676 Tasting Notes

82

A downside of single origin teas is the flavor varies from season to season. Last year’s harvest was one of the best green teas I had in 2016. This year’s crop is less robust and not quite as satisfying. It’s missing the deep vegetal (spinach) flavor and fruitiness. It tastes mostly of fennel and little floral. Still a good tea, but not as amazing as it used to be.

Flavors: Fennel

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 30 sec 3 g 5 OZ / 147 ML

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81

This was one of 3 dragon well samples I picked up from Verdant with my spring green tea order. These are the new dragon well varietals they added to their lineup this year. Normally, dragon well isn’t my favorite kind of green tea but I still like to sample the first harvests each spring. I appreciate this tea more for its visual appearance and preparation than flavor.

The leaves are pale forest green blades and smell of creamed spinach and edamame. When heated, the aroma changes to buttered beans and stir fried vegetables. Since I only had a 5g sample, I decided to first brew it grandpa style and use the rest of the leaves for a gongfu session later. Steeped in a tall glass, the taste is a bit weak and not terribly impressive: savory cooked vegetables and a chalky matcha like texture with a vegetal finish that sticks to the back of your throat. I liked it much better gongfued. Loosely following the instructions on Verdant’s site, I steeped 3.5g in a 150ml gaiwan for about 30s. The first steep had an buttery, silky smooth texture. There’s a clover honey like sweetness, some fennel and a nice floral note. I enjoyed this steeping a lot as it was very different from the typical chestnutty flavor of most dragon wells. The next couple of steeps though didn’t fare so well. I was hoping for more of the flavor from the first steep but what I got instead was a somewhat dry taste of smokey, pungent green vegetables.

This was another interesting tea from Verdant. It had its moments but didn’t blow my socks off. I still prefer their Laoshan greens to dragon wells.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 30 sec 4 tsp 5 OZ / 150 ML

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68

If Lipton made green oolong tea, I imagine this is what it would taste like. Having been spoiled by quality Taiwanese and Chinese oolongs, I found this to be a rough tea. Lots of broken leaf, astringency, and no complexity in flavor.

The dry leaves are pale green and twisted with a mild fragrance of orchid and gardenia. The wet leaf has a pleasant gardenia and lilac aroma. Unlike Chinese oolong, the leaf isn’t intact. The broken leaf and debris made brewing in a gaiwan a mess. It also clogged the filter of a regular teapot. A metal brew basket or a teapot with a mesh strainer is the way to go.

The flavor of this tea is similar to jin xuan and baozhong but not nearly as refined. It’s buttery with light gardenia florals and a fair amount of bitterness. Short infusion times are key to minimizing the ever present astringency. It can only steep about 3 times which is pretty disappointing. When it comes to judging green oolongs Taiwanese teas are the gold standard for me. I feel this is missing many elements of the flavor, texture, and rich aroma that characterize Taiwanese oolongs. Amongst other things, it lacks the fresh, clean taste, the minerals, and thick mouthfeel.

I had high hopes for this tea but found it to be really subpar. Glad I got to try it, but I see no reason to order it again given all the high quality oolongs out there.

Flavors: Bitter, Gardenias, Vegetal

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 0 min, 30 sec 3 g 4 OZ / 120 ML

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83

I don’t really drink much flavored tea anymore with the exception of naturally scented tea with flowers. Over the past year or so, Sakura has officially dethroned jasmine as my favorite floral flavor in tea. Den’s Sakura Sencha has been my cherry blossom tea of choice for a while now and I eagerly anticipate it’s release every spring. This year, they made the bold move of changing their winning blend and went all natural. The cherry flavoring was removed and matcha was added. While I applaud their effort, the new blend isn’t quite as satisfying as the previous one.

The matcha dusted green leaves are less visually appealing than the old blend with its long needle shaped leaves interspersed with elegant pink flower buds and sakura petals. The smell of the tea is also different. It reminded me of salt pickled cherry blossoms. The flavor is true to the aroma – a subtle taste of cherry blossom and umeboshi pickled plums. More savory than sweet and a bit drying in the mouth. The base of the old blend was a deep grassy green tea which I preferred. This one although good, seems to be more brothy.

Overall, while I enjoyed this tea I rate it lower than last year’s blend and Yunomi’s Sakura Sencha with Sugared Sakura Leaves. It’s briney, salty taste wasn’t my favorite and I missed the sweet sakura flavor of those other two. The matcha is an interesting idea but doesn’t add anything here. I hope Den’s tweaks this blend or goes back to the old formula.

Flavors: Plum, Sakura, Salty

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 1 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 4 OZ / 120 ML

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72

Thus far in my puerh journey, my nose seems to enjoy it more than my tastebuds do. I love the fresh earthy aroma of sheng but the flavor tends to get overpowered by bitterness. This tea epitomizes that experience. It has a wonderful sweet clay smell with floral and grassy notes. It’s mellower than most puerh teas and produces a nice golden amber liquor. Early steeps are soft and full of sweet fruity tones. A bitter melon flavor mixed with fresh dirt emerges around the 3rd steep. The sweetness peters out fairly quickly giving way to strong astringency that was too tannic for me. This would be a winner if only the initial taste could extend further than just a couple of steeps.

