TeaChat

A gift from Tim of The Mandarin's Tea Room...
...2900m Cedar Creek (shan lin xi) Taiwan oolong.
An amazing gaoshan. Spicy pineapple umami yumminess! My head is swimming and I love it.
Smells fruity and wonderful, looks beautiful, tastes incredible. Formosa perfection.
Thanks, Tim!

Enjoying some more of the Shui Xian from Norbu tonight, toasty dark 2011 Wuyi tea, will need to give it overnight and do some more infusions in the AM. It's still too strong to be read to stop on it.

MIKE_B wrote:A gift from Tim of The Mandarin's Tea Room...
...2900m Cedar Creek (shan lin xi) Taiwan oolong.

Shan lin xi....2900m elevation??? O_O?

2012 Spring Buddha Hand -Floating Leaves Tea

I really like the light roast on this tea opposed to the greener version.
Great mouth feel and very enjoyable on this quiet summer morning.

I'm almost out, gonna restock this weekend.

Jinxuan Oolong...so sweet;)

Spring 2012 Tie Guan Yin from Yunnan Sourcing--their "Imperial" version. Quite nice, smooth, tasty, rich, but not overwhelming.

Tea masters Oriental Beauty. Still trying to get a hang of this tea, sometimes its really good, other times its just okay.

A new-to-me Dan Cong from Tea Habitat: 2007 Zei Shi, 'thief poop'.

Sweet and caramelicious, as described in the TH notes. Very very smooth and delicious. I’m brewing a little more than a gram of tea in a tiny cheapo yixing pot, water about 185 degrees for a start, amazing lovely stuff. This would make an excellent ‘starter’ Dan Cong—hard to imagine it going wrong in any unpleasant way. 3 infusions in, still very lovely. Sweet, caramel, fruity—stewed fruit rather than fresh, perhaps—and just a hint of spice.

Back many infusions later—infusions 30 seconds or more now, water 205 degrees, and still delicious—the spiciness is to the fore more now, and still sweet and rich, but a little thinner. Quite a lovely tea.

Tsou Ma Fei Alishan oolong from Norbu, the end of the spring 2011 stash. Mellow, floral, amazing, wonderful results from Petr's shiboridashi (only semi-dedicated to green teas), and pretty in the new Deishi cup.

When I order tea directly from China it takes such a long time to arrive, even when the vendor ships quickly, that when it finally arrives I've forgotten the purchase and feel as if I received a present. Today I received an order of wuyi samples from the Mandarin Tea Room. Since its just across the Hudson from me it arrived a few days after ordering, but since the tea is presented so beautifully it still feels like I'm opening a gift. I reached in at random and picked the bag of 2011 WuYi 3 Stamps Old Bush, which I brewed exactly as recommended by the MTR. The tea is intense and delicious steep after steep. I've lost count - maybe 8 steeps so far - and I'm looking forward to more this afternoon.

Essence of Tea's 2010 Handmade Lao Jun Mei Wuyi Rock Tea Very nice, a lightly treated Yan Cha with huge, dark, twisty leaves that belie the delicacy and fragrance. But lots of mineral complexity shines through..

Some subtropical forrest baozhong from Stephane. I'm thinking of giving this a refresh roast - it's not stale exactly, just seems, I dunno... Still good though.

The remainder of my sample of Mountain Tea's LiShan from the OTTI.


Mountain Tea Lishan (2) by Adam Yusko, on Flickr

Nice harmony of cup and tea there--translucent cup and delicate light oolong!

Now working on some of Norbu's Diamond TGY, sadly brewed for the thermos instead of gongfu cha, but afternoon clinic promises to be BUSY so I need my fix on the go....

Aged Mao-Li Oolong from Phoenix Tea shop. First infusion was quite nice, touch of plum, but not that that sour, and a nice hint of spices. But despite those heavy flavors its incredibly light and refreshing. Second infusion is similar, but this tea has a lot of lingering taste sensations. Quite nice.