We are continuing where we left off from the last entry. Onto the next tea dear reader.
The dry leaf smells like honey nut cheerios. That is a delicious cereal, so I’m happy about that. Hopefully it doesn’t give me indigestion like honey nut cheerios. I think I smell a bit of storage on the leaf, but can’t be certain.
The rinse has phenomenal clarity. The shade of the liquor makes me to believe this is mid teens. Gaiwan lid has some of that good funk in it, intrinsic of higher leaf quality. Funk can also mean bad too though.
1st steep, 10s. I can’t find bitterness here despite its perceived youngness. This is just the first steep though. It’s drinking like yiwu. This isn’t cheap. If it is, I’d like some. Strong sugars out of the gate. Honey and brown sugar. Good mouth feel. Cooling in the chest and throat. Menthol. Boy I can’t wait for the next steeps. The lid aroma hinted at some of this menthol character but I wasn’t sure how it might present itself. More wintergreen than anything
The wet leaf aroma does have a more pronounced storage aroma now. Thinking taiwan. If I had to go out on a limb and guess right now - I’d say this might be a young yqh.
2nd steep, 10s. There is a wee bit of astringency now, but it’s minimal. Same with bitterness. Small amounts that compliment the tea. If this is from a stouter region, it’s autumn material. Lots and lots of salivation. The menthol continues but is more subdued. There is honey. I’m a bit nutty. Cheerio.
3rd steep, 20 seconds. The color says the leaf has opened up and is in its peak “giving it up” stage. The astringency has a bit of gruffness to it now. By bit, I mean minimal. Tobacco is emerging out of the gentler notes now. This means backbone. Perhaps the tobacco has been propping up the other elements and has helped make them shine. The huigan is long lasting. Sweet and minty in that order. The sweetness is not overpowered by these camphor notes and that is nice.
4th steep and now I have to decide if I think this is a mid teens tea in heavier storage or an earlier one with drier. Is this yiwu? I still think it probably is. It’s got some of that doughiness that comes with some of the yiwu I’ve drunk. The sugars are very dense. This tea is sugars if it’s nothing else. Every other element is meant to compliment the sugars. They are all background singers. The sugars would be very flat without them though. Doughy, a little tobacco, salivation and menthol in the background. Some astringency. I like this a lot. It’s drinking to my preferences very well. That list may look very long but it’s quite short. I prefer not to drink bone dry or sewer dank teas, and I prefer them not be smoke dominate - thank you very much. See, short preference list
45s - I now know the word I was looking for to describe this tea. Root beer. You get caramelized sweetness up front that lingers. Then you get this wintergreen, which is used in some of my favorite root beers. Cardamom can come across the same way, another spice in the good root beers. And it does have a “bark like” quality about it. Do we call that woody? I’d say yes. I won’t give any further notes. I really like this tea.
The other sample reviews can be found below:
I heard you like blind sample reviews
People must find me floundering about with blind sample reviews entertaining, because people keep sending them to me. This go around, a fine chap by the name of Stan (who is the man) hooked me up with another three blind samples. He particularly wanted me to pay attention which ones I preferred, what I thought they cost and why. With that in mind, we’ll…
Concluding Stan's sampler journey.
The final mystery sample from Stan the Man - sample c. The dry leaf doesn’t have a ton of aroma. I figured it was sleeping but the rinsed leaf isn’t a whole lot more exciting. Mellow tobacco. The rinse is clear and darker than sample b’s rinse.
Thanks again for sitting at my table with me. PBR
Ta-daa.