Morgana Send Message

570 Followers / 390 Following

__Morgana__ drank ZO-85 Superior Competition Grade Tie-Guan-Yin by Upton Tea Imports

2036 tasting notes

Sipdown no. 129 of 2018 (no. 485 total). A sample.

This sample packet contained only enough for a single tasting in the gaiwan. Dry, the leaves are green and rolled into the typical balls. The dry tea has a green, floral fragrance, that is pleasant but not exceptional.

Rinsed, steeped at 195F starting at 15 seconds and adding 5 seconds each subsequent steep.

The tea has the expected pale yellow liquor that develops a tinge of green with longer steeps. It smells of milk, butter, and flowers. It doesn’t smell as sweet as some others I have had, and the smells don’t blend seamlessly, but it smells appetizing.

It tastes a lot like it smells, and I don’t notice much change from steep to steep (I went for five) — which really does make me wonder whether my taster is off today. There’s a sharp note as well that I’m not loving, though it seems to mellow out around the third steep.

There’s a slightly sugary character to smell in the cup once the tea is gone, but not as sweet or floral as that of some others.

Good, but not a favorite tie guan yin.

Flavors: Butter, Floral, Milk

Preparation

195 °F / 90 °C

I Like This

11 likes

0 comments

People who liked this

Profile

Bio

I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes