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Today the brew tastes mostly of a clean and malty vegetable broth with a good squeeze of lemon. The aftertaste is light and creamy-fruity and the liquor leaves a light waxy coating in the mouth.

In other news, I visited my friend further up north over the weekend. In this tiny town of Talmage across Highway 101 from its larger sister town Ukiah, is a buddhist monastery and university that occupies the rundown grounds and buildings of a former mental hospital. It’s creepy and the grounds are littered with, I saw, upward of 50 peacocks. Nestled on the property is a Chinese vegan restaurant that was popping on a Sunday afternoon. The restaurant prepares the food without allium plants (garlic, onion, etc), eggs or MSG. We bought 8? plates of food for under $40. I have never once stuffed my face so much only to walk out feeling like a radiant being. What a strange gem.

This was a mellow and smooth, yet complex and round rock oolong such that I had a difficult time pulling out distinct flavor notes. General impression was a brew composed of well cured cherrywood-scented tobacco with touches of charred vanilla marshmallow and peanut caramels later flowing into rock sugar, orange blossom and grass but always maintaining a cherry/wood-tobacco and cinnamon undertone. The minerality of this tea was more along the lines of petrichor and river rocks than something deep and dark. Highly fragrant, thick and active in the mouth with light astringency, moderate salivation, a looong sweet and lightly floral finish and a quick returning sweetness. Warming and relaxing in the body yet cooling in the mouth and chest. Also some nice lemon zest tingling later in the session. I’d love some more of this.

Urgh, Steepster ate my note. And it was slightly humorous. My note has vanished and so has the humor.

I came home from lunch to review a tea instead of proceeding to the tire shop. I have an obsession.

Unknown pot size, unknown temperature, steep time somewhere between 3-5 minutes. This organic, bagged Chinese green tea has a strong enough aroma and tastes to cut through a full Korean lunch of beef bulgogi and banchan. Another reviewer said punchy, I say indeed, despite the lack of any bitterness. Grass, lemon, mineral, light seaweed and very faint smoke. If there was any sweetness to this tea, it was masked by the sweetness of the fish cakes. A solid accompaniment!

I have a spread of 4 Shui Xian rock oolong teas from Old Ways Tea that I’ve been working my way through since the past few mornings have left the town blanketed all day in a breezy and chilly coastal fog. The weather became more like winter and as said in my last review, an almost out of season rainstorm blew in last night.

Here we go. This yancha has an understated power. My body feels full after drinking it, like everything under my skin is pushing outward. Much more caffeine than the 2017 Shui Xian from OWT but not jittery in its effect.

The dry leaf was incredibly fragrant with marshmallow, vanilla, strawberry, citrus, dark chocolate and almond. It smelled like dessert! A strong, sweet and creamy cocoa with a high note white floral came out above a fruity strawberry base after warming the leaf. I drank the rinse of this one and I’m glad I did. It was already incredibly mineral with a thick body, like a cross between maple syrup and congee. The aroma and taste, underneath a tongue-electrifying minerality, was all sweet and floral cinnamon mixed with cloves in melted chocolate and of course some yancha woodiness. Very much like a floral-vanilla Mexican hot chocolate. I’d say the minerality was more pronounced than the flavors on the tongue, but the tea presented a long-lasting finish and lingering retronasal florals. A sourness like very dark chocolate hung around in the back of the mouth. Plenty of salivation to balance the light astringency. Warming and cooling at the same time, camphoresque in the throat and chest, leaving both with a full feeling.

Later the thick liquor moved from syrupy-porridge to glassy while almond, marshmallow, butter, orange blossom, fresh grass and coffee came forward in the mouth. The long finish showed no signs of giving up. Orange zest like feeling on the tongue. I lost track of steeps… great longevity.

A western preparation of 2g, 8oz, 212F yielded 2 infusions with a great balance between floral, nutty, woody, chocolate, mineral and vanilla marshmallow characteristics.

Super tea, masterfully roasted. I feel that, compared to eastkyteaguy’s review over 9 months ago, some more resting time has allowed this tea to shine. Too bad its gonegonegone.

[6g, 100mL clay gaiwan, 212F, rinse (drank) followed by 12+ infusions starting at 7s]

The hills have already begun their browning out for the dry season yet a rogue rainstorm has come through, ensuring that I have several days off of work and both the time and the mood to drink up some of my Wuyi rock oolong.

This is a pleasant, short-lived Shui Xian that makes it appropriate as an everyday drinker. I suggest drinking the rinse because it had already presented a blast of aroma and flavor. Otherwise it will seem like the tea quickly falls off the cliff, which it does, but why not delay the inevitable?

Aromas and flavors of dark milk chocolate, dark chocolate, oak wood, faint roast, dark brown sugar, indistinct florals, red and black raspberries, orange and faint herbs. Mostly dark woody, mineral and chocolatey with a bright fruity backing that keeps it from being too heavy of a tea. Light bite in the back of the throat in first steep after the rinse quickly transformed into returning sweetness. As the session progressed, the darker flavors dropped away quickly and the florality and minerality of the Shui Xian cultivar came forward. I understand Shui Xian is meant to have a narcissus fragrance, but I picked up on something more akin to orange blossom. The session finished somewhat bright and creamy but so very close to drinking hot water.

Price is an accurate reflection of its performance. It also performed well as a one-steeper western style with 2 grams per 8oz, 5+ minutes. Dominant characteristics were a roast not overplayed, woodiness, florality and minerals with an undercurrent of dark chocolate.

[6g, 100mL clay gaiwan, 205-212F, rinse (drank) followed by 8 short steeps starting at 7s]

Strange Brew. Very strange. Lots going on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnsroOL-MEk

It crossed some lines I didn’t know could be crossed and I got steamrolled.

