What-Cha

Guess who has perfectly dyed vibrantly teal hair? Yeah, ok, no guess really, it is me, for the first time in a long while my hair turned out perfect, it practically glows with the level of brightness. I have Minecraft diamond hair now, which is awesome. What isn’t awesome is I went nocturnal and I am spending today staying up very late in hopes that I can flip my schedule back to diurnal, the constant struggle, of course this means I might be a bit more rambling than usual.

It is Wednesday, meaning it is time for another tea from What-Cha, today’s lucky leaf is Kenya Premium White Tea. Alright everyone, stop, collaborate, and listen…this tea might be the most unusual tea I have ever had (that is actually Camellia sinensis and not some strange herbal concoction) seriously, go out and buy yourself some, heck buy me some, because I went through my sample of this unique tea in record time. Looking at the dry leaves, it doesn’t look like a white, it looks like a fuzzy golden tea from Yunnan…sniffing the leaves it has the sweet corn notes of a Kenyan Silver Needle, the heady floral notes of an oolong, and the malty, sweet potato, and caramel notes of a golden Yunnan tea. I am confused and totally in love, Ben thought I lost my marbles because of the maniacal giggling coming from me while sniffing the leaves.

After a moment of contemplation on the best way to brew these mysterious chimera like leaves and inevitably settling on my gaiwan, I gave the leaves a good steeping. The aroma of the now quite soggy leaves is delicious, a blend of sweet corn, malt, sweet potatoes, and flowers (specifically peony and orchids) waft out towards my nose. The liquid is much yum, very sweet with notes of peony flowers and sweet corn mixing with malt and cocoa. It is like someone did a cocktail of half Yunnan Gold and half Kenyan Silver Needle…two of my favorite teas, oh dear this might undo me.

If you do heed my advice and buy this tea to try yourself, make sure you are sitting down because this tea will sweep you off your feet. It tastes just like the liquid smells, it starts with sweet corn and peony with delicate mouth tickling trichomes and then transitions to malt, caramel, and cocoa notes. It is quite unlike any tea I have ever experienced before.

Second steep time! The aroma is so wonderful, the sweet corn, peony, and malt notes work really well together, no note overpowers. This steep has more in common with the Yunnan Gold aspects of its personality than the Kenyan White, with notes of malt, caramel, cocoa, and sweet potatoes. At the end there is a strong note of peony and a hint of sweet corn with a lingering aftertaste of molasses.

For the third steep the aroma is very sweet, lots of sweet corn and caramel with a touch of malt. This time the tables turned, the taste is more focused on the Kenyan Silver Needle with more delicate notes of sweet corn and a burst of peony. This fades to a blend of caramel and molasses with lingering sweetness.

Alas I did not take official notes or snap a picture because I was in a hurry and grabbed the first tea off my desk (this lucky one) to toss in my travel infuser for sipping while out and about. Using slightly cooler water (180) and an obviously longer steep (several hours) I noticed that it started out with sweet corn and peony, very delicate and sweet. This grew into malt and molasses notes until the finish of my sipping which was quite robust and very sweet. Teas like this really make me happy, not only do they taste fantastic, they are outside the ‘norm’ for that type of tea, it reminds me to never go into a tea expecting something, to treat each tea like an adventure…sometimes you get a few new and unusual flavor or aroma notes and sometimes you get something completely unusual and unique.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/09/what-cha-kenya-premium-white-tea-tea.html

Prepared this two days ago and again today. First attempt was 12 oz. It was supposed to be 8 oz but there were 4 ounces left in the kettle from a previous gongfu session. The tea was very smooth with no bitterness or astringency. It had a mildly thick creamy feel. The flavor was rather straight forward and reminded me of fall leaves. My brain recalls it tasting very similar to a Formosa oolong I had a couple years ago. My brain very often remembers things quite wrong.

I thought maybe if I tried this again with less water I would get different results, and I did. The second time (today) I used 6 oz and 3 g of leaf. A squirrel named Google distracted me and I steeped this five minutes. Holy Cow! This was bitter! Except for that, the flavor was still light and woodsy.

If you are a big, bold, highly flavored, tea drinker, you will not get this one. I prefer light notes even in flavored teas – except my beloved Earl Grey, which must be able to peel paint when needed. This is a simple, light in taste cup, good for a quiet afternoon like today.

