Berylleb King Tea

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Recent Tasting Notes

90

Fujian Anxi rolled oolong
Anxi (An1 Xi1) = county (安溪) in Minnan known for its oolong cultivars and manufacturing methods; the methods originally tended to involve loosely fisted rolling and moderate oxidation and roasting but have recently been influenced by Taiwan methods
Tie Guan Yin (Tie3 Guan1 Yin1) = oolong category (铁观音 or 鐵觀音), literally Iron Statue Of Guan Yin, referring either to a group of cultivars or a method of manufacture, both originally from Anxi (BabelCarp)

Steeping: No Wash – First steep 5g in 200ml at 80° for 2 mins – 2nd and the rest were fast.

This was a free sample from King Tea. It is an Anxi and therefor unroasted. It brewed as a highly scented pale golden tea with a very delicious creamy aroma. It has very “green” qualities at first taste; fresh and grassy. There is the hint of a floral perfume that’s slightly reminiscent of jasmine.

A light, round flavour in the mouth. Buttery and golden with those freshly cut grass notes. This is a yummy afternoon tea.

Flavors: Butter, Grass, Jasmine

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 200 OZ / 5914 ML

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80

I picked this sample up from Berylleb Tea on Ebay when I ordered a backup gaiwan. I’ve wanted to try some more Xiaguan stuff to see how it is, as I’ve enjoyed what I have had from this factory before. The leaf smelled quite smokey – I was a little worried.

Thankfully, the smokey notes did not translate into the flavor of the tea…at all! I was pretty shocked, because they were quite prominent in the nose. The flavors of this tea were decently simple and consistent. I got notes of dates with an appreciable thickness in the early steeps and a little bit of throat feel as I swallowed. A couple steeps in, the tea developed a slight floral flavor as well, maintaining a decently thick texture. In some of the later steeps, the sweetness became more honey than fruity, but the date/raisin notes returned in the last few steeps. Wasn’t a whole lot going on, but that which was there was pretty tasty. It would probably be better with age, but I find myself able to enjoy these younger factory sheng so long as they aren’t too smokey.

Flavors: Dates, Floral, Honey, Leather, Smoke

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 4 g 2 OZ / 60 ML

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65

This one was weird. I bought it on a whim as part of a Berylleb tea order – should have stuck to Xiaguan tuos and factories I’ve actually heard of. Live and learn lol. It was pretty loosely compressed for a tuo, so I broke off 7.5g for my 120mL gaiwan. The dry leaf aroma was an inoffensive barnyard/hay aroma. Once rinsed, the leaves had a very strong menthol smell to them.

The tea in general was much more minty/menthol than any other young sheng I’ve had. It also brewed up a little bit darker than I would have expected a 2013 to brew. There was some bitterness to this tea which, in the first few steeps, was kind of unpleasant – not because it was too strong, as I love me some sheng with a bite, but it was just an odd bitter note. The tea did get a little bit better after the first few steeps, still lots of of menthol and some thick honey-like notes.

Not a particularly good tea, and a very unusual one as well. I probably won’t drink this tuo up anytime soon, but it might be interesting to revisit it as I hold onto it in the future. At least it was cheap if nothing else.

Flavors: Barnyard, Hay, Honey, Menthol

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 4 OZ / 120 ML

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Was drinking this earlier today and thought that it was a pretty solid Keemun. A little malty, a little fruity. Didn’t really get any roast or smoke so that worked for me.
Pleasant enough tea – I would drink this again.

Thanks Sil for sharing. :))

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90

This tea from Berylleb was strong and punchy without all that much bitterness. It was smooth from the beginning. It continued to be strong and smooth throughout all ten steeps I gave this tea. I did develop some sweet notes in later steeps but I would not use the term apricot. They were more subtle. This tea has a potent aftertaste that is somewhat bitter. As to qi, I can say it has a relaxing qi but this is not what some would call a stoner tea, it’s qi was not quite that strong. I enjoyed this tea immensely. It is at least as good as sheng I have acquired from White2Tea or Yunnan Sourcing. It also claims to be ancient tree, from 400 year old trees. While I believe you should take all such claims with a grain of salt, Berylleb has a good record of telling the truth. I tend to at least believe they believe that this is from 400 year old trees. If bitterness is a prerequisite for a good aging tea, this has enough of it I think it. While the bitterness was not at all unpleasant, it was there but not that much of it. In the end this is a good, slightly bitter sheng for an excellent price. It was on sale for $45 a bing, don’t know if it is still on sale, the regular price lists at $90.

