1048 Tasting Notes

91

This was another of my more recent sipdowns. I’m trying to get some reviews of a few teas I drank recently out of the way because my 2022 notebook is falling apart. Each time a page falls out, I prioritize posting whichever reviews are contained on that particular page. I’m sure this notebook would have held up better if my cats didn’t love to wallow it so much. Anyway, this was the most recent Zhangping Shui Xian offered by What-Cha. In general, I find Zhangping Shui Xian to be very hit or miss, but this was a great one.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After rinsing the 8 gram cake for 10 seconds in 165 fluid ounces of 194 F water, I kicked off the fun part of my drinking session with a 10 second infusion. This initial infusion was chased by 18 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the tea cake emitted aromas of cream, butter, custard, gardenia, violet, bread, and orange blossom. After the rinse, aromas of grass, sugarcane, and vanilla emerged. The first infusion then added a slight lettuce scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up subtle notes of grass, cream, butter, sugarcane, bread, orange blossom, and vanilla that were backed by hints of lilac, lettuce, gardenia, violet, custard, and orange zest. The majority of the subsequent infusions added aromas of orchid, lilac, honey, orange zest, daylily, and apple to the tea’s bouquet. Stronger and more immediately detectable impressions of lettuce, violet, custard, lilac, and orange zest appeared in the mouth alongside notes of apple, pear, plum, cucumber, minerals, daylily, and white grape. I also picked up on extremely pleasant hints of orchid, honey, white peach, apricot, snap peas, daylily shoots, caramel, and butterscotch. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to offer dominant notes of minerals, apple, orange zest, bread, lettuce, grass, cucumber, and sugarcane that were chased by fleeting hints of butter, white grape, plum, violet, daylily, daylily shoots, snap peas, gardenia, lilac, orange blossom, cream, and caramel.

Zhangping Shui Xian can often be gritty, prickly, astringent, and somewhat bitter, but this was a very smooth, elegant offering with tremendous balance. Had I not already known that this was a premium cake, it would have been easy to tell as the quality of the tea leaves used in its production was clearly very high. Normally, tea cakes will be layered so that the highest quality and most intact leaf material is at the top, effectively hiding the lower grade material below it, but that was not the case with this particular cake. It produced very little grit, and most of the leaves seemed to be intact. Overall, this tea was a winner and a wonderful example of what Zhangping Shui Xian tends to offer at its best. I wish I had picked up more than one cake.

Flavors: Apple, Apricot, Bread, Butter, Butterscotch, Caramel, Cream, Cucumber, Custard, Floral, Gardenias, Grass, Honey, Lettuce, Lilac, Mineral, Orange Blossom, Orange Zest, Orchid, Peach, Pear, Peas, Plum, Sugarcane, Vanilla, Vegetal, Violet, White Grapes

Preparation
8 g 165 OZ / 4879 ML
Skysamurai

Wow!!! The flavors!!!

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93
drank Que She (2019) by Old Ways Tea
1048 tasting notes

Now that I once again have some time to get a few more reviews posted, I wanted to start off with one of my more recent sipdowns. I only had a sample pouch of this tea, but it took me forever to get around to drinking it. It was actually the last of the 2018-2019 Old Ways Tea samples that I had clogging up my cupboard, and I think I took so long to get around to trying it because I know very little about Que She. I had only tried one other Que She previously, and it did not strike me as being very good, so I had virtually no expectations of this tea. Well, it turned out to be an excellent offering and a hidden gem among Old Ways Tea’s 2019 product lineup.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 5 grams of the loose tea leaves in 3 fluid ounces of 203 F water for 5 seconds. This initial infusion was chased by 19 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves presented aromas of charcoal, bread, pomegranate, blackberry, pine, dark chocolate, black cherry, raisin, and prune that were underpinned by a subtle smokiness. After the rinse, aromas of roasted almond, tar, roasted peanut, roasted barley, and toasted rice appeared along with a more pronounced smokiness. The first infusion added a subtle mineral scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered delicate and often elusive notes of charcoal, pine, bread, black cherry, pomegranate, raisin, blackberry, tar, smoke, roasted barley, and roasted almond that were chased by hints of raspberry, dark chocolate, roasted peanut, earth, and roasted walnut. The bulk of the subsequent infusions added aromas of blueberry, raspberry, peach, hibiscus, roasted walnut, orange zest, juniper, and grape leaf to the tea’s bouquet. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of dark chocolate, earth, roasted peanut, and roasted walnut appeared in the mouth alongside mineral, orange zest, blueberry, rock sugar, red grape, caramel, grape leaf, hibiscus, black currant, and cream flavors. Some hints of toasted rice, peach, prune, juniper, and gooseberry could also be detected at times. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized lingering notes of minerals, pine, bread, roasted barley, roasted almond, roasted peanut, roasted walnut, orange zest, grape leaf, earth, and cream, though often ghostly impressions of black cherry, blackberry, red grape, pomegranate, hibiscus, juniper, smoke, tar, black currant, peach, and gooseberry still hung around in the background.