The first steep of this was light and vegetal, lettuce & cucumber. The second steep was extremely floral.

This was the second tea we sampled at my party today.

After a few other cups, I’m revisiting this one today, with a second steep of the same leaves.

And steep two is so completely different from the first steep. The first was all fresh garden veggies. On the nose is something that I can’t quite identify… hay, corn husks, soy milk and clean furry animals? Weird but not bad.

On the palette the start of the sip is very floral with rose petals, and then moves to cucumber and melon. A touch of tang and astringency on the finish.

Very nice! I’m very intrigued by how this is developing, and how unexpectedly.

Wow, so the nose this is very, very different from any white tea I’ve had before. It smells of corn, spinach and predominantly, lightly cooked zucchini. Maybe even hints of mushroom.

On the palette, my first impression is fresh peas from the garden. Mid sip it transitions into zucchini and dark, leafy greens, and then on the finish the peas are back with some green beans, and subtle corn notes linger after the sip is done. There’s some hints of earth and umami in here too. As I sip and it cools, the zucchini notes get even clearer.

The mouth feel started off pretty silky and there’s just a hint of astringency building, but that doesn’t come out in the flavour at all.

This is crisp and light, and just beautiful. Unlike any tea I’ve ever tasted before. This is tending your garden and eating the ripe produce straight from the ground. It’s vegetal but not at all grassy – it’s all fresh, juicy garden veggies.

Fantastic!

I think I got a little bit spoiled by how amazing and evocative my first yellow tea (Darjeeling 2nd Flush 2014 Jungpana AV2 Yellow Tea, What-Chat) was, because while this was nice, I just kept thinking about the other one.

This one was roasty and astringent, with lots of corn and a bit nutty. A touch bitter on the first steep, though that mellowed with subsequent steeps. I was hoping that the character of this would develop some more but each of my steeps (four?) tasted pretty much the same, with strength and bitterness being the only major variation.

I am really glad that I took a “gamble” and ordered a few of the blends that What- Cha offers. When I sniffed What-Cha’s English Breakfast blend in the bag, my eyes got big (like cartoon eyes, I’m sure!) Cocoa!!! Stonefruit!! Malt!! Rah! Rah! Rah! The leaves were large, dark and twisty, a wonderful sign of things to come, I hoped….. and I was right! The blend of Kenyan Orthodox, Assam, Nepal and 2 types of Ceylon creates a dark amber liquor that smells of toasted grains and biscuits, malt, and a “lurking” of cocoa. I over-leafed this tea on purpose, and the cup I poured for myself was STRONG and GOOD. Milk and honey added that comfort feeling that I love so much in UK blends. The Nepal tea brings a woodsy rose note to this tea that is unexpected, and I LOVE that in a tea! This is a nicely rounded cup with some expected (malt, toasty grains, light astringency) and unexpected (woodsy, rose) notes that English blend-lovers should try. The smaller boutique tea purveyors like What-Cha that produce blended teas are helping me understand more about what goes into blends and how creative they can be when done on a small scale. Well done and recommended.

Second steep of my leaves from the other day, 3min, with hotter water (probably 90ishC?)

Ah yes, I think this is paying off now. The liquor is a deep gold and on the nose I’m getting plum, caramel and chestnuts, even hints of baked bread.

Once it cooled enough to drink, it was still a bit weak, so I put the leaves back for another 2 minutes. I still feel like there’s more depth to this tea than I’m getting. Notes of plum and baked bread are there, but still faint.

Further steeping added a bit of astringency but not much else.

Hopefully try three will be better. I can tell this tea has a lot to offer if I can get the steeping right.

I’m having trouble brewing this one right. The rolled leaves are incredibly long and fluffy, so measuring a teaspoon was a lot of guess work, and then some of my leaves were clumped together and didn’t really separate and open up properly on first steep. 3min at 80C didn’t yield a lot of flavour, so I pulled apart the clumped leaves, added a few more from the bag in case I underleafed it, and steeped for another minute.

I still feel like I haven’t done this tea justice. More flavour is coming out as it cools, but it still seems far too mild for an oolong. I’m getting some malt, fruitiness, some floral notes and a touch of honey, but they’re all so, so subtle and not distinctive.

I need to give this another try before I rate it, because I can tell there’s more to this that I’m just not getting on this steep.

This will be my first yellow tea.