I brewed this tea ten times in my new 150mml ruyao gaiwan from Teaware.house with 10.g leaf and 200 degree water. I gave it a 10 second rinse and a 10 minute rest. I steeped it for 5 sec, 5 sec, 7 sec, 10 sec, 15 sec, 20 sec, 25 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, and 1 min.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 10 g 5 OZ / 150 ML

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100

Thank heavens I got a sample with my order because I missed it. This remains as one of my favorite blacks, and I am happy to sip it down.

Daylon R Thomas

Did you read the other notes? They are more specific. It has a very strong berry-dark chocolate type of profile for a black tea.

JakeB

I just got mine in the mail—thanks! Underleafed it a bit, but will give it a try again with more leaf on Monday. I swear getting tea in the mail is one of the best feelings.

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100

The cocoa taste has faded a little bit, but the berry is still prominant with the malt. I still have a little of this left, and it too has been subjected to my vanillafying.

I blended in a lot of vanilla beans and scented the tea for almost a month, and the results were really nice. The cocoa notes pop out with the heady vanilla, but the sweet berry notes make it creamy sweet. I only scented a few grams, but I am totally doing the rest. If I want a vanilla tea with berry notes, I can make my own.

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100

Good western. Better Gong Fu.

I really wonder if I could turn some into Earl Grey. The natural fruitiness of the tea might interfere, or it could make a smooth compliment.

Liquid Proust

This is the tea I want to smoke marshmallow into.

Daylon R Thomas

I could totally see that happening :)

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100

Still love this one. Now I sipped down what I could before a potential swap. This really is a favorite.

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100

Personally one of my favorites because of memories. Here’s the old description of it from random steepings: " In terms of taste it is actually closer to a Loashan for me having weird berry notes, some almost like lychee. Definitively sweet in every steep, with more pronounced chocolate in steep 2 at fifty seconds, and caramel in steep four for me. So glad I have a decent amount of this. Got a little buzzed on steep 1." I still get the same experience from it, whether at 15 seconds or 30 progressing Gong Fu at 195 degrees F. Also good western with less leaves.

I’d recommend it as a good tea to try from Berryleb if you are curious about the different dimensions Dian Hong may have, or if you want to try a good black that Berrlyeb offers. It might be less impressive for more experienced drinkers, or it might be what they are looking for if they want both the usual notes of a Dian Hong with some berry notes. A good tea no matter how you rate it.

Flavors: Berries, Caramel, Cocoa, Dark Chocolate, Lychee, Smooth, Sweet, Thick

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 15 sec 3 g 7 OZ / 207 ML

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From Dexter! Thank you so much. :)

So I’ve done some half-assed semi-gongfu brewing of this tea. A couple steeps were overdone and made my teeth feel weird, but generally I’ve enjoyed it. It’s quite rich, and… raisiny, almost. I would consider getting more, even though jin jun mei isn’t my favourite style of tea, so that says something about this one.

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75

I bought it from berylleb in 8g vacuumed sample pack.
First infusion (45 s):
I would say that this tea is good introduction to oolongs with floral (orchid) note – at the beginning present mostly in smell. This note is really subtle, doesn’t irritate in any way. Taste is only slightly vegetal. After 15 mins when tea cooled down I started to taste floral notes as well. Interesting. Quite good for first steeping.
Second infusion (90s):
Floral smell is at same level as on first infusion.

Final: Considering I’m not fan of teas with floral notes this is quite good tea. It is nice and relaxing so I’d recommend it to anyone who is fond of smell of orchids.

Flavors: Flowers, Orchid, Vegetal

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML

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I get a mild malt with tanginess from this and a bit of honey. There isn’t anything that makes me say “Ooo, have to have this over similar Yunnan Sourcing teas” though the price is certainly right. It is close to some honey blacks, but the mouth feel afterward is much more drying than those have been for me and not as much honey sensation.

I hope I got this entered correctly and not in duplicate. There are so many names for this company. I searched through all of them I could find and didn’t see this listed.

This is my first tea from Berylleb. And honestly, their name makes me smile every time I see it. I want to pronounce it Bellyreb and that makes me think of a good ol’ boy in overalls with a round pot belly. Not the most PC of associations, I grant you. But the picture of that drinking tea from a China cups tickles me.

I am glad to have tried this. It was a pleasant morning cup. Thanks again, Liquid Proust!

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95

One of the first teas that made me interested in Taiwan Oolongs. Butter smell is in pefect harmony with the whole impression.
Personally I steep it around 7-8 times…basically one teaspoon for whole working day at the office.
As Leon and some other members mentioned, I started with less then one minute for first steep time.
Highly recommend!

