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I rode my bike around town today and everything was fine until I got to the credit union to open a new account. I’m at the tail end of some kind of cold and just when I stepped into banker’s office, a coughing fit hit hard and I had to excuse myself from opening a new account today. Now my voice is all froggy again, so I’m having a cup of this because it does actually seem to placate and coat my angry throat.

Yeah, it smells and tastes a lot like licorice but I kind of like it — the sweetness is tolerable.
And there’s fennel. Strong enough to balance those cool aromas and flavors is a good hit of floral cinnamon. There’s also a kind of nutty aftertaste. Is that from the marshmallow root or slippery elm? I’ve not had either before.

This was a good night cap to sip on right after I took a shot of whiskey and laid down last night.

Here’s a loose, small-leaf shou puerh I picked up from the co-op, number two of the three Phoenix Collection puerh that are currently available there.

I started this session last night and opted to set the cup down after finding myself a little too caffeinated. Finished up this evening. Tonight’s vinyl spin: Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson — Secrets. What an incredible album!

Dry leaf has a definite fermentation-fishy-storage smell but it’s also sweet and dark with caramel, chocolate and walnut. A 15s rinse strengthened the leaf aroma and also brought out old damp wood and faint earth notes.

Last night’s session was 6 infusions, starting at 10s and working my way up to 30s. Any fishiness disappeared but the fermentation persisted in the liquor aroma, along with dark chocolate and some light earthiness. The deep mahogany liquor had a tiny bite but was otherwise smooth yet bold with a very alkaline quality supplemented by some bitterness and walnut and mineral flavors. When cooled, the chocolate of the leaf and liquor aroma came forward in taste. The fifth steep had a light addition of camphor. I was reeling with an uncomfortable caffeine buzz by the sixth infusion, so I left the leaf in my gaiwan for the next day.

Tonight, the tea took a major turn, starting with the seventh steep of 40s. It became wonderfully herbal and spicy in aroma and taste with notes of camphor, cassia and wintergreen and a fruity midtone. I worked my way through an additional 8 infusions while grooving away to my music selection. The remaining infusions saw the bitterness disappear and were consistently clean, herbal and spicy with camphor. They also developed a nice mineral tartness. With the ninth infusion I began to notice a really nice oily texture that carried through until the end. I also picked up an incredible hit of some type of incense toward the end. The final and 15th infusion was somewhere around 10 minutes, at which point the liquor developed a very thin almost milky sweetness. The leaves are still in the gaiwan, so I might keep pushing.

I am frankly really surprised at the quality and performance of this tea. It has blown every shou I’ve had out of the water in regards to longevity. The heavy and bold alkalinity in the the first third of the session was a little off-putting but I am so damn pleased I persisted. In retrospect, this tea could probably handle several long rinses to bypass that and take you straight into clean, herbal, spicy camphor territory.

Addendum: I got another 5 infusions, so make that 20 total. Faded into a light, sweet woodiness.

I figured I’d finally get some of my own tasting notes out for this tea, one of my favorites for its profile and ease of brewing. This harvest is from sometime in 2017 and has had over a year for the roast to calm down (it wasn’t too strong to begin with) and allow other aromas and flavors to develop. Tonight, I choose you, gongfu. I haven’t drank this tea gongfu in a long time, instead brewing it in my 20oz thermos all of last semester to fuel me through night classes.

5g, 100mL, 205F, rinse, lost count of steeps but made it through 2L of water tonight.

Dry leaf smells tart, fruity, sweet and toasty with notes of roasted pear, baked apple and quince, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Warmed, it smells like just like cinnamon raisin toast. Rinsing brings out rye, caramel, cardboard, black cherry and a hint of burnt sugar.

This tea starts out strong and fades very slowly. With the first steep, the liquor is a sparkling and intense dark auburn-amber and maintains this color throughout the session. It has a light, sweet aroma with notes of baking spices and toast. In the mouth, I pick up on roasted pear, golden raisin, baked sweet apple, rock sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and a light mineral presence. The tea is very clean in the mouth, light-bodied and smooth and lacks much of an aftertaste, making it very easy to drink without having to focus. The tea peaks in flavor around with the third steep, typical for a rolled oolong (it looks like a Chinese tieguanyin rather a balled Taiwanese oolong) and fades slowly from there. Toward the end, the fruit and spice notes become indistinguishable, providing a background to butter and wood/slight tannins, with some sweet lemon becoming noticeable.

Admittedly, the tea hasn’t changed much since I first tried it, but I still love it. It’s an easy-going, unpretentious, straight-forward brew with comforting aromas and flavors that always leave me in an excellent mood.

Dry bag smells more of licorice-fennel followed by eucalyptus-mint. The steam is lightly minty and medicinal. First sip is of course syrupy sweet, earthy licorice which is mixed with eucalyptus, then the fennel opens up, followed by a light coating of menthol that floats up. There’s also some tartness at the back of the mouth a while after the sip.

