m2193 Send Message

Hui Yuan Pit Rou Gui (慧苑坑肉桂), whole packet into 100 mL rongtian pot, all steeps at boiling, Poland Spring water. No timer but steeps starting at 5s and similar and increasing time slightly with each steep with later longer steeps. Had a friend over, so no specific notes, just from memory. Starts off pretty simple, and progresses to gain a floral character with the slight crushed mint vegetal aftertaste, and then also picks up a strong sweet potato note. This was lighter on the roasted taste (though it shows up sometimes) than the other oolongs I’ve tried from TXS so far, even though it had 29 hours of baking per the description. Overall, a pretty enjoyable session, though I need to try more oolongs that I know the price of (since most I have were gifted and seem inflated in pricing) so I know if this was worth for the price. Aftertaste was sweet, but not as strong or lasting as I expected, even against cheaper options (though the steeping method I used for the Shui Xian from TXS last time was different). I imagine Hui Yuan Keng teas probably have gradations based on pricing though.

edit: on further reflection, the mold may have just been tea dust. Oh well. Doesn’t hurt to be safe.

Thanks Kar for the sample!

I drank part of the sample some time ago grandpa’d in a mug and I don’t remember much other than that it was okay. I’m pretty sure I didn’t rinse, and it looked fine. Tasted like aged sheng mushroominess, nothing special.

I’ve kept the rest of the sample with a Boveda pack in a Mylar with some other to-drink-soon samples and so you can imagine my horror upon taking the rest of it out to brew and seeing small yellow mold spores. Did I do the smart thing and toss it? No, I just gave it two 20s rinses instead of one and hoped for the best.

I didn’t take notes for it, but it was a bit over 8g in a 90mL gaiwan, steeped like I usually do. Smell had sour, leather, and mushroom-y aged sheng notes. Broadly, tastes were pretty strongly bitter (not LME level, but still bitter) and mushroom-y, sometimes sour and lingered for a while in mouth and sometimes throat, which I know is a good marker of quality, but in terms of personal preference for what constitutes pleasantness/enjoyment is a different story. Sometimes cooling on tongue. Some shifting woody herbaceous notes along with hints of dark fruitiness and smoke. I didn’t particularly like this and would not purchase a cake, but it was interesting to try.

Lightest Roast Hojicha
purchased from Liquid Proust
5g, 230 mL kyusu, Brita filtered tap

Never tried hojicha before, but this piqued my curiosity. I had no idea how to brew this, so I googled, and then messed it all up anyway, so here’s what I did do.
1st steep: 158f, 1 min. 30s
2nd steep: 196f, 30s
3rd steep: 212f, 45s
4th steep: 212f, did not time

Dry leaf smells very nutty, slightly sweet and grassy

Wet leaf has no distinctive smell whatsoever. The kyusu has been sitting in my drawer so I’m not sure if that’s it. Boy, the lightest roast was no joke. I expected a brown
colored liquid and it’s a clear yellow like chrysanthemum tea

1st steep: tiny hint of bitterness, slight nuttiness and sweetness. Tastes like green tea, but slight grassy/minty and nutty aftertaste. Not nutty in a chestnut way, but like walnuts or something. It’s very familiar but it’s also very late here (needed a late night caffeine pick me up) and I can’t think straight. Slightly dried tongue after.

2nd steep: stronger bitter taste upfront, but stronger slightly sweet, quite nutty aftertaste.

3rd steep: just a light bitter taste, almost like smoke but not quite.

4th: really bitter burnt bad matcha like taste from my early forays into matcha

Overall: a green tea masquerading as hojicha is my impression. I have no idea what hojicha’s like but it seemed from online sources that it’s darker and closer to coffee in ways. I didn’t enjoy this one too much and would not repurchase

Thanks to R2 for the sample!

