Bitterleaf Teas

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Recent Tasting Notes

78

This is a queued tasting note.

So, this is my first time ever trying Cha Gao – I bought it from Bitterleaf because I was just incredibly drawn in to how unique and traditional it is, and while I didn’t expect to enjoy it a whole lot I definitely wanted to at least experience it.

I got the “Podium” option, which is tiny samples of each of the three grades; bronze, silver, and gold. I’m starting with the bronze grade because I figured it’d be smarted to work my way ‘up’ so to speak.

I made this at DAVIDsTEA for my first tasting because I wanted to share it with a particular coworker who’s really into straight teas – I thought he’d appreciate it. So, that being said, obviously I didn’t drink this Gong Fu or anything like that – I still haven’t figured out the best way to prepare teas Gong Fu at work. What I did was basically weigh out 2g on our scales and then did my best to “whisk”/dissolve it into a mug of water. Not a full mug, though – I think we used roughly half of a DT Nordic Mug in total so that’d be like 6-8 oz. of water?

It was really hard getting this to fully “dissolve” and it took a long time – but I was surprised when we did get it to that the liquor was still relatively light brown, although very cloudy. It also tasted surprisingly smooth given everything I’ve been told to expect from Gao Cha. We both really enjoyed the flavour, honestly. Overall I’d say that ultimately it was REALLY earthy with a bit of tar-ishness to it. A little bitter and sweet the same way very, very dark chocolate is as well. Not to say that it was chocolatey though. Other than that, I’d say it was also kind of smokey and had a finish that was just a tinge medicinal tasting though not in an awfully unpleasant way.

I was just fascinated by the whole process and experience.

And the caffeine or “qi” – whatever you want to label it as, it hit fast and hard.

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80

Dry leaf: Wheat, hay, honey, sweet tobacco, light dried apple. The dry leaves are so gorgeous! Mixed black leaves and silvery grey green buds. Light and feathery. Little to no broken material in the bag and almost all were 1 leaf and 1 bud as advertised. Not a lot of stem. This tea seems to have been handled very well!

Taste: Very light, sweet, dried hay, honey, citrus flowers. The body built up to medium after the first 4 steepings or so.

Liquor: Pale yellow on first and second steeps, then the leaves really opened up and brewed a nice deep yellow.

Spent leaf: The alternating colors disappear and leaves are a dark olive and medium brown color. Buds varied a little in size, as did the leaves, from small to medium.

Vessel: 110ml gaiwan (actual water 90-100ml)

Love the look of the dry leaf which is very similar to dried wood ear mushrooms! The quality of the leaf/buds is outstanding. The light body developed into a slick light-medium at about the 3rd steep and remained for 8+ steepings. I got some citrus flower and tobacco flavors which I thought were interesting. The aroma in the later steeps was strong and sweet – like clover honey, wildflowers, orchids. A very lovely, light body, sweet, fragrant tea that stays near the front of my cupboard!

Flavors: Fruit Tree Flowers, Hay, Honey, Tobacco

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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85

Dry leaf: Prune, raisin, and figs with an overarching sharp, tart dried cranberry aroma. Very hard compacted dry cake material. Dried hay comes out when leaves are sitting in a warm vessel before brewing and vegetal notes appear after 5 sec. rinse.

Taste: Very light vegetal, seaweed, hay, nice sweetness. Dried cranberry flavor very apparent across all steepings.

Liquor: Bright yellow to gold color.

Spent leaf: Olive to dark olive. No discolorations. Material was fairly broken but it was a tightly compressed sample and took some coaxing to break apart.

Vessel: 125ml clay pot

(Warning folks: This is my very first taste of a sheng and I’m having a good time with it! I’ve waited a long time to get some shengs and am looking forward to drinking through them and reviewing them all. Thank you to Bitterleaf Teas for including this as a free sample in my first order!)

Wow. When I first smelled the dry leaf in the bag, I imagined my nose was inside a bag of moist dried cranberries. The dried cranberry tartness of the dry leaf actually carried over into the cup. I got a nice sweetness and a mouthwatering minerality with no astringency – very pleasant. Overall, I really enjoyed this tea and will adjust my rating/recommendation as my tasting experience expands. Very much looking forward to trying this one again on another day.

