260 Tasting Notes
2/4 dancongs from the order and this one is very unique! Super interesting experience to drink this one and I definitely like the complexity. Worth the money for sure.
Aftertaste is > 2 mins. Mouthfeel is buzzy/electric feeling that lasts into the aftertaste. Moderate astringency; no to minimal bitterness. Mild sweetness.
Harvest: Spring 2025
Cultivar: Huangzhi Xiang (“Yellow Gardenia Fragrance”)
Location: Wudong Shan, Guangdong
Elevation: 700-900 m
Flavors: Chestnut, Citrus, Floral, Fruity, Grapefruit, Roasty, Sweet
Ordered a set of dancong oolongs from Bitterleaf, my first order from the company. I am definitely impressed with their first offering! This is the best Yashi Xiang I’ve tried without a doubt.
Aftertaste lingers 30-60 seconds. Nice sweetness that crescendos in later steeps.
Harvest: Spring 2025
Cultivar: Yashi Xiang
Location: Wudong Shan, Guangdong
Elevation: 700-900 m
Flavors: Floral, Honey, Honeysuckle, Milky, Sweet
This is my first time trying Wenshan Baozhong and I am impressed!
The style is supposed to be a lightly oxidized oolong that blends notes of a Chinese green tea with an oolong quite well. It was one of the first styles of Taiwanese teas exported from the country, being brought first to Europe in the late 1800s. While it is typically made from Qing Xin (“Green Heart”), one of Taiwan’s well known cultivars, this example is Tsui Yu (TTES #13, “Emerald Oolong”), often called the Jade Oolong cultivar.
This tea has no bitterness or astringency. Almost no sweetness. Hardly any aftertaste. Lasts about 8 infusions.
Cultivar: Tsui Yu (TTES 13)
Harvest: April 10, 2025
Location: Pinglin area, Wenshan, northern Taiwan
Flavors: Creamy, Floral, Spinach, Vegetal
Dang this is another winner for sure! Super unique for a high mountain oolong. Very floral but in a way that is different to any tea I’ve had. I’m so bad with flower smells, but seems like gardenia maybe? Just a (uneducated) guess.
No bitterness, astringency, sweetness. Very smooth. Velvety smell with thick mouthfeel. Good longevity at 7-8+ infusions.
Harvest: May 16, 2025
Cultivar: Qingxin
Location: Tsui Feng, Lishan
Elevation: 1900 m
Flavors: Butter, Cream, Floral, Smooth
This one has a much more savory nature to it, though it is fairly hard to pick individual notes out of it. There is still a bit of fruit on the nose of the dry leaf, though not as potent. The flavor overall is not as potent as their DYL. I think there is something missing from this tea, but it is still an enjoyable drinking experience. Nowhere near as good as the FSS from WFT, though that one is also fairly savory.
No sweetness, bitterness, or astringency.
Harvest: May 13th, 2025
Cultivar: Qing Xin
Location: Fushou Shan (Lishan) Elevation: 2200-2500 m
Flavors: Fruity, Savory, Vegetal
Have had my eye on Tea Masters for some time, and decided to try some of their Taiwanese oolongs this year. This is the first I tried as it was the one I was most excited for, and it is amazing! Definitely see some of the characteristics that WFT’s DYL has as well.
Minimal sweetness. No astringency or bitterness. Very high elevation in flavor and smell.
This is supposedly from garden 104K, but I see when looking online that in 2015, Tea Masters Blog itself stated that this garden had been reclaimed by the government and was no longer producing tea: https://teamasters.blogspot.com/2015/05/da-yu-ling-sorrow-and-joy.html. So I am curious how they are now selling it? Other sources seem to confirm that the gardens were reclaimed. Perhaps they have been replanted since 2015? I will probably write to Stephanie and ask. This is also, I suppose, the second highest tea garden in the world behind the 105K garden (which may not be operational either?) at 2600 m.
Harvest: May 21st, 2025
Cultivar: Qing Xin
Location: Da Yu Ling (2580 m), 104 K
Flavors: Cream, Papaya, Sweet, Tropical Fruit, Vegetal
Sounds fantastic! I’d be interested to hear about the 104K and 105K gardens as well.
So I spoke to the owner of Tea Masters, Stephane, and he said that the large garden close to the road at 104K marker was reclaimed, but there is a smaller garden further off the road that still operates today. Not sure about 105K though.
Got 75 g of this tea with my latest WFT order as I liked it so much last year! This year’s batch is similarly amazing, but maybe slightly less so. I’d give it a 98 this time around. Still fantastic, but maybe not as much pizzaz as last year. So glad I got a lot though!
Harvest: Spring, 2025
Cultivar: Qing Xin
Location: Bi Lu Xi, Renai Township, Li Shan, Taiwan
Elevation: 2300 m
This Gyokuro is simply phenomenal! I’m at a loss for words. Definitely more seaweed/umami in this one, but still very unique for a gyokuro.
This is a den/hon gyokuro shaded for 20 days. No sweetness, bitterness, or astringency. Fairly potent for 4-5 infusions.
Harvest: Spring, 2025
Location: Hoshinomura, Yame, Fukuoka
Flavors: Cucumber, Seaweed, Umami
From a new Kettl order. This shincha is very unique! One of the strangest tasting senchas I’ve had. I like the complexity and novelty.
No sweetness, bitterness, or astringency. Basically no seaweed/umami that I usually get from Japanese greens. But it is still very savory, just in an herbal way. In fact, their tasting notes are pretty spot on.
Harvest: Spring 2025
Cultivar: Yabukita
Location: Minami-Yamashiro (150 m)
Flavors: Artichoke, Green, Herbs, Savory
