Song Tea & Ceramics

Forgot to review this tea ever since I got my precision temperature kettle. Brewed at 203˚F as recommended.

1st infusion: (1:00)
Wet leaves give off a strong delicious scent of brown sugar along with the richer cherry notes. The taste is quite bitter like silky cacao chocolate with some spice, but I remember the sweetness comes out in the later infusions.

2nd infusion: (1:30)
Still bitter chocolate, but smoother.

3rd infusion: (1:50)
Sweet and smooth, can taste the slight maraschino cherry notes.

Rating: 77

This second time brewing Eighteen, I lowered the temperature (waited 1 minute after boiling) and steeped it for a shorter time (1 minute, adding 15 seconds with each infusion).

First infusion: Smells wonderful. Still tastes a bit bitter, but the bitterness disappears when I pair it with my blueberry scone and it becomes a nice drinkable breakfast tea.

Second infusion: Perfection. No trace of bitterness any longer.

Third infusion: Similar to my first tasting of this tea, the fruitiness / sweetness is mostly gone and there’s just a fragrant vegetal tea scent remaining in the leaves and liquid.

Note to self: For first infusion, brew this tea at 203˚F for 1 minute only.

This tea smells divine. 1st infusion smelled strongly of deep, woody, spicy maraschino cherry notes. Tasted of slightly bitter cherries, and really bitter when I drank it while eating an apple.

2nd infusion smelled more like spicy cardamom or nutmeg. Tasted bitter, I think I brewed it too hot and for too long.

3rd infusion I cooled the water a little more and brewed for 1:30 and it tasted fine even with the sweet doughnut. The leaves are beginning to smell vegetal without any more of the spicy cherry scent though.

I’ll have to try this again after I buy my temperature-control kettle.

Arguably one of the most sophisticated teas I have had the pleasure to try. I received this as a gift and decided to try it in three steepings, per the previous review. It did not disappoint, although I had drastically different, pleasant notes!

On the first steeping, I noticed tingly, mentholated noted alongside the pine and grassy flavors of the oolong, less creaminess and more of a citrus-forward scent and flavor, with notes of tangerine, yuzu, kefir lime, and green grass on the nose. The flavor was abuzz and left my tongue on fire with a panoply of flavors that lasted on the palate for a while. Per the instructions, I steeped this for one minute with 6g at 205 degrees.

I steeped my second round for two minutes and noticed more gentle flavors that aligned more with the tasting notes on the package- spun sugar, light pickled ginger at the forefront with a slight herbaceous flavor on the back palate and a hint of Asian spices. Still strong on the second steeping although I was conservative with my measurements as this is a tea I wish to savor.

The third steeping was more aggressively saline than the last two. It loses most of the sweetness from the first two steepings but retains the light vegetal flavors characteristic of the leaves- spinach, broccoli, and a light brown sugar note. Each sip is round and full. I don’t know if using a slightly more modified concentration of water to tea would accommodate for more steepings, but for this amount it was a highly pleasurable experience. This is a tea I will enjoy for a long time to come- a definite bucket list steep.

The scent of these large rolled tea leaves is fruity, nutty, and creamy. Shan Lin Xi is my favorite region for rolled oolong, so I’m excited to try this winter picked variety. An initial infusion really opens up the aroma of the leaves, and it’s incredibly fragrant, with plentiful bouquets of flower scents and a very forward plum aroma.

The first infusion is very rich and sweet, the predominant fruit note being of nectarine with a long lingering passion fruit flavor. At the front of the sip is also a creamy nutty taste that reminds me of pecan.

The second infusion has more of the evergreen forest notes I usually pick up in Shan Lin Xi, while the taste is still creamy and quite floral now. The aftertaste is peachy. The aroma is floral and camphor.

The third infusion is much more mellowed, with a honeyed taste and a bit of a camphor or clove note in the back of the throat. This infusion is a really enjoyable an subtle wind-down from the bursting and fragrant second infusion.

The fourth infusion has receded to a much more subtle creamy flavor with a lingering floral aftertaste. The fifth is even more subtle, and sweeter.

I don’t see this tea pushing out many more infusions with substantial flavor, but every one of them has been top notch. It tastes so clean. This is one of the best rolled oolong teas I’ve had!

These wiry dark green leaves certainly are fragrant. The scent of the dry leaves in a warm gaiwan reminds me of almond cookies, or what I’d imagine a fortune cookie to smell like fresh from the oven. My favorite green tea happens to be from Fujian, like these leaves, so I’m excited.

This tea starts out quite sweet on the initial infusion, always a good sign with green teas. It definitely has a dew flavor to it, as described by the vendor. It reminds me of the water from within a cucumber or melon. It’s also very smooth going down.

On the second infusion, it’s still really sweet with a distinct cucumber-melon flavor, though there’s also something light in the background resembling roasted corn. Compared to the Gan Lu I just tried from Song Tea, this tea retained a lot more sweetness in the second infusion and didn’t get as intensely vegetal.

On the third infusion I’m getting some notes of nutmeg and hazelnut. The flavor is really unfolding nicely here, and it’s still nicely sweet and clean. By the fourth or fifth infusion the flavor is piddling out a bit, but this was a nice tea experience and yielded some great infusions.

These green tea buds from Sichuan are the prettiest green tea leaves I’ve ever seen. They are so fluffy with little white hairs and so light and fragile. The scent is sweet and nutty, in fact it reminds me of a warm bun filled with taro paste.

The flavor is smooth, very vegetal, to be expected from green tea, with notes of snap peas, nuts, and a slightly smoky, earthy finish. The liquid feels very smooth in the mouth. The flavor is very mouth filling and saturates the throat. I really enjoy the smooth, sweet character of this tea. It matches the billowy appearance of the leaves, though once wet they smell much more strong than the brew, a smoky and green bean like affair.

The second infusion of this tea is certainly more dominated by vegetal and smoky flavors. It even tastes woody or like bark now too. It’s still sweet, but the sweetness is an accompaniment rather than the main feature.

On the third infusion, the flavor is more intensely vegetal and earthy, but still with the lingering sweetness. It’s quite an intense tea for one that started out so mellow. Very rich. By the fourth infusion it is sweeter and more mellow again, but there’s a hint of bitterness. I’m almost certain the rise and fall in flavor intensity is due to my own brewing style and had I steeped lighter on the second and third infusions they’d probably have been quite mellow as well.

Overall, I enjoy this tea. I think it represents a fine quality, but it does have a bit of that bitter/smoky flavor that some tea lovers avoid green tea because of. It’s similar to the notes you’ll get in a lot of young sheng Puer.

For an experimental cultivar this is over the top unctuous. Song’s description is in itself so spot on the only thing I can add is that the mouthfeel is heavy, like light maple syrup and with good rock notes coming in later infusion. I brewed this in a standard gaiwan and the color is off the chain golden. The medium roast and high oxidation make this a very clean tea drinking experience. Glad I skipped the urge to only buy a small amount and got a big bag. My friends I served it to had an other world tea, for sure.

I’ll type up the notes at some later point but after finishing the 9th steep I thought it worthwhile to go ahead and rate the tea. I received this as a sample with the two teas I ordered. I’m usually not a fan of dark Taiwanese oolongs but this tea surprised me. Pleasant and harmonious. Has lasted 9 infusions and I expect to get a few more out of it.

Only complaint would be that the largest leaf that is attached to the stem (all are in astounding condition) is likely to fall off of the stem. The leaf condition, as a whole, however, is near unparalleled.

It’s very hard to compare with any other tea, so rating this one is a bit difficult.

If you like Chinese red teas without astringency, this is for you. Remarkably smooth despite the long brew time and complex enough in flavor to keep me interested for 4 steeps.

Very dark and broody tea. The soup is a beautiful dark red. Reminded me mostly of molasses but not in such a sweet syrupy way. A very smooth tea. Not nearly as earthy or tasting of hay as I would expect from say, a Yunnan red tea. A very nice everyday drinker. Good for the morning and at night. I’ll write up my full notes at some other time.

This one is without a doubt worth the meager price they charge.

Since Steepster decided yet AGAIN to eat my tasting note comments on this tea, I have to recreate them yet AGAIN from memory. Kind of missing the days of pen and paper. I write down the note, it’s there. Ah well, technology giveth and technology taketh away.

Let’s see how my memory fares:
50th tasting note, psyched to write about Lishan Winter Sprout from Song Tea & Ceramics. This was a sample they threw in when I purchased a couple of teas during a San Fran visit back in January. Love that place, it is gorgeous. Increases my existing adoration of San Fran and makes me want to move there, like, tomorrow. Also, this was my very first use of the gaiwan and I am happy to report I didn’t burn myself or break the gaiwan. Yay!
The tea: dry leaf aroma was light, slightly sweet, slightly spinachy. First infusion aroma and taste was mostly spinachy, very vegetal, although mild in general. Second infusion was a little sweeter, the spinach and vegetable notes faded to the background and it became more balanced. My favorite infusion of this tea, as it was the most “tea-like” as opposed to drinking something like a green veggie broth. The color darkened, but the flavor became lighter. Go figure. Third infusion was darker in color, but very light flavor. Spinach returned. Really, really light. Overall this was an interesting tea, it felt very cleansing and calming. But not my favorite, as I’m a sugar junky and tend to like less vegetal-tasting teas.

Good morning Steepster. Just trying to revive myself here after not sleeping too well last night but I think I just need a nap later, ho hum.

Anyway I am finishing off my supply of this today. I’m guessing it’s been 2 years since I originally purchased it. Today I am really getting the molasses and brown sugar notes. It seems almost too luxurious for an every day morning tea it’s something special to be savored. Glad I can enjoy it on this foggy day in San Francisco.

Song Tea is a new-ish tea shop in San Francisco, in fact it’s right in my neighborhood which is pretty dangerous. They aren’t really set up for e-commerce yet as there’s no pictures or shopping cart on their website. If you want, you can check out the price list though: http://www.songtea.com/songtea_pricelist.pdf

I went in recently to sample some red teas, I believe I tried Eighteen, Twenty One and this Golden Needle. I ended up getting the Golden Needle. This is actually the least expensive tea in the whole shop. I really can’t justify spending $70 for 2 ounces of tea, especially not in my current financial predicament. I think their most expensive is a Long Jing which is $88 for 2 ounces. Wow.

Anyway on to this tea. It’s called Golden Needle and it has small, spike like needles which are more black in color than gold. The flavor is truly lovely, dates and brown sugar are prominent. If you steep this for around 3 minutes it becomes a bit hefty and notes of cocoa emerge. A very smooth tea, devoid of astringency. Absolutely delicious. I haven’t tried this using the gong fu method, but I definitely will soon.

When I first had this, it was brewed for me by Amanda at Song Tea & Ceramics in San Francisco. Since this is a oolong cultivar made in a bai mu dan white tea style, she explained that it could be brewed like a white tea or more like an oolong. For the first infusion she used 180ºF water and a short steeping (maybe 15-20 sec) and from that you get a really nice bai mu dan. Very refreshing, cooling, and mineral tasting. For the second infusion she used hotter water (190ºF) and a longer steep time (30-40 sec maybe) which brings out more floral characters and a thicker mouthfeel. Really fun tea to play with. I’ve brewed it twice at home now and I can say with some confidence that temperature is pretty important with this one. Anything over 190ºF introduces a vegetal flavor that kills the aromatics.