Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Complexities’

The Grand Tea company is a tea company that I am growing some respect for. I’m even asking to review their tea, so that is a good sign that they have something of higher standard to offer. Generally, pu-erh tea that comes from the Xishuangbanna mountains of Yiwu in Yunnan, China is considered to be of high quality. The 2009 Yang Pin Yiwu Pu-erh tea is made in the form of a tea cake. It is considered to be “sheng”, a raw or uncooked tea, naturally fermented and is aged a little bit more than 1 year. Aging removes much of the bitterness. However, with such a young cake tea, we can expect some bitterness. Grand Tea describes this tea as medium hard pressed, with a fresh and flowery aroma.

The sample was 11.5 grams and contained not only leaves flaked off from part of the cake, but there were also a few pieces showing the layers of the cake. This gave me a good feel and a visual reference for the quality of the cake. The smell of the sample was delightfully fragrant and floral for a pu-erh, with a high note of leather and other complexities.

I wanted to use my Gaiwan rather than a Xishing teapot as I don`t have one strictly for pu-erh yet. I poured off the initial two steeps as that is required for pu-erh tea to both wash and rehydrate the tea. I used half of the sample or 5.5 gram in 100 ml water for 15 seconds on the first drinkable steep and 10 seconds on the 2nd steep but a little less water as I wanted it stronger. My notes from a pu-erh specialist say to use 7 grams in 100 ml water and I tend to agree. I noted the golden brown liquor and that there was a slight earth smell. I examined the wet leaves and compared them to another blend, noting the size of the leaf in comparison was smaller and chopped. I made about 6 steepings and sampled each one to check on strength of flavour. It did not give up its flavours too soon so this type of tea is perfect for sharing among others with confidence.

As for tasting notes, this tea isn’t totally young but isn’t the damp foresty pu-erh you get with aged tea either. It has the mild sourness of a younger pu-erh, but is also transitional to a more mellow naturally aged tea. It has a unique floral note that sits on the tongue after the bitterness dissipates. There is also a fullness in the mouth that gives this tea another dimension of enjoyment. It`s rather interesting to think the manufacturer has made the decision to sell at this point because you can either drink this tea now, or tuck it away for another few years, perhaps sampling it at intervals to see what characteristics are developing further. However, it remains to be seen if a few more years would actually develop this tea. I think the delicate floral flavours may be compromised by time. I like the packaging as well. If you are going to have a cake around for a few years, you’d want it to look a bit artistic with some elegant calligraphy, rather than with cold industrial printing. As this cake is not a tightly compressed as other traditional tea cakes, you may want to turn to a more highly compressed cake for long-term storage purposes.

The price of this tea is 400 gram cake for $16. USD and is very inexpensive, making about 60 servings from a 7-gram, remembering you will get multiple steepings. I recently paid more than that for 50 grams of pu-erh. Go ahead and get a stack of 5 cakes for $96. You’ll enjoy this for while or give the cakes as gifts to those who appreciate sheng pu-erh. Drink this tea alone to enjoy its qualities and remember to smell the warm empty cup for the floral aromas.

You can purchase the 2009 Yang Pin Yiwu Pu-erh directly from the Grand Tea website.

The name of this tea is somewhat misleading—it represents the accurately, but doesn’t convey its character well at all. With sugar and caramel as the leading adjectives, I expected a heavy, sweet tea with the flavor of Sugar Daddies that would be fine alongside a doughnut or work well as a dessert tea.

If that’s what you’re looking for, best move on.

With that said, this is a sweet and sophisticated tea. The dry leaves are rolled into nuggets and smell like heavenly butterscotch drops. The liquid itself is gorgeous, clear, and gold. The flavor is delicate and champagne-y (typical of really good oolongs). The sugar and caramel—they’re there, just in a “Where’s Waldo” sort of way—hit you as you swallow, not as you sip.

Even the spent leaves are huge and lovely. I made mine in a little tea-for-one pot so I could reserve the leaves for a second round. Steeped an extra minute, the second cup was as good as the first.

Golden Moon’s Sugar Caramel Oolong is not a casual tea for when you need a quick shot of caffeine and sugar. Reserve this one for an afternoon when you have time to drink from your best porcelain cup and ponder the complexities of a really fine oolong.

You can purchase the Sugar Caramel Oolong directly from the Golden Moon Tea website.

The name of this tea is somewhat misleading—it represents the accurately, but doesn’t convey its character well at all. With sugar and caramel as the leading adjectives, I expected a heavy, sweet tea with the flavor of Sugar Daddies that would be fine alongside a doughnut or work well as a dessert tea.

If that’s what you’re looking for, best move on.

With that said, this is a sweet and sophisticated tea. The dry leaves are rolled into nuggets and smell like heavenly butterscotch drops. The liquid itself is gorgeous, clear, and gold. The flavor is delicate and champagne-y (typical of really good oolongs). The sugar and caramel—they’re there, just in a “Where’s Waldo” sort of way—hit you as you swallow, not as you sip.

Even the spent leaves are huge and lovely. I made mine in a little tea-for-one pot so I could reserve the leaves for a second round. Steeped an extra minute, the second cup was as good as the first.

Golden Moon’s Sugar Caramel Oolong is not a casual tea for when you need a quick shot of caffeine and sugar. Reserve this one for an afternoon when you have time to drink from your best porcelain cup and ponder the complexities of a really fine oolong.

You can purchase the Sugar Caramel Oolong directly from the Golden Moon Tea website.

As I was sorting through samples that we have received over the past few months, I had a craving for green tea, and came across Chloe from The Simple Leaf. I don’t recall tasting it before, and decided that it would be as good as any to review today!

Chloe seemed unusual for me, as it is a Darjeeling tea from the Pussimbing Estate. Unusual because I have not tried a lot of Darjeeling greens, even tho I know that they are becoming more and more available. I am used to strong, grassy greens from China and Japan, and expected similar here.

The Simple Leaf website describes this tea as: “Light, smooth and refreshing, these gorgeous large leaves make a mellow liquor that is perfect for late afternoon sipping. Subtle hints of fruit and freshly cut grass give this tea a remarkable flavor.”

So, I heated up some water to about 75 deg C (approx. 170 deg F), steeped it for 3 mins, and prepared myself for a great tasting experience.

First of all, the liquor is a light, honey color, light enough that I wondered if I steeped it long enough. The scent was similarly subtle, slightly fruity with the classic grassy tones that I associate with green tea.

The taste, I have to say, is a bit too light for me. As described by The Simple leaf, it was mellow, and I get the hits of freshly cut grass, and was perhaps, a tad sweet, but I did not get any fruity notes at all. It was in the end, a bit bland, and did not have a lot of character. A good beginners green tea to ease you into the complexities, but for the more experienced green tea drinker, I think that this is neither subtle or complex enough to truly enjoy.

All in all, it was not a bad or offensive cup of tea at all, just not interesting enough for me personally to make a staple in by cupboard, and certainly not what I expected from the region known for the “Champagne” of teas!

You can purchase Chloe directly from the Simple Leaf website.