1234 Tasting Notes
This is part of my Christmas gift from my husband. I’m not sure of why they need to use superior in their name. I guess like matcha with culinary, premium, and ceremonial, it kind of plays a role for the Western drinkers who like the terminology. Either way, it’s a da hong pao. The dry leaf is highly drying. Dry desert woods with intense dry minerality. If you gong fu (and you really should!), smell the tea as you pour the water on the leaf.
I found it started with sweet floral tropical notes and then switched to charcoal. Now creamy butter. If you put the cap on right away or drink it Western style you won’t get quite the same experience. The flavor is nice. Nothing that blows your mind but still lovely to consume. Charcoal, wet rocks, lots of minerality, plum, fresh rain on rocks, Petrichor. The mouthfeel is smooth, almost buttery. As I go further into the infusions (I think 5 now) the mouthfeel is less smooth but more like you licked a rock. The wet leaf is unique, a bit of raisins, a bit of charcoal, and slightly fruity.
Banana? This is a ‘jasmine tea’ right? All I can taste is banana. Earthy banana with piled leaves. Maybe a slight grassy aftertaste. Banana…
The dregs are all that is left in the bag. And yet, the nuttiness of the remaining leaf sparks the thought that this might be better than my assumptions are leading me to believe. The dry leaf is pale olive green. As it infuses the leaf emits a faint nutty note that makes my palate excited. It reminds me of a pulled noodle shop. The yellow liquor is soft and filled with cooked vegetal notes. I can definitely tell this sample has sat for a bit. In its prime this tea would be quite a bit better than what I am getting. Electrical fire? I can tell there are green vegetal and nutty notes that would be fantastic but I would need a fresher sample in order to fully assess this tea.
TEaTiff. TTB.Artifical flavoring _. I hope this doesn’t give me a headache. The dry aroma reminds me a bit of an Earl Grey but sweeter and with a slight lemony and metallic tone. The blue cornflowers are quite pretty with the dark brown, lightly twisted tea leaf; despite the fact that they do nothing for the flavor. The wet leaf is unique. The bergamot has disappeared and been replaced with a light liquor note. Cherry liquor. Also some cream and a hint of bread. Flavorwise… it’s okay. Woody with some citrusy notes. Interesting to try one but not one that I would buy myself. In fact, I would not because of the artificial flavoring.
Wow! The Clove is so strong! I love that scent though. I feel very healthy drinking this. The turmeric isn’t nearly as strong as I thought it would be. In fact, the clove definitely reigns supreme in this blend. The aftertaste is very creamy. I don’t fancy how it first hits the palate though. It is somewhat medicinal but that changes quickly. This pairs affably with my cinnamon sugar bagel.
Tasted as part of one of the Gloral Japanese Tea Association courses. Long dark green leaf. Glossy and gorgeous with vegetal notes and a nice fresh tone. The wet aroma is full of umami, butter, cream, and grass. It is smooth on the palate. Strangely, I can’t get that thought of udon noodles out of my head. That is what my palate tastes for the most part along with some umami and grassy notes. It is smooth with a touch of astringency.
Tasted as part of one of the Gloral Japanese Tea Association courses. Zairai is an interesting cultivar. When we did a side-by-side comparison you can definitely see the differences and this is true too for the taste. The dry leaf is mostly flat, like a dragonwell but there is a mix of big and smaller leaf. Not quite the uniformity that you see with dragonwell. It is long with dark green and some light green. The aroma is woody and natural. The wet aroma turns to grassy, vegetal, and fresh notes. The mouthfeel is soft. The flavor has a bit of umami, grassiness, and hay.
Tasted during one of the Gloral Japanese Tea Association courses. The dry leaf is long, dark green, and glossy. It is herbaceous with a surrounding tone of summer florals. After brewing the leaves retain the herby note with a pronounced umami and floral tones. There is a slight astringency but nothing to crinkle the nose at. The flavor is slight grassy with some unique vegetal notes and a lovely umami. The mouthfeel is smooth.
Reviewing this tea as part of the Intermediate course offered by the Global Japanese Tea associate. I’m not sure of what to put this under MY14 or this one but this one seems more fitting. One doesn’t often think of oolong when they think of Japan but if they market this more they will give other countries a run for their money.
I’ve not had a Japanese oolong in a few years so I was excited to try it. I decided to try using a shiboridashi to brew it during our class session. Glad I did. Though I’m sure it would have made an exceptional brew with a kyusu too. The dry leaf is very reminiscent of an oolong with its curled features. The aroma is so lovely. Mineral and fruity with hints of apricot. The wet aroma is gorgeous. Buttery, fruity, and tropical florals and a bit of slight butter. The flavor is high in apricot notes and tropical florals.
Another tea from the Global Japanese Tea Association course. I freaking love hojicha but apparently, I’ve been steeping it wrong. We were taught to try a minute or less. And I mean really if it tastes good it doesn’t matter overall but I also believe it is good to respect tradition and the way the farmer brews it. The dry leaf is heavenly. Notes of maple syrup (the good kind, not that fake stuff), brown sugar, and sweet roasty-toasty notes. When brewed for a minute the wet leaf produces roasty notes with bits of charcoal. The taste is quite nice. More roasty notes with charcoal.
