127 Tasting Notes
Hate to say it but so far sheng has been something I drank and didn’t enjoy but kept at it because older, wiser people seem to enjoy it. A parallel of unpalatable alcohols like Jaegermeister or jamo come to mind, at first you drink them and because its almost a question of your masculinity but after repeated forced consumption you actually start to like and in some cases (jamo) start to prefer it. This has been the case with sheng for me it has been sour, bitter, dehydrating, petrol like and in worst cases draining to the point of me catching a cold, but I have forced myself to drink a new sample every sunday because worst case scenario I do not have much to do anyway.
-Review
This was the most pleasant sheng I have tasted so far, it was even better than yi wu’s that I have tried taste wise. ZERO smokiness ZERO bitterness ZERO sourness, literally the first sheng I haven’t forced myself to drink.
Dry leaf
Smelled similar to the 006 I tasted last sunday a grapey, slightly sour almost robotussin like scent(bare with me).
Liqueur
DEEP orange like I have seen in pu erh blogs but first time I have seen it(still not sure if it translates anything to taste, chemical components, age, leaf composition, etc). The tea tasted slightly milky/vanilla/creamy, not to the degree of a jin xuan (milk oolong) but just a texture/sweetness combination. Later infusions brought a sweet fruitiness and by the 10th steeping it got to be “leafy” in taste where I could tell it was starting to fade but continued to go for another few infusions. The last infusion I left for probably a good 20-30 mins (forgot about it) and drank it cool expecting a sour, astringent, insipid cup but to my surprise it was actually the best cup of the session, it was creamy/fruity but like the first few steepings.
Qi
Was not the strongest energy wise a steady, calm, contemplative state but I am starting to realize just like other green teas if they posses stimulating alkaloids and you throw boiling water on them they probably will not taste the greatest. Then again it was hydrating instead of drying like other shengs I have tasted.
Long story short this will be my first cake purchase as a result of tasting a sample. (added bonus it is in stock at yunnan sourcing U.S. site so only $2 shipping and wont have to wait a month)
Flavors: Honeydew, Lemon Zest, Vanilla
Preparation
Ordered a bunch of shi feng green tea from various sources and this “premium dragonwell” tea. Coincidentally only to find out this this is actually from shi feng as well the latest of the harvests I bought so far.
Today I had a mini shi feng flight without knowing this tea is indeed good but unfortunately I tasted this premium long jing after Jing Tea Shop QM shi feng AAA so it was definitely over shadowed by the latter. This tea was a nice bridge between generic “zhejiang” dragonwell and first flush shi feng. It had less sweetness and less complexity but more “tea taste” and the slight bitter/brothiness I look for in a dragonwell and personally find pleasant.
Can not say too much else it is a great example of dragonwell that could become a daily drinker if the price is right
Flavors: Chicken Soup, Grass, Lima Beans
Preparation
WOW
My first Lion Mt dragonwell and I am stunned. Literally zero bitterness, all sweetness and the most complex flavor profile of any green tea, it changed in my mouth like a good oolong. The taste started out like sweet peas then slightly creamy then crisp almost lemon/lime like. Later steepings revealed a asparagus after taste that was superb. Just when I thought green tea was boring and 1 dimensional the tea that was described to me as the “chinese gyokuro” came along. This is truly my new favorite tea and i am already anxious that it is only obtainable late april early may yearly.
Flavors: Asparagus, Peas
Preparation
Sweet peas and creamy to crisp lemon/lime….then asparagus… Wow. This sounds fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.
I am trying to drink up all my lower oxidation teas to make room for 2014 spring teas. This tea was something I was planning on opening and just drinking through but I was pleasantly surprised.
The dry leaves smelled fresh and vegetal like any good taiwanese oolong should. I was surprised because A. this was a cheap purchase from amazon as an add on to quality for free shipping and B. four seasons is literally picked 4x/year so in theory it can not posses half as much aromatic oils of other gao shan that are barely picked 2x/year.
I brewed it at work but still loosely gave it the gong fu of 45 second (+15-20) and near boiling water. After drinking the first steeping I will 100% be keeping this around my cabinet indefinitely. The cup was super oily even after a rinse which clued me into the quality. The liqueur had a fairly heavy body for a green oolong and a smooth slightly creamy slightly sweet profile which immediately reminded me a lower quality Ali Shan. The buzz I received after 9-10 steepings was pretty intense, it gave me the gao shan grin and focused energy to actually make work enjoyable.
All in all another great buy from rishi, I have come to learn most of there high end oolongs (dan cong fragances, gao shan) are vastly overpriced still good not worth the money but their lower end teas (tky, baozhong, jade, wuyi) are budget worthy staples to be daily drinkers.
Flavors: Cream, Flowers, Gardenias
Preparation
Too lazy to backlog at midnight but I think the description is spot on, slightly sweet fruity almost, a hint of smokiness in the first few infusions but all around a good tea and fairly cheap, a real contender for my next full cake purchase. A good middle of the road starter cake, I have not had many but I have had way worse and only maybe 2 or 3 that were better (but they are 5x the price of this cake).
Preparation
Short review since im on my mobile excuse any typos or conversely auto correct edits, really sweet and vegital when cold brewed it produces a sweet smooth taste of a veggie medley, hot brewed it is unmistakably green peas and super sweet crisp green peas at that. Leaves and bud super high quality, some teas I actually do NOT prefer first flush or pre qing ming but this tea I believe is perfectly suited duenton its sweet light profile. If it last me until the summer I will look forward to making refreshing iced tea with maybe a squeeze of lemon.
Flavors: Nuts, Peas
Preparation
No time for a long log today so real quick review
Eco cha is my new favorite company enough said, this oolong was produced with incredible care every single leaf in my gaiwan was whole after brewing and some leaf sets had 4 leaves!! Literally never seen an entire unbroken leaf set come out of my gaiwan, ever. With all that being said it was on the lighter side taste wise I had purchased the summer harvest though but this being my first concubine i am not sure what to expect. Definite Gao Shan tea drunk in effect, threw the leaves in a cup of water in the fridge because didnt have time to finish the session so maybe I can get a grasp on the main flavor note after tasted it cold brewed. I look forward to experimenting with this one.
Tasting the light sweetness of carrots and roastiness of almonds with a hint of creaminess not as buttery or full bodied as their jin xuan but I was not in the mood for a “milk” oolong today anyways.
Flavors: Cream, Flowers, Nuts
just went to go purchase a cake and its sold out …….
Oh, I hate when things are sold out :(