An interesting, challenging, and incredibly complex offering, this Que She was difficult to compare to any other Wuyi oolong I have tried. Though very aromatic and flavorful, it frequently emphasized texture over any of its other attributes, and while many Wuyi oolongs produce a liquor that possesses a very sharp or crisp mouthfeel, this tea produced one that was light, slick, and only slightly prickly. Overall, it had a very coy and playful presence and produced a very subtly invigorating energy. The way this tea balanced its odd blend of aroma and flavor components was also incredibly impressive. At this point, I can only conclude by stating that it was a winner and deserved a chance from me long before I decided to give it one.

Flavors: Almond, Black Currant, Blackberry, Blueberry, Bread, Caramel, Charcoal, Cherry, Cream, Dark Chocolate, Earth, Gooseberry, Grapes, Hibiscus, Mineral, Orange Zest, Peach, Peanut, Pine, Pomegranate, Prune, Raisins, Raspberry, Roasted Barley, Smoke, Sugar, Tar, Toasted Rice, Vegetal, Walnut

Preparation
5 g 3 OZ / 88 ML

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90

It’s after midnight, and I’m somehow still keeping the tea review train rolling. I have no clue when I finished my lone sample pouch of this tea. It was probably either late 2021 or very early this year. After being slightly disappointed by the 2018 Old Tree Black Tea from Old Ways Tea, I was not sure what to expect of the 2019 production. Well, it turned out that this was a noticeably better offering overall.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 5 second rinse, I started my review session by steeping 5 grams of the loose tea leaves in 3 fluid ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 20 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of honey, grass, straw, malt, bread, cinnamon, pine, and cedar. After the rinse, I picked up on fresh aromas of roasted almond, roasted peanut, green wood (oak?), and butter. The first infusion then added a delicate creamy scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cream, grass, malt, bread, straw, butter, green wood, and roasted almond that were chased by hints of cinnamon, raisin, pine, honey, and sugarcane. The subsequent infusions primarily added aromas of minerals, smoke, raisin, and moss to the tea’s bouquet, though subtler scents of earth and chocolate also made themselves known. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of cinnamon, raisin, pine, honey, and sugarcane emerged in the mouth alongside impressions of minerals, roasted peanut, red apple, orange zest, moss, earth, and lemon zest. Hints of caramel, pear, plum, smoke, cedar, and chocolate were present as well. Once the tea started to fade, the liquor began more heavily emphasizing notes of minerals, malt, bread, cream, pine, roasted almond, orange zest, green wood, and sugarcane that were chased by subtle hints of grass, straw, honey, lemon zest, cinnamon, earth, moss, raisin, butter, pear, and caramel.

A very complex and heavily textured black tea with tremendous longevity, this tea was both a challenge and a joy to sample. It retained some of the dryness of the 2018 production, but it offered better texture and depth, coming off as being somewhat more akin to either the 2016 or 2017 offerings. The Masu Old Tree Black Tea is clearly a must-try offering from Old Ways Tea in most years. It’s definitely a regular offering to check out if you are looking for a balanced Wuyi black tea with tons of complexity, depth, and texture.

