314 Tasting Notes
“Discarded 20 s rinse.
First steep : I meant to only do 3 oz for 1.5 grams, but my usual pour is 6 and I was on autopilot this morning. I then tried to make up for it by doing a 45 s steep; totally confusing. This means the tea is probaby weak by Pu-Erh standards. The nose is light and earthy with a hint of fruit. Not sure how to describe the taste; leather isn’t right but it’s as close as I can come. THere is definitely a tarry taste at the finish, which is long but not very powerful.
2nd steep: 3 oz, 70 sec. This is much more powerful. The nose is earthy and herbal. Taste is black pepper.
3rd (3 oz, 1 min, 200 deg): Nose similar to 2nd. Taste is lighter and more fruity.
4th (3 oz, 1 min, 200 deg): Soft, fruity nose with hint of spice. Tastes of tar.
This was very interesting, but the flavors don’t appeal to me. Seems like more trouble than it was worth.”
Preparation
It may have been a mistake to start the day with a green tea. I’m finding it difficult to find much flavor in this cup. The nose had hints of veggies and grass. The taste is clean, with straw and grass flavors. The finish is a bit more astringent than I like, but otherwise OK.
Preparation
The dry tea has a clever spiral-wrapped shape. The disadvantage of this style is that it takes a long time to unwind. I gave it 2 extra minutes to steep from my usual 3 minutes. Weak nose. Rich straw/grass flavor. Some spice appears in the finish, which is long but not very powerful. Nice, but unspectacular. To be honest, the only distinguishing character is how it looks.
Thanks to *Stacy at Butiki Tea* for putting this box together
Preparation
I need a break from the Pu-Erh, so decided to start in on the green tea. This has a nice soft nose: straw with a hint of veggies. The taste is clean and simple: mostly grass and straw. Good mouth-feel. Good finish. This is my favorite style of green tea; a perfect break from the pu-erh.
Preparation
“I used 1.6 grams in 3 oz water. 1 minute steep following 20 sec rinse. The nose is lovely: soft and fruity. Soft round flavor continues the fruit. This is great! Now I start to understand what all the excitement about Pu-erh is all about. Excellent finish. After a few sips I began to notice an earthy bitterness in the finish. This bitterness grew, spoiling the tea for me. This dragged my rating from about 91 to where it wound up.
Second steep (212 deg) adds a bit of grass to the fruit in the aroma. Taste is grassy, and more austere. Again, the bitterness grows as I drink. Perhaps this is why gaiwans are so popular with Pu-erh drinkers?
Third steep (200 deg): Nose is becoming dark and earthy but I still smell fruit and grass. Still very powerful. Not much bitterness in the taste, but it shows up powerfully in the finish, which is long enough to mix into the taste on subsequent sips.”
Thanks to Stacy at Butiki Tea for putting this box together
Preparation
The leaves are extremely dark for a “green” tea. Darker than any Darjeeling I’ve ever had; almost black. No real difference in color between this and the plain purple tea. Smells like a green tea: grass and veggies. Tastes green as well. This tea has a great mouth-feel: big and rich. I don’t really notice the veggies in the taste, which I consider a good thing. Long, rich finish. I should time the finish: it goes on for minutes. As I drink, I am noticing a growing astringency; Not unpleasant but strong enough to overcome the nice body of the tea.
