943 Tasting Notes

79

This is the first Cha Tou I have ever had. When dry it smells very dusty, after the rinse I get a nutty aroma similar to Nutella with a hint of dried fruits. The liquor colour dark brown with an orange undertone, a bit like yixing clay.

The taste is surprisingly subtle and balanced. The notes that come to the fore at certain times are bitter, earthy and sour. There are flavours of coffee, oats, caramel, aluminum. In the finish and aftertaste, I also notice additional notes of sorrel and sugar. The mouthfeel is great. In the initial steeps it’s mostly milky, coating and very heavy. Later on the liquor becomes increasingly mouth-watering, active and foamy.

Flavors: Bitter, Caramel, Coffee, Dust, Earth, Grass, Heavy, Milk, Nuts, Oats, Sour, Sugar, Thick

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec 12 g 4 OZ / 120 ML

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89
drank 2016 Head by white2tea
943 tasting notes

I think this tea is aging quite nicely. I only have a sample of it, but it’s a nice one to drink with a full body, strong and clean taste, and powerful energy. The only aspect that’s lacking is the aroma, but that’s not such an issue for a sheng.

I don’t find the bitterness to be overpowering, it’s very pleasant in fact, even when using boiling water to brew the tea. It’s a strong herbaceous and woody bitterness that quickly transforms into a fragrant sweetness. There are also some floral sour notes in the finish, that, together with the very mineral aftertaste, remind me of high mountain oolongs. Thanks to the protracted aftertaste, the tea stays with you for a long time. The liquor slides down the mouth easily. It has a buttery and slightly powdery mouthfeel and medium viscosity. Drinking this tea makes me sweat a bit, but it’s most noticeable effect is the mind clarity and perception enhancement I get from it. The qi is one of the nicest ones I found, yet it’s not overpowering at all.

I don’t have much to say with regards to particular flavours, it is a very tasty tea for sure though, albeit quite a standard sheng taste profile. I have a feeling it will age well too. The price seems about right to me, it’s neither overpriced nor a steal. However, because it’s not so distinctive, I don’t think I will be tempted enough to get a cake.

Flavors: Bitter, Butter, Dry Grass, Drying, Floral, Flowers, Herbaceous, Mineral, Pleasantly Sour, Stonefruit, Sweet, Wet Rocks, Wood

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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78
drank 2018 Nightlife by white2tea
943 tasting notes

I really like the B/W dry leaf look of a moonlight white like this.

Nightlife doesn’t seem to be the most fragrant of white teas. The dry leaves have a sweet aroma that’s not very complex though. After the rinse, more intriguing fruity smell emerges. There are notes of peach, wood and dates I’d say.

The liquor has an interesting mouthfeel, which is quite numbing and foamy. The body is medium to full. As for the taste, it is strong and expansive, but not my favourite taste profile tbh. It is tart and bitter with a sickly sweet finish that turns into a citrusy and astringent aftertaste.

Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Dates, Fruity, Peach, Tart, Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 30 sec 6 g 4 OZ / 120 ML

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90

The first time I opened the package, a few days ago, the dry leaves had a strong, layered fragrance with notes of steamed milk, nuts, freshly cut grass and banana. Today, I would add stewed tomatoes and coconut to the list. The complexity of aromas is impressive and it continues to be so throughout the session. From the wet leaves I get aromas of chicory, spring onion, rocket, pancakes, melon, fermented fruits and honey.

The rinse is very crisp and lively with a floral sweetness, a light citrus note and flavours akin to milk and white grapes. In later infusions, the taste becomes more grassy and metallic with a sour finish. It is delicious, but not as complex as the fragrance I’d say. One extra flavour I notice is that of almonds.

The aftertaste is strong, long-lasting and well-defined, meaning that its characteristics don’t evolve too much. The main notes are those of flowers and sugarcane, but I also notice some reminiscent of lemon ice cream for example. It is dry both in the mouth and the throat and has a slightly numbing quality to it. Mouthfeel of the liquor is creamy, thick and drying especially on the sides of the mouth.

Flavors: Almond, Citrus, Coconut, Creamy, Drying, Floral, Flowers, Freshly Cut Grass, Grass, Green, Honey, Lemon, Metallic, Milk, Nuts, Pleasantly Sour, Stewed Fruits, Sugar, Sugarcane, Thick, Vegetables, Vegetal, White Grapes

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 30 sec 6 g 4 OZ / 110 ML

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88

I am not sure how pleasant I find this tea. I think it’s less tasty for me than some other recent Scott’s shou blends. What it has going for it though, is that it’s fairly unusual. I also think it can improve quite a bit in the next few years. All things considered, I could see it grow on me, but at the moment I am not planning to get a cake.

The smell is deep and fruity with the main note being blackberry with a light brownies aroma in the background. Taste has very little sweetness. It is smooth and fruity with flavours like blackberry, dark cherry, blue grape skins, char, bread crust and camphor. The aftertaste is quite different and presents some sweetness. There are some umami notes too, like cheddar, as well as decaying grass and porter ale.

The mouthfeel is oily, viscous (while not being very thick), lubricating and a tiny bit powdery. I find the cha qi to be very strong and unusual for a ripe pu’er. It’s somewhat heady and uplifting rather than rushy.

Flavors: Alcohol, Blackberry, Bread, Camphor, Char, Cherry, Compost, Fruity, Grapes, Grass, Umami

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85
drank 2017 Pussy by white2tea
943 tasting notes

I had this tea almost exactly three months ago and found it quite underwhelming in both mouthfeel and cha qi. Today it fared significantly better, much better in fact. The taste seemed to have improved over time and the body seems decent too. Cha qi is a bit too rushy and aggressive for my liking, but it’s not bad at all. Aftertaste is also stronger and more complex than I remember. A remarkable change in 3 months.

The aromas of this tea are quite sweet and floral with notes of apricot, meadow, forest floor and menthol especially. Drinking the rinse shows only hints of the tea’s potential, it is creamy, metallic, tart and pine-like. All those flavours are present later on too, but they are complemented by many more, including mineral, grassy, medicinal, salty and sour ones. The dominant flavour is sweet though. There is a nice earthy bitterness and moderate astringency. At some points the taste reminds me of green tea, but it is much more intense of course. The aftertaste is expansive, vegetal, woody, metallic and fragrant. The bitterness and sweetness also persist and some huigan is present too. One new flavour I notice in the aftertaste is green apple with its crispness.

The mouthfeel starts watery in first 3 infusions. It is also somewhat soapy, sticky and powdery. I would say it is also syrupy without being too thick if that makes sense. Infusions 4 to 6 have a slightly thicker body and a soothing and salivating mouthfeel. After swallowing I get a unique feeling that I am struggling to describe in English (what are good antonyms of slippery? I can’t find any suitable ones.). It is definitely dry and sticky, but that doesn’t quite cut it.

I felt the cha qi in the chest first, then as a pressure in my head, later spreading throughout whole body. It is quite an energizing and rushy tea overall. Even though I didn’t feel defocused, when I stood up I felt dizzy. I also found it a little psychedelic to be honest.

Overall, Pussy is a fairly sweet and energizing tea with decent complexity, unique mouthfeel and medium body. I still don’t think I enjoy it as much as several other teas at similar prices, but after this session I can definitely appreciate its chararacter much more, both in the posive and negative aspects.

Since it’s late already, I think I will cut the session short after 6 steeps and finish in the morning. If I have some extra thoughts, I will add them later.

Flavors: Apricot, Astringent, Bitter, Cream, Drying, Earth, Floral, Flowers, Forest Floor, Grass, Green Apple, Honey, Medicinal, Menthol, Metallic, Mineral, Pine, Pleasantly Sour, Salt, Sweet, Tart, Vegetal, Wood

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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84

I haven’t been drinking much Dan Cong recently, but with the arrival of spring (finally!) I am more tempted to return to this category. This particular one is a very fragrance and texture focused tea. It doesn’t shine in taste or cha qi.

Especially the aromas are incredibly complex and varying. The dry leaf smell is sweet and floral (a little bit like sheng) with notes of wood, cinnamon, orchid, beeswax, green apple and sunflower seeds. Once hit with water, it gets more fruity, thick and spicy. There are hints of cranberry, campfire, tulips and green grass at an outside pool.

The taste starts quite floral and metallic. There is generally not much bitterness, which is why I tend to brew it aggressively. I get flavours of stonefruits, nuts, peach pit, wet hay and roasted pear. It’s not a bad taste profile and I think the taste is quite well defined and memorable, but it’s not exactly my favourite. The aftertaste is not super strong, but it lasts for a very long time and it retains a lot of the tart and fruity notes.