Flavors: Almond, Bread, Butter, Caramel, Cedar, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Cream, Earth, Grass, Green Wood, Honey, Lemon Zest, Malt, Mineral, Moss, Orange Zest, Peanut, Pear, Pine, Plum, Raisins, Red Apple, Smoke, Straw, Sugarcane

Preparation
5 g 3 OZ / 88 ML

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90

Alright, I’m just going to keep going. I’m in the mood. I might as well. This was another of my sipdowns from late last year. The 2018 Da Bo was one of the more pleasant surprises among Old Ways Tea’s 2018 black tea offerings, so I expected this one to impress as well, and it did.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick 5 second rinse, I steeped 5 grams of the loose tea leaves in 3 fluid ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 19 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of roasted almond, roasted peanut, straw, pine, cedar, cinnamon, and sunflower seeds. New aromas of green wood, butter, bread, and malt came out after the rinse. The first infusion then added a nutmeg aroma. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of roasted almond, sunflower seed, malt, bread, cream, roasted sweet potato, straw, pine, and cinnamon that were chased by subtler notes of roasted peanut, honey, red apple, pear, plum, nutmeg, and green wood. The majority of the subsequent infusions added aromas of cream, minerals, moss, oats, and raisin to the tea’s bouquet. Stronger and more immediate notes of roasted peanut, honey, red apple, and nutmeg emerged in the mouth along with impressions of minerals, moss, oats, raisin, and orange zest. I noted hints of grass, cedar, blackberry, mulberry, and black cherry in the mix as well. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized mineral, malt, cream, oat, bread, roasted almond, sunflower seed, butter, and green wood notes that were balanced by lingering traces of cinnamon, straw, orange zest, grass, cedar, roasted peanut, raisin, and red apple.

This was a unique Wuyi black tea. Many black teas from Wuyishan have pronounced chocolate, honey, and dark, rich fruity notes, but this tea leaned heavily on woody, nutty, savory, and grainy characteristics while also frequently emphasizing texture over aroma or flavor. It was a very subtle tea and often a bit challenging to dissect. Once I developed a feel for it though, it was very rewarding. I’d definitely recommend it to experienced drinkers of Wuyi black teas looking for something a little different.

Flavors: Almond, Blackberry, Bread, Butter, Cedar, Cherry, Cinnamon, Cream, Fruity, Grass, Green Wood, Honey, Malt, Mineral, Moss, Nutmeg, Nutty, Oats, Orange Zest, Peanut, Pear, Pine, Plum, Raisins, Red Apple, Straw, Sweet Potatoes

Preparation
5 g 3 OZ / 88 ML

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84

While I’m at it, here is a review of a tea that I’m sure I drank late last year. I had a ton of sample pouches of various teas from Old Ways Tea that had accumulated from 2018 to 2020 just sitting in a box in my bedroom. I rediscovered it while cleaning last year and made a point of trying to go through anywhere from one to three sample pouches per week from that point forward. I finally finished all of them last month. I think I drank this one in either November or December of last year. The Wild Style Black Tea is a regular offering from Old Ways Tea, and until I placed a moratorium on tea purchases, was a tea I purchased yearly. In my experience, it tends to be tremendously variable from year to year. I greatly enjoyed the 2016 and 2017 offerings. I recall the 2018 version not being as good. I thought I had reviewed it on Steepster, but looking back through my notes, I must have never gotten around to it. This production did not rival the 2016 and 2017 teas, but it was rather enjoyable overall.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse (about 5 seconds), I kicked things off by steeping 6 grams of the loose tea leaves in 3 fluid ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 19 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minutes, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of honey, cinnamon, pine, straw, cedar, bread, plum, black raspberry, and red grape. After the rinse, I detected aromas of roasted almond and roasted peanut. The first infusion added a pronounced green wood aroma. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up notes of roasted almond, bread, green wood, cinnamon, pine, and cedar that were balanced by hints of honey, straw, red grape, oats, pear, cream, and butter. The bulk of the subsequent infusions added aromas of minerals, cream, oats, butter, roasted cashew, chocolate, caramel, grass, orange zest, and malt. Stronger and more immediately detectable impressions of straw, cream, oats, butter, and pear emerged in the mouth alongside notes of roasted cashew, minerals, roasted peanut, chocolate, grass, caramel, orange zest, and lemon zest. Hints of plum, black raspberry, earth, malt, raisin, and nutmeg were also present. As the tea faded, the liquor shifted to primarily emphasize lingering notes of minerals, cream, butter, bread, straw, roasted almond, grass, lemon zest, and orange zest, while hints of roasted peanut, oats, raisin, pine, green wood, earth, malt, pear, and cinnamon remained to provide balance.