I’m really enjoying the smell of the dried leaf – very strong notes of sweet hay, that remind me of farmland in autumn or being in a clean barn.

The liquor is a warm yellow, and there are notes of hay, malty sweetness and a hint of vegetal on the nose.

On the tongue it’s rich and nutty, sweet and malty, with hay, fresh corn and a hint of green grass. There’s a slight tang on the finish, and dry leaves.

This is beautiful, and a perfect tea for the beginning of autumn. It evokes cool breezes and warm, bright sun and being outdoors in the prairies, bundled up in warm clothes with pinking cheeks. So good.

I am a BIG black blend tea fan. Frisian blends, Scottish, English, Irish….they’re all good with me, as long as they are married to milk and honey! So obviously, I was rather excited to get my hands on the blends offered by What-Cha. The promise of a blend including Nepal tea was too much to resist. The first time my husband and I tried a cup of this tea, I immediately looked at the bag to make sure I leafed it correctly…. the tea was very weak and non-descript. Hmmmmm…. so I tried again this morning. Sadly, I had the same experience. I use spring water for my tea, so I know it wasn’t the water…. I finally had to use 3 teaspoons of tea in 12 oz of water to get the tea to stand up to milk and sugar. Now mind you, the flavor of the blend isn’t bad, it was just weak. What-Cha uses 2 different Ceylons in this blend (along with Assam and Nepal), and they are what comes through strongest in this blend. There is a woodsy note, as well as a green note that floats languidly in the cup…. but overall, the thin mouthfeel and the lack of roundness in the flavor profile just didn’t make it something I would order again. If you like Ceylons and drink your black tea without milk and sugar, I would give this tea a go…. the Ceylon in this blend seems to offer something inviting, but for me it was just from too far away…..

Another from my What-Cha order. The dry leaf smells very malty with notes of chestnut.

Steeped, on the nose it’s very fruity and malty, with a bit of floral notes. Also picking up some soapiness, which makes me worry that I didn’t rinse my tea ware well enough when I did the dishes, but I think I did.

On the palette it’s floral and malty, and very smooth. Three minutes left it a bit on the weak side, but an extra minute has given it more depth.

This is a nice, easy to drink tea. Not terribly distinctive, but enjoyable, and a good first cup of the day.

I first tried this tea when Steepster was behaving badly. I am actually glad I couldn’t post a review. My first experience was not the best. I did a western style per directions (176 F, 3 minute steep, and 3 g of leaf). There was almost no taste.

Next I brewed it in a 90 ml gaiwan. I used 3 g and 190 F and long 3 minute steep. It was better. It reminded me of potato with some White peony notes and a pine note late in the sip. Later steeps developed a TGY like aftertaste.

Today, I prepared it western mug style with the last 3+ g of leaf, 190 F water and an 8 minute steep. It was the best cup yet. Slight potato when hot but as it cooled that faded. The cup was more white peony like but as with the gaiwan I really thought it closer to camellia flowers which are more wood like in flavor. It had some light fruit notes and maintained what to me is a light green oolong aftertaste.

Definitely requires long steeps to develop the flavor. My least favorite from What-Cha but the neat part of the experience is getting to try a purple varietal white tea – from Kenya.

A very strange bit of gaming news crept across my radar this morning as I found myself wondering ‘why in the name of all things holy am I still awake’ that made me switch to wondering ‘have I fallen asleep at my computer and am now just dreaming of weird news?’ I mean I did dream I was a computer simulation and saw the world in coding the other day, so this is entirely possible…but no, upon further investigation, this rumor is not a dream. It seems there is a rumor about Microsoft buying Mojang for $2billion, which is really strange and out of character for Notch. I am worried for the future of Minecraft, but hopefully Microsoft will be smart and not change too many things, it will be interesting to see how this unfolds, but more on my thoughts about this on my Saturday Ramblings post.