Stay tuned for more sheng madness!

03/10/17 Update: I’ve edited my tasting note after a second session with this tea using my dedicated sheng clay pot which I didn’t have when I first tried it. The clay pot plus a little more resting time seem to have made a HUGE difference in the brewing. My first tasting using my glazed gaiwan was ridiculously astringent and not very sweet. I believe time and the use of a clay pot really brought out the true flavors of this tea.

Flavors: Cranberry, Fig, Hay, Mineral, Raisins

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

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84

I prefer this tea to the Yiwu of the 2016 Year of the Monkey.

The tea is nice and long with sweet floral and grassy high notes. I am noticing that most of bitterleaf teas smell alike with the perfume-y thick sweet scent with nectar. I warmed my pot up and tossed some inside. The scent opens further into warm maple syrup and fruity tones with some light florals. I washed the tea and prepared for brewing. The tea is sweet and smooth with a grassy/veggie base along with a delayed huigan. The brew goes down quickly and smoothly with some bitter in the back. This tea is pretty decent, and I feel it fits its price quite well. The tea is nothing extreme or dramatic, but its a good no fuss sheng. The tea is light, but it carries some buzzing tones that follow around my body.

Also, this tea does superb grandpa style. I often brings this to the office and just throw some in a mug and sip at it.

Flavors: Floral, Fruity, Grass, Nectar, Sweet, Vegetal, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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2017 Sheng Olympiad

This is a very unusual tea which is complex and difficult to name every flavor throughout the session. It smells like it’ll be smoky—similar to a cigarette—however, I’m getting a lot of floral & sweet (honey?) notes within the first few steeps. It changes after a few more steeps, though, with a touch of ash; yet, the sweetness still lingers. My palate isn’t as defined as it once was, or perhaps \, my mind wanders too often during these sessions; either way, I’m unable to pick up the other notes (leafy? Mineral? Maybe smoke?). All-in-all, I like this tea. The depth to it is appetizing to my taste and I’ll review this again when I get around to it.

Flavors: Ash, Sweet

mrmopar

This one is pretty faceted to be an Autumn production.

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83

A solid young Mangfei sheng. Fairly bitter with a thickish mouth feel. I would put it more towards the vegetal/bean flavor spectrum than floral or sweet. Not particularly aromatic for a young sheng, but when rinsed the wet leaves did give off a bit more. I think this tea has more potential for aging than the handful of other younger cakes I’ve tried from this area from several vendors.

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80

Dry leaf: An amazing and wonderful dried apricot/apple smell along with a dried shitake mushroom layer. Large, long, slender material.

Taste: Light vegetal, light woodsy, at about the 5th steep I detected a touch of honey and some spice. Light sweetness, smooth. Died off at about the 6th steep but I kept pushing it and got a couple more good cups out of it.

Liquor: Pleasing light to medium mouthfeel. Very light yellow gold color.

Spent leaf: Solid yellow olive green color. No discoloration. Large leaves. Bud and 2 leaves with fairly long stems.

Vessel: 110ml gaiwan. (actual water 90-100ml)

This tea is very light, as you would expect with a yellow tea, but was pleasant and enjoyable. The clover honey traits of a white tea parallel with a slight forest overtone. The next time around, I plan to push it with a higher leaf to water ratio to see what I get. As recommended, I did not use my strainer. The first smell of the dry leaf in the bag was a very memorable moment!

Flavors: Apple, Apricot, Dried Fruit, Mushrooms, Vegetal

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 0 min, 15 sec 6 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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Been on a sheng kick, so choosing to pull this out over the weekend was a bit of an unexpected decision. The material is very small and has no immediate noticeable aroma. I skipped the rinse and poured just boiled water over the leaves from height for a flash steep.

The liquor was dark right from the start, and a bit of a dusty aroma escaped from the leaves. The flavor was a bit like coffee with some sweetness. Very clean-tasting. In the next steep, the liquor darkened even more, the sweetness became more distinct and the flavor more like dark chocolate.

