1548 Tasting Notes
Another note with scrubbed text as Steepster was being fixed. Don’t feel inspired to retype the original from memory.
First steeps need some coaxing to bring out the flavor in a liquor that will otherwise taste like sweet, viscous springwater. Usually the third steep for oolong tea holds the magic; that’s the case here but it continues to become more powerful (read: bigger body and more tannic) as steeps progress. Upfront flavors are papery and dry grassy with the real meat of the experience happening in the back of the mouth. First session had loads of mango and coconut water coming from the back. Second and third sessions were less impressive in that regard. This tea feels like it has a lot of caffeine.
Flavors: Butter, Coconut, Dry Grass, Drying, Egg, Floral, Grassy, Lemongrass, Lilac, Mango, Milk, Mineral, Paper, Peach, Salad Greens, Soybean, Spinach, Spring Water, Strawberry, Sugarcane, Tannic, Toast, Vanilla, Violet, Viscous, Wheat
Then text of the original note was scrubbed as I think the site was being brought back to life when I posted. Not feeling too inspired to re-type what was lost.
Inspired to buy because of a well aged (from Leafhopper’s Tea Museam) older harvest previously enjoyed:
https://steepster.com/teas/what-cha/56348-malawi-bvumbwe-handmade-treasure-black-tea
This seems to be more oxidized but still a great black tea with unique flavors. Sparkling jewels of bright ‘orange’ tastes pop through a brisk body with dried cherries and barky bitter tannins. Notable ginger impression with the throat-cooling effect and a totally unexpected cream of watercress soup aftertaste. Very drinkable and also excellent iced.
Flavors: Bark, Bitter, Black Pepper, Bread, Bright, Brisk, Carrot, Cherry, Citrusy, Coriander Seed, Cream, Drying, Earthy, Ginger, Mustard, Orange, Peach, Spices, Tangy, Tannin, Wood, Woody
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
Moving on to blind sample D
This sheng puerh has a meadowy, plummy date aroma to the dry leaf, strawlike with a rich fruity sweetness. Warming brings a sharp tang like dried cherries and prunes. Rinsing turns the leaf more pungent with eggplant, olive, osmanthus and marshmallow root.
Aromas and tastes are consistent throughout steeps. On the nose I get strong notes of grilled peach and grilled eggplant, wet hay. In the mouth, the tea has a deep, rich taste up front of hay, purple flowers, marshmallow with a citrusy feeling. The body is viscous and soft with a bitterness that is not so well integrated. It does linger and is a bit intrusive right now but I think it will complement the tea as it transforms with age (if it ages well – I think this might be a sheng subjected to new methods of processing as there is some visible oxidation and prominent aroma). Burps early in the session, no stomach discomfort.
This leaf has enough strength to last several infusions but I did lose interest at some point and didn’t steep it out. The way the tea presents its character and bitterness up front, along with its energy, has me thinking this is bush tea or young tree. Also, the leaf has a thin, flimsy structure, but I do see a few fat, chunky buds that look like they’re from a different pick. Processing isn’t the best – plenty of scorch marks. A difficult to describe intensity moves through my body that has me thinking Menghai region but I’m definitely not confident in that assessment.
It’s actually a decent tea but not my jam. I think I’ll brew up the remainder of the sample as iced tea.
One more blind sheng sample to go!
Flavors: Bitter, Cherry, Citrus, Dates, Eggplant, Grilled Food, Hay, Lavender, Marshmallow, Meadow, Olives, Osmanthus, Peach, Plum, Prune, Pungent, Rich, Soft, Straw, Violet, Viscous
Preparation
In contrast to Roswell Strange’s experience of sweaty body odor and bile,
I am eating this straight outta the bag with a spoon.
It’s that good.
I want to make a thick syrup out of it for drizzling on something. Jicama, grapefuit and avocado salad? Papaya? Unsweetened yogurt? My body? Was that too far?
It is passion fruit, after all.
Flavors: Passion Fruit, Sweet, Tart
I nearly spit out my tea at “my body” lmao! Sounds wonderful though, I love passion fruit everything.
Haha, yeah this definitely seems to be one where I’m the odd one out. Even though I know it’s a common association w/ the actual fruits, I don’t usually get the body odor kinda thing from tropical fruits so I was surprised I got it here. Glad everyone else is enjoying it, though!
LOL. Rishi seems to have some good teas.
Leafhopper: and some which tastes and smells like paint; not kidding, I remember writing it into tasting note
Bold and colorful flavor. Like most Thai teas, this is forward and strong. It oozes cheerful character and holds nothing back. The passionfruit taste is from another world. Those little starflowers pack a punch of spicy-minty herbaceous marigold. High energy brew. I had this mid-morning and couldn’t sleep that night.
Flavors: Fruity, Herbaceous, Marigold, Mint, Passion Fruit, Spicy
Cool. Meadowy Baimudan Hawaiian style. All kinds of stuff going on here and I can’t read my handwritten note from last week. Pristine leaf, very clean feeling. Leaf aromas are in your face and funky. Taste is much more subtle and fresh like accented springwater, complex. Sweetness is a thin, sparkling and cool sensation. Would try again! Thanks again, beerandbeancurd :)
Flavors: Baby Powder, Barnyard, Citrus Fruits, Clean, Dry Leaves, Fur, Hay, Jasmine, Mango, Meadow, Olive Oil, Passion Fruit, Plumeria, Rice, Spices, Spring Water, Taro Root, Tobacco, Wet Rocks
Preparation
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
Spring 2022 harvest, a freebie with my order. Thank you!
Round, fluffy-sweet and silky spring water with smooth fruity notes I can see as lychee and muscat grape. Threads of malt and chocolate, cinnamon and mild cardamom. Tangy, mineral, sparkling, playful tannins. Osmanthus in bottom of cup. Very clean, leathery aftertaste.
Excellent tea! I only drank this prepared in a 60mL gaiwan with 2.5g each time. Good longevity for a red tea this way.
Flavors: Cardamom, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Clean, Dark Chocolate, Dust, Leather, Lychee, Malt, Mineral, Muscatel, Osmanthus, Round, Silky, Spring Water, Sweet, Tangy, Wheat, Wood
Preparation
All ass, all the time. Straight from the horse’s butt.
This special style of tea is the clearest example of active fermentation funk I’ve ever experienced.
Still have enough left from beerandbeancurd to sample again and give a more appropriate review if I feel up to it.
See:
https://steepster.com/teas/what-cha/69369-2015-bancha-goishicha-dark-tea
https://steepster.com/teas/yunomi/51643-furyu-bancha-goishicha
Flavors: Barnyard, Beer, Cheese, Lemon, Mineral, Red Wine, Sour, Soy Sauce
(Snorting like said horse) Things only tea people get…
I really need to dive back into this ass at some point… red wine seems generous, but a girl can hope.
Yeh, gmathis. I’m in the camp of unfiltered impressions when they arise.
beearandbeancurd: Red wine is more of an impression than a taste. Have you ever had Nebbiolo? Something in this is reminiscent of a soft, light vintage.
Ah, yeah, I can see where you’re coming from there.
I once had a tea called “Awa Bancha” from Furyu c/o Yunomi that was also ass. It tasted like pickle juice, if pickle juice were bad (note I like actual pickle juice). I read another review for it that compared it to “embalming fluid” and then that was all I could think when I smelled it.
Embalming fluid, hork!
I wonder if someone somewhere enjoys this, or if they’re making it and we’re buying it just so we can all have a good laugh at ourselves. Fair enough, I say… fair enough.
