Bad things that taste good.

[futurebird]

So many words that I see in reviews about tea are sort of indirect. You have to read between the lines to find out if what they really mean is "it tastes musty*" or "it tastes like fish."

I'm interested if there are any reviews of puerh who are plain talking and blunt. (but not rude, that's not what I mean) I don't expect shops to do this, but too often I read about a tea and have no idea what it might be like.

Then there is the vocabulary It'd help if I could relate these words to things I've tasted before:

ku wei - bitterness, in the aftertaste (is this like when you eat the skin of a peanut, or more like grocery store blue cheese?)
powerful qi - I don't know
woody - I never know if this means like fresh new wood, or if it means like old wood that ha been varnished. I think it depends on the context. (Some whisky can be woody is it the same idea?)
Camphor - a kind of sharpness. don't think i've encountered it.
pondy - basically "fishy"
floral notes - more to do with how it smells, literally like flowers
rich - the intensity of flavor is high but not overwhelming
aged flavor - basically musty????
cooling sensation - no idea, maybe related to the camphor?? Also known as "huigan" apparently...
chaqi - chilaxification? Also mystifying. http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=6812




* for what it is worth I really like the mustiness, it this huge nostalgia trigger... is that why things with complex tastes can move us? The nose is the key to all memory, complex aromas can allow one to travel through time and space. In any case know of any good musty teas that taste like a library?

[TwoDog2]

ku wei - bitterness, in the aftertaste (is this like when you eat the skin of a peanut, or more like grocery store blue cheese?)
powerful qi - I don't know
woody - I never know if this means like fresh new wood, or if it means like old wood that ha been varnished. I think it depends on the context. (Some whisky can be woody is it the same idea?)
Camphor - a kind of sharpness. don't think i've encountered it.
pondy - basically "fishy"
floral notes - more to do with how it smells, literally like flowers
rich - the intensity of flavor is high but not overwhelming
aged flavor - basically musty????
cooling sensation - no idea, maybe related to the camphor?? Also known as "huigan" apparently...
chaqi - chilaxification? Also mystifying. http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?t=6812

A few clarifications for what I mean when I use some of the following words:

aged flavor - depends on context. A traditionally stored aged flavor and a dry stored aged flavor are very different, these flavors are difficult to describe without a frame of reference, traditional storage is usually damp or musty. A dry stored aged flavor can range from stale to wonderful
camphor - is like camphor, the tree
huigan - the lingering sweetness in the mouth or sweet aftertaste
powerful qi - this is the most difficult thing to quantify. Sometimes it might be profuse sweating or heat in the body, intense calm, or other voodoo
woody you asked can it be the same concept as whisky, absolutely. not like varnished wood, like the flavor of the smell of wood, is what i usually mean

I try to be fairly direct when I talk about teas, but sometimes it is difficult to balance judgment/bluntness/experience.

Disclaimer: The above clarifications are merely my personal definitions. If you asked 10 people to define powerful qi, you would probably get 10 different answers. That is why i used a vague word like voodoo

[apache]

...
If you asked 10 people to define powerful qi, you would probably get 10 different answers. That is why i used a vague word like voodoo

Voodoo?! I need to find an effigy of myself and stick acupuncture pins in it if I want to experience this mysterious qi while drinking pu.