Enjoyed this for several infusions. A nice contrast to my usual selections as of late!

Flavors: Coffee, Dark Chocolate, Sweet

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The aroma of the dry leaves is very fruity, so I was interested to see how this would steep out. Unfortunately, I think I got my gaiwans mixed up and I screwed this up from the start, as I mostly got bitterness out of it. The aroma of the wet leaves was very floral, with a sawdust and pine needle aroma mixed in there, and the texture was.
So I think I got my gaiwans mixed up and screwed up this tea, as I mostly got bitterness out of it. The texture was appreciable, however, and the qi hit me in the first steep with a bit of a head rush and a very noticeable surge of alertness.

A couple steeps in the bitterness faded and gradually gave way to a smoother, spiced floral flavor with nice viscosity. Oddly enough, it starts to remind me of some whites I’ve had. Never really got much huigan but a nice, sweet aroma does cling to the empty tasting cup. I’m going to have to give this one another try soon, though, so I can nail those earlier steeps.

Flavors: Astringent, Bitter, Floral, Pine, Sawdust

Preparation
Boiling 8 g

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Been trying to work through the BLT sheng samples I have sitting around. Gave it a wash and a quick steep. Not too much flavor in the first steep. Soft and like. A bit of hay, in my opinion, with a slightly sweet aroma that clings to the cup.

A little bit more robust in the second steep, but still quite gentle. Florals start to emerge over the next few steeps, but nothing too distinct. I put the session on pause for a while due to getting absorbed by a few tasks. When I come back to it, I’m greeted with a sweeter, thicker brew than what I left behind. Still smooth.

I’ll be coming back to this one tomorrow!

Update:
So I have come back to this one (it’s the following morning) and it’s still very smooth and gentle in flavor, but it has a bit of a buttery taste behind it. Other than that, I’m still mainly getting florals, but nothing overwhelming. The sweetness seems to have died down, as well. Overall, I feel the same about it. I’s not particularly impactful in any way, to me. But it is good and easy to drink.

Flavors: Butter, Floral, Smooth, Sweet

Preparation
8 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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Now, I’ve had a lot of black tea since I got into tea, and never before have I seen such beautiful perfect looking leaves. They’re all like an inch and a half long, fat and twisty, matte black with like 1/20 leaves golden

Brewing at 100C in my ~150ml yixing teapot,

The brew is is smooth, clean, malty, light notes of cocoa, and creamy notes, some light, pleasant astringency and peach, berries and earthy woods, thick, lovely coating of the throat, with a tingly mouthfeel. the brew is a very light orange.

A nice cooling feeling enters in the 4th or 5th steep,
the fruitiness sort of shifts to like grape and orange, lots of minerality becomes noticeable later on, there’s definitely grassiness, and hints of florals way at the back, and then later that fruitiness fades, and its this creamy chocolatey appley deliciousness, I think I’m about 10 steeps in and it’s still going strong (the pot is like mostly full to be fair) I never expect black tea to last this long, it’s late and i want to go to bed.. but this tea is too nice and its still going strong, something I appreciate is that not once, when i took the lid off the pot, was there anything inside the lid, these leaves are big and whole and there is no breakage.

I really like this, but I couldn’t justify the price point.

78

I got this merely out of curiosity, and there was a sale going on, ha. The leaf is moderately compressed with notes of sweet plum and a tobacco tang. I took up a chunk and placed it inside the hot pot. The scent opens into some sweet cherry candy (jolly rancher), and a mix of sweet/sour tobacco. I washed the leaves once and began sippin away. The taste begins good with a fig ending. The fig moves about the tongue; however, it ends with a bite on the palate. The tea turns up the sweetness in the next steeping with a comforatable base. However, I noticed this tea dropped rather quickly. the sweetness is the first to fade as its space in consumed by bitters, tobaccos, and smoke (light on the smoke). The mouth-feel was still semi thick, but the great flavors were gone. I peeked in the pot and noticed that leaves are still pretty green, which explains the lively feeling in my mouth. I continue drinking a bit more, and it soon diminishes to a basic sweet/bitter mix. The qi is not too noticeable with some heat in the face that stays put. The tea is a big “eh”, so its not terrible, but it’s not great. I don’t think it fits the price. Afterwards, the qi did come back at me with a very relaxed stoned feeling, but that was the extent.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOfYoq5AGNu/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Flavors: Cherry, Fig, Plum, Sweet, Tangy, Tobacco