This was undeniably a tea with considerable depth and complexity. It started off a little uneven, but it quickly found its footing. If I had one real gripe about it, it was that some of its most interesting and enjoyable components were too muted and/or too short-lived. In the end, this was a somewhat flawed but still quite likable offering. I’m not sorry that I gave it a go.

Flavors: Almond, Bread, Butter, Caramel, Cashew, Cedar, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Cream, Earth, Grapes, Grass, Green Wood, Honey, Lemon Zest, Malt, Mineral, Nutmeg, Oats, Orange Zest, Peanut, Pear, Pine, Plum, Raisins, Raspberry, Straw

Preparation
5 g 3 OZ / 88 ML

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82

This was another tea that I tried in either late 2021 or shortly after the start of the year. I recall it being a tea I had been meaning to get around to trying for a while. Roasted Jin Xuan is generally something I enjoy, so I had high hopes for this offering. It mostly lived up to my expectations too. Though I had tried better roasted Jin Xuan prior to trying this tea, it was still a fun and likable offering that I would feel confident recommending to just about anyone.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After rinsing 6 grams of the rolled leaf and bud sets for 10 seconds in approximately 4 fluid ounces of 194 F water, I started my review session off with a 10 second infusion. This initial infusion was followed by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaf and bud sets emitted aromas of toasted rice, roasted barley, coffee, cream, and bread. After the rinse, I noted new aromas of smoke, green olive, parsley, sugarcane, and vanilla. The first infusion added cooked spinach and cooked cabbage scents. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cream, butter, toasted rice, and bread that were chased by subtler impressions of sugarcane, grass, coffee, vanilla, pear, roasted barley, daylily, and longan. The majority of the subsequent infusions introduced aromas of vegetable broth, daylily shoots, roasted carrot, and balsam. Impressions of minerals, parsley, smoke, cooked lettuce, cooked cabbage, vegetable broth, sour plum, daylily shoots, and balsam appeared in the mouth alongside stronger and more immediately detectable notes of grass, coffee, daylily, vanilla, and roasted barley. I also detected hints of roasted carrot, cooked cabbage, nutmeg, cinnamon, green olive, sour cherry, and green apple. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, cream, butter, toasted rice, cooked spinach, cooked lettuce, grass, and vegetable broth along with suddenly amplified roasted carrot impressions. Hints of pear, green apple, green olive, roasted barley, vanilla, sugarcane, balsam, and sour plum continued to round out the mix through the very end of the session. I should also note that some late emerging hints of popcorn were present as well.

For a light roasted Jin Xuan, the fact that the roast was so present surprised and intrigued me. I was expecting much lighter and faster fading roasted characteristics, but this tea did not provide the experience I was anticipating. What I got was a very grainy, grassy, vegetal tea with pronounced and durable aromas and flavors contributed by the roasting process. I would have liked to see more floral and fruity characteristics, but overall, this was a pleasant and nicely balanced roasted Jin Xuan with some interesting and memorable quirks.

Flavors: Bread, Butter, Cabbage, Carrot, Cherry, Cinnamon, Coffee, Cream, Floral, Fruity, Grass, Green Apple, Lettuce, Mineral, Nutmeg, Olives, Parsley, Pear, Plum, Roasted Barley, Smoke, Spinach, Sugarcane, Toasted Rice, Vanilla, Vegetable Broth, Wood

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML
Leafhopper

This tea was also too roasted for me, though my roast tolerance is pretty low.

eastkyteaguy

Yeah, this was a tea that I liked, but I can understand how it would not be for everyone. My appreciation for roasted oolong seems to be greater than that of most other people.

