322 Tasting Notes
Am running a little tea demo course and ordered teas from YS due to a very limited budget and bc I didn’t want to gamble with Verdant again lol. Anyway, have 6 teas, which I ran through today with a friend (more beginner to tea) over the course of 4 hours, and so these are quick impressions and transcribed from notes, and are somewhat haphazardly done.
2.0g, 60 mL gaiwan (really like it, but warning that practical volume is less), Brita filtered tap, 212f, quick rinse.
slight roast to dry leaves, though w/ a tad sour edge. Wet leaves had a very slight roast, very floral. I wish I could post pictures on here, but anyway, they looked very different from pictures. Quite green still, with slight oxidized edges, much like the dancong I had before, but even greener than that.
Decent texture, light sweetness, very floral and slightly fruity initially. One steep had a light astringency in mouth and throat, not a great feeling, something like when you get a sore scratchy throat and try to cough, though that was only for that one. Some sense of the crushed mint w/ vegetal edge. Soapy dry scent to leaves later. A hint of osmanthus, then crushed mint. Flatlined after maybe 7 steeps? Last kill steep had a slight bitterness and mint, nothing too exciting.
0.38c/g. I wasn’t too into this one, finding it too floral and somewhat boring, but my friend liked it.
Got this in a mystery box (yes, I broke my own rules for this, but only partially regret it) from Paul of W2T and the package said 柚花香 and basically matches the listing on the site for the Pomelo flower Dancong so I’m assuming it’s the same thing.
4.5g, 90 mL gaiwan.
dry leaf is light roast smell and sweet orange, almost cola-like.
Wet leaf is perfumed floral smell, extremely sweet, almost cloying.
quick boiling rinse, then 3x 205f steeps. No detailed notes since I didn’t like this one and stopped at steep 4, so this tea has the honor of being one of the only teas I didn’t even bother to thermos in quite a while. It’s a soft and sweet tea overall with a grassy base and strong aroma, very heady floral. Only lightly oxidized, since the lightly yellow brews left over turned into a murky brown gray color when left out, an even more drastic color change than I’ve seen from my accidental leaving out of green tea brews. I kept the leaves in a cup at my desk, and they smell quite pleasant, but I really cannot stand the taste.
I really should’ve known from what I’ve read about dancongs online being more fruity floral heavy that I would not like this. I remember liking the One River Tea ones I tried before, but the roast was much more standard yancha like roast (and tasted like it!), and not like this one in the line of my impression of standard dancongs with leaf color a mix of greenish and brown. The mass of recommendations to try Imen’s and Hojo’s pricier dancong offerings are always tempting, but I’ve confirmed I do not enjoy this sort of profile and will remain content with my newfound affection for bland shou.
Thought this would be interesting to try, though I don’t have experience with alcohol so if there’s related notes I will probably be unable to perceive and describe adequately. Wish I’d picked up the Laoshan Rye and Brownie Batter experimental barrel teas LP did some time back; this was the only one I was able to buy in time.
4.5g, 90 mL gaiwan, Brita filtered tap, boiling.
12s rinse.
dry leaf is alcohol and raisins.
wet leaf has light hint of shou puer smell, but mainly remains alcohol and raisins. let it sit a bit before brewing to open up more.
7s: light taste of raisins (maybe some grape too?) and cherries (agree with TeaDB here, but raisins is dominant for me) linger on tongue. Shou taste is hinted at in the background, but doesn’t stand out
let it sit for a bit again since some chunks remained compact.
10s: much darker in color, though similar in taste. Abiding raisin note. When cooling, tinge of Bulang bitterness pokes through, though fades quickly.
did 2 more steeps before thermosing since it wasn’t changing much. I forgot the leftover of HCH’s LME old tree shou from the day before in the thermos as well since I was traveling. For some reason the combination makes a raisiny drink with a milk chocolate aftertaste. I’m not sure if that’s just the LCT or not though, since I’ve heard that LCT thermos’d can have a milk chocolate-like taste.
TL;DR: If you’ve ever thought “Boy, I sure wish there was a tea that tastes like chocolate raisins!”, I’ve got just the thing for you.
strong osmanthus, sweet potato aromatics in both dry leaf and tea.
1g in 8 oz. mug, boiling, Brita tap, grandpa. All I do is complain about my hate for hongcha here, but I was suckered by the name as Tong Mu village teas have been more renowned as of late and I’ve been curious as to why. I ordered a pack with my last order from SR. Anyway, I’m more than happy to be proven wrong. I’m taking a break from sheng for a bit, more so out of necessity than desire. My stomach hasn’t been able to handle it lately, even mid-aged, and I’m terrified after reading posts from old puer bloggers who had to take years-long breaks (Hster specifically, I think?) due to drinking too much young tea.
There’s a light floral vegetal aftertaste and lingering floral honeyed aspect in aftertaste in early steeps; nothing overbearing. In the thermos after tasted like the dining hall’s sweet potato and squash mix, which is not a criticism, just an observation. A gentle tea and probably on the pricier side for a hongcha, again probably bearing name in mind. I’m not sure I could distinguish it from other hongcha taste-wise. Not bad, just won’t be something I reach for.