Strange combination of honeysweet linen-floral white, bitter and fruity yesheng, with the maltiness and baked goods taste of aged yueguangbai and some kind of weird musty meatiness and pungent herbaceousness. Body flattening yet heady energy. Great strength in aroma, taste, aftertaste, mouthfeel and returning sweetness. First handful of steeps are best when prepared gongfu. Thins out and gets metallic quicker than I would’ve thought based on the thickness of the first several infusions. I really wonder how this would perform with other methods.

Unsure how often I’d drink it.

Others’ reviews tell a lot. Read them here and here https://steepster.com/teas/yunnan-sourcing/73133-wild-tree-purple-moonlight-white-tea-from-jinggu. Thanks, Togo :)

I think this is the first time I’ve had a pre-Spring harvest tea so I have nothing to compare it to. Long, dark green delicate tendrils with a few silvery accents that smell sweet, fruity, lightly vegetal and beany, alpine.

I enjoyed this green tea most when prepared gongfu. Western was also nice, of course less nuanced, but grandpa-style was a nuisance because most of the leaves do not sink.

Gone gaiwan [6g, 150mL glass gaiwan, 175F, flash rinse]

Warmed leaf had aromas of creamy artichoke, sugarcane, sugar cookie, and a fruity tone. Wet leaf smelled mostly of sugarcane and seaweed. First in a series of very short steeps were vegetal with lightly creamy artichoke, soybean and grass, and a fructose-like sweetness. Thick mouthfeel on the sip transitioned into a highly mineral, almost salty liquor that was lightly drying and left a bit of a rough texture on the tongue. Lemon appeared with salivation on the swallow. Very light floral almond aftertaste. With the third steep at only 12 seconds, some summer squash and fir came out, leaving a cooling mouthfeel. Sugarcane returning sweetness. By the fourth steep I was breathing clearly. Fifth led with fir and became very cooling on the swallow, ending with a light lemongrass aftertaste. Felt pretty mellow by that point and didn’t keep track of further infusions.

Western [2.5g, 8oz, 175F, 2 steeps] was overall a similar experience with creamy artichoke, lemongrass, soybean, and high minerality. Less noticeable fir-cooling. The aroma is light, so I recommend breathing in while taking a sip to meld with the light and clean flavors. I chewed on some of the robust and healthy spent leaf and the vague apricot fruitiness I smelled in the dry leaf came out in the mouth.

It’s a very clean and light tea with the leaf amounts I brewed. Oversteeping does not produce any bitterness which made it nice for grandpa style brewing but again, the leaves float. Tasty tea :)

Picked up from the Mediterranean market. There is absolutely no way this herbal tea contains what is listed in the ingredients. I tasted pretty much clove and mint hints of cinnamon and cardamom. What’s listed? tilia flowers, Damask rose, chamomile flowers, marshmallow flowers, lemon verbena. A thick layer of dust settled in the bottom of the cup. Thin. Eh.

Thanks, Kawaii433, for sharing one of these.

Sadly, I got absolutely nothing from this shou :( And my coin was only 6.2g compared to others’ 7g. The dry leaf smelled only of chocolate and molasses; steeped grandpa in 16oz of boiling water, the faint aroma was the same with an earthy addition. Taste had a hint of sweet cream and fruit on the sip followed mineral, dry earth and some kind of umami I perceived as cheese with no noticeable cocoa, mouthfeel or feelings of relaxation. Savory, not cocoa-like at all. Is it my allergies or is it bunk? Seems very basic to me, which isn’t a bad thing at all, but where da cocoa? And I only did a half refill before deciding nah.

Sunday morning gongfu session shared with the house.

I plopped a clump of the downy, golden curls into Housemate #2’s hand so she could feel it and smell it before having her first cup. She said it was just beautiful and so delicate and soft. There is no other tea whose appearance strikes such an appreciation of the skill that is needed to grow and process my favorite plant. Dry leaf has an alluring and comforting aroma of dark chocolate, light smoke, earth and peppered beef.

5g, 100mL teapot, 200F, flash rinse (drank) followed by 9 steeps at 10/12/15/20/25/30/45/60/90s.

The warmed leaf had the same aromas as the dry leaf with the addition of a honey-brown sugar sweetness. Rinsing brought out more notes including mushroom, wood and faint moss. After the first steep, a comforting addition of baked bread appeared. The liquor aroma was already thick, sweet and permeating with chocolate, orange and a whisper of ginger. Housemate #2, with her first cup, said that “It aromatically wraps its arms around me. Just delicious, beautiful. I’m starting to understand your appreciation for tea. This is much better than lattes.”

I tasted chocolate, earth and mushrooms with the same honey-brown sugar sweetness found in the aroma. Good body already with light bitterness and good astringency. The second steep brought forward the baked bread note present in the wet leaf aroma, along with malt and a very clear mineral expression, leaving me salivating. Housemate #1 at this point said, “It’s very clean and reminds me of a roasted oolong in its delicacy.” In terms of black teas, she’s pretty much only familiar with strong and malty breakfast-types and earl grey. She continued to sip several cups while cooking. By the fourth steep, the liquor lightened a little, allowing the expression of some orange and a similar tartness. Fifth steep brought a pleasant returning sweetness. The tea began its fade with the sixth infusion and I pushed it through until the ninth with the flavors slowly receding into a bright woodiness.

I’ve had this or a similar Imperial golden bud black tea before from another vendor, in which I prepared it western style only. It was one of the several teas responsible for opening me up to a new world of straight loose leaf. Based on Housemate #2’s reaction, I think it may be doing the same for her as she coveted each cup I poured for her. Nothing can compare to the friendly and comforting flavors and aromas in this wonderful dianhong. Highly recommended for tea drinkers of all persuasions.