Not gonna go in depth with this note since I’ve had several harvests of this tea by now.
The April 2020 harvest I currently have produces variable results. In general, this is a light-bodied tea without much structure in the mouth but it has some great aromatic nuances.
One day this past week made a perfect cup. Cocoa, vanilla and roasted pears. That was really nice.
I’d give this harvest an 75, previous harvests 94 and 90, average 86.
Flavors: Cocoa, Pear, Roasty, Vanilla
If you’re an aspiring or current tea grower, let’s talk! I am slowly beginning a tea farm here in Northern California. Currently growing are young plants pulled from the ground and gifted to me after a visit to Fairhope Tea Plantation in Alabama. The parent plants are sinensis variety from a defunct Lipton research project. I’ve also started seeds from Camellia Forest Nursery in North Carolina. The types include Camellia taliensis, an assamica variety, and 3 sinensis varieties including “Small leaf” “Large leaf” and “Black Sea.” To learn how to process tea into different styles, I plan on traveling to China and Taiwan if/when COVID becomes a relative non-issue. I’m taking Mandarin classes to aid in this journey.
Tea became a hobby and my daily drink of choice some time late in the last decade. My introduction to loose leaf came, following a lone tin of some Tie Guan Yin oolong many years prior, in the form of dumpster-dived Wuyi oolong packets that somebody left upon moving out of an apartment building. From there, my palate expanded to teas from across China and the world. I used to focus more on taste and still harbor the habit, but after trying sheng pu’er, I tend to focus more on how a tea feels in my body. Does it complement my constitution? Does it change my mood or does it enhance my current mindstate? While I may not mention those effects in tea notes, it is what I value most.
Flavored teas are not a favorite but I do drink them intermittently. Drink a variety of teabags at work. Herbal teas/tisanes provide balance. Unfiltered tap water heathen (it’s good here).
In terms of who I am, you could consider me a jill of all trades. Specialty is not my strength, as can be seen in the spread of my tea notes.
One thing I will always love is riding a bicycle.
Sonoma County, California, USA
The 2020 was hit or miss, though more specifically the experiments with Tie Guan Yin and Shui Xian were really good from Taiwan.