Camellia Sinensis

Before I purchased Bai Mu Dan, I’d only tried flavoured white teas. I kept hearing good things about white tea but it never really impressed me. Now that I’ve had this I can see why some people like it so much. It has a light body, with notes of fresh vegetables (but not vegative like green tea). Not to say I don’t like flavoured white tea, Champagne from DAVIDsTEA is one of my favs.

Happy to have tried this once. I think I’ll try another white tea, Bai Hao Yin Zhen sometime in the future. So far I like what Bai Mu Dan has to offer, and I’m more open to exploring others now. :)

Steep notes: I’ve tried the suggested 5-7 mins and multiple shorter steeps, they’re both pretty good.

Very refreshing, the flavour reminds me of cucumber and fresh vegetables. :)

I am not a big fan of Qimen/Keemun black tea, but out of the few I’ve tried this is my favourite. Rich velvety texture, deep pungent black tea base, and the floral, smoky, and spice notes combine well. The main characteristic I like most about it is the deep pungent flavour (and I mean this in the best way possible), but I know this is not something everyone enjoys.

To finish off the last of my 50g purchase, I brewed it with short steeps. Given the appearance of the leaves I was pleased with how rich and complex Qimen stays throughout all the steeps. Usually I do not have such excellent results with broken leaf.

Not sure if I would recommend this if you are looking to get into Qimen, (as there are much cheaper options out there), but I found this to be a wonderful experience.

100ml gaiwan, 2 tsp, 6 steeps (rinse, 30s, +10s resteeps)

My first impressions of this tea: floral, smoky, malty, touch of bitterness (in a nice way), deep smooth texture that lingers in my mouth. Hubby was reminded of pine needles while he drank it.

Overall a very gratifying experience, the malty-ness reminds me of Camellia Sinensis’ Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong.

This is the second time I’ve had this tea and wow, I have noticed so many changes just in the aroma! The smell is like a raisin or maybe a prune, pungent but still sweet and moist.

The liquor is like a mead color almost. a little more on the orange side but still quite light (and this tea is 25 years old!) The wet leaves amplify the dried fruit aroma and add more honey and nectar notes

The first infusion only has a slight hint of its age. dry but not sticky, still enough moisture to carry the flavors through the palate.

The second Infusion comes alive with strong notes of fruit and sweetness. the leaves expand quite nicely in my aged Yixing pot, this shows the sign of good roasting!

The third infusion brought a more dry, sweetness than previous infusions. I also needed to brew this one a little bit longer so I’m sure that’s why I tasted these notes.

Infusions 4-9 were more or less the same in terms of aroma, flavor and liquor. The age of the tea, that underlying depth and history started to overtake some of the sweeter flavors during these infusions. The color remained an amber/crimson/peach nectar sort of hue.

After another infusion or two, the tea was taking 4plus minutes to really get any flavor out, and while the color remained, the temperature of the tea was luke warm at best by the time it reached its desired flavor.

When I pulled the leaves out of the pot, they were sturdy but pliable. I saved one full leaf for my tea journal.

Delicious.

Very slight in its aged oolong taste. perhaps the first i’ve had that wasn’t charcoal roasted in successive firings? to me it tastes a little like an Ali Shan black oolong i’ve had, very sweet almost bai hao like but it also has a hint of sour gaba sort of tones and flavors. i’ll be interested to see how the flavor changes. who knows maybe i’ll have it around long enough to require my own firing session.

the first infusion was the least flavorful but still very nice. the second through fifth were all pretty solid. each infusion had one of the subtle flavors come to the forefront.

i probably could have gotten another 3-4 infusions but i was quite tea-ed up and my cha xi collective was disbanding. as a looked through the wet leaves, i noticed that they were still rolled for the most part. the color of the wet leaves was about as dark a fresh ti kuan yin in terms of roasty brown to green ratio. very interesting for an aged tea. i’ll have to think about this one more…

Oh the agony of finishing off a pouch of tea! I used the last 3 teaspoons to make a nice big pot of tea (ok not BIG big, but bigger than what I normally do).

Delicate, silky, muscatel, comforting.

It’s hard for me to use up special tea like this, so I’ll be resteeping the leaves until the flavour says good bye. :) And I can’t wait to say “hello” to a new FF tea next year.

