Tea reviews for tea drinkers
A sample of Fangmingyuan’s 2008 Nannuo came to me as a free sample last year from Tiago over at Tea Encounter. I hadn’t heard of Fangmingyuan before checking out the Tea Encounter’s site, but I have been very impressed with the couple of teas I have tried from them so far. Initial Impressions The dry…
Alright, time for another check in on Bitterleaf Teas’ 2019 Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good! This is my ninth write-up on this tea, so if you’d like to read my past reviews you can do so here, otherwise lets just get to it! Breaking the Cake As expected from past sessions, the dry cake doesn’t smell…
When I started getting into tea I remember laughing when I saw people say “Just found this in my pumidor, bought five years ago then totally forgot I had it!” Well… I’m starting to understand. I’m pushing 150 samples and cakes for sheng alone now which isn’t as hectic as many others out there, but…
Crimson Lotus Tea’s 2019 Low Rider is another new sheng puerh blend for 2019, made with the intent of being unique and in Crimson Lotus’ own style. Their description says the tea should be easy going, smooth, crisp, clean with balanced astringency and not much in terms of bitterness. As usual, Crimson Lotus doesn’t give…
It feels like forever since my last post, but I’m back! If you don’t follow me on Instagram, I had a terrible flu for while that made it impossible to critically drink any tea. I’m happy to say I’m feeling much better now and have been itching to get back to it! Today I am…
Time for my last check in on Bitterleaf Teas’ Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good of the decade! If you’re a regular, you know the drill here. If you’re finding this for the first time, I have been doing monthly updates on this cake since it showed up at my door, and you can check on the…
Have you ever thought to yourself “hmm… I wonder what would happen if I took some shou and aged it in rum cask?” No? Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about it because Glen and Lamu over at Crimson Lotus Tea have done it for you! Their latest batch of Rum Barrel Shou is something…
Yuanjiutang’s 2003 Ban Zhang is a sheng puerh made from material that’s… well… probably not from Ban Zhang. This tea came to me from Tea Encounter, and on their site they make it clear that they themselves are not verifying or even claiming what the origin of these tea leaves are, and the Ban Zhang…
Continuing on with trying to get into factory puerhs, I wanted to try a couple of the popular Dayi recipes with a bit of age, so I ordered a few samples from King Tea Mall from 2006 and 2007. Based on descriptions I’ve read before, I think the 8582 will be most up my alley,…
Well, I think it’s about time to get back on the Lao Man E train and give Bitterleaf Teas’ 2019 The Bitter End a shot. The Bitter End is made with the “sweet” varietal of Lao Man E trees, as opposed to the “what the hell is wrong with you, who wants this?!” varietal that…