2017 Xiaguan Jingmai “Gushu” shou

7.0g, 90 mL gaiwan, Brita filtered tap, boiling

Dry leaf is pretty standard shou smell, slightly sweet and slight fishiness

18s rinse

Wet leaf is smoky sweet fishiness initially and later more of a woody honeyed smell

9s: nice mouthfeel. A woody medicinal slight bitter sweetness. Slight cooling on tongue after.

12s: similarly nice mouthfeel. Tastes more medicinal than before, but also the slight sweetness is stronger in this cup. Same cooling on tongue, but lingering more than before.

12s: similar, but less sweet and less cooling afterwards.

12s: a muted woody taste with a light bready-sweetness

12s: generic woody shou taste. Shook up the gaiwan to break up the chunks that were stick stuck together, which I later regret doing. The tiny particles that usually filter in the strainer must’ve broken down too much because they ended up repeatedly clogging the strainer after, and I had to wait for the tea to drip through every steep at an aggravating pace despite clearing it out each time.

12s: A medicinal slight sweetness though not much else of note

20s: forgot to take notes, but not memorable

1 min. 20s: light sweetness amidst generic shou background.

Will thermos the rest since it’s not interesting enough to me to continue from here

Overall: I can see why LP mentions a floral likeness, though I would not have described it that way myself. At .24/g, I’m not expecting anything earth shattering, and this tea, specifically in its initial steeps, punches above its weight considering price. It was nice to try this since I’ve been tempted to blind cake this before and I’m glad I didn’t since I prefer sweeter shous.

2003 Xiaguan Jiaji tuo

Purchased from Liquid Proust
HK natural stored

6.0g, 100 mL gaiwan, 212f, Brita filtered tap

This was a pain to break apart and I ended up with a fair amount of dust and holes in my puer tray… the 6.0g here is all chunks though, so should be an okay session. Have never tried any XG tuos, so this should be an interesting reference tea session

20s rinse

Dry leaf smells slightly sweet, but nothing else of note. Not very aromatic, but I’ve also been noticing that some of my Bovedas need to be rehydrated so this might be dried out. I’m not sure.

Wet leaf smells just like aged sheng slightly mushroomy. But also none of the chunks have really come apart. Let it sit in the gaiwan for a bit before continuing.

8s: a light sweet mushroomy aged sheng taste, very slight menthol. Light sweet aftertaste. A warming feeling

10s: good aged light mushroomy woody taste, a hint of what might’ve been bitterness in its youth. A vegetal/minty and slight sweet aftertaste.

10s: slight sour medicinal aged mushroomy taste. Slight sweet aftertaste. Nothing special here but this is really easy drinking. If not for the pain of breaking up a tuo (some sessions probably will be majority fannings…) and slight annoyance at the rising cost, I would love to stock up on these for years to come.

10s: slight smoky bitterness atop the general aged taste. Cooling minty aftertaste with a nice bit of sweetness. Slight aroma mouth and upper throat.

12s: stronger sweet medicinal along with the usual sour mushroomy aged taste. Slight menthol and cooling aftertaste

12s: a slight sour rubbery taste. Leaves a drying feeling on tongue. Slight crushed mint aspect to it.

10s: light, nothing exciting

15s: light, mushroomy slight sour, but also slight sweetness. Tinge of astringency.

18s: generic aged sheng taste, very light medicinal bitterness. Slight cooling minty sweetness in aftertaste.

30s: color is still decent, but taste is pretty light, probably owing to the nature of a choppy factory blend. Will probably cap this session and thermos soon.

1 min.: surprisingly sweet woodiness. Slight hint of bitterness. Some drying, but fades pretty quickly.

1 min: light in taste, drying on tongue, but sweet aftertaste that turns into an almost wood chip like character. Sort of odd, not sure what to make of it.

2 min. 10s: Light taste, but still decently sweet aftertaste

2 min. 30s: similar

3 min. 10s: light herbal aged taste

5 min.: pretty light and not evolving much at this point. Will thermos remainder

Overall: some warming on the first steep, but slight warming comes and goes with the rest.

