New Tasting Notes

An Ode to Tea challenge #2– T

Time for this last lingering teaspoon to go!   I really enjoyed this one fresh.   I’m sad that oolongs lose their distinctness so quickly when they get this old.  But this IS old.  Not much to say as a unique oolong profile becomes Generic Oolong Flavored as it gets older.  It tastes like oolong!  But not how it once tasted. A tough lesson to learn, but I won’t be amassing a ton of tea like this anymore. But also, I only used one teaspoon this time and the past note says 2 1/2 teaspoons did NOT seem overleafed, so that could be the problem too. It’s hard to tell which of the oolongs are my favorite from Teavivre.  They were all so good back when I was trying most of them around the same time.
2021 sipdowns: 103

Very Large, full-leaf tea. You’ll need to break it up to fit it in a tea ball.
Slightly nutty, earthy flavor. Rather flavorful, robust. But not sharp, not too tannic.

First time having liu bao. Phenomenal taste and energy. Sometimes teas taste chocolatey. This one goes beyond that and has such a deep, dark, musty, chocolatey energy that quickly engulfs the body and extremities. It invigorates. Not complex but certainly unique and powerful.

This one is so fresh and delicious. They use a high quality chamomile base, and there’s a good amount of lavender included so you can really taste it. They got the balance just right – nothing negative or weird. It tastes so lovely it’s hard to believe that only two ingredients can make such a satisfying flavor! I’ve enjoyed it both hot and cold.

Leafy malty aroma, medium high bitterness. It tastes more complexed when it’s warm rather than freshly-brewed-hot, I like that roasty flavour.

I got a couple of blind cakes from BLT this year, their yearly plantation Yi Wu being one of them. The tea is on the green side with a bit of a jade oolong profile.

The aroma is savoury with notes of fried greens and nettle. It has a astringent, light to medium bodied, liquor with floral bitterness and flavours of green vegetables and dry grass. Really, the tea is quite bitter and drying, reminiscent of unripe fruit.

The aftertaste, however, is long-lasting and fragrant with a nice tartness and a fruity sweetness that emerges after a while.