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97

Hello everyone, how are things? It’s been ages since I have contributed anything of note to Steepster. A lot has gone on this year, and I just haven’t had the time or the motivation to do much. Needless to say, the seemingly infinite backlog has grown, and while I have some free time, I wanted to post a new review or two. I’m starting off with a tea I thought I added to the database but apparently didn’t. This tea was first offered by Whispering Pines in either 2020 or 2021 as a higher grade counterpart to the Fujian Silver Needle they started carrying on a recurring basis. I think the pouch I purchased came from the spring 2021 harvest, but I have no way of being sure of that. Looking back over my session notes, I failed to record the production year. I also can no longer find any information about this tea online. I finished the only pouch of this tea that I purchased in either late 2021 or right around the start of this year.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After giving 6 grams of the loose tea buds a 10 second rinse in 190 F water, I kicked off the fun part of any drinking session with a 10 second infusion in 4 fluid ounces of 190 F water. 18 additional infusions followed. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minutes, 1 minutes 15 seconds, 1 minutes 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes. Note that the water temperature was kept at 190 F throughout the entirety of session.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds produced pleasant aromas of cinnamon, pine, straw, peanut, and eucalyptus. After the rinse, fresh aromas of almond, butter, cream, and hay appeared, though I detected subtler chestnut and marshmallow scents too. The first proper infusion then introduced a subtle vanilla scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented delicate notes of moss, cream, honeydew, cantaloupe, butter, oats, and sugarcane that were chased by hints of almond, peanut, pine, vanilla, straw, and eucalyptus. The majority of the subsequent infusions gradually added aromas of moss, basil, oats, parsley, and plum in addition to a noticeably stronger vanilla scent. More prevalent and immediately detectable impressions of vanilla, almond, and peanut emerged in the mouth alongside soft mineral, marshmallow, plum, parsley, white grape, steamed milk, cinnamon, watermelon, and carambola notes. Interesting hints of chestnut, hay, apricot, white peach, grape leaf, snap pea, apple, basil, pear, and golden kiwi lingered around the fringes. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize notes of minerals, cream, butter, peanut, almond, moss, watermelon, and vanilla that were chased by increasingly elusive hints of pear, honeydew, cinnamon, basil, straw, pine, oats, parsley, carambola, white grape, and marshmallow.

After finishing my final session with this tea, I was as blown away as I was after concluding my initial exploratory session. I had always read that truly high end Fujian Silver Needles should never be grassy and should emphasize balance, subtlety, depth, and complexity of savory, earthy, vegetal, and fruity and/or floral notes. That is precisely what this tea did. It was a challenging yet thoroughly enjoyable and impressive offering that provided tons of exotic and unexpected aromas and flavors. If there ever were a tea not suitable for beginners, then this was certainly it. I’m glad I took the opportunity to try it.

Flavors: Almond, Apple, Apricot, Basil, Butter, Cantaloupe, Chestnut, Cinnamon, Cream, Eucalyptus, Fruity, Hay, Honeydew, Kiwi, Marshmallow, Milk, Mineral, Moss, Oats, Parsley, Peach, Peanut, Pear, Peas, Pine, Plum, Straw, Sugarcane, Vanilla, Vegetal, Watermelon, White Grapes

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML
Leafhopper

Glad to see you back! I’ve been looking for a Fuding Silver Needle for a while. Do you know if this tea is from Fuding or Zhenghe? Either way, it sounds good!

eastkyteaguy

Awesome question! Unfortunately, I have no clue. Off the top of my head, I want to say Zhenghe, but again, I don’t know for sure. Starting last year, I began making an effort to record information about the origin and harvest date of each tea I drank because I tend to let my review notes sit so long that such information ends up forgotten by the time I get around to posting anything here. I did not record that information for this tea. If I recall correctly, both the Imperial Grade Fujian Silver Needle and the regular Fujian Silver Needle offered by Whispering Pines come from the same producer. I went back through my most recent notebook and located my notes for the Fujian Silver Needle, and it turns out that I failed to record that information in them as well. You may want to get in touch with Brendan. He will be able to provide that information.

Leafhopper

Thanks for checking! I think most Fujian Silver Needle comes from Zhenghe these days. I wanted to compare Silver Needles from both regions, but it’s so long since I’ve had the Zhenghe version that I’m not sure it would be helpful anymore. I’ll contact Brendan if it’s still in stock.

mrmopar

Happy to see these notes as well.

