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The so-called heavy roast (gaohuo) that fukien and to a lesser extent seadyke employ do not mean that their teas can age well. That's because the main difference between the traditional/chuan tong style vs modern style is less to do with the level or degree of roast but what comes prior to the roast...

I had the luxury of comparing Zhengshantang's flagship Jinjunmei from a few years - 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2025. Firstly, if served the 2025 jjm and asked for my thoughts I do still believe it is a cut above almost all other tongmu lapsang/non-jjm. Thick viscous texture that can last more steeps, as w...

Taking a break from sheng puerh, and decided to drink my Matouyan Rougui. Till date still my favorite rougui with its pungent resinous, almost metallic-like, fragrance that arises at the back of the throat after swallowing. This is a tea that I take out on special occasions, or to treat myself.. as ...

I have a 2015(?) Fuding Yinzhen that I suspect was lightly baked because it has that warm freshness to it, doesnt havent the typical "hay" or green bean character which I dislike in white tea. Instead, the baking preserves the freshness - i didnt detect any herbal aroma that comes from ageing despit...

https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=613563812975&price=735&sourceType=item&sourceType=item&suid=f231332c-5c1d-425a-995f-ca064775ee3a&shareUniqueId=31427720428&ut_sk=1.Z8jq86G6rdcDANACgj%2Ff%2BFJj_21646297_1746229492026.Copy.1&un=882e7455b677f927d3f1f9680a0b488c&share_crt_v=1&un_site=0&spm=a2159r.1...

https://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=613563812975&price=735&sourceType=item&sourceType=item&suid=f231332c-5c1d-425a-995f-ca064775ee3a&shareUniqueId=31427720428&ut_sk=1.Z8jq86G6rdcDANACgj%2Ff%2BFJj_21646297_1746229492026.Copy.1&un=882e7455b677f927d3f1f9680a0b488c&share_crt_v=1&un_site=0&spm=a2159r.13...

As much as I would like to avoid trashing famous big brands and focus on the good stuff, I feel the need to warn those relatively new to the deep rabbit-hole of yancha who are made aware of a particular XiGua brand which is based in Huiyuankeng, perhaps equally famous as RuiQuan based in Shuiliandon...

I got it off the official store on taobao, which is cheaper than the international lapsang store. I don't think tea labelled as wild in the yefang/semi-wild sense of the term applies to Wuyi yancha or Tongmu hongcha, since the good terroirs are properly managed to a greater degree than perhaps the m...

Zhengshantang's JJM 2025 (18 April was the release date) is so full, creamy, thick, luxurious in the mouth that makes me think that its all about the texture. The fragrance is fine-tuned, very clear and singular, and has a gentle rose-like flavor (not maltiness) - not the tart fruity you find in oth...

It’s their signature product, so probably should be good. So tea growing in natural conditions (in the forests of TongMu), among other plants, without much intervention is labeled as yefang. I would think this would be very difficult to harvest with small yield, so very expensive and hard to get. I...

Wild has 2 meanings. The kind of tea that is of minimal intervention, grown in natural conditions, harvested once or every few years, is designed as 'yefang'. You can think of yefang as 'forest' tea. Qizhong means native variety, as opposed to the more commercialized varieties. They tend to be slowe...

Reporting back... I've had Voss and while its better than most other European water brands, it has a kind of weird plastic taste especially if its stored in warm warehouses. Water with especially high silica, that is sourced from underground volcanic rock or passed through layers of rock formation, ...

Continuing with my water experiments, now using Volvic water to brew sheng pu and yancha. I got to say that its disappointing. Muffles and mutes the sheng pu, while it performs better with yancha - it doesnt bring out the flavors of yancha. The only positive thing I see is that for those adverse to ...

I recently emailed Hojo about Mingqian tea and he had very strong opinions in his response: We do not carry Mingqian tea at our store. The reason is simple—Mingqian tea is of poor quality. While it is commonly believed to be high-quality, this is merely a marketing tactic to sell tea to uninformed ...

https://down-sg.img.susercontent.com/file/sg-11134207-7rent-m296osl1o4w0c7 Trying out Tibetan water. It's very soft and makes tea sweet and clean, however it does pull out more astringency and my teas tastes flatter with it, barely any "body" or texture from my brews. So far not impressed, will try...