Compared to Yogi’s Breathe Deep, this isn’t nearly as sickeningly licorice sweet and the licorice doesn’t glue itself into weird pockets of flavor around my mouth. It’s more of a smooth coating unlike the Breathe Deep which left a dry eucalyptus-herbal strip the length of my tongue. I do appreciate the stronger eucalyptus-thyme presence in Breathe Deep. Taste-wise, though, this Breathe Easy is preferred.

I know this herbal tea isn’t going to cure what ails me, but I’m drinking this at the behest of my housemate.

And it’s good.

And comforting.

Because it’s mostly clove and peppermint and a little cinnamon-tasting. Surprisingly smooth despite the dominant clove aroma and taste. Numbs my throat just enough. The peppermint is refreshing and not stewy, I’d say moderate intensity. Enough to open my aggravated sinuses and to taste but not a kick in the lungs or on the tongues. It’s also just slightly tart. Very easy to drink.

Finished off this sample with another go at gongfu, this time using 4.5g/212F/6 steeps and also a western steep with 3g/195F/2 steeps.

For gongfu, the boiling water didn’t seem to effect the tastes at all. In terms of texture, the astringency was not effected and the liquor thickened up some. The tea did open up quicker, this time on the second steep. The leaf can steep for upwards of 10 minutes for the last few infusions without developing off flavors. I’d suggest brewing this tea at boiling instead of the Silk Road recommended 195F.

Western was a wreck though at 195F and the most dominant quality was that tartness in the back of the mouth that’s also prominent in tieguanyin oolong. Not something I appreciate shrug

Dropping the rating. It just doesn’t do it for me.

Surprised this hasn’t been reviewed after all these years.

Now this is a good hibiscus blend. Two bags in a 20oz mug. I’m mostly getting the hibscus/rosehip combo and a good dash of sweet, non-spicy cinnamon but not tasting chamomile or lemongrass as their lighter flavors are easily overwhelmed with something as forward as hibiscus. Smooth and a little sweet, not bitingly acidic by any means.

Peet’s Coffee and Tea (a Berkeley company) acquired Mighty Leaf Tea (a San Francisco company) and stopped selling Peet’s branded line of teas when this happened several years ago. So once this Hibiscus C Blend is gone, it’s gone for good, unless I get a wild hair up my ass and go sleuthing to the levels of Mastress Alita to find the wholesaler.

I had this a few nights ago. I wasn’t expecting much considering a Taiwanese oolong vendor sells this and he was most likely fibbed to about this tea’s origins as explained in the product description. I wanted to try a 25g sample for educational purposes.

It’s a very simple, one-note sheng. Barbecue. But not overwhelmingly so. Very light-bodied and lacking any depth with only a hint of bitterness and sweetness and no astringency. Interestingly, for a young sheng, there is a bit of an aged floral aroma and taste and the leaf is kind of dark. I’m guessing low quality material that was fired longer to make up for it? Or it was processed in damp weather and needed more fire to dry out the material? Or? And I’m wondering if it was wet-stored for a short amount of time? I’m not armchair-experienced enough in puerh processing and storage effects to say, so for now I question. So much to learn.

I’m glad I have enough of this tea to play around with leaf amount and will leave a rating after I finish the sample. My initial gut rating is 50.

Addendum: bitterness definitely increases with more leaf and the liquor numbs the tip of my tongue which I’m not too keen about. There are also flecks and very small grains of some kind of shiny gold substance in the cake that settle to the bottom of the brewing vessel and cup. Because of that, I’m not going to finish my sample. Rating: even lower

Mama don’t feel good.

My housemate brought me a few bags of her Ginger Aid in a mug. It’s pretty soothing this morning. Moderately warming/cooling and helping me breathe. It’s only a hint sweet from the stevia and blackberry leaves and smells sweeter than it tastes. Not picking up on the lemon myrtle.

Sigh. Guess I’ll be drinking herbals for a day or two.

I’m feeling a little under the weather tonight so I thought I’d see what Yogi could do for me.

I like the herbal, dry medicinal scent of the bag in the package. First sip of this is gross. Thick and syrupy. Oh, licorice root is the first ingredient. Well that clears up quickly because of the other ingredients. On subsequent sips, they present a drying, herbal quality which cuts the sweetness. The licorice does hang around, though, around my salivary glands, back of the tongue and because of the sinus opening qualities of the eucalyptus and thyme, it also wafts up into my sniffer. Blergh. I’d be more content if it stayed in just the mouth.

This tea seems fine for 1) light stuffiness or 2) stuffiness that is so severe you won’t be able to taste or breathe into your sinuses that licorice root. Honestly, I’d rather drink two leaves and a bud Peppermint for its clean and pure menthol sinus-opening ability but the eucalyptus, thyme and tulsi are good additions to this ‘breathing blend.’ I’d like to see those 4 ingredients together.