Introducing a new feature on the blog: What-Cha Wednesdays! I have a small mountain of their teas to review (and will probably get more once I run out, their teas fascinate me and at times become addictions, so I want to Pokemon it and try them all) and until I run out I shall have this be a weekly thing. Today’s What-Cha is Nepal Monsoon Flush 2014 Pearl Oolong Tea, and everything about it is new to me. It is from Nepal (a tea region I have very little experience with, tragically) and rolled into tight pearls, reminiscent of dragon pearl tea, a shape I have never seen an oolong curled into. There is also the plucking time of Monsoon Flush, which is also referred to as Rainy Tea, it is plucked between the Second and Autumn Flush between July and September, a time of continuous rain. It has been a cool, drizzly, day so I thought the timing to review this tea was perfect. The aroma of the little pearls is not very strong, I catch little whiffs of aromas, much like the tightly curled pearls are hiding their secrets from me. There are gentle notes of nuttiness and fruitiness, a mix of stone fruit and citrus, with just a tiny hint of sesame seeds.

As suspected, giving the pearls a bath released some of its hidden aroma as they unfurled, though the pearls remind me of baby Cthulhu-esque monsters which endears them to me immensely. The aroma of the leaves is very interesting, notes of dry apricot, sweet wine, and an undertone of pepper drift up from the leaves, it is very sweet and rich while still being light. The liquid is sweet, with a blend of apricot juice and scuppernong fruit, it does not smell like ‘fruit nectar’ but the juices of a ripe fruit as you bite into it.

The first steep is incredibly gentle and light, it tastes like spring rain, mineral laden spring water…specifically it reminds of the taste of the water I would drink from Boiling Spring’s Bubble (an artesian cold spring from limestone rich rock) giving me a powerful case of nostalgia. There is more to this tea than clean water and minerals, there are also notes of ripe apricots and freshly mown hay.

The second and third steep are identical in both aroma and taste. The aroma of the liquid is very sweet, mixing apricots,a touch of citrus, and nice bit of muscatel and minerals at the finish. The taste has the same clean spring water and rain taste of the first steep, but the real show stealing taste this time around is the apricot and fresh citrus notes. I feel like sipping this tea is cleansing, it is very light and refreshing and makes my soul feel good, I shall have to get more and put it aside for special occasions. This tea is a wonderful reminder how diverse tea can be, it is unlike any oolong I have ever had, in fact if I did not know what it was I might label it a white tea or an unusual Darjeeling, tea has so much to teach and I hope to never stop learning.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/09/what-cha-nepal-monsoon-flush-2014-pearl.html

The dry leaf smells like your typical Earl Grey, lots of bergamot. The leaf is small, not CTC but fannings?

Steeped, this tea is very different from any other Earl Grey I’ve tried. On the nose it’s a bit creamy on top of the bergamot scent, and then on the palette it’s very, very light. The tea base is a bit astringent and sweet, malty, almost nutty. The bergamot is light and well balanced.

I’m having a hard time pinning down how to completely describe how this is different from other Earl Greys – I keep thinking light, silky (though the astringency doesn’t actually give it a silky mouth feel), and like I’m tasting the flavours of an Earl Grey but on different parts of my tongue than usual.

I don’t think this would be my go-to Earl Grey, but I always love trying new variations on my old favourite, and discovering new stuff.

Happy lunar new year!

This cup has been a long time in the making. I prepped it in my travel mug to take with me for apartment cleaning, and then forgot it in my car. It froze solid and stayed in my car for a few days, then I finally remembered to bring it in. Once it thawed enough to dump out of the travel mug, I put the whole thing in some more water in the fridge to continue cold steeping.

Surprisingly, this is still pretty excellent. The buttery flavour is much stronger than previous cups I’ve had, and the complexity isn’t as apparent, but it’s still flavourful, thick and smooth, with floral and grassy notes backing up the butter.

Always a delicious milk oolong, with more complex floral notes than others that I’ve tried. A nice way to end off the evening after going out of town for plans.

This was my cup of tea for the road, doing a presentation on sex work at the university today. I threw a teaspoon of this into my large travel mug with 88C water and just let it steep.

Such a good tea to brew this way. The leaves are large and stayed near the bottom of my cup, and a very long steep didn’t yield any bitterness or astringecy. Lots of butter, cream, floral and peach notes. So nice and easy to sip while prepping and presenting.

Mmm, opening up the bag sent a rich waft of butter up to my nose.

Steeped at 90C for 3 minutes, the liquor is pale yellow, and smells buttery, with vegetal, umami and seaweed notes.

On the palette this is interesting. Very, very floral (jasmine?), a wee bit sweet, and very creamy, buttery. A burst of sweet hay mid sip, and then seaweed and umami linger on the finish.