Still drinking this and working my way through the 50g bag. Speaking of the bag, this tea is light so it’s taking me a while to go through it all. Which is a shame because I thought to myself, oh after I finish this first flush I can get some second flush or autumnal (d’oh!).

Anyway, still loving how light and refreshing this one turned out to be. It kinda reminds me of my Bai Mu Dan (light, crisp, “spring” veg). And I like the velvety texture of the tea liquor going down my throat. Finally, there is always that familiar darjeeling flavour in each sip. :)

The leaves are a mix of big green whole bud/leaf and some broken bits (not dust). Sometimes I have to play around with time settings/leaf amount to get the brew I like, but it’s an otherwise easy tea to brew (never a disappointing flavour). Looking forward to buying the 2012 FF version of this or another similar looking one.

I love drinking this in the evening, it’s light, fresh, uplifting, and full of that familiar darjeeling flavour. A bit of spring time in my cup. :)

Totally going to be sad in winter when this is all gone.

This met my expectations nicely. Light bodied, full flavour darjeeling. Nothing to complain about here!

As an added bonus, most of the leaves are quite whole so I can enjoy this in my gaiwan or small glass teapot. I’ve tried this with the normal 3 min steep time, and also with short steeps with many infusions. Both are delightful in their own way.

Best Earl Grey I’ve had by far. A little on the pricey side for an Earl Grey, but well worth it. Good quality leaves and the perfect amount of real Bergamot.

Using up the last 2 teaspoons worth from my 10g purchase. The dry tea leaves have a nice sweet aroma to them. Once brewed in the gaiwan, the wet leaf has a pleasant bright emerald colour (pic: http://i.imgur.com/yUdL2.jpg) to it. I’m really glad that I did this last batch in the gaiwan, it’s a great vessel for looking at the leaves. Plus it just works out better since I’m doing multiple short steeps today.

Throughout the 5 quick steeps, I’m really enjoying the floral, spicy, sweet, “oolong” flavours.

Not really sure why I didn’t enjoy the other brews I had of this. Liking it much more today. You know it’s not something I’d buy again, because it’s a treat ($20 for 10g). But I’m happy to have been able to purchase and experience it once.

Light bodied, soft, mellow flavour with a spicy finish. The resteeps were enjoyable, and the quiet flavours gave me a lot to think about. It’s the sort of tea you have to pay a lot of attention to, to notice the mild notes.

I’m not in love with this tea, but it was an enjoyable treat to purchase once.

I don’t always brew this perfectly, but when I do it’s simply amazing. It tastes very “complete”, like all the flavours are in balance. Loving this purchase so far, nothing to nit-pick. At first I felt a bit silly to splurge on this, but this will be another tea I’ll dread to use up.

This turned out to be everything I expected. Enchanting creamy oolong, with a lot of different flavours working together in harmony to keep my taste buds happy. It tastes very “complete”, I’m not sure what could be done to make this any better. (Awesome job Mr. Chen!)
After unfurling, the tea leaves are a happy shade of green, and they have quite the thickness to them.

My only advice for brewing this is to give the leaves plenty of water to unfurl in. With a small tea vessel like a gaiwan, you won’t need a full teaspoon. I’ve tried this with short steeps and the regular +/- 4 mins.

edit: here’s a photo of one leaf and a quarter (sorry for image quality, I have an old camera) http://i.imgur.com/0JXZ3.jpg

This tea has been a favourite of mine since the first day I brewed it. It’s also one of the few teas I’ve ever repurchased. For the most part, I like buying a tea once and then moving onto something different. Since it’s a favourite, I opened bag #2 only recently even though I purchased it in August. ;)

Today I prepared 8 short steeps of it in a gaiwan. The first 8 were very flavourful (strong tea body, great roasted flavour) and 9-10 were pretty good too, although I mostly just tasted the sweet and roasted notes. I don’t usually short steep this one but I think I’ll make a habit of it now.

100ml gaiwan, 2 tsp, 10 steeps (30s +15s resteeps)

See previous tasting notes for more of my thoughts on this tea.

The first time I tried this tea I was blown away at the complex flavours. Now that I’ve had a few more teas similar to this, it doesn’t feel very unique but I’m still quite impressed.

