154 Tasting Notes
Backlog
I was brewing this late on Saturday evening while playing video games. I maybe had 3-4 infusions and was enjoying the session, however, I stopped shortly after the last steep. I needed to give my full attention to Helldiver II’s Titans and lost track of tea. Jump to 45-60 minutes later and I get back to the leaf. Before brewing this further, I had placed the idea into my head that this was a tea from earlier and the leaf was spent, so I tossed this into the waste bowl. But wait! I found the wrapper sitting on the tea table and realized my mistake.
I haven’t finished the session yet. I’ve made it to the 5th infusion and wanted to make a note before pushing this opportunity back any further. I usually read a book and have tea before heading into the office for the evening on Tuesdays.
I will note that my fondness for Lapsang has taken a temporary step aside these days. Smoked puerh? I had assumed I’d face the same problem on account that I’ve avoid smoked teas as much as possible. However, upon drinking this, I had forgotten that I really find a smoked puerh quite fascinating! It’s less aggressive, while maintaining a strength in smokiness. It’s comparing burnt wood or BBQ (Lapsang) to burnt honey or sugar (smoked puerh). They each have their place and time, but definitely something I don’t indulge in too often.
Flavors: Burnt Sugar, Smoke, Sweet
I am laughing at my tasting notes on this review because the “aroma” at the start of the session compared to the end of the session were waaay different from each other.
Notes: Aroma reminded me of piss and roasted peanuts. I had hoped it wouldn’t’ve tasted like piss (whatever piss tastes like, I do not care to know). After the second infusion, that piss note had left the pot. End explicit content. This tea tasted slightly burnt, but it turned out to be pleasant after the 3rd infusion. I noted that the tea had more of a toasted walnuts and a charcoal flavor profile after steep #3. It was a warming tea and wasn’t necessarily my favorite from the February club.
Sipdown and backlog
I’ve been drinking too much puerh and oolong lately, that I’ve avoided the flavored tea sipdown pile for too long. This was a leftover from the Christmas Advent season and I was ready to start digging into the pile again. I drank this hot during work last night because I wanted something sweet, but I’m doing the best to avoid the Thin Mint cookies in my freezer.
This is a good brew though. I noted, “strong berry notes, tastes like hot juice (mix of cranberry and grape), and sweet.” I’d imagine this would’ve made for a beautiful iced tea, too.
Flavors: Berries, Cranberry, Grapes, Juicy, Sweet
Sipdown
I purchased a cake of the 2006 Dragon Horse from BTT and this was the free sample that was given. I, of course, was excited to have the opportunity to session a 21 y/o tea. The leaf was very obviously dry stored based on the lack of “dankness” upon opening the sample. How I understand the storage through aging, “Grandma’s basement” is wet storage, and “Grandma’s garage” is cleaned storage (I’m literally comparing this to my actual grandma, btw. Her basement was an old musty and haunted place; while the garage was spotless and well kept, with the ever-slight hint of old cut grass smell, which had attached itself to the lawn mower). To put it another way, Tea with Neldon compared wet storage tea to “beets.” I’m assuming wet beets equals to wet storage and dry beets to dry storage.
Alright, so, we’ve settled on my grandparent’s basement/garage and my very simple knowledge of wet/dried storage. Lol. This tea was perhaps the CLEANEST tasting tea. There was a slight mineral bite which meant there’s still plenty of opportunity in aging. Since this cake isn’t available on BTT’s website, I must assume that it’ll be a grander tea in 10+ years. I’d love to find the money and then a cake of this tea to keep around until it’s 30th birthday. However, I shall slowly drink its younger sibling, the 2006 Dragon Horse, and drink the whole thing by its 20th birthday. I’m getting too impatient to let teas age forever. ;)
Sipdown
After a long day at the hospital visiting a precious baby and their parents, having to drive the most chaotic way home – thanks to the highway constantly being shutdown for construction (welcome to Ohio) – and the snow (making a loud and brief return to the land), I needed a big mug of tea. I reached into the sipdown pile blindly and grabbed this tea. I really love the play that DT has with their Earl Grey blends. This was one of the special EG blends remaining from a couple of years ago, when I discovered DT, after had been given a sample of their Coffee Puerh through an online tea swap. I knew of their existence, of course, they are one of the bigger tea distributors, but the Columbus, Ohio location had closed well before the time I had learned of their existence in our state (I always assumed they were solely Canada based).
Anyway, I had 4tsp of this sitting in the bag. I had the intention of making this as an iced cup. I was video gaming while making the cup, thus, in my hurry, made it a hot cup of tea. Let me note that this, in no way will sway my opinion of this blend, since the final dregs of the highly over brewed and overly bitter mug was the error of my multitasking. One must admit the fault of their hand, if there’s the knowing that the tea usually makes a lovely cuppa. However, before I close on this review, if you’re ever curious what this will taste like, with the intention of it being enough leaf to be watered down by ice and not as a hot cuppa, imagine yourself drinking a very, very bitter hot mug of IPA beer.
Flavors: Citrus, Citrus Zest
Sipdown
I had obtained this from the March Club and meant to get a video posted for the YT channel, but the lighting was too bright on my glasses, and my eyes weren’t visible during the entirety of filming. Unfortunately, I decided the best time to start a video was while indulging on the last bits of tea leaf, therefore, I couldn’t scrounge another cup for a second take. Now, my channel will go another week without content. Lol.
I really enjoyed the mug of this yesterday. I had to run to the hospital to meet a friend’s baby. I was assuming this was going to brew strong since I had placed 2 tsb into an 8oz mug and accidentally over brewed (212F, 5 minutes). The instructions suggested full boil, but only a 3-minute steeping (we all know that a couple of minutes could make or break a session). This was the smoothest and most satisfying mug of Assam I’ve had. Typically, I like a strong mug, but will need to add milk or half-and-half to cut the boldness, however, this didn’t need anything to make it perfect. Thankfully, this is an inexpensive tea, so I may require some down the road, once the sipdown pile has been reduced a bit.
