, but gonna stop now just because I’m hungry.