The Tea Monitor

Den's Tea: Sencha Zuiko

2010-01-30T14:04:00.000-08:00

This was sent to me by a friend after I expressed some disappointment with some of Den's other products. Sencha Zuiko is Den's premium asamushi (light steamed) sencha.

Image from Den's Tea

To brew this tea I steeped 2 scoops of leaves into my pre-warmed kyusu and brewed it for about a minute using 165 F water. The leaves were long and mostly uniform, but they were also thick. This was a bit worrisome and reminded me of some very bitter cheap sencha that I have had. The aroma of the leaves was vegetal and bitter, like most sencha, but more bitter. The color of the brewed tea was yellow-brown with only a slight green tint. This did not bode well. I normally expect asamushi to be a yellow-green color. Once the water hit the leaves, the aroma became purely sweet, but the sweetness of the smell did not match the taste of the tea. The tea was bitter and metallic with slight vegetable notes and some very slight sweetness. The mouthfeel was extremely dry for a sencha. The aftertaste revealed the worst characteristic of the tea: the aftertaste was sour.

At 19.50 USD for 2 oz, this tea is absolutely impossible to recommend.

Some Tea Photos

2009-12-23T22:35:00.000-08:00

auraTeas: Formosa Alishan Oolong

2009-12-20T11:55:00.000-08:00

Well, it had to happen eventually. Formosa Alishan Oolong is far from impressive. So, here is the review.

Image from auraTeas

I brewed this tea using 5g of leaves in a 140ml gaiwan. The first steep was approximately 15 second long and the subsequent steep was about 30 seconds long. The first impression of the tea leaves was already a bit disappointing; this tea was obviously not composed of leaf systems. Upon seeing the small pebbles, I hoped, but doubted, that this tea was competition style and not machine harvested. After brewing, it became clear that this was machine harvested. The dry aroma of the tea was floral and grassy with a bit of a vegetal undertone. After brewing the rinse steep, I smelled the lid of the gaiwan, the leaves in the gainwan and the inside of my empty cup. The aroma was floral and sweet and was not in anyway complex. At this point, I made a guess as to what this tea's cultivar was. The cloying floral and sweet taste of the liquor confirmed that it was, probably, Jin Xuan. I preformed a second steep to see if it would get any better and it got worse.

At 6.50 CAD for 18g –9.48 USD per ounce– I would definitely not buy this. From the same company, at a lower price, the shanlinxi is much better.

auraTeas: Formosa Aged Wuyi Variety Oolong

2009-11-25T12:01:00.000-08:00

So, it appears I have fallen short of my blogging goal to post auraTeas reviews. Papers will do that. Anyway here is the second auraTeas review: Formosa Aged Wuyi Variety Oolong.

Image from auraTeas

This tea has a faintly "roasty" aroma with the salted plum aroma that I often encounter in aged oolongs. The taste begins with a bright coffee taste in the front of the mouth. Then, a light, pleasant, burnt-sugar taste appears. Aside from the pleasant absence of astringency, it is definitely Wuyi. The aftertaste is slightly metallic and is accompanied with a cooling sensation. Some fruit nuances remain on the breath. An enjoyable mouthfeel occurs and coats the entire mouth and throat, there is only a little astringency on the roof of the mouth. The aroma in the empty cup is slightly sweet and cooling. The last impression is of dried plums.

At 3.80CAD for 14g –5.60USD for 1oz– it think this tea is a very good deal. I will likely be buying some soon. This tea reminds me of a 90s siji oolong which is one of my favorite aged oolongs. I think this wuyi is a bit less complex, but more assertive than the siji. Perhaps I will cup them together some day.

auraTeas: Fromosa Shanlinxi Oolong

2009-11-08T09:18:00.000-08:00

In a trade with a teachat member, I received two sets of the 24 oolong sampler from the Canadian company auraTeas. How could one go wrong with a tea company that names itself according to Java naming conventions? I will hopefully be doing a few rewiews of their tea every week until I get through all 24 of them. First up is Formosa Shanlinxi High Mountain Oolong.

Image from auraTeas

1st Steep:
The aroma in the cup is light with slight grassy smell and a little sweetness. It tastes mild. A little vegetable flavor is present. The aftertaste is the most impressive part. There is a simple sweetness –like cane juice. A cooling sensation accompanies a slight fresh mint taste. The mouthfeel is pretty smooth, but there is some very slight dryness. The aroma in the empty cup is sweet and vegetal.

2nd Steep:
The aroma in the cup remains slight, but the taste becomes more pronounced. It is vegetal, perhaps too vegetable. Some mint appears in the taste. The aftertaste becomes less nuanced, loosing the mint characteristic, but retaining the cooling effect. The mouth feel improves. The aroma in the empty cup is sweet and vegetal.

Conclusion:
At 5.00CAD for 18g –7.20USD for 1oz,– this tea is quite good. I would suggest some if you like gaoshan. I probably will not be buying any, because I have many samples of gaoshan, light roasted gaoshan does not stay fresh and it is not my favorite style. However, it still is a good deal.

Matcha Photos 1

2009-04-05T10:29:00.000-07:00

Mystery Oolong

2009-04-02T18:23:00.000-07:00

Aphroditea of Teachat gave me a sample of a Mystery Oolong that she got at Formosa Art Tea House. Here are my notes:

Leaves: Large young leaf systems forming large balls. A bit much stem. (4/5)

Aroma: Flowery, perfume, kind of nauseating. Probably not from this tea but from its unfortunate time in the oolong box. (No rating)

Wet Aroma: Subtle but flowery. Perhaps a little buttery. A good sent. Smells like a Jin Xuan, Jade or Soft-stem cultivar. Probably spring and one of the taller mountains Lishan, Alishan, Fo Sho Shan, etc. (3.5/5 x2)

Taste: An initial floweriness gives way to a creamy taste and then changes to that creamy sweet taste found in Jade and Soft-stem cultivars. A vegetal taste all the way through(8/10)

Mouthfeel: Quite good, but lacks the thickness of winter oolong. It caused a little throat clenching at first, but that went away. There is quite a bit of smoothness in the throat(8.5/10)

Aftertaste: I don’t think that I’ve ever had such a great after taste form a light oolong. A creamy fresh vegetal taste lingers in the mouth for a very, very long time. (10/10)

Resteep: (5/5)

Total: (42.5/50)

Guess: Alishan, Jade Cultivar

2006 King of Pu-erh

2009-01-06T14:48:00.001-08:00

(Photo from this tea's vendor PuerhShop.com)

(Photo from this tea's vendor PuerhShop.com)

The King of Pu-erh is a 2006 cake Xishhuangbanna made by Tianshi Lao Hao is an impressive looking cake accompanied by one of the nicest looking wrappers I have seen. The pictures on the vendor's webssite promped me to buy a sample which I enjoyed. I then bought two cakes. This review is not my first look at this tea, it is only the impression it left me today.

Cake Compostition
(My snapshot of the top of the cake)

(My snapshot of the bottom of the cake)

On the top of the cake are some of the biggest leaves I've seen. There are a few especially large ones over the inner label that are almost a half-foot long. Unfortunately, the entire cake is not like this –as seen in my snapshot of the bottom. Blogger Hobbes refers to this as unethical compression. I agree that it seems almost fraudulent, but Jim of PuerhShop.com does imply this in his description. So, its more unethical on the part of the tea's maker than its vendor. The leaves under the veneer are still nice, just not as nice. The compression of the cake is on the tighter side and most likely not stone pressed.

Dry Aroma
(My snapshot of the dry leaves in the Gaiwan)

The aroma coming off of the cake is fruity with camphor and a smell of mushrooms in the woods.

Wet Aroma
(My snapshot of the wet leaves in the Gaiwan after a rinse)

The aroma became more potent and acidic after the rinse. Melon scents were dominant with tobacco and mushroom scents present.

Taste
(My snapshot of the 1st steep)

I purposefully did a very light first steep in order to be able to taste the higher notes. The steep was sweet and light with a bean jam body. Also present were notes of raspberry –which I have never encountered before in a Pu-erh– and melon. A slight camphor taste remained on the breath.

(My snapshot of the 2nd steep)

The second steep is a darker color. The mushroom base is accompanied by melon notes as the tea cools. A woody, damp, camphor lingers on the breath.

(My snapshot of the 3rd steep)

This steep was the best so far. All of the flavors came into a balance. The base was of bean jam and mushrooms. On the breath was a great combination of juniper and camphor.

(My snapshot of the 4th steep)

The tea started to give out on this steep. It became difficult to pick out the notes found in the earlier steeps and began to taste more generic.

Cake Composition: 3.5/5
Dry Aroma: 3.5/5
Wet Aroma: 4/5
Taste: 8.5/10
Mouthfeel: 8.5/10
Aftertaste: 8.5/10
Resteep: 3.5/5
Overall: 40/50 (above average)