Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: In Pursuit of Tea
Tea Description:
This tea is made from a cultivar that can be harvested year-round- Si Ji Chun, which means four seasons like spring. It’s grown in Ming Jian Township in mountainous Nantou County, Taiwan. The mature leaves are lightly oxidized and rolled into ball shapes; as they open through multiple infusions, a sweet flavor and lush, orchidlike aroma is released.
Read other Steepster thoughts on this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma of the dry leaf of this Nantou Four Seasons Oolong Tea from In Pursuit of Tea is sweet with notes of flower and distant hints of vegetation.
I prepared this tea the same way I would approach most Oolong teas: in my gaiwan, using short steeps following a quick rinse (15 seconds). I combined the first two infusions for the first cup, and the third and fourth infusions were combined for the second cup, and so on. I managed to get eight delicious infusions this way (four cups). I probably could have gotten more, but, I was satisfied after my four cups of this tea. More than satisfied because this is a seriously delicious Oolong!
My first sip, I noticed a creaminess and a slight floral tone. Then I began to notice more complexity to the cup. The creaminess was somewhere between a buttery taste and texture and a sweet cream taste. Very smooth and very yummy. The floral tones are soft in this first cup. By mid-cup, I started to pick up on faint fruit-like notes. I also noticed some of the vegetal tones in the distant background. Toward the end of this cup, I picked up on a note that I can only think to describe as vanilla-esque! This, together with the sweet cream/buttery notes is quite delectable … decadent even!
Subsequent infusions began to “unlock” the floral tones just a bit more. The creaminess began to wane by the third cup, which was still creamy, but much less so than the first two cups. While I noticed some vegetative notes throughout the time I spent with this tea, they were always quite distant. For those who tend to shy away from the greener Oolong teas because they don’t care for the vegetal tones of these types of Oolong, I think this Nantou Four Seasons would be a good one for you to try.
In the third cup, I started to pick up on more of a nutty tone. The fruit-like notes never really came forward enough for me to be able to discern what kind of fruit I was tasting … it remained “fruit-like” but indistinct.
This is an excellent Four Seasons Oolong – one of the nicest that I’ve tried. And I don’t think I would have had this experience if it wasn’t for Steepster Select! It’s a great way to explore the world of tea. And if you’d like to try what December had to offer, I am currently selling my second sample packages of the December Steepster Select. You can check out the listing here.
Karigane #22 from Tea Wing
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tea Wing
Tea Description:
A blend of stems and leaves which are shaded 20 days prior to harvest. This kabuse is naturally sweet and bright with a beautiful aroma. The shaded leaves are a deep green and the steeped liquor yield has an almost “chewy” mouthfeel. Lots of flavor.
Read other Steepster thoughts on this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Karigane #22 from Tea Wing represents the third of the five teas that I’m tasting from the inaugural Steepster Select box. (Well, it’s the first after a year plus hiatus, anyway!)
The aroma of the dry leaf is grassy, evocative of freshly cut grass. I noticed a lot of stems and finely cut leaves, looking as though both have been finely shredded, reminding me of a Japanese Sencha. The brewed tea smells very vegetative … and tastes vegetative too.
The flavor tastes of sweet grass and lightly buttered vegetables. It is a strong vegetal taste, so if you’re one who tends to shy away from green teas with that strong leafy taste, this tea might not be the one for you. Me, I like it. It has a very clean and pure kind of flavor, and it’s pleasantly invigorating.
As the tea cools slightly, I am picking up on some creamy notes, and I find that these creamy notes develop as I continue to sip. Maybe slightly buttery, but also … tasting of sweet cream.
The finish is agreeably sweet, and it’s a sweetness that reminds me of agave nectar! At first I thought that maybe, somehow … I had added some agave nectar to the cup, but, since there isn’t any agave nectar in the house at the moment, I don’t know how that would have happened.
A very enjoyable cup of tea with a thick, brothy mouthfeel that complements the vegetal, creamy taste of the tea. Another WIN from Steepster Select! If you haven’t yet signed up for it, why not? You should get yourself here and sign up as soon as possible! You’ll be happy you did!
Golden Yunnan Black Tea from In Pursuit of Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: In Pursuit of Tea
Tea Description:
This hand harvested black tea is meticulously crafted from a white tea varietal and pile fermented for 45 days. Truly a labor of love and one of the finest examples of hand-made tea available.
Read other Steepster thoughts on this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is the second tea from my Steepster Select tea that I decided to try: Golden Yunnan Black Tea from In Pursuit of Tea. I was very excited to see this company featured in this month’s box (with not just one but TWO teas!) because I can’t recall ever having tried teas from them. I love it when I’m introduced to new-to-me tea companies!
And this tea is fantastic. The dry leaf is gorgeous with curly leaves of chocolate brown that are tipped in gold. Beautiful! There isn’t a strong aroma to the dry leaf, but the brewed tea smells rich and sweet, with notes of earth, leather and tobacco.
The flavor is complex with earthy notes. I taste notes of tobacco, malt and honey. I find that the tobacco is particularly noticeable if I slurp to aerate the sip, and the drying sensation toward the tail of the sip seems to enhance the tobacco notes. There is an undertone of caramel and a hint of cacao to this cup as well.
A very masculine cuppa. Toward mid-cup, I start to pick up on notes of leather in the distance. There is an interesting balance between these savory notes of leather and tobacco and the sweetness of honey, malt, and cacao.
The second infusion is even better than the first! I don’t say that often about a black tea … in fact, I don’t often take a black tea for a second infusion because it isn’t often that I find one that holds up in the second infusion, but this tea definitely does.
