The Essence of Tea
Am slowly working my way through the eot yancha line up. Will add more as I go through them all
Bottom line for first 3:
2018 house rougui: nice one and good value - may reorder
2019 hui chun beidou: okay- but overpriced- not as tasty as 2018 house rougui
1997 horse head cliff sx: pretty bad tasting - and on top of that surprisingly expensive. Tea does not come close to what is described on website and on website reviews- am I drinking the same tea??
https://essenceoftea.com/collections/wu ... uyi-yancha
Bottom line for first 3:
2018 house rougui: nice one and good value - may reorder
2019 hui chun beidou: okay- but overpriced- not as tasty as 2018 house rougui
1997 horse head cliff sx: pretty bad tasting - and on top of that surprisingly expensive. Tea does not come close to what is described on website and on website reviews- am I drinking the same tea??
https://essenceoftea.com/collections/wu ... uyi-yancha
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If it is that bad, it's maybe not real Matouyan. That is usually top of the crop stuff... Or gone-off storage? 1997 is a while. May also be in the boring stage of aging.
That's interesting. It's been a while since I tried that one - I recall it being 'sharp' as you describe, with both underlying shuixian flavours and also more prominent 'fruity' and acidic qualities that I associate with 'dry aged' / un-re-roasted yancha, which fell short of being 'sour' but which still needed to be controlled carefully. I recall acidity rather than astringency. It wasn't my favourite aged yancha out of the few that I've tried, but I did get some nice results from it after a few poor initial attempts. Maybe it would have benefitted from a re-roast, but I'm just speculating.
I don't recall any liu bao notes, though...
Andrew
Yee on tea is considered to be on the wet side of storage, just my opinion. I had a few of their shu puerh that need a good zini to tame them. Also, the environment/temperature can influence our taste buds. I find myself enjoy them in a hot weather day.
I probably am immune. I like to think that the little bugs that make wet storage happen have colonised me, but have formed some sort of mutually-beneficial alliance with the rest of me.DailyTX wrote: ↑Thu May 18, 2023 9:38 pmYee on tea is considered to be on the wet side of storage, just my opinion. I had a few of their shu puerh that need a good zini to tame them. Also, the environment/temperature can influence our taste buds. I find myself enjoy them in a hot weather day.
I do forget that some people don't like humid notes... When I have more time, I will try to find any more of the 1997 and see if I can detect what LeoFox does. It's still a sharp and unforgiving tea to brew in any event, though, but I recall it being nice after I realised that.
Andrew
I think that all of the ones that are available now (including the 1997) post-date the ones that you tried (from your earlier comments on them), but I'm not sure. I don't think that I ever tried the 'old' ones which you tried. I think mine have been pre-Bok and post-Bok, so to say...
Andrew
I purchased a bit of this a few years back. It was one of the most memorable teas I tasted. Not in the sense that I found it really good, but because I remember it distinctly. My tasting notes were "raspberry pie" (as in "real cooked raspberry and dough aromas", not as in "vaguely suggests raspberry pie"), and leather (as in "shoemaker shop"). I cannot tell whether this is good tea to amateurs of aged yancha, but I was not tempted to order more.
Raspberry pie in a shoemaker shop sounds interesting, hahaha. Unfortunately, did not experience any of that. Will try their 1980s TLH next - heard it's explosively chocolatey. Will soon see - after a few days of recovery with some sencha.faj wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 11:02 amI purchased a bit of this a few years back. It was one of the most memorable teas I tasted. Not in the sense that I found it really good, but because I remember it distinctly. My tasting notes were "raspberry pie" (as in "real cooked raspberry and dough aromas", not as in "vaguely suggests raspberry pie"), and leather (as in "shoemaker shop"). I cannot tell whether this is good tea to amateurs of aged yancha, but I was not tempted to order more.
1980s tie Luo han
Indeed chocolate- but the kind of chocolate found on the top shelf in the closet that my mom once told me is for cooking, not eating
https://essenceoftea.com/collections/wu ... 1303613597
Indeed chocolate- but the kind of chocolate found on the top shelf in the closet that my mom once told me is for cooking, not eating
https://essenceoftea.com/collections/wu ... 1303613597
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My mother did the same thing. She rarely baked; however, she quite often bought bittersweet baking chocolate which came in thick large bars. Sometimes I saw her breaking off a piece of that chocolate & eating it plain. Many years past childhood, most of the six children were together talking about strange situations in our family, & we realized that my mother definitely ate a lot of that chocolate regularly & wanted to keep that a secret. (Some of the children are not secretive about eating chocolate & not slim either.
Chocolate flavor in tea does not stop the craving....
I definitely agree with this. I've never been dissuaded from eating real chocolate by a chocolate tea!Ethan Kurland wrote: ↑Tue May 23, 2023 7:40 pmChocolate flavor in tea does not stop the craving....