318 Tasting Notes

70

The dry leaf smells smooth and roasty. Brews a medium orange. Initial steeps taste predominantly of roast with a bit of tobacco and leather and a light sweetness. There is a bit of a rubber-like note that fades over time. With the third steep I start to get a good mineral note. I was hoping this tea would get better as I go, but it pretty much stays the same.

Flavors: Leather, Mineral, Roasted, Tobacco

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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87

I’ve ordered a couple of ripes lately because I drank down quite a bit of my relatively small ripe collection over the winter. This one sounded nice, and for only $16 I thought why the heck not!

The cake smells fairly clean for a young ripe, and the taste follows suit. It makes a bold brew with a thick mouthfeel. Tastes of wet earth and pecan with a bit of camphor and mineral and a brown sugar sweetness. Comparable to Dayi’s more premium ripes. I like this tea quite a bit and it’s a steal at it’s current price.

Flavors: Brown Sugar, Camphor, Mineral, Nuts, Pecan, Wet Earth

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 10 g 5 OZ / 140 ML

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80
drank Rou Gui (2017) by Old Ways Tea
318 tasting notes

I got a sample of this with a teapot that I bought second hand from someone on Tea Forum. The dry leaf smells roasty with a slight fruityness. It brews a medium orange color and has a very strong mineral note, maybe the strongest I’ve experienced. It also tastes of roasted barley and overripe fruit. Lilly aroma. This was quite enjoyable, however from the second steep on I got a strong, savory cooked meat or pumpkin-like note that I didn’t really enjoy. Maybe I should have used cooler water? I’m never quite sure what temperature to brew yancha at, but I’ve seen some places recommend boiling…

Flavors: Floral, Fruity, Meat, Mineral, Pumpkin, Roasted

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 8 g 4 OZ / 120 ML

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92
drank 200X Wuliang Raw Puer by white2tea
318 tasting notes

I was really interested in this tea, and lucked into a sample via a kind Redditor.

It has lightly woody camphor and pine notes, and a honeyed, fruity, yeasty funk like a good Belgian ale. Low bitterness, low-moderate astringency. Signs of it’s youth have mostly faded save for a few green spots in the spent leaves. Reminds me a bit of Repave, but fruitier and more accessible.

Full review on the blog https://themellifiedcup.wordpress.com/2018/02/15/white-2-teas-200x-wuliang/

Flavors: Butter, Camphor, Fruity, Honey, Mineral, Pine, Pumpkin, Sugarcane, Yeasty

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 3 OZ / 90 ML
Michael Brooks

I totally agree with your comment on it tasting like a more approachable Repave. One of my favourites; hoping to do a proper tasting soon!

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86

Blind caked this one, mostly because it was cheap, Dayi, and the wrapper looks gorgeous.

Compression is on the loose side for a factory cake. The smell of the dry leaf is quite funky, almost fishy, so I gave it three rinses. It brews a nice red-brown color and not too murky. The taste is nice, earthy with hints of cocoa and a definite dried fruit note. There is a noticeable date/dried apricot aftertaste. The mouthfeel is on the brothy side, not very clean but this may improve with age. This is the opposite of a woody/camphorous ripe, I don’t get any of those flavors.

This is a good tea, a little funky but that should fade with age. Definitely a good buy right now.

Flavors: Apricot, Cocoa, Dark Wood, Dates, Fruity, Wet Earth

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 10 g 5 OZ / 140 ML

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86

I ordered this of this out of curiosity, and I’m glad I did! The leaves are interesting, looking a lot like a Yunnan gold bud black but with the gold buds being more grey. The dry leaves smell strongly of sweet potato which had me worried.

It brews a medium yellow and tastes of sweet potatoes, but also tropical fruit (mango maybe), mineral, and umami. It’s an interesting mix of sweet and savory. It lasts for many infusions, but astringency seems to build up as you go. In latter steeps it was very astringent.

Overall tasty and interesting!

In other news, I started a blog! https://themellifiedcup.wordpress.com/
It would mean a lot if you would check it out and comment or give feedback on the blog and what you would like to see on it in the future.

Flavors: Mango, Mint, Sweet Potatoes, Tropical, Umami

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 4 OZ / 120 ML
apefuzz

Congrats on the blog! Will be following.
Also glad to hear that YS’s first yellow tea is good. I was curious about it as well.

tperez

Thanks apefuzz!

Alexander

great, always looking for good blogs to read :-)

Terri HarpLady

Your blog looks great, and the pics are beautiful!

tperez

Thanks guys!

__Morgana__

Yes, congrats!

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65

Got a sample of this tea a while ago, probably over a year now in a swap. While I don’t get the fishy note that a lot of people describe, it mostly tastes like citrus dish detergent.

Edit: Gets better with further steeps! The citrus backs off and becomes more enjoyable

Flavors: Citrus, Mineral, Soap, Wet Earth

Preparation
7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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82

Dry leaves smell like raisins and musty books. My sample looks like it was literally cut with a saw/serrated knife haha. Brews a clear golden orange. Tastes of dried herbs, raisins, old books, and citrus. Nice, oily mouthfeel like I get with a lot of W2T teas; I feel like that’s something he selects for.

Flavors: Citrus, Citrus Fruits, Herbs, Mineral, Musty, Raisins

Preparation
7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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86

Shou sample I got in the mail from Steph on the Slack chat! This is a very clean shou with a strong mineral note. Like every shou I’ve had from Mandala it is very good.

Flavors: Mineral

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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88

This is a nice, mellow, easy drinking young sheng. Thick, oily/brothy texture, low-moderate bitterness and astringency. It has a particularly strong mineral note to it. Moderate sugarcane sweetness balanced by a savory mushroom flavor. All of this with a nice floral orchid aroma. Later steeps develop some musk, citrus, and incense notes.

Flavors: Citrus, Floral, Mineral, Mushrooms, Sugarcane

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 3 OZ / 90 ML
kevdog19

Curious, if this is as head stimulating as 2016. Not even sure if it the same exact tea but I loved the sample I got of the 2016 I had to buy a few cakes. Love the energy that hits the forehead almost instantly.

tperez

I didn’t notice much feeling from this one, but it was a quick little session.

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Profile

Bio

Tea addict since around 2011.

My favorites are pu’erhs, blacks/reds, and roasted oolongs, but I have a growing interest in good whites, and sometimes enjoy greens.

Currently trying to get an education, working a part time job, expand my ceramics/pottery skills, and trying to make the best of existential crisis.

Other than tea I love the outdoors, ceramics, guitar, and diy/building things.

I started a tea blog in February 2018, though admittedly I haven’t updated it much lately.
TheMellifiedCup.Wordpress.com

When I give a tea a numerical rating it’s simply meant to reflect a balance of how well I enjoyed the tea and how it compares to others of the same style. I don’t follow any universal rating criteria, and my ratings are mainly meant for my own use, to remember what I though of a tea and if I want to repurchase.

Location

Clearwater, FL

Website

https://themellifiedcup.wordp...

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