I like this far more than I expected. Also this steeped out for much longer than I expected from the other Xiaguans I’ve tried. ’03 must have been a good year.
Anyway, 36c/g isn’t terribly far fetched for a sheng in a nice spot with nearly 18 years of aging since this was produced back in December of ’03, but it’s painful knowing how cheap these were even a few years back. Someone has to pay for the prime HK real estate, I guess.

1.7g, ~14 oz filtered Brita water in a Zojirushi thermos, boiling, grandpa steeps.

Plummy aged notes from the get go, with hints of caramel. A lingering dried sweet plum in the front of the mouth. Some notes of a slightly sour and smoky plum and a general sweet woody medicinal as infusions progress. Ends on a light honeyed sweetness.

I was surprised, but I have to say that I’d give the edge to the Wistaria 1990 Wuyi Shuixian here. As I’ve mentioned before, I thought that was a pretty mediocre tea prior to these recent retained heat thermos steeps, and it’s obvious from my prior notes on this that I really really liked this tea. This time, this one was incredibly plummy, and quality-wise, is still pretty great, but taste wise, I preferred the stronger caramel and darker taste of the Wistaria.

grandpa brewed in a small Zojirushi thermos, 1.7g, ~14oz boiling filtered tap.

Was surprised at how much better it was than in a mug. I’ve been tracking my drinking lately, so I noted from the past few times I drank this that I leafed way harder and still wasn’t satisfied, so I drank other things on the same day, which is really unusual for me since I try to limit caffeine intake.

The initial brew was a nice light caramel with slight minty aftertaste, and never picked up the medicinal bitterness that I seem to get with normal mug brews (likely due to overleafing). Seems much longer lasting in a thermos too vs. steeped out in a mug, so the extra retained heat must really help. Subsequent brews are nothing earth-shattering, picking up some lightly sweetened woody notes, a touch of sweetened medicinal note, the barest hint of milk chocolate, and a slight smoky plumminess, but was nice on this chilly rainy day indoors finishing up a report.

Thanks Tykal for the sample!

4.9g, 90mL gaiwan, Brita filtered tap.

Overall impressions based on a cursory session. definitely sticky rice in profile, but also something about it has a slight caramel note among the lightly woodsy notes. In one infusion that I smelled the wet leaf, it had a slight smoky sweet woody smell, which I’m pretty sure I still might’ve reasonably mistaken for oolong had I not seen the label. And the classic shou smell does come through eventually, though it’s pretty clean here. for one cup, the empty cup aroma is also surprisingly sweet in a roasted oolong empty cup aroma way. This was kind of boring. Thermos’d after a few steeps.

2019 Peach Village Maocha
Liquid Proust Teas
5.1g, 90 mL gaiwan, 200f-205f Poland Spring bottled water

Leaves in prewarmed gaiwan have a sweet fruity smell, almost in a gummy candy sort of way

8s rinse

Wet leaves have a slightly smoky note, but still sweet, somewhat like a lighter oolong initial wet leaf smell. Very nice. Also a slight sharp candied cherry cough drop or acidic tomato-y like note some young shengs I’ve tried have.

6s: soft. Okay wow, it does literally taste like peaches, or the dried apricots snack pack things. Aftertaste isn’t strong, but it’s a really pleasant continuation of the taste. What have I been
missing out on all this time by hitting all my young shengs w boiling water?

8s: slight vegetal almost bitter note that fades immediately. Upfront taste is in the vein of the wild/yesheng young teas that I’ve had a few of recently, but the lingering aftertaste is
completely dried apricots that lingers and shifts to a nondescript almost minty, but not quite, sweetness. This makes me wish I could handle drinking young sheng more.

10s: slight bitterness amidst the soft honeyed floral taste. Had dinner in between the last steep and this one and so aftertaste is really muted which is kind of a shame.