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42

This was one of my sipdowns from late last year and a tea that I have dreaded reviewing in the months since. I always host posting negative or mixed reviews, especially from vendors whose offerings I tend to like, but that is unfortunately what I have to do here. This tea was just lacking overall.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After my usual 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of the loose bud and leaf rolls in 4 fluid ounces of 185 F water for 10 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaf and bud rolls emitted aromas of osmanthus, cream, butter, and bread. After the rinse, I discovered new aromas of vanilla, grass, and sugarcane as well as a considerably stronger osmanthus scent. The first proper infusion added subtler aromas of toasted rice and grass. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented delicate notes of cream, butter, lettuce, grass, and bread that were backed up by hints of vanilla, toasted rice, osmanthus, and sugarcane. Aside from subtle orchid, lettuce, and vegetable broth aromas, the rest of the infusions did not add anything of note to the tea’s bouquet. Somewhat stronger and more immediately detectable notes of toasted rice, osmanthus, vanilla, and sugarcane emerged in the mouth, while notes of minerals, orchid, peach, pear, and steamed milk made themselves known. A heavy and at times overbearing vegetable broth presence quickly emerged and muddied the waters. Interesting hints of sea salt, apricot, balsam, plum, and white grape were just barely perceptible in the background. The aftertaste was odd. It reminded me of candy, like something along the lines of SweeTarts or Smarties. As the tea faded, notes of cream, butter, vegetable broth, and toasted rice came to dominate, though they were accompanied by a suddenly amplified sea salt presence and a late golden apple impression before mostly giving way to lingering hints of orchid, osmanthus, pear, grass, vanilla, lettuce, sugarcane, white grape, and steamed milk.

What-Cha usually does a good job of sourcing Jin Xuan from Thailand, but this tea was a misfire. It was all over the place and generally just something of a mess. Bizarrely, the osmanthus not only did not seem to mesh with the base tea, but it was also lacking in strength and presence. Jin Xuan usually accepts floral scents wonderfully and displays natural stone fruit aromas and flavors that one would expect to mesh perfectly with osmanthus, so I have no clue what happened here. I hate to say it, but this was easily one of the most disappointing What-Cha offerings I have tried. I cannot recommend it to others.

Flavors: Apple, Apricot, Bread, Broth, Butter, Candy, Cream, Grass, Lettuce, Milk, Mineral, Orchid, Osmanthus, Peach, Pear, Plum, Salt, Sugarcane, Toasted Rice, Vanilla, White Grapes

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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92

Let’s see if I can keep the reviewing train rolling today. This was another of my sipdowns from earlier in the year and yet another tea that impressed me greatly. I had no clue what to expect of it prior to trying it, since Rohini teas have always seemed so variable to me. The Rohini Tea Estate always seems to produce interesting, quirky, high quality teas, but what they produce does not always hit the spot for me. Fortunately, this tea did. It was a real knockout.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 6 grams of the loose tea leaves in 4 fluid ounces of 185 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of bread, cream, vanilla, and grass. After the rinse, I detected aromas of violet, mandarin orange, coconut, sugarcane, and dandelion. The first infusion then introduced aromas of butter, roasted almond, and roasted peanut. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented pleasant notes of cream, bread, butter, dandelion, dandelion greens, vanilla, grass, and sugarcane that were balanced by hints of roasted almond, coconut, banana, green apple, mandarin orange, coriander, white grape, and pear. The majority of the subsequent infusions collectively introduced aromas of pear, white grape, dandelion greens, geranium, caramel, and cashew. Stronger and more immediately apparent notes of roasted almond, pear, coriander, mandarin orange, and white grape emerged in the mouth alongside impressions of minerals, tangerine, violet, carambola, geranium, fennel, and caramel. I was also able to pick out delicate hints of apricot, yellow plum, cucumber, honey, cashew, and roasted peanut. As the tea faded, the liquor continued to emphasize notes of minerals, cream, bread, violet, dandelion, dandelion greens, butter, grass, roasted almond, and sugarcane that were backed by a melange of lingering vanilla, white grape, cashew, pear, honey, banana, fennel, and mandarin orange flavors.