The flavor of the second infusion is sweeter than the first, with the tobacco notes less prevalent. The earthy tones have softened here, making way for the delicious honeyed caramel notes and rich malty notes of this tea.
A remarkable Golden Yunnan! I did not find this tea on the In Pursuit of Tea website under Black Teas; however, it does appear that this tea may be available through this samples listing. This is a must try for Yunnan enthusiasts out there, and really, anyone who appreciates high quality tea!
Guìyuán Roasted Dong Ding Oolong from Steepster
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Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Steepster Select
Tea Description:
Our Guìyuán Roasted Dong Ding is a classic style produced using the traditional method of hand roasting over charcoal. Exposure to high heat gently changes the leaf sugar composition to a naturally sweet liquor.
Read other Steepster thoughts on this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The Steepster Select monthly tea tasting box is back and it’s better than ever! Here are some of the changes that have been implemented since the last tasting box: first, the boxes include not three but FIVE different teas. Second, these are truly “samples,” and as a taster, I like that. I get two (2) one-serving packets of each tea in my box. Like I said, I like this new feature, it’s just enough tea to allow me to taste it but not so much that I feel overwhelmed by the amount of tea in the box.
The first tea that I’m tasting from this month’s box is this Guìyuán Roasted Dong Ding Oolong from Steepster. This is an outstanding Dong Ding! From the moment I opened the sampler pouch, I could smell the roasty-toasty goodness of the Oolong. It smelled warm and nutty, and evoked thoughts of the smell of a log cabin in the woods with a roaring fire in the fireplace.
The flavor is sweet and smooth. I notice only a faint astringency with my first cup, which is a combination of the first two infusions following a 15 second rinse. The nutty tones are sweet and there is almost a creamy texture to this tea that allows the liquid to glide over the palate very smoothly. This creamy note is almost reminiscent of toasted coconut.
This first cup has a very silky taste and texture! As I progress to mid-cup, I start to pick up on faint vegetal tones, hints of flower, and insinuations of fruit, but, mostly what I’m tasting is sweet, toasty, nutty flavor with notes of cream, and maybe a hint or two of freshly roasted coffee.
The second cup (infusions 3 and 4) offers more toasty and sweet notes. I can taste a charcoal-y sort of note along with the still present nutty flavors. The aforementioned notes of vegetation, flower and fruit are a little stronger now, but they are still distant flavors within the layers of complexity in this cup. The astringency becomes slightly more dry this time, but it is still not an overly astringent tea.
With my third cup (the fifth and sixth infusions), I began to pick up on more of the fruity notes of this tea, tasting a bit like what a bunch of purple grapes might taste like if it had been grilled over a bed of hot charcoal embers: the heat encourages the sweetness of the fruit to emerge while there are background notes of tart and touches of toasty, smoky notes.
I’m still tasting notes of charcoal and the nutty flavors, but the nutty flavors are a little less distinct now. The vegetal and floral tones are still rather distant. I notice more of a drying sensation with this cup as the finish leads into a mineral-y sort of taste.
With this third cup, I also notice the coffee notes I first tasted in the first cup. Here, they are beginning to define themselves, tasting a bit more like coffee, complete with that hint of coffee bitterness. I like how this bitterness contrasts with the sweetness of this cup.
If you’d like to try this tea and the others in this month’s Steepster Select box, I’m currently offering my second sample packages from this month’s box (one of each of the five teas sent in this month’s box) in a sampler at a discounted price. I only have one of these offers available! Check it out here.
Ancient Yellow Buds from Rishi Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yellow
Where to Buy: Rishi Tea
Tea Description:
Yellow Buds is composed of a single, ripe bud shoots. Usually, yellow teas are made with small leaf or medium leaf varietals from central and eastern China. This is a one of a kind Yellow Tea made with Mannong Manmai’s ancient heirloom broad leaf tea trees.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This isn’t my first sampling of Ancient Yellow Buds from Rishi Tea, I’ve tried this tea and reviewed it previously, however, that was a couple of years ago, and I believe that this is a tea from a more recent harvest … and tea changes fro year to year, harvest to harvest.
I was really excited to receive YELLOW TEA (my precious!) in the Steepster Select box for the month of May. No tea makes me as happy as yellow tea. So, for all the complaining I might have done last month because of a less than exciting box – I take it all back and apologize, because this month’s box more than makes up for last month’s shortcomings! This is the very best box from Steepster Select yet, and it has single handedly (single boxedly?) renewed my faith in the Steepster Select subscription.
And … oh. my. goodness! Is this ever good. Seriously, if you haven’t yet tried a yellow tea, I recommend trying one. Get yourself a really good quality one like this one from Rishi Tea. The leaves are soft and covered with fluffy, downy fuzz and they look a bit like Silver Needle, except that they have a slightly golden/yellowish color to them. The aroma of the dry leaf is like a cross between freshly cut grass and hay – lightly vegetative and very crisp and fresh smelling.
The brewed tea smells very much like the dry leaf, and it is a treat to inhale deeply before taking a sip … this really enhances the overall taste to engage the olfactory nerves in this way. The flavor is sweet and delicious. I have often compared the flavor to tasting a little like the “lovechild” of white and Oolong tea. It has a similar mouthfeel of a good Oolong tea, with a lovely smoothness and a hint of buttery flavor, while also maintaining the delicate, sweet features of a high quality white tea.
But really, it’s even more than that. An experience with yellow tea is just so amazing. Every tea lover should try this yellow tea from Rishi Tea – it’s excellent!