With each sip I treat my taste buds to some of my favourite flavours/notes; deep roasted character (reminds me of roasted oolong), honey-barley (reminds me of Oriental Beauty), and a rich black tea body are the highlights. There is also a fleshy/pulpy/grainy texture to the liquour which gives it a nice weight in my mouth. And as noted in the description there is also a nice floral fragrance and fruit flavour going on. If that wasn’t enough please my palate, the roasted tea flavour lingers on in my mouth and my mind for a long time.

I’ve tried this with short steeps before, but I enjoy the rich tea body so steeping at 4 to 5 mins works best for me. Anyway it’s one of my favourite teas, and I love to drink it on rare occasions to treat myself. (I don’t like drinking my favourite teas too often, otherwise the taste becomes ordinary to me. Therefor not as special!)

200ml glass teapot, 2 tsp, 1 steep

When I ordered this tea, I had no idea what to expect. I’m a big fan of black tea, and I enjoy the wide range of flavours you can experience with it. Sniffing inside the bag, it reminds me of roasted oolong and honey.

Onto drinking the stuff, I’m just blown away by the flavour. I couldn’t really imagine “black tea” tasting anything like this. Sweet, grainy or pulpy (sensation of chewing pear), heavy, “roasted” flavour, raisins.
It has a very pleasant lingering aftertaste, and the thoughts of flavour stick in my mind all day. Not an amazing resteeper, but 2-3 are good without becoming too light. Spent leaves reveal a lot of whole leaf and no debris.

Sometimes I don’t appreciate or fall in love with a tea right away (or even until the last few grams in the bag). This was love at first sip, I’m so glad I had a chance to try this.

Steeped this 12 times, all while chilling out and listening to Drone Zone from somafm.com

A very enjoyable tea and quite a unique experience that I’ve savoured over the months.
Next time I brew this it will probably be a “sipdown”.
See previous tasting notes for more of my thoughts on this tea

100ml purion teapot, 2 tsp, 12 steeps (30s, +15s resteeps)

Wow, this is my fourth tasting note for this tea. I usually just make one if it gets the point across or if I don’t change the steep parameters much. Anyway, today I am using my gaiwan to quick steep this tea.

Drinking the first cup was a treat, I tasted something tangy, malty, earthy, kinda sweet and with familiar black tea flavour.

Second cup continued to get stronger, with a new flavour sneaking in which I couldn’t quite describe. It gave me a nice resonating sensation throughout my body. (Sometimes I feel like great tea rings me like a bell!)

Not much change with the third steep, except the flavour is stronger to the point where it gets pretty bold.

The fourth steep is my favourite. Along with the familiar flavours there is an emphasis on cherry, with a bit more tangy/zesty going on, and an amazing sort of menthol sensation with the aftertaste. At this point I took a break to brew more water, and that sensation stuck around quite a while. Very pleasant.

With such a good experience from the last cup, the fifth while good… couldn’t really top it. The main quality I liked about this one was the reduction in the boldness of the tea. Three and four were a bit “in your face”, kinda boldness and this one is more friendly.

Flavour in the sixth cup shifted a bit, again I can’t really describe it well enough but it was a different feeling. Still tastes enough like a good cup of tea.

Finishing up with the seventh and eighth cups, I can finally taste the original water. (Usually this is my indication of where to stop.) But the brew still has a nice light, zesty, tea flavour going on.

I’ve had this tea in my cupboard for a while now, and today gave me a lot to reflect on. I think this tea comes out too weak or delicate if you use too much water, and today’s session with the gaiwan was my most pleasant. My favourite thing about this tea is the sensation it gives me, along with the combination of interesting flavours. It does a good job of keeping me captivated. Overall, a charming black tea with sweetness that does not overpower the wonderful earthy flavour.

100ml gaiwan, 2 tsps, 8 steeps (45s + 15s resteeps)

Tried this again with 2 teaspoons in my gaiwan (I prefer it a bit stronger), starting at 3mins. Resteeps were 3:30, 4, 4:30, 5, 6, 7, and 8 (so 8 steeps total). On the last steep, my husband had just come home from work and tried it out. He was pretty surprised it was the 8th steep and still flavourful (although at this point I can taste the water more than anything).