10s: strong peach/dried apricots taste upfront. Slight bitterness. Aftertaste has a slight vegetal/boiled mint and mango hint

10s: soft pleasant taste that sits slightly in throat. Slight bitterness. Peach taste is somewhat lighter but still present. Aftertaste is more on the side of a sweet slight mint

10s: soft and simple, but comforting. similar aftertaste to before

10s: again, fuller taste and strong peach/dried apricot in a really long lasting aftertaste that moves to a general sweet taste

12s: very sweet; some of the very slight bitter vegetal tinge, then the same peachy, dried apricot, almost cobbler-sweet like aftertaste

12s: pretty soft on this one. Aftertaste is lighter, and more like a gummy candy taste

12s: soft and sweet

10s (accidentally did 212f): similar, but had a bag of Funyuns just before so not really catching the aftertaste

15s: similar. Regretting the Funyuns

20s: took a break and came back. Same soft peachy sugared taste and aftertaste.

20s: slight astringency and brisk, like a green tea. Slight drying, but otherwise similar.

25s: leaves have an apple scent. Taste is slightly in that vein as well (both apple and slight astringent note seem apple-peel related), though perhaps just due to lightening at this point.

30s: similarly lightened. Will probably cap this one soon

1 min: slightly bitter, with a sour sweet fruity taste.

2 min: just a really light fruity taste, slight bitterness and drying.

Will thermos remainder

Overall: A happy feeling, not sure if it’s qi or just from being surprised at how spot on the taste is to dried apricots. Doesn’t have a wild amount of variation in tasting notes, but in what it does hit, it performs excellently. Thermos was more of the same and quite enjoyable. Young sheng generally makes me uncomfortable, so the remainder will be for the once in a blue moon young sheng days.

2007 Yang Qing Hao Huangshan Lingya

6.1g, 80 mL shuiping, Poland spring bottled water

Dry leaf has classic sweet mushroomy smell of YQH

20s rinse

Wet leaf has sweet, almost incense-y smoky smell along with the sweet mushroomy note

8s: a mushroomy, slight medicinal sourness with a slight sweet aspect that fades almost immediately. Slight minty cooling on aftertaste that recedes back into a mushroomy note

9s: a lightly woody medicinal bitterness, similar sourness to before, but much less of the mushroom. Something citrus/tang like to it. Leaves tongue dry, but a shifting sour taste to slight sweet aftertaste slightly in throat. Definitely tastes like something my mom would make me drink when I was sick as a kid. Calming drowsiness, slight warmth

9s: crisp woody medicinal taste. Slight bitterness, much lightened from before. Sourness also lightened. Astringent again, leaves tongue and teeth feeling dry. Much lighter aftertaste.

10s: initially an oddly chalky candy like taste a la Smarties. Sweeter overall taste, but retaining general woodiness and slight sour medicinal taste from before. Still drying on the tongue, slight sweet aftertaste. Slight warming. Caffeine is kicking in.

12s: slight dark fruity aspect, generic slight medicinal clean aged sheng taste otherwise. Still astringent

15s: lightly fruity, sort of generic YQH taste. Can’t really pick any notes out. Slight drying

17s: similar. Not really an aftertaste other than slightly dry tongue, but aroma in back of mouth and upper throat

23s: same generic mushroomy, clean crisp YQH taste

37s: a slightly plum note amidst the rest of the slightly bitter YQH slight mushroomy background. Slightly bitter aftertaste

37s: darker taste, slightly drying. Slight sweetness/floral aspect to aftertaste. Can’t quite find the words for it, but I’m enjoying it

37s: similar

40s: gentle sweetened profile. A little drying

1 min: light Chinese herbal medicine taste. Still drying

1 min. 30s: lightly plummy aftertaste, but taste not too interesting, though comforting. Slight warming settling in again

2 min: a medicinal, slightly plummy taste, though light. Slightly drying

3 min.: a light, very slightly plum note

5min.: much lightened. Will move to thermos.

overall: light warming, relaxing qi. Made me want to nap, but caffeine kept me unable to actually fall asleep. I expected to like this better based on other reviews/tasting notes, but the drying aftertaste of many teas really kept me ambivalent to this one overall, so if this were still for sale from YQH, wouldn’t be one I’d cake