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Argh, licorice! I need to stop giving it a chance. Listen, I love teas that help settle the stomach. And I’m happy that this tea still does that. But the licorice aftertaste… [shudder]. The flavors are nice enough as I’m sipping, it’s the lingering taste that makes the experience as a whole unpleasant. I’m just not sure why the licorice is needed here (does anyone even actively like licorice?). Anyway, I will continue to drink straight fennel or mint tea for now.

What a really pleasant and relaxing tea. Anything rose takes me back to Poland for whatever reason, and I really smelled that here. Was looking for dill since that’s mentioned in in past years’ tasting notes, but tasted more cucumber and melon. Brewed gong fu style, good for many steepings. 15s + 5s at 85°C. Messed with the temperature a little bit, seems like a lower temperature (80-85°C) yielded a more floral taste while a higher one (85-96°C) made it taste more herbaceous, though this requires more sessions to confirm! Also, I used my gaiwan for the first time! Accidentally let some leaves through during a pour and scalded my finger but you know, I’ll learn.

Sipdown #1! Am I using that term correctly? I needed the lovely Teavana tin that the last bit of this tea was in.

So, I guess I like this one, I got it for me and my partner for Valentine’s Day. It’s decadent, chocolatey, and very, very sweet. But the aroma can be overpowering, and there’s this artificial quality that’s a bit distracting for my taste. A bit of sugar helps mask it. It’s a nice dessert tea overall and I’ve enjoyed my time with it.

Brewed gong fu style, 12s at 96°C, adding a few seconds with each steeping. Beautiful spinach aroma, flavors are smooth and vegetal. Light roasted flavor more pronounced after second steeping. Overall very pleasant, but looking forward to trying higher quality tieguanyin.

I’m new at this. Previously a casual drinker of bagged tea and David’s Tea and the like, I decided to delve a little deeper. So I ordered some of the most popular teas from Yunnan Sourcing and am now attempting gong fu cha. My first attempt went well! First off, the aroma is divine. Chocolate and malt with hints of honey, and a vaguely toasty smell, almost like cereal. I’d describe the smell overall as sweet and woodsy. A comment on YS listed the following brewing instructions for 4 infusions, so that’s what I tried. 1) 20s, 90°C 2) 20s, 90°C 3) 35s, 90°C 4) 45s, 95°C. The first tasted very clean and pure, the second and third richer and slightly more astringent, with the fourth starting to lose flavor. The woodsy and wet earth flavors became stronger with each infusion. Quite enjoyable!