On the notes of peach and citrus in the description, I can sort of understand why. But after the time I tried the osmanthus black from ORT, the osmanthus note really stuck and it’s hard to perceive it as anything else if encountered afterwards. Some oolongs have a floral note bordering on it, but what distinguishes it for me vs. more sweet potato-like note is a soapy floral aspect I find unique to it. And again, that could just be still osmanthus, but lighter. I’m not sure. I don’t love it, but it’s interesting. I would not buy any perfumes with osmanthus notes.
Brita filtered tap both.
SR directions were to 200-205f for 2-4 min. No tea:water ratio was given though, so I just did 1.3g to 120 mL, 200f. Taste was, broadly, slightly smoky honeyed hongcha profile, though slightly lighter. Steeps of 2 min., 3 min., and 4 min. before I got bored. Aftertaste is sweet and sugary, with slight floral aspect, not really grainy per description though.
4 min: died down into something like a light shou-mei and reminiscent of chrysanthemum tisane. I didn’t really get the nuttiness and creaminess in the description either. Left tongue slightly dry on 3 min. steep.
Did a different steep too, with 2g:50mL with 180f.
10s: light green tea-like taste, very soft with slight malty floral, sweet aftertaste. 15s: more of a malty taste, though still decidedly soft. some raisin in taste. Crisply sweet aftertaste, same with slightly tongue drying as in the more lazy brew style before.
20s, 25s, 30s: pretty similar. light floral and honeyed malt taste. Not much in the way of change. Shorter steep times and lower temp. seems to bring out a lighter green tea-like profile. Could’ve continued but was bored and tossed in with the other leaves into thermos. Thermos brew yielded a nice brew reminding me of coffee in some ways. I guess I do understand the nutty and creamy note here, though there is a slightly sharp, but quick disappearing bitterness present that is enough that I’d recommend initially brewing with a lighter hand and watching temps. here.
It seems like Korean Hwang-cha is one of those difficult to pin down teas, and though called yellow tea, very different from Chinese yellow teas. Dry leaf definitely smells like a hongcha, with its alternating notes of raisin, chocolate, slight roast, and floral. The wet leaf shows a slight roast presence, and the raisin-like note along with the usual malty hongcha-reminiscent base.
I have a pretty strong aversion to hongcha generally, but I will say that of this being the second Korean hwang-cha I’ve tried, these are somewhat more palatable to me though I wouldn’t repurchase once I finish my packet. Not terrible for the price. I don’t purchase much hongcha (the description really suckered me for this one, alas), so I have no idea what’s good value or not. I’d guess it might be on the more expensive end for them at about $0.43/g, but Korean teas seem more expensive than Chinese in general.
Have been drinking the remnants of my pack thermos’d (sticking to Zojirushi for heat retention), no scale, boiling, Aquafina water (which yes, isn’t optimal, but neither was the tap at home and the Brita at home grew some really odd looking mold after I left). The pack has been stored in the translucent pack it came in inside a Ziploc, so it’s not optimal, but I don’t have extra Mylar at home.
Aroma is a light chocolate and berries and florals (not quite osmanthus to me, but again, hasn’t been stored optimally), and the usual slight malty hongcha. Sometimes it has brown sugar and something near cinnamon. Taste has a hint of the roast of oolongs and then a chocolatey and nutty taste. Richer in taste than the usual hongcha, though was quite thin in terms of mouthfeel (probably a water thing is my guess; Aquafina is RO, and I’ve definitely read elsewhere abt Aquafina in general being ill-suited for tea) with the slightest touch of bitterness. Sometimes a soured honeyed toasted taste with medicinal notes. Aside from the thinness that I’m guessing is from the Aquafina, an issue can be the slight drying feeling that was also in the past note I wrote for this.
A broadly interesting tea, though I’ve got to try some more hongcha produced from oolong varietals to see if this is characteristic of the category. At this point in my exploration of teas, I have a better grasp of what people term qi. I don’t remember enough about this tea from the last time I had it, and my notes from a year back are still back when I didn’t understand what it was referring to, in the least. Anyway, I did not find it here, so if you’re considering this for the “almost dissociative” cha qi as referenced in the descriptor, maybe get something else. Aside from that, this is a good hongcha that I will recommend, high praise from someone who dislikes hongcha.
2.5g, boiling, thermos. 7s rinse.
from what I remember, a nice clean young sheng taste and sweet apricot-tinged aftertaste, though aftertaste did not linger anywhere to the degree that LP’s peach village maocha did. Died pretty gracefully, if somewhat suddenly, after a couple mugs. Definitely worth it for the price, which was $0.13/g for me after factoring in shipping and currency conversion costs.
I was disappointed to find that my stomach cannot seem to handle young huang pian either. A pity. I know HP is puer, but the way some people talk about it makes it seem gentler and lighter, at very minimum, without going into the criticisms “old-school” puer drinkers have against it. I’ll have to explore kombucha one of these days so I can run through my remaining young sheng samples.
