Totealy

Gongfu!

I had this earlier in the week while catching up on The 100; feels like an appropriate tea for this show. Also, I have to say I’ve really been enjoying this season so far as much as I’m absolutely gutted that it will be the last.

This is a VERY dark shou with super thick liquor & heavy oak wood, forest undergrowth, molasses, and Guinness notes with an undertone of syrupy golden raisin in the earlier infusions. Pretty tasty early evening tea session, especially since I had been craving a shou all day…

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CB3950zACld/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8QhXmuLlD0

I had an awesome opportunity to meet up with TheWeekendSessions this week and have tea together and trade some samples, but more on that later – I’m bringing it up now though because this was one of the teas that I packed up for him to try, but because I’m always a little hesitant to give someone a sample of something I’ve not tried before (just in case it’s awful) I wanted to try the tea out for myself first…

This is a tea that I won on instagram – from a partnership with Totealy Tea and TheOolongDrunk. When it arrived, it definitely had a bit of fermentation funk to the aroma, so I let it air out a little longer than I would typically for a shou. Steeped up, the first infusion or two were a bit danker and rougher than I’d normally lean towards, but I pushed past that and the tea eventually settled into a very desirable and delicious profile.

The quote from instagram: It’s smooth and sweet, with a finishing note that gives me earthy, dense molasses/treacle vibes with a hint of dark fruit!!

Seven steeps total – five of which were quite enjoyable, the first two discarded after a few probitory sips. Could have steeped longer, I recon, but I on weekdays I’m usually drinking Gongfu quite late at night so I often cut my sessions off a bit early – this was the case with this tea.

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B0PSNL4gjO0/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jRh2PRa1tU

Wow, this is a fresh and vibrant Alishan mountain oolong! Pear Mountian Oolong is lushous, creamy, and sweet. It taste amazing, and leaves a wonderful impression on the tongue. The price is on the higher side,, but it is very clean and very easy to drink.

Wow, this is a really great milk oolong! It tastes very creamy, and has a good back bone as well. At first, the taste of cream corn and dairy milk hits the front of the tongue. Then, a spinach like aftertaste is left on the tongue. It has a very balanced mixture of milk and vegetal tasting notes, which helps this tea become more balanced.

Here’s a photo of my session!

https://instagram.com/p/BYKCo1IHCmE/