Flavors: Butter, Fruity

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 45 sec 1 tsp 250 OZ / 7393 ML

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90

Sip down. This tea is officially one of my favorite Dan Congs from the past few years. It’s also interesting to see how my opinion changed of it based on brewing parameters when I just got into the world of Gong Fu. I’ve got other roasted oolongs thanks to LP and Rasseru, so I am more than covered. Not sure if I will buy some in the near future.

Dan Congs were my go to, and now, I am not too sure. I’d probably come back to this one. Otherwise, the Indonesia Bao Zhong I’ve had has best fit the nutty and floral profile I crave. I would deny a offered Dan Cong either, however. At least I’m getting better on finding the essentials of something I want and do not need, lol.

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90

Wow, I’ve been using too many leaves and wasting my money because of it. Thank heavens I realized how strong this tea was even with 7 leaves alone. I brewed it 30 seconds and it was incredibly almond-like, nutty with a sweet floral honeysuckle background. This tea is not nearly as robust as the Oolong Supreme Dan Cong, but it is very light, subtle, and filled with flavor. I figured out what I wanted from the brew, so my review improves. My rating also improves significantly because the less leaves needed means the more money saved.

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90

The first time was wonderful. It was like drinking orchids with almonds and dried cherries. Of course, the session was Gong Fu with 4 grams in a little less than five ounces. The flavors got sweeter, smokier, nuttier, and better. Other times were disappointing and it tasted like a bland oolong with a little nuttiness, not much else. Sometimes it could be too roasty for longer steepings. That’s why 10-20-30 seconds is better.

Drinking it now in a giant tea ball, it opens more and opens up nicely. I change my mind on this one too much. I either love it or am too bored with it. There’s little in between. I’d recommend it to experienced drinkers for sure, but something too exotic for newbies. It really has to be brewed with precision.

Flavors: Almond, Cherry, Dried Fruit, Flowers, Honeysuckle, Nuts, Orchid, Osmanthus, Roasted

Rasseru

Does it develop nicely western style?

Daylon R Thomas

I could have sworn I replied. It does not hold up as well as the Shui Xian does Western, but even then, the first steep of the Shui Xian is best at a minute Western. This tea, however, is a lot more delicate in terms of notes. It only develops nicely in the few seconds from 10-30, but it should be left at 10, 20, and 30.

Rasseru

Its happened to me a few times when using my phone, posts dont show up.

Maybe im wording wrong, I mean letting the flavour develop in the cup as it cools (after you take out the leaves) – I like the change in some Oolongs, and particularly like them when they hit about 80 or 70 degrees, when sometimes sweetness starts coming through.

I have read somewhere that some Oolongs are best drank when they are this temperature.

Daylon R Thomas

You taste the smoother notes as it cools more like almond, cherry, and the sweetness. And I can totally see why oolongs are better at that temperature.

Rasseru

Sounds like my kind of tea – smoke with almond & cherry coming out over the course of the mug.. And the price is nice as well

Daylon R Thomas

Keep in mind that it is VERY subtle though, so don’t expect them to be obvious unless that is exactly what you are looking for.

Rasseru

i’ll have to try some of berylleb’s tea, I can see you are really on the fence with this one!

Daylon R Thomas

Now, I definitely recommend it. I got bigger leaves in the last cup and the yummy flavors in full.

Rasseru

haha, what weight & temps did you use, do you remember?

Daylon R Thomas

185 degrees Fahrenheit or 85 C at first, then I let it cool down a little bit as it steeps. I’m bad about measuring weight. I usually eyeball it by getting two to three generous hand pinches into a six and half ounces vessel, picking larger leaves if I can. I do know at least that it does not exceed 5 grams. 3-4 g is the best estimate especially Gong Fu. I prefer closer to 3 grams Western. Again, for me, it depends on the leaf sizes. I use less if I have bigger leaves, more if I have smaller leaves. Hopefully, this word soup helps.

Rasseru

yes, understood, im more or less exactly the same, 3g western and more gongfu, and temps around 90c

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75

need to get a few sipdowns in since tea friends exploded my tea quantities heh. Last of this today was another decent enough cup, though noting spectacularly WOW. :)

OMGsrsly

Teasplosion! :D

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75

drink, drink, drink. so many tea, so little time. a decent cup for this morning, but nothing exciting to say about it. :)

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75

bumping the rating up on this one – not sure if it’s just a time factor, in that when i first started drinking it, it was too fresh but this seems to have mellowed out and is tastier than when i first started drinking it. there’s much more flavour happening here which makes me a happier camper.

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