The mouthfeel is very interesting and one the highlights for sure. It is very heavy, buttery, somewhat brassy and a little effervescent. After swallowing, the tea leaves a slick, cooling and drying feeling in the mouth.

This is clearly a high quality tea, but since the fruity taste profile is not quite my cup of tea, I rate it lower.

Flavors: Cinnamon, Cranberry, Drying, Floral, Flowers, Fruity, Grass, Green Apple, Hay, Heavy, Honey, Metallic, Nutty, Orchid, Peach, Pear, Stonefruit, Sweet, Tart, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 2 OZ / 50 ML

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85

This is the first Anji Bia Cha I get a chance to properly try. I just had one sample from Tao Tea Leaf before. The price is relatively low, so I am not expecting a top grade, but I am definitely excited to try it.

Overall, I would say it’s quite delicious and distinctive profile. A lot of its fresh vegetal qualities will probably fade over time, so I will try to finish it asap. I had two sessions with it so far, one with 140ml pot and one with a 60ml gaiwan, even though I used the same amount of leaf in each – 4g. The flavours were definitely stronger and more tasty in the latter, but I think the lighter body of the former allowed for more subtle notes to shine.

The aromas of the dry leaves are very green and somewhat light, reminiscent of asparagus, chestnut, grass, nettle and thistles. In the wet leaves I can also smell some lemongrass. The taste is very vegetal with decent umami and sweetness. There are notes of spinach, lemon balm, cream, carambola, bok choy and courgette. I really like the aftertaste, which is long and sweet and exudes a cooling sensation in the throat. It reminds me of a mix if fresh herbs and sautéed greens. Mouthfeel is velvety and buttery with light to medium body. The cha qi is nice too, very relaxing. It reminds me of japanese greens, but seems to have less caffeine.

Flavors: Asparagus, Bok Choy, Chestnut, Cream, Grass, Green, Herbs, Lemongrass, Spinach, Sweet, Umami, Vegetables, Vegetal, Zucchini

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 30 sec 4 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
Martin Bednář

This sounds like very nice green.

LuckyMe

I ordered the same tea from YS. The flavor profile your described sounds delicious..can’t wait to try it.

Togo

I drank it today again and it put me in a very dancy mood. So I played some African tunes and started dancing around my room :D

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79
drank 2018 Snoozefest by white2tea
943 tasting notes

I had a sample of this tea lying around so I tried it again. I made sure to keep brewing times short and also didn’t use fully boiling water. As a result, it was much more drinkable. I also found some mushroom, grape juice and butter notes in the taste profile and coriander seeds on the nose. It has a very strong and somewhat sweet aftertaste with floral honey-like fragrance. There is a cooling sensation in the throat, but the body feel is very warming. The cha qi is quite energizing and is exactly what I needed at the moment.

Song pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_24OkXN6pg

Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Butter, Coriander Seed, Grapes, Honey, Mushrooms, Sweet

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 4 OZ / 120 ML
derk

Whoa, Refused! The Shape of Punk to Come got a lot of play from me in the late 90s.

Togo

In the late 90s, I was only listening to the albums my parents bought on CD, and Refused was not one of them :(
The ones I remember the most from those years are Nirvana, Rage Against the Machine and The Offspring. Nevermind, The Battle of Los Angeles and Americana, those are the earliest albums I loved :)

derk

A wee Togo rocking out! Those 3 were all good starting points.

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66

This tea has an interesting smell that’s a mix of bread dough, asparagus, cabbage and stir fry. The taste has a strong umami and vegetable notes. It is quite unique, although the closest comparison would probably be a mix of a robust Long Jing and a Laoshan green tea.

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Profile

Bio

Hi, I am a researcher in math, physics and computer science. Apart from teas and mathematics, I enjoy sports and traveling, as well as music of all kinds. Connect at https://rateyourmusic.com/~Togo

I had been drinking Japanese green tea for a while before discovering the world of tea in 2017. I rarely drink blends and generally avoid artificially scented teas. Other than that I try to keep it varied.

My rating description:
100 _ Unforgettable tea, an experience that changes your life.
90 – 100 _ Excellent tea.
80 – 90 _ Very enjoyable, I will buy again.
70 – 80 _ I enjoyed it, but I most likely won’t be buying it again.
60 – 70 _ Decent.
50 – 60 _ Average, forgettable.
40 – 50 _ I didn’t really like the tea, but it is drinkable.
0 – 40 _ I would prefer to avoid the tea.

Location

Innsbruck, Austria

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