Edit: I burned a partial stick of Shoyeido’s Nan-kun today which wasn’t notable, mainly because I can’t seem to distinguish any of these sticks apart, but I also peeled an orange. After a while, I came back to my room and it smelled almost exactly like this tea did: a medicinal, caramel-tinted, orange. Not sure what happened, but was surprised, to say the least.
2.4g, boiling, thermos.
bought a sample from LiquidProust.
smells like a mix of the caramel of aged oolong, but also TCM medicinal note from the orange. Kind of unsettling. Taste is almost medicinal, but also warm and sweetened, which I suspect is a combination of the aged oolong and aged orange peel. Not bitter at all. Slightly warming. When I took the tea out of the thermos, I noticed the chunks never broke up and I’m not sure what to do about that. The leaves seem to be crushed together before pressing, from what I can tell.
Not sure if I want at minimum 220g of this so will probably pass for now. Not bad, but very much elicits the “drink when you’re sick” feeling for me from childhood memories.
Lotus Peak Rou Gui
Tong Xin She Teahouse
6.2g, 100 mL duanni, boiling, Poland Spring water
Dry leaf is a sweet roasted smell, also something nutty and sweetly bread-like underneath
In prewarmed pot, roasted note is clearer
wet leaf smell is mostly roast, but with a slight underlying sweetness. Roast in this one seems lighter than in the Lotus Peak Shui Xian from TXS
Didn’t rinse today
~15s: roasted taste, with slight bitter and sourness, then vegetal/crushed minty note in aftertaste. Smell of soup is sweet in a floral/somewhat sweet potato note way, but roast smell present as well. Empty cup is usual roasted oolong smell of dried graham cracker-like notes
10s: soup is more sweet potato like smell. Roasted taste, sweeter upfront, but sour bitter note is still present. Similar aftertaste, gaining a slight sweet potato-like quality at the end. Somewhat more rounded in the mouth than the LPSX, but didn’t achieve the same power of that aftertaste or extend into throat, concentrating in front of mouth.
15s: soup retains same floral sweet potato note. Taste is somewhat lightened from before. Crush mint aftertaste with slight sweetness is stronger than before, but still concentrated on front tongue. Will do a longer steep, then thermos the rest.
1 min.: just a sort of roasted taste with the slight bitter edge, only slight aftertaste, a bit drying. Thermos’d the rest.
Overall: Somewhat warming. Historically I’ve tended to prefer Rou Gui over Shui Xians that I’ve tried, so surprised that didn’t hold true here since everything should be constant (brewing variables-wise and growing area, etc.) between these two LPSX and LPRG other than the strain. This wasn’t terrible, by any means, but I was disappointed in it as compared to the LPSX so I wasn’t interested in pushing it for more steeps.
2.1g, thermos, boiling: a sweet roasted taste, slight florals with the osmanthus-like, sweet potato-y note, with a hint of the bitterness and mint underneath. A lightly sweet, crushed mint aftertaste. Whereas the LPSX was better pincha, this one is better grandpa. Seem like flipped versions of each other for better pincha or better grandpa.
Probably wouldn’t repurchase this one either
Lotus Peak Shui Xian
Tong Xin She Teahouse
6.2g, 100 mL duanni, boiling, Poland Spring water
Dry leaf I can really only pick out the sweet roast smell
In prewarmed pot, smell is more of the same, with a touch of a sweet floral note
Nothing distinctive about wet leaf smell Didn’t rinse today
15s: initially bitter taste, slightly sour, underneath which is a sort of soapy floral. Aftertaste is sweet and refreshing, lingering with a hint of mint/vegetal note on the tongue. Empty cup aroma, as usual with roasted oolongs, is one of my favorite things here, carrying the standard sweet roasted graham cracker like note.
10s: aroma cup is a touch sweeter than before. Taste is slightly less bitter, same soapy floral undercurrent and same mint/ vegetal note on aftertaste. Aftertaste not as immediately sweet and has shifted focus to mint/vegetal note. This time mint/ vegetal and slight aroma both on front of tongue and lingers in throat. The aroma and taste in throat shifts from vegetal to a softer sweet floral, and then seems to return to a vegetal mint with the soapy floral undercurrent.
30s: more bitter in the taste, similar soapy florals, but also a slight hint of sweetness.
Didn’t time later steeps, but lasted several minutes each:
1st: lighter bitterness. Taste weakening. More forward sweetness and soapiness. Aftertaste slightly bitter, a bit drying minty/vegetal on tongue and slight sweetness.
2nd: not very notable. Bitterness very lightened and leftover floral soapiness is dominating. Bit drying, with slight mint/ vegetal edge.
3rd: flat taste but some of the mint edged aftertaste
Overall: Adjusted brewing today since I was curious how the way some of the Teaforum people brew affect things, and this turned out really well. There’s a good chance I’ll continue using this method for oolongs.
2.1g, thermos, boiling: pretty disappointing. mostly taste of roast, only slight hints of anything that came from pin cha
mixed thoughts, probably wouldn’t repurchase at present.
