The Tea House

Sipdown

I have had this tea for at least a year and I have absolutely no idea where it came from. I have possibly had it for far longer and found it during a tea organizing spree and just added it to my cupboard a year ago. I am wondering if this came from beerandbeancurd or derk. I know I didn’t order it as I have never ordered from this company. Many thanks and my apologies to whoever sent it!

It was neglected because I intended to have some gong fu sessions with it and never made time, but I didn’t want it to get any older with this unknown provenance so we drank it western style throughout this weekend and finished it today.

It is very good. I really love how some oolongs smell utterly different from wet leaf to steep. This is very very lightly roasted, I think. It is smooth with medium to light body, only the barest hint of briskness – just enough to make me gulp it and immediately want more yet without being at all puckery.

The wet leaves have a high, intense scent of the kind you get from lemon peels or mint, yet without BEING lemon or mint, if that makes sense. I will call it a soprano, probably a soubrette. It is rather heady actually. Crisp.

The tea itself is lovely to drink, and I can’t stop reaching for it. The first steep was one minute as recommended on the bag but it was mild to the point of seeming like a wallflower with our food. Second steep, taken on its own, was given some extra time and now I have a little more light hint if well-done but not burnt toast and more briskness. The taste is lingering more after the sip. But is it floral? Hard to say, but I think I could find a similarity with chrysamthemum.

I am not well-versed in Dan Cong oolongs, I am sad to say, but this was a very enjoyable tea. I do feel inadequate to make a good note on it, though.

Pair this one with Bach. And stick your pinky up. Brewed this leaf two different ways in one gaiwan. Started with room temp water at a ninja park. Cold brewing revealed a smooth mouthfeel with no astringency. The flavors were definitely woody and earthy. Light pine, sap, and resin. Refreshing like menthol without the menthol zap. Redwood bark and fresh mulch. There is also something familiar that I can’t quite put my finger on. The aftertaste stays with you for quite awhile. Very earthy and cooling. The cool wet aroma is woody and earthy. Wet and fresh. But when steeped hot it becomes a bit fishy in both aroma and flavor but the other notes stay the same.

A friend gave this to me for Christmas. Not bad!! I think I enjoyed it more without milk even though it has plenty of “chai” ingredients.
Oh and she brought me lava salt from Finland!!!

My daily tea, drink a lot of this whilst working

Mercuryhime sent me a bit of this and I couldn’t find a listing on Steepster so I added one…if there is another listing for this tea I can contact Ricky to merge :)

This is a nicely flavored black. The black tea strength is a little bit on the lighter side and the apricot is certainly present but not overly intense…but…then again, I am a fan of Apricot so my personal preference level may be a bit different than the average persons.

I always hesitate for some strange reason to open this up and steep this very fragrant tea. Then, for some reason I relent and voila, c’est tres agreable! It keeps me coming back wanting more! The body, aroma/scent mouth is so full I just love it!

A nice combination, but the gunpowder is a bit too astringent. Steep a little less, and dose with honey