Honestly, this was easily one of the most unique and satisfying oolongs I have ever tried. My only real complaints with it were that the tea liquor was a bit thin, and some of the more interesting aroma and flavor components never emerged to the extent I would have preferred. Aside from those two quibbles, I could not find anything to fault, and again, this tea was awesome regardless.

Flavors: Almond, Apricot, Bread, Butter, Caramel, Cashew, Coconut, Coriander, Cream, Cucumber, Dandelion, Fennel, Fruity, Geranium, Grass, Green Apple, Honey, Mandarin, Mineral, Peanut, Pear, Plum, Sugarcane, Tangerine, Vanilla, Vegetal, Violet, White Grapes

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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94

Okay, I’m finally back on here to post some reviews. It feels like it’s been forever. My spring coursework is finally winding down, and I’m supposed to be starting my new job next month. I also went ahead and reapplied for the graduate assistantship I turned down last year, and from what I understand, I am being considering for it once again, so if I get a wild hair and decide to move, that might be an option for me. Anyway, I wanted my return to reviewing tea to begin on a positive note and decided to start with a tea that I tried early in the year that impressed me tremendously.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a 10 second rinse, I steeped 5 grams of the loose tea leaf and osmanthus flower blend in 3 fluid ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 20 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaf and flower mix emitted aromas of bread and osmanthus. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of minerals, butter, and roasted almond accompanied by an even clearer, stronger osmanthus fragrance. The first infusion brought out aromas of pear and apple with subtle undertones of cinnamon. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered up notes of cedar, pine, bread, butter, roasted almond, and surprisingly light, delicate osmanthus that were balanced by somewhat subtler impressions of straw, grass, beeswax, and honey. The tea’s bouquet did not change much on the remainder of the infusions, though I was able to pick up a subtle mossy scent in places. Notes of minerals, moss, caramel, sweet potato, pear, red apple, plum, and earth emerged on the palate and were accompanied by hints of cinnamon, leather, tobacco, peach, green wood, and juniper. Each swallow then revealed subtle impressions of blueberry, birch bark, and wintergreen that lingered on the back of the throat for some time. As the tea settled and faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, bread, roasted almond, cedar, moss, pear, and earth that were chased by lingering hints of honey, osmanthus, peach, pine, beeswax, green wood, caramel, blueberry, straw, and wintergreen.

Normally, I am not a huge fan of osmanthus black teas, but this one came closer to getting a perfect rating from me than one might imagine. Had some of the tea’s more interesting flavor components balanced the osmanthus in the mouth a little more, and had there been a few more aromas emerge over the course of my gongfu session, I would have had no problem assigning this tea a score of 100. Even with those minor flaws, this was still an exceptional offering. The base tea and the osmanthus blossoms played off of one another beautifully.

Flavors: Almond, Bark, Blueberry, Butter, Caramel, Cedar, Cinnamon, Earth, Grass, Green Wood, Herbaceous, Honey, Leather, Mineral, Moss, Osmanthus, Peach, Pear, Pine, Plum, Red Apple, Straw, Sweet Potatoes, Tobacco, Wax, Wintergreen

Preparation
5 g 3 OZ / 88 ML
mrmopar

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My grading criteria for tea is as follows:

90-100: Exceptional. I love this stuff. If I can get it, I will drink it pretty much every day.

80-89: Very good. I really like this stuff and wouldn’t mind keeping it around for regular consumption.

70-79: Good. I like this stuff, but may or may not reach for it regularly.

60-69: Solid. I rather like this stuff and think it’s a little bit better-than-average. I’ll drink it with no complaints, but am more likely to reach for something I find more enjoyable than revisit it with regularity.

50-59: Average. I find this stuff to be more or less okay, but it is highly doubtful that I will revisit it in the near future if at all.

40-49: A little below average. I don’t really care for this tea and likely won’t have it again.

39 and lower: Varying degrees of yucky.

Don’t be surprised if my average scores are a bit on the high side because I tend to know what I like and what I dislike and will steer clear of teas I am likely to find unappealing.

Location

KY

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