As this cup cools the floral notes develop even further, becoming even more full-mouth, and taking on an almost perfumey quality, that is very pleasant. I also start to pick up some really awesome, round fruity notes – juicy, fresh and tropical, lychee, peach, mango. Toasty notes are blossoming on the finish as this cup develops further.

Continued sipping reveals rich coconut notes at the opening of the sip.

This is very different from the other milk oolongs I’ve tried, and I’m really enjoying the complexity and uniqueness of this. I’ve never had a cup of tea that has changed so much in a single steeping.

The second steep, again 90C, 3 min, still smells very buttery, but the taste is very vegetal, almost grassy, still lots of umami. A touch of tang and astringency, notes of toastiness again. A bit creamy still, though that’s mostly retreated to mouth feel rather than flavour. Floral notes on the finish instead of mid sip and much more subtle, and then lingering hay long after the sip is done.

As I sip and the cup cools, I’m getting more of the butter notes back on my palette. The grassy note is just a fleeting burst as the tea hits my tongue and then mellows right away, and the more it cools, the more the dominant notes shift from vegetal to buttery. There’s also a touch of astringent mouth feel developing as I get closer to the bottom of the cup.

The second cup isn’t as amazing as the first, but it’s still pretty amazing.

Third steep, 90C, 2 minutes, half as much water.

It’s both buttery and very perfumey on the nose. The perfumey taste is also the opening note on the tongue with this cup, which then draws in some vegetal and butter, and a bit of grassy tang on the finish. There’s a slight bitter note which only peeks out for a second before it’s gone.

I think I’m about done with these leaves for now, but I am super impressed with this tea. I think it’s going to be a staple in my cupboard.

Fantastic! Dry, it smells like a slightly lemon scented dragon well. Steeped, it starts with sweet corn, fills the mouth with sweet grass/straw/nuts and finishes with a surprising and amazingly strong citrus peel that lasts and lasts. Really nice!

After reading on Reddit yesterday that this tea is Alastair’s (of What-Cha) favorite black tea, I put it in front of the tea line for this morning’s cup. Definitely not disappointed! I don’t know that I had ever had a tea from Nepal before but now I am really intrigued! My favorite teas are the malty blacks from Yunnan, and I could easily have mistaken this for one of those. Even the look of the leaves – with that delicious cocoa like powder on the inside of the envelope – was the same. Really, really delicious and definitely worth your attention!

What-Cha is a small business in the UK that has some very interesting and unique offerings for tea drinkers. I am a true fan of of most quality Yunnan teas, and this tea is certainly one of those.

Surprisingly, the dry leaf wasn’t actually as tippy as I though it would be, considering the fragrance coming off the leaf! The dry leaf is long and twist…the kind that won’t stay in the teaspoon and you’re never quite sure that you’re measuring properly because it won’t go IN the teaspoon. But I’m not going to complain about that quality in any tea! Notes of cocoa, apricot and yam were gentle but present in the dry leaf. Wet, the leaf is long and beautiful, leaving a golden amber liquor in the cup.

This tea has the same wonderful notes that make me a true fan of teas from this region: dark cocoa, earthy sweet potato skin, a touch of raisin….but this tea also has a woodsy note that some Yunnans have. It’s the taste that reminds me of long-forgotten secret places and old trees that should be visited with reverence. The earthy yam skin and cocoa notes give this tea a beautiful base to balance the raisin and woodsy note on. There is a slight apricot top note, but the strength in this tea lies in it’s deeper notes. Overall this is a well balanced cup of tea, with no astringency and a medium well-rounded mouthfeel that is worthy of a tea drinkers favorite thing….quiet contemplation and enjoyment.

So, this is my new favorite green tea.

It sips in strong with lots of nectarine/peach notes and a little straw with a delicate light finish. After each sip there is a bit of dryness and a strong distinctive apricot taste that hangs out for awhile. The resteep isn’t bad but is moderately dry and a bit acidic.

This unflavored green is more apricot flavored than apricot flavored added tea blends! WHAT SORCERY IS THIS?!

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/azores-teas-cha/

I love how delicate this black starts off. It has a light creamy texture, woodsy, vanilla and fruit salad notes. You know, the fruit salad with diced peaches, pears and not enough green grapes (no cherries though – not in this tea). The tea finishes off dry and brisky.

Full review on my blog, The Oolong Owl http://oolongowl.com/azores-teas-cha/