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 5 g 2 OZ / 70 ML

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85

I haven’t had hongcha in awhile, so I pulled this out. The dry leaf is long fuzzy gold and black tendrils with a smooth light milk cocoa aroma. I take another inhale to grasp at salted caramel and malt. I warmed my gaiwan up and placed what I had inside. The scent deepens to Hot dark cocoa and marshmallow. A burnt sugar note peeked through alone with grapeskins. I washed the leaves once and prepared for brewing. The taste is very smooth and sweet. The brew is a little thin, and the tones are not as powerful as I had thought, but it was good hongcha. The tones and smooth malt with some cocoa and base of caramel. A good tea, but I wouldn’t call it great.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPdFghLg7Wh/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel

Flavors: Cocoa, Dark Chocolate, Dark Wood, Grapes, Malt, Marshmallow, Smooth

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 30 sec 7 g 4 OZ / 130 ML

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Decided to follow up lunch with rhinkle with this one. The sample smells pretty sweet and fruity. 7g into the gaiwan, quick rinse, rest and steep. This one starts out light in color and gentle in flavor, with a hint of youthful bitterness. Well-balanced sweetness, florals and fresh wood shavings emerge.

I haven’t had enough time to completely spend these leaves today, so I’ll revisit this tomorrow. So far, the flavor, mouthfeel and amount of bitterness have remained pretty consistent.

Flavors: Bitter, Floral, Sweet, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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I could smell the smoke on this one as soon as I opened the sample envelope. Upon tasting it – if this is ten years of mellowing, I can only imagine what this must have been like young. It’s got that peaty smoky flavor, but balanced by a sweetness. Reminds me of sipping scotch. To be sure, not as smoky as a Lapsang or peaty as Laphroaig, but still quite pronounced! The smoke does eventually tame down, and you get tobacco, wood and some lingering sweetness, but you lose the body pretty quickly too. I don’t usually bother to comment on the “Cha qi” but after the first 150ml I could already feel this lifting my spirits, so to speak.

Not bad, but not altogether to my taste either. Glad I got a sample, probably won’t get a cake.

Flavors: Campfire, Peat, Tobacco, Wood

Preparation
10 g 5 OZ / 150 ML

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Smell is earthy and sweet with no fermentation aroma. The liquor brews up a deep brownish red, with very little haziness to it.

On the initial taste, there is an earthiness to it, but it’s like the smell of soil after a fresh rainfall – not basementy, mushroomy or musty at all. Very clean taste with some sweetness and a hint of fruitiness under it all. Lasted quite a few steeps (I lost track) and I couldn’t make it bitter if I tried.

Overall impression: this is a very clean, mellow and smooth shou. Easy to drink, easy to recommend.

Flavors: Earth, Smooth, Sweet

Preparation
10 g 5 OZ / 150 ML

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Just finished a nice dinner and ready for some more tea. I’ve been really wanting to try this one. The coins smell so fruity in the sample bag, and they easily break in half. One half goes into the gaiwan, weighing in at about 5 grams. I give it a rinse, let it rest for a moment, and then do a quick steep. The liquor comes out a light gold with a very subtle aroma, while the wet leaves remain very fragrant.

The first sip is light and buttery with a very creamy mouthfeel. The next steep remains lighter in flavor, and the third steep (after I had to step away from the tea for a while) comes through stronger and sweeter, with more distinct florals quite similar to the aroma of the leaf.

It doesn’t take long for this one to mellow out, and I feel like its 3 years of age is very apparent, as it has definitely been softened enough that it does require some attention to get the most out of what it has to offer.

I didn’t really get any noticeable bitterness or astringency from it, and I didn’t steep it particularly carefully either. That could just be my tastebuds, though. In any case, it was very delicious, and definitely one I can see myself drinking again and again. I will probably revisit it in the morning, as I’m sure the leaves still have plenty to offer me.

Flavors: Butter, Floral, Sweet, Thick

Preparation
5 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
Haveteawilltravel

A favorite of mine. This is a super easy steeper, and it does well during travels.

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This stuff is so tasty. Pretty sure I drank some back in December, but I guess I didn’t note it, shame on me. I was probably too focused on Zelda.

Anyhow. I usually start my mornings with green during the week, but I figure the weekend is a good chance to drink pu all day, right? 7 grams of this into my gaiwan, quick wash, quick steep. The complexity is apparent from the start. Thick, smooth and mouth-coating, with sweetness, fruit and camphor, and a hint of freshly cut wood. The empty cup smells of a very subtle, floral perfume.

Qi starts to hit a few steeps in. It comes on gradually, and the cooling camphor and huigan get stronger as the session progresses. Eventually, these aspects pull back, giving way to more hay-like notes and a more subtle sweetness.

Flavors: Camphor, Floral, Fruity, Hay, Smooth, Sweet, Thick, Wood

Preparation
Boiling 0 min, 15 sec 7 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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Dry leaves have an absolutely delicious smell, sweet and very floral.

Wet leaves smell of freshly mowed grass and grilled zuchinni, with the floral notes returning as they dry.

Initial steeps were freshly mown grass and floral, with a bit of honeyed sweetness. A bit of nuttiness developed as it went on. Very vibrant and appealing, with a good bit of complexity. It’s really fresh and fragrant, and that sticks around through quite a few steeps.

I’d definitely get this one again. Punches way above it’s price range, both compared to other puerhs I’ve tried and just compared to teas in general.

Flavors: Floral, Freshly Cut Grass, Honey, Sweet

Preparation
8 g 5 OZ / 150 ML

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Got a sample from Matu after he decided he didn’t love it and I’m glad I did! What an awesome tea. In his review, he states that he had to keep the water below 200F to enjoy it but I’m loving my steeps at 208 so far. Grass, root veggies, sweetness, just enough bite, everything I want a raw puer to be. I’ll be buying one soon for sure.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 11 g 5 OZ / 160 ML
Matu

Glad I was able to pass it onto somebody who could appreciate it more! I’m not much of a Huangpian person, myself :)

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Thanks to bitterleaf for this sample

The first steep or two have very noticeable notes of vegetable broth, wheat, thick in the throat, grass, bamboo, medicinal, || after that it’s not super flavourful, it’s thick and brothy but ….. my tongue feels tickly.. it’s oatmealy, and there’s a pretty noticeable qi, it’s hard to find notes honestly, I mean.. pu’er is usually hard for me but this is like expert difficulty, I mean it goes down easy and has really nice mouthfeels, but the flavours are really muddied and too medicinal and light for me, I’d only drink this for the qi and that’s not really the main thing I’m looking for in my tea when it comes down to it.

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I found this teapot on bitterleaf I’m planning to buy and I have all these sheng samples from them, so I figure I should grab a cake of something if any of them are really good enough, then I can get the free shipping and I have a coupon code thing that ends at the end of the month so I gotta go through them quickly-ish

It’s pretty tasty, nothing overly special, dryness starting from steep 4, very nice textures for the first half of the session, goes down easy with a moderate to strong qi, tasting notes:

Hay, seaweed, sweet and thick, milk, slight apricot/nectarine || creamy, earths/woods || astringency, earth, rocks, sweet, honey, cream || dry, hay, spices, medicinal

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85

It’s young, still, but the taste is palatable enough. But the buzz…wow! I could barely sit through the 5th steeping after a long day at work. This is what I call “housework tea.” It’s almost like a small bump of coke without the disgusting crash. I got another 10 steeps the following day and would’ve kept going but I cold brewed the leaves in a pitcher of water…still good to go.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 8 g 5 OZ / 150 ML

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