I have to say that this one has really grown on me, and the resteeps have a nice spectrum of flavour. Like Jin Die, I think it’s a must to resteep this all you can. I’m looking forward to trying this with the same settings next time, and to write down the notes of all 8 steeps. Today I was just trying to enjoy it, not worrying about writing down the tasting notes. ;)

edit: Forgot to mention that this is a black tea, which is why the extra steeps impressed me.

I’ve been trying out a few different steeping methods to get the best possible flavour out of this. Normally I don’t bother so much with a tea, but this one seemed a little too ordinary at first. With a bit too much water or leaf, the unique flavours are too subtle. I found that with about one teaspoon and only about 100ml (the volume of my gaiwan) of water yielded the best results. On the note about using a gaiwan, I didn’t have any problems with small particles getting in my drinking cup, even though it consists of big broken leaves (no strainer required).

With those settings, it reminded me a lot more of the other guangdong tea I have (Mi Lan Xiang Feng Xi, oolong). The once subtle notes have strengthened a bit, and its beautiful core flavour (terroir flavour?) is more apparent.

It whispers gently to my senses and commands my full attention to appreciate it. Not to say it’s my favourite, and it certainly hasn’t awed me. The best aspect of this tea is its core flavour, which is very different from other black teas and probably due to the location that it’s grown in.

I’ve still only made a small dent into the 50g tea pouch, but I’m looking forward to getting to know it better. It’ll probably be another one where I’m not sure of my true feelings about it until I’ve got just a few grams left.

Bought this in my last order with some other black teas. Lately I’ve been trying black teas from different regions, this one is from Guangdong, China. A little pricy, but I am willing to spend extra money to try something new once. :)

The tea leaves smell sweet and slightly earthy and malty.

Drinking the tea, it starts out slightly sweet and tangy, quickly fades to a earthy and malty flavour. The tea liquor is dark enough, but it’s a light tea, not “heavy”. About the sweetness, it’s mild like an apple or a pear, not sugary-sweet.

Second steep seems much tangier, kinda like if someone squeezed a bit of lemon or lime in your tea.
Third steep was weak, maybe I’ll try more tea leaves next time. Alternatively, maybe I will do a lot of quick steeps in the gaiwan.

I’m not sure what I was expecting from this tea, but this wasn’t it. I’m happy with the flavour but this was an unexpected drinking experience. It’s certainly given me a lot of flavours to contemplate. Looking forward to getting to the bottom of the bag and figuring out how I really feel about this one.

To celebrate our 5th anniversary married together, I prepared one of my husband’s (and mine) favourite teas: Jin Die.

Drinking from the first steep, I’m greeted with the familiar flavours of Jin Die: deep rich, earthy tea body, cinnamon, spices, tomato (not like SML), the liquor ends on a smooth-velvety feeling. An odd characteristic also makes it’s appearance here, the flavour of ripe puerh. It’s not something I expect from black tea, but I quite like it!

The second steep is much the same with some chocolate and pepper showing up.

As I keep drinking through the steeps, the flavour just keeps intensifying. Fifth steep brought out some caramel flavour, and was our favourite steep.

In each resteep the flavour started to weaken very gradually. I could taste the puerh flavour up until about the 9th, and much of the spice notes stayed up until the 15th.

I ended on the 16th steep because I really couldn’t drink anymore tea. It didn’t even have the taste of my water, just really weak, earthy, fuzzy, slightly sweet tea. The liquor had a yellow-amber colour, which is still pretty dark for so many resteeps I think.

Overall, I have always found Jin Die to be an amazing black tea, but this short steeping experience has heightened my enjoyment of it. As of writing this review, it’s my best black tea resteeper (Ying De Hong Cha from Jing Tea Shop had 14, Yunnan Dian Hong golden tips from Teavivre had 12). My husband isn’t obsessed with tea like I am, and he doesn’t always remember the flavour or names of our teas (especially if they are foreign), but Jin Die has left a powerful impression on him and it quickly became one of our favourites.

See previous tasting notes for more of my thoughts on this tea

100ml gaiwan, 2tsp, 16 steeps (30s, +15s resteeps)
Up’d rating slightly