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Wonder why they decided to call this faintly roasted instead of lightly roasted… My guess is that there is a percentage of roastedness. A percentage of roast that made this below lightly. Then again their website does say lightly roasted so…. marketing. The roast is indeed light. You can barely perceive the charcoal. At least at first; it comes more in the aftertaste. STOP! If you are drinking oolong and you have yet to pull apart your leaves do it now. How many leaves are on the stem? Is it twisted, curled, rolled? What colors? Okay. Continue your steep. The aroma is slightly buttered biscuit. The flavor is delicate. It has a small amount of minerality, a bit of grassiness when it oversteeps, floral notes.

Putting a QR code on a tea package is an awesome idea! The initial aroma was bursting with longgon and woody notes. Bits of lychee too. Now I really want a longgon. The first steep started with minerality and fruity longgon notes but as the steep went on it changed to heavier wood notes with the longgon taking a back seat. Second steep held up nicely. There is a flavor in there I can’t quite pin down. I find it in other oolongs from China the mix of fruity, woody, and minerality brings it on and my palate doesn’t quite know where to put it. I brought this one to Greece with me but I think I brought too much tea with. Just didn’t have the time to get to all of it and there were some mornings we woke up too enjoy a good gong fu session. You don’t rush gong fu. Third steep is losing flavor but if steeped longer than five minutes it gains some nice dry wood flavors.

Minerality and grittiness and Petrichor. More of a wet concrete than wet forest. There is also a bit of earthy chocolate, a deep rich dark chocolate that I taste in Laoshan teas. There are also woody notes like wet twigs and slightly wet compost. Not that I’ve tasted wet compost, but hopefully you get the picture. Wet aroma is subtle. Earthy. Thank you very much, Vallhallow, for this sample! I’ve been feeling a bit down, partly vacation depression, partly women stuff, partly people being jerks. This blew it all away. Tea is awesome.

What Greece lacks in tea (Camellia Sinensis) it makes up for in Greek Mountain tea. Sideritis (ironwort) grows wild in Greece. The nuns of the Monastery harvest the tea along with berries and other fruits to dry and sell to help build funds. It was an amazing place to visit. The leaf is a mix of yellowish greens and light greens. I only was able to get a few blackberries out. Too tired to dig out more. Jetlag sucks. The flavor is mild and pleasant. A very slight citrusy hint lined with herbaceous notes. It makes for a very nice evening tea.

Had less then tepid cup of tea this morning at the hotels breakfast. I need to revive my palate with some tea cpr. This hits the spot. Especially cold since it’s so hot out here in Olympia. Not Washington. Actually Olympia. I jogged on the ancient track where the first games were held. It was fascinating. Like this tea. The aroma is divine. Pear, minimalistic notes, floral. I steeped it while I was showering. No one likes to drink tea while sweaty and stinky right? And I feel that this one has become a bit too vegetal. Not that there’s anything wrong with that but the floral, and mineral notes are subdued. Can’t wait to try this hot.

Vallhallow your teas have come in very handy on this trip! This one was perfect for this morning because I’ve been craving a good green. Greece seems to be like the US as far as the tea scene goes. Though we have happened upon a few jems that I will add later. Thus hotel chain offers Lipton. Which, no offense to those who like it, but I will not touch. So I brought my own bag to breakfast, this one, and asked for hot water. Ah, that grassy aroma. The wet leaf definitely has that usual Japanese grassiness but also a asparagus. The appearance is more akin to a ctc tea. Though the cut leaves are bigger then bright other tea bags whichi believe makes for a better steep. It is green. A beautiful green. Flavor is Grassy. First steep is grassy. Smooth. Slight asparagus. On second steep. Slight vegetal with mixed cooked, stir fry peppers with green being heavier. Bright. Slight astringency.

καλημέρα. Good morning. In a few hours, I’ll be on a plane heading to Greece. But first, tea. Need something with good flavor and a slight punch but not too much. Woke up around five because the sun was peeking in our window and of course, my body was like, “The sky is awake, So I am awake.” _. This Jin Jun Mei has all the woody and earthy notes one could desire. Barely any astringency. A mix of oak and a bit of cedar. Wet forest floor with a bit of dryness on the tongue in the finish.

I love Hojicha. Like Darjeeling, it is the black duck of its family type. (Black sheep? Maybe I’m mixing up Duck Duck Grey Duck.) I want to run a tea info session and introduce it and watch people’s eyes bulge when they realize they are drinking green tea. Especially those who think all green tastes like grass. sadface I used about 1tsp of powder and mixed with water that was 150 F. And then mixed in about 8 oz of oat milk. It’s a bit silty but I have yet to have a Hojicha latte that isn’t. I kinda like it like that anyway. The roasty toasty notes are so good. I accidentally tried it cold and that was good but having it hot is way better.

Can’t find this on their website but had to make a note because this is a wonderful tea. While I generally tend to not drink white teas, I’m starting to take more of an appreciation for them. This one has all the usual qualities in the aroma. Lots of barnyard notes. Strong notes of hay and summer out in the field. The flavor is a bit more subtle versus a Shou Mei. But not in a bad sense. It’s just not in your face; more like a gentle caress of the cheek. It is refreshing with woodsy and slight milky notes in the finish. No astringency. I am on my third steeping now and finding that the milky notes become more pronounced the further you dive in. Also slight sawdust The one other noticeable difference, from other white teas, right off the bat is the coloring of the leaves. Quite a bit browner with dark olive greens. I do love how long and beautiful the leaves are.