Tea notes> Black tea> Keemun (for more)

ItoEn NY Store (review)(product link)9$/oz= 144/lb

10g of stuff doing the ikea glass ghettobrew

3.5g of stuff doing the fancy gaiwan review style infusion

Dry: leaf looks smallish and quite broken for a maofeng… just a couple longer leaves.

Method: 3.5g in 4oz, 10g in .5L and various other. did in gaiwan, glass, plastic, foam and various other cups and pots.

Flavor:
3.5g/4oz/200F h2o/2 min: smell: malty burnt sugar/molasses?) solid flavor keemun malty, some woody tho i dont think much. low smoky. Strong flavor, it comes with some hardness to it, but not teabag/cheap harsh. Aftertaste is good, more of the tannin. infusion #2: more watery, 1/3-1/2 less flavor, harsh tannin more prevalent than flavor compared to infusion #1. #3 (4 min) is very low flavor low astringency. no greenness to it as i felt in this other qimen maofeng.

Wet leaf… uhm, i see lots of chop

Overall: pretty good, price/flavor/leaf aspect not my favorite.

~ 2$ /box of 20 tbags

Flavor:
1 tbag in 6 or 8 oz: bland, low flavor of …maybe puerh… tho seems more like a heavy roasted oolong !?!
1 tbag in 4 oz : more “flavor”, tho also harsh and unpleasant tbag tannins.

Overall: definitely not. trash’t it.

Keemun Maofeng .ItoEn

i went looking for keemun, nothing spotted at 2 markets in Elmhurst

found at Hong Kong Market @ Elmhurst, NY
3$/3.5oz = .857/oz = 10 $/lb … i hope it will have some flavor resembling pu T

now i look at the label :\ distrib by Lip On Trading …shoulda read that before.

0 calories from fat !!!
yeaaah !!! !!! !!! !!!!! ! !

Method: ~4g in 4oz + 190F water x .5/1/2/3 min

Flavor: feeling some acidy quality to the liquor (“stinging” the tongue). flavor: low-med: wood-puerh…ish + some harsh tannin in back of throat= extra infusion time –> more harshness that will go to bitterness. Some aftertaste of that harsh tannin on the tongue: sort of medicinal -chocolate.

Overall: not liking, not even sure i’ll finish this thing.

Tired morning in search of unflavored black, shop had these,

Method: used 2 tbags for max flavor bang(one of them broke by accident in the cup) + 8oz hot hot h2o

Flavor: what flavor  ?!?!? … >:( … tasted after 3 minutes, then left to soak another 5, got this bland black tea, some astringency, low everything, unsatisfying. at least no cardboard tastes (EG H&S)…

Overall: bland, flavorless.

found at Hong Kong market, Elmhurst NY ~ 2$/box. got because i couldn’t find the regular Foojoy bonay (puerh) tbags.

Method: 1 tbag + 6 oz 190F water x 3min AND 2 tbags + 6 oz 190F x 3 min.

^click the crop to see thee boxee

Flavor: mild liquor aroma of flowery chrysanthems (a bit stronger when 2tbags), there’s a bland/watery to the liquor (even with 2 tbags which surprised me as the foojoy black tea did much better when doubled), very mild pu-erh-like woodyness. low astringency. a sweet quality/feeling when the liquor fills the mouth, but doesnt last. but there’s something i dont like about it (aside from wateryness) sort of a oil-fried-fishy-sardine thing….might be some aromatics from the crysanthem component that i’m interpreting wrongly, but whatever it is i dont like it. not much aftertaste.

Also had it after some fried food, cheese and vegetables, i didnt find it paired well. rather have some sencha or yunnan.

Overall: no, watery, bland.

part of my “In search of fuka” …

Tea Notes> Green Tea> Sencha (for more)

O-cha.com (review)(product link)  $22.95/3.5oz, 6.5/oz = $104/lb. i sure seem to be getting rich …

Dry leaf: green sencha, not all broken (as fuka is said to be, during manufacture), see pics, some leaf is quite long. (i’ve been drinking slowly out of this for at least a month) /Opening the bag in the first weeks i got a strong fