Tea & Whisk

The solution to this one-overleafing the hell out of it. I think I put close to 10 grams in my 5 oz gaiwan, and did a bunch of flash steeps. The mango and nutty tones were a lot more obvious with some honey like sweetness, all under the distinct TGY orchid flavor. I’m happy with this one-it’s essentially a high quality TGY for daily consumption and a cheap price. I’m going to plow through it fast though to make some cupboard space.

Got this one last year as I waited impatiently for the What-Cha one. I saw Tea and Whisk advertise themselves on Gong Fu Cha on Facebook, and I wanted to give them a try.

They have a pretty good selection of Taiwanese and Chinese teas; I was actually impressed with their picks for Yancha and Wuyi Black Tea, specifically the Jioatang Lapsang Souchong Black Tea. I decided against it because I have an embarrassing excessive amount of Lapsang I need to drink, but this oolong sounded like it hit all the marks I was looking for. Past Taiwanese Tie Guan Yins have been really good, and this one seemed like a steal for $16 for 2 oz. It’s 40% oxidized, and the company suggests it’s fruitier than the usual tie guan yin, and the oxidation would add more complexity. Some of my favorite oolongs are in the 30-35% oxidised range, so I thought this tea might be perfect.

Looking at it, the tea is a healthy green with darker earthier shades amidst some yellow and lighter green. Brewing it up, it took some coaxing to open, and actually turned about to be a little trickier to manipulate. I went back and forth westerning and gong fuing it and was having a hard time finding the right balance. The dryleaf aroma is very sweet and fresh, but the wet tea itself is actually subtle and not super flavor forward in either brewing method.

I’m still not sure on what to think on this one. The company say’s it’s one of their most complex, and while I admit there is more dimension to this tea compared to most flower or roasted char bombs that are Tie Guan Yin, yet the subtlety is bugging me because I know this tea can offer more flavor. It does have a little bit of TGY tartness and some orchid, but the fruity mango note replaces the usually apricot note of this type of tea that somehow makes it more subdued. If I were to taste this blind, I’d guess it’s a Tsu Yu or a Meishan Jin Xuan because of how the florals combine with the texture and subtle fruit and more prominent vegetal elements.

I’m being a brat with this one. I expected more fruit notes, but this tea was more vegetal than I expected. I’m holding off on rating it because I still think I need to figure it out. I’m open to suggestions.

This is an interesting tea that I have mentioned a few times on the board, its a puerh style tea from Satemwa estate in Africa. This is a loose leaf style dark tea, or hei cha, though it called be called a ripe puerh as well. But that is a regional title, so hei cha or dark tea would be accurate.

I started by giving this tea a very quick rinse , then I brewed it for about 15 seconds at 200 degrees, in a small yixing. I got a very intense aroma of earth, peat, plums and chocolate. No wet or off smells at all. It was very clean, pouring it into a pitcher. I got a mostly clear dark liquor , looking the color of cola.. actually it looked alot like cola. Dark, red and rich looking. Tasting it I got peat, wood, plums, sweetness and chocolate. Its very smooth with a very clean finish. Again no fermentation flavor at all.

Second steep produced much the same flavors, getting slighter darker as well, which is pretty normal for a post fermented dark tea. It was still pretty clear and not cloudy much at all. The flavors stayed the same and very clean, there is also another flavor in there I cant quite place, but I feel like its something I should know.

Third steep was much darker, and there is the explosion of color Ive come to expect from a ripe puerh. This is still really smooth , with no hint of wet or fermentation smells or flavors at all. Still getting peat, and wood and dark foresty aroma’s.

Fourth steep and its starting to trail off a little and staying very clean , but dark. More plums, dark fruit, red wine type flavors and but of sweet chocolate at the finish. Im sure based on this it will steep out many times, probably around 12.

Im actually curious what a few years of age would do to this.

Highly recommended for anyone who likes clean ripe dark tea.

Even more ginger-y than Super Ginger from DT. It’s strong and spicy but still has a little bit of licorice sweetness.

I absolutely love this tea! I didn’t realize I was such a lover of floral teas until I purchased this. This tea is very heavy on the lavender and rose (see picture) and has a slight sweetness from the papaya and apples. I have drank this almost every single night since I’ve purchased it, about 2 weeks ago.

It is a luxurious tea that is the perfect ingredient to unwind with at the end of the day. I do steep this at boiling but only steep for 4-5 minutes. Any longer and the flavor and scents becomes a little too strong bordering on the side of soap.

It is lovely to try a new tea that is different from my usual caffeine free blends.

More on my blog > http://playdoh-heart.blogspot.com/2017/01/starting-my-first-tea-post-with.html