Flavors: Bitter Melon, Clay, Wet Earth

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 0 min, 15 sec 8 g 4 OZ / 120 ML

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95

I’m down to my last serving of this tea and still am not sure how I feel about it. This tea gives me fits because it’s so finnicky. More often than not I miss the optimal steep window. But occasionally when I hit the target, the tea is amazing. Intensely grassy with a zesty vegetal flavor and a fresh ocean breeze aroma. There’s some umami, mineral notes, and even occasional hints of floral. It hits almost every flavor note I like.

However resteeps are less spectacular. Harsh sulphur-like bitterness mixed with a cooked broccoli aftertaste. Brewing in a clay teapot helps remove some of the bitterness and rounds out the taste.

Flavors: Grass, Green, Moss, Ocean Breeze

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C 0 min, 45 sec 2 g 5 OZ / 150 ML
Evol Ving Ness

hahhaha, finicky optimal steep window.

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63
drank Organic Cold 911 by DAVIDsTEA
676 tasting notes

I had this tea when I wasn’t feeling sick and thought it was okay. The mint hits pretty hard. It has a peppermint candy taste and a strong eucalyptus aroma. This is probably by design though so you can taste it through a cold. I’m not usually a fan of overly mint tisanes but I can see how this could help soothe a cold or clear your sinuses. This herbal blend seems to be missing an element of spice. It could definitely use a little ginger or warm spices to balance out the flavor.

Flavors: Eucalyptus, Mint

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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90

I’m nearing the end of my stash and decided it was about time I rated this tea. This is my second What-Cha darjeeling, and my first second flush darjeeling…almost a tongue twister there. I enjoyed the first flush and this is its fruitier, more robust sibling.

The tea steeps a nice amber and orange color. Like the first flush, its pleasantly woodsy evoking colorful autumn leaves. Mild yet full bodied with a crisp frutiness and hints of spice. It leaves behind a soft bite in the mouth and throat as it washes down. This isn’t astringent and rather enjoyable once you get used to it. The oxidation flavor is stronger but without the malt of a typical black tea.

Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Fruity

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML

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87

My review is for the Autumn 2016 version of this tea.

I found the taste and aroma of this tea very nostalgic. It brings back memories of drinking Nesquik chocolate milk growing up. It’s got a sweet hot chocolate taste with a bit of Ovaltine malt and some honeyed notes. The chocolatey-ness which is characteristic of Laoshan teas manifests itself here as milk chocolate. An interesting contrast to the smokey, cocoa-y bittersweet chocolate notes of classic spring laoshan black.

The kid in me loved the chocolate candy flavor of this tea but my adult palette prefers the richer dark chocolate taste profile of regular laoshan black tea. I would recommend brewing this gongfu or grandpa because it has no resteeping power. One 3 minute steep is all it could muster.

Flavors: Candy, Chocolate, Honey, Malt

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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76

If I had to sum up my impression of this tea in one word, it would be underwhelming. This has in fact been my experience with most Da Yu Lings. The taste usually doesn’t live up to the high price tag. This tea had a nice relaxing qi to it but isn’t very memorable flavor wise.

The dark green nuggets in a warmed gaiwan bring out a pleasant fragrance of hyacinth, daffodils, and coconut. The first couple of steeps have an almost green apple sourness bordering on astringency. This is complemented by notes of citrus, lemongrass, and balsamic vinegar. Higher temperatures bring out more tartness so to minimize this, keep steeping temperature between 185-190 F. Good viscous mouthfeel and a tingle of balsam in the aftertaste. As the leaves open up, the tea becomes smoother with more florals, a mineral sweetness, and a occasional hint of tropical nectar. The flavor drops off rather early around the 5th steep shifting to a light vegetative taste.

Overall, there was nothing about the flavor that particularly stood out to me. I wasn’t thrilled about the sourness and the other flavors didn’t really hold my interest. Taiwan Tea Crafts gao shans are usually excellent but this tea is a rare miss for them.

Flavors: Floral, Green Apple, Mineral, Sour

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 0 min, 45 sec 5 g 5 OZ / 135 ML

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Profile

Bio

My Rating Criteria:

95 to 100: Top shelf stuff. Loved this tea and highly recommend it

90 to 94: Excellent. Enjoyed this tea and would likely repurchase

80 to 89: Good but not great. I liked it though it may be lacking in some aspects. I’ll finish it but probably won’t buy again

70 to 79: Average at best. Not terrible but wouldn’t willingly drink again

60 to 69: Sub-par. Low quality tea, barely palatable

59 and below: Bleh

Fell into tea many years ago and for a long time my experience was limited to Japanese greens and flavored Teavana teas. My tea epiphany happened when I discovered jade oolongs. That was my gateway drug to the world of high quality tea and teaware.

For the most part, I drink straight tea but do appreciate a good flavored tea on occasion. I love fresh green and floral flavors and as such, green tea and Taiwanese oolongs will always have a place in my cupboard. After avoiding black tea forever, Chinese blacks have started to grow on me. I’m less enthusiastic about puerh though. I also enjoy white tea and tisanes but reach for them less frequently.

Other non-tea interests include: cooking, reading, nature, philosophy, MMA, traveling when I can, and of course putzing around on the interwebs.

IG: https://www.instagram.com/melucky

Location

around Chicago

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