Bitterleaf Teas

This tea is lovely- super dominant jasmine flavor without being perfumey. The green base is present and lends a nice support to the fresh jasmine flavor.

Gongfu!

Breaking in this beautiful baby blue shibo from Arbeeceramics this afternoon with a tea session of 2023 Black Rabbit paired with some fresh, local strawberries!! This Yiwu black tea is so bright and tangy with a nice full body and really syrupy, saturated red fruits that go hand in hand with the ripe berries I was nibbling on throughout the session. I mostly taste cherries, raspberry, and b9th red and black currants with undertones of honey, oak wood, and leather. On the nose I get vanilla, though I didn’t notice it so much in the taste. Definitely exactly the explosion of fresh fruit notes I was hoping for when I pulled out this sample today!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DFbTxEjyWLt/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DswTFD9A3jY&ab_channel=AllyEvenson

Grandpa Style!

I’m still on a little bit of a sticky rice kick, so I’m brewing up one of these cute little coins from a recent order. This ripe pu’erh is infused with nuomixiang (aka sticky rice herb), which gives it such a cozy and comforting flavour of glutinous rice. While I imagine this will be amazing as a gongfu session, I’m drinking this grandpa-style and it absolutely slaps. Starchy, smooth, and almost a little bit creamy with undertones of coconut, vanilla, and even pandan alongside a very full-bodied and robust foundation of earthy pu’erh. The balance is really good, and I appreciate the way the sticky rice flavour plays off the undertones of sweet brown dates, petrichor, and molasses in the shou pu’erh. Delish!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DFS6WvQpt7W/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDoKZ9WeyR0&ab_channel=MICKEYDARLING

Gongfu!

I love pretty much every smoked tea that I can get my hands on, from the most brash and aggressive tasting teas to ones with the more fleeting and subtle whisps, so when I saw that Bitterleaf was offering Lapsang Souchong from Tongmuguan (aka THE place to get traditionally smoked lapsang from), I was unquestionably on board. It is very, very good.

As far as the level of pine smoke goes, I would say this is more of a medium intensity erring ever so slightly on the softer side. It’s smooth and sultry, without a hint of bitterness or astringency to it. The black tea itself is also very fragrant with a really sweet floral aroma of sakura blossoms and sweet red stonefruits; very cherry-like. Medium to full-bodied, and so very layered. Soft blankets of smoke, rose, and sakura in the top notes, with a gentle mid sip of ripe and tangy red cherry cherry and strawberry, all with a delicate woody finish and lingering aftertaste of darkly sweet black licorice. I expected something good, but I wasn’t totally prepared for something THIS good.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DFVqTLLSTVm/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57cJ5LDaAHk&ab_channel=CalinRed

Gongfu!

The aged version of this tea, Goddess Roast, has become a favourite of mine, so I wanted to give it a taste even though I don’t typically gravitate towards greener TGY like this one. This was really incredible, though. Maybe one of the more fresh tasting and aromatic tieguanyin that I’ve had the pleasure of tasting, and the leaves were so incredibly bright green! Medium bodied with a very buttery feeling and soft liquor and a profile that felt like an explosion of flowers blooming in my mouth. Magnolia, jasmine, peony, lilac, violet, and even gardenia – all laced with a light sugarcane sweetness. It also seemed to brew for forever. I’m definitely so glad I decided to give itba try because that was such a good first impression!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DFJPY0gSGIr/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTsyAcEgisU&ab_channel=BetterNoiseMusic

Sipping on this while reading a new graphic novel! This limited series is Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, which was pitched to me by a friend as Animal Crossing with serial killers and, yeah, that’s pretty spot on. I’m just eating up the vibe of the pastel and water colour illustrations crossed with such dark subject matter. But, it’s also maybe the coziest murder mystery I’ve ever read, so it definitely needed an equally cozy tea to pair with it. Queue this sticky rice dianhong: full bodied but so, so starchy and creamy with really distinct notes of glutinous rice, coconut milk, and a gentle pillow of malt and cocoa to end the sip on. I really, really like sticky rice herb infused teas in general (especially ripe pu’erh), but this is my first time trying it with a black tea and it’s just ticking every single box on the “comfort tea” list for me. I mean, wow. This just works SO WELL. Between the comic and the tea, I’m hard pressed to think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DFBSgyuSVc2/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W38MtB0SgI&ab_channel=MagicCityHippies

Consistently delicious. Will probably restock once I run out (if that is still even a possibility).

This is tasty and quite easy to drink. Caramelized sweet potato, with a touch of toastiness.

This tea has a great pungent taste, which is indeed very floral. I also love the aromas, they remind me of forest, nettle, peat, and also Mao Feng green tea.

The first infusion is sweet and bitter with strong forest vibes and a biting, spicy aftertaste. The second one bring vegetal notes (moss) and woody bitterness (pine). The aftertaste present really good huigan, as well as some apple note and a strong savoury minerality. Overall I get a sensation that makes me want to drink water in between the tea.

There is a strong clarifying energy to the whole experience. However, I found the mouthfeel to be a bit uninteresting for a tea at this price.

Grandpa Style!

This is a pretty tightly compressed white tea, but I actually found that worked really well for this brewing method and allowed for a bit more flavour development than you would normally see with this method as the dragonball went from partially to fully opened up over the afternoon. Smooth and clean finishing all throughout, but with an almost butterscotch-like sweetness at the start with floral overtones before getting a bit more savory/brothy near the end with a soft of general autumnal kind of feel. A little miso tasting at times in a really nice way. I would be really curious what tasting notes would come from brewing this gongfu. Though, with the compression, it’s definitely the type of tea you would need a lot of time/patience to fully enjoy steeped that way. On the flip side, I almost never brew white tea grandpa-style, but would 100% see this as something I’d happily make again with this method!

Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/DE8QWxxyhSg/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE9FC02NzLU&ab_channel=TheHubbards

This Dan Cong is on the pricier side, but it delivers. It has a great complexity and depth overall.

The dry leaf aroma is nutty and flowery with additional hints of cookies and molasses. During the session, the smell gives a bunch of associations, such as purple corn, green pepper, Breckland thyme, and orchids.

The liquor itself is very fragrant as well, its smooth and tender character in the mouth quickly transforms into a strong presence with punch and astringency. The tea has a superb bitter and floral taste with notes of apple and sugarcane. Its aftertaste is also quite rich and mineral.

Delicious. Roasty, very vegetal.

I don’t recall ever having a yellow tea before. This is really delicious. Like buttered sweet corn. Very easy to drink. The information Bitterleaf provided on how this is processed is also quite interesting:

The process of men huang involves wrapping the leaves in cloth or paper (in this tea’s case, paper) and allowing them to sit, facilitating further non-enzymatic oxidation. This labour intensive step is what produces this tea’s yellow colour and smooth, sweet character, while at the same time diminishing bitterness and vegetal qualities.

Interesting, but ultimately not for me. Slightly herbal with a really strong flavor of wet wood or mulch.

A good example of one of my favourite areas, but also not exceptional.

The aroma is sweet, floral and fruity. The taste is more bitter, sour, and mineral on the other hand. The tea is very bright at the moment with notes of rapeseed and green apples.

Sipdown 1 – 2025

Finished this off this morning. Chain drinking cups of tea and worrying about the surrounding fires. Luckily we are not in immediate danger, but watching so many communities around us burn is pretty devastating. I hope everyone in the LA area is staying safe.

Interestingly, I’m getting all 3 components (chocolate, flower, peach) from this tea. The peach is mainly in the aroma, with the flavor being balanced between the bold chocolate and subtle floral aspects. Quite tasty.

Gongfu!

Enjoyed this session paired with some sweet and tangy apricots. It’s a beautifully soft and smooth sheng pu’erh with delicate notes of fresh white flowers, peach skins, pear puree, a touch of sweet sake, and a little bit of a greener and herbaceous backend that reminds me ever so slightly of Greek Mountain Tea. Not only was this really complimentary to the apricots, but the huigan is fantastic as well. Though you do have to be careful with the pairing as the fruit can easily take over the tea with its intensity, so tiny nibbles in between steeps is the way to go!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DEK3ouxOw0Y/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDowe8U7f5w&ab_channel=22%C2%BAHalo

Tea Thoughts Winter Countdown: Day 8

I found this very light and bright, with notes of raisin, and not at all astringent. There’s a faint whiff of fishiness if I sniff deeply enough, but not enough to pick up on otherwise.

Gonna cold-brew the leaves overnight and see what I get in the morning!

Day 8 of the Tea Thoughts winter countdown box. Oh, whew, another black tea that doesn’t hurt! This is so much better than I expected it to be, and I know already that my tasting note isn’t going to do it justice. So just know that I found this fairly complex and quite enjoyable. I got three hot Western-style steeps and an overnight cold steep out of it. Rich, cocoa, black bread, almost jammy notes. The cold steep had very similar flavors, just a bit lighter, probably because it was the last steep.

Adventageddon Day 8

Gongfu!

This was the tea from the Tea Thoughts advent today. It’s the first time in this year’s advent the tea has been sourced from another (named) company instead of just ordered in bulk under Nazanin’s brand name – and I was especially excited because it’s a BLT tea that I haven’t tried/don’t own!

I brewed it up in my black tea yixing and it was really delicious. A bit brighter in its top notes with a little bit of a stewed or brandied stonefruit kind of note before transitioning into something a bit more darkly sweet with notes of caramel, pomegranate, and molasses alongside a gently floral undertone. I really enjoyed it quite a bit, though I think I actually preferred the first black tea from Tea Thoughts (the Orchid Jasmine) just a little bit more. Maybe because the tasting notes were a little more “unique” feeling? Overall, though, I feel like Naz has really good taste when it comes to black tea. Or, at the very least, at least tastes similar to my own…

Today’s Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/DDVVeu3SUWV/?img_index=1

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw3gOEh8vDA&ab_channel=ThatWoman-Topic

Sipdown 2 – 2025

Never quite got along with this tea. Not terrible, just okay. The name certainly doesn’t fit it.

Trying this again and my previous review still stands. Just okay.

A touch of honey, slightly floral. Some hay. Meh, just okay. Might need a longer steep time.