Liquid Proust Teas

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88

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Flavors: Bitter, Brandy, Brown Toast, Campfire, Caramelized Sugar, Cedar, Charcoal, Coffee, Dark Bittersweet, Dark Wood, Earthy, Floral, Incense, Leather, Nutty, Oak, Perfume, Tobacco, Walnut

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drank Black Gyokuro by Liquid Proust Teas
1557 tasting notes

Brewing this up on a lazy Sunday (yet another overcast day in May) while skimming though the “Japanese Family-Style Recipes” cookbook I bought from the used bookstore yesterday. No idea how to brew. Entire 7 grams in pot, 190F, let’s go. 25 seconds.

ok beerandbeancurd, I completely understand your impressions!

Mostly this tastes like sinking my mouth into a heavily varnished wood slab table. An old one. Then I’m hit with a very strong floral quality as if a sakura tree crashed onto this thick wood slab table with its fresh, thick coating of varnish and then quick! – a mouth full of fresh bok choi juices, cucumber, mustard greens, oxalis, stale shiitake broth, burdock root, instant potato flakes, rice in burlap sacks. Weird how it goes from alkaline at the front of the mouth to sourgrass. Weird combination of floral, woody, vegetal, savory elements

Strange.

Kyoto Obubu tea?

Flavors: Alkaline, Bok Choy, Brown Rice, Burlap, Cucumber, Earthy, Floral, Malt, Mushrooms, Pleasantly Sour, Potato, Roasted, Roots, Sakura, Salad Greens, Salty, Savory, Varnish, Vegetable Broth, Vegetal, Wheat, Wood, Woody

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 7 g 4 OZ / 120 ML
beerandbeancurd

We’re overcast down here, too. Cozy.

I just ordered some green gyokuro; it was fun to revisit the black vicariously!

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74

Warmed leaves smell, at various points throughout the session, like flan, caramel, cocoa powder. Pours medium tan and graduates to reddish-brown.

Nose starts thin, like a faraway peanut and chocolate bar. Taste also starts thin with some green-noted cacao. Kind of stalls out in medium-black territory, the nose and body never quite catching up to the promise the warm leaves made. Ah, well.

Flavors: Bright, Cacao, Caramel, Chocolate, Cocoa, Flan, Peanut, Tannin

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84

Having a difficult heart day, with fatigue layered on top… this is showing up with strong arms and a fluffy midsection to snuggle into.

I really don’t see myself persuing Yiwu offerings much at all, barring a spectacular recommendation, but I’m not above a little ease now and then.

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84

The second Yiwu I’ve had. They’re easy; I don’t find anything particularly enamoring about them, but I get why some folks might. Bread dough up front, sweet and yeasty. I did feel this gave me some good confirmation of what “Yiwu” implies, and that Taiwan storage is indeed quite neutral — this is very similar to the cheapish 2007 Yiwu cake LP dropped. Some camphor in this slightly older sample, which I don’t think I found in the cake. Makes me want to get that thing crocked and bubbling.

A very innocuous session. Wood and astringency come in at the same time during middle steeps, then it gets a bit fruity later on.

Flavors: Astringent, Bread Dough, Camphor, Fruity, Wood

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88

Not feeling too inspired to type up a decent note. Definitely no fault of the tea. It’s a tropical treat with big black tea suede-malt lean but also kind of like a dancong oolong. Feels most similar to an assamica Yunnan yellow tea rather than those from other regions of China. Really complex aromas and textures. It goes and goes… Content to escape in my mind to all the different tropical regions of the world.

Thank you beerandbeancurd. This is lovely.

Flavors: Alkaline, Banana, Cherry, Cinnamon, Clover, Creamy, Drying, Floral, Gardenias, Grain, Honey, Juicy, Leather, Malt, Meadow, Melon, Pineapple, Rainforest, Soft, Starfruit, Sugarcane, Sweet, Tangy, Tannin, Tea, Tropical, Vanilla, Vegetal, Wheat, Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 g 3 OZ / 100 ML

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92

Hong Kong storage be like AH HERD YOU LIKE BASEMENT SMAK SMAK SMAK SMAK SMAK.

I don’t mind basement, to be honest. I don’t crave it, but I do find it interesting, as it always seems to yield to something curious and a little unpredictable. Here it becomes camphor, deep huigan, some flowers overwintering in the fruit cellar, and dancing astringency. Some cha qi is present, though I’m a bit scattered tonight and not as focused on it as I’d like to be.

Just a little wood, curiously, and no alcohol notes from this barrel-aged beaut. It’s completely satisfying as is… though if I imagine wood resin and booze layered in, my brain does a dreamy drool.

Flavors: Astringent, Camphor, Flowers, Wet Rocks, Wet Wood

ashmanra

This gave me a good laugh! Thank you!

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84

Mixing the last of this with a bit of medium roast Anxi oolong, really just a solid drinker overall. Would buy again.

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84

This oolong toes the line between “green” flavors and roasty sweeter notes. Very balanced, easy to coax flavor out of the leaves but also not upset if you happen to leave it for too long. I have done two gongfu sessions with good results across the board. Great everyday brew that offers a pleasing experience and makes you want to drink more. It’s not the most complex thing in the world but balance makes up for that, I love brewing this at work because I can throw it in a gaiwan and go!

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 10 g 5 OZ / 150 ML

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84

Quite tasty, not going to dive in on a full review just yet but this is easily one of those 80+ point daily drinkers that won’t break the bank! Thanks LP.

ashmanra

Dong ding is the tea that Ashman and I seem to be able to burn through 100 grams of with alarming speed. It is so immensely drinkable.

Barsomn

I can see why, 10g down, 15g of sample to go. This will go on the restock list!

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84

Okay. I know it’s good that I’m not loving every sheng that comes near my mouth; I am on a journey to find things I love and notsomuch. The challenge then becomes, I guess, figuring out what to ascribe the duds to.

Certainly one starts with the tea itself… assuming the terroir/cultivar provenance is genuine. Then storage, I’d think, as long as it’s identifiable and able to be assessed separately… and then age, perhaps the most variable but also the easiest to reconcile.

I almost wrote this sheng off, which is why my mind started reeling on these questions. It took a couple steeps to get the musk of storage off, a couple more to get past some bitter-full-stop mouth punches, and finally: turned up some classic fruit.

Certainly this can be ascribed to the tea? I wouldn’t be opposed to drinking more Mansa and having my mind changed, but this is potentially another that I’m not keen on steeping through to find some mild pleasure.

Hm hm hm.

I keep having the thought that I’d like a big map to start visualizing all these terroirs and storage locales… wonder if anyone’s conjured that up on the internets yet.

Flavors: Bitter, Juicy, Musty, Sweet

beerandbeancurd

That’s really beautiful. Second time I’ve been referred to YC in as many days… o.O

I started putting my own map together so I can visualize my teas and how my ratings are falling out in terms of origin. It seems like overkill, but is also giving me endorphin hits, so.

I think YC is the first site I’ve seen that organizes their collection according to terroir… love this.

beerandbeancurd

Dang, their tagging system is on point, too.

ashmanra

That is amazing.

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60

Starts doughy; progresses to flat and unremarkable, except to note its black-like tannins. Meh.

Flavors: Bread Dough, Flat, Tannic

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84

Warmed leaf: squash and smoked paprika. That’s a new one.

Not much aroma coming off the first steep… zucchini. Bitter and a touch of smoke in the second. Let it steam for a bit. The next few steeps worth of bitterness eventually yield a sweet and juicy cup with little astringency.

I think I’d rather age this than drink past this bitterness every session, but the sweetness is nice and I see why Bulang is such a popular terroir.

Flavors: Bitter, Chili, Juicy, Smoke, Squash, Sweet, Zucchini

Marshall Weber

Some pretty unique notes on that one! Does sound interesting.

beerandbeancurd

Yeah, early aroma made me think there might be some wacky surprises in store! Transitioned to more classic sheng flavors, though.

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92

I liked this quite a surprising bit; makes me want to hunt down some more Cang’ers. Not qi-bangy, but delicious. LuckyCatTeaShop already hit a lot of the flavor notes I’d mention. This is super juicy, with fruity sweetness and late astringency dominating; other notes that come up are menthol cooling, fresh sweet herbs, baked bread, watermelon at the bottom of the cup. Takes a minute to open up due to the density of the press, but that really makes those middle steeps, when it’s fully revealed and releasing, something special. I’ve been pretty biased toward seeking out more funked-up sheng flavors, but this was a sweet surprise. I chipped off two of these in a row to make sure I liked it that much… a-yup.

Flavors: Astringent, Bread, Fruity, Herbaceous, Juicy, Menthol, Sweet, Watermelon

Marshall Weber

Have yet to get the cooling menthol sensation I’ve heard about…This one sounds wonderful.

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82

Funny little tea. No time for qi or that buzzy uncomfortable thing purple leaves sometimes do. Almost behaves more like a green — very little time needed to open up, flavor climaxes all at once, I’m left wondering where that came from and where it went and did it actually just taste like a grilled lemondrop cocktail?

Probably.

Flavors: Caramelized Sugar, Creamy, Grassy, Lemon, Lemon Zest

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94

Dry leaves had some cocoa and sweet brown liquor notes. Gaiwan. First aroma from the cup and in the mouth was dark-baked bread. Wet leaf smells boozy — rye, tobacco, nutmeg, cocoa, barrel wood. Steeps a light pinkish tan. Menthol cooling from the second steep, that’s quite nice… some antique store vibes from the wet leaf.

This is redeeming LP’s barrel aged offerings somewhat… I was really starting to think I’d just hit the lottery with the PBM and everything else was trash. Good in/good out and all that.

Ah, some cha qi now. Wheeee.

Pronounced sour notes in the third; perhaps less obviously pleasant, but I feel open to the adventure. Reminds me of the Bancha Goishicha from What-Cha, which I haven’t even made notes on yet — it is ALL this sour taste, and I am trying to have faith that I will find something other than ass in there (also sent to derk for assessment… ass assessment). But I digress.

There’s a wild, woody herb smell to the leaves… my brain says “hyssop” and “hemlock,” though I don’t know those smells. More bitter than kitchen herbs. Something poisonous if cooked up by the right witch. Comes through in the mouth, along with the sour note and the vaporous cooling. Can hear my heartbeat against my headphones. Sour-funk buzz pairs well with murk swamps and elven ruins.

More antique store… or actually, maybe a younger-junk shop. These aren’t my favorite old wood notes, though I like them well enough — they’re less cherry and cedar closet and old temple than I’d prefer. It’s probably the poison.

Steeping tan to light brown now. Rye and bread are back. Flavor gets mushy around steeps 8-10, though still tasty with damn good feels. I like.

Flavors: Alcohol, Bitter, Bread, Cocoa, Herbaceous, Menthol, Nutmeg, Rye, Sour, Tobacco, Wet Wood, Wood

Preparation
3 g 2 OZ / 60 ML
derk

Regarding Ass: It is now an undeniable truth thanks to you — the batch of goishicha you sent is not what I had initially noted in my circus peanut as a taste akin to the most strangely alluring sour body odor. No, no. It is all ass, all the time. Also, I’ve had some goishicha with more age on it that’s tasted delightful if you’re into funky things and sour digestives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-UXuAd5i1k

beerandbeancurd

Thank you for ass confirmation. I would have given you an ass heads up, but I kind of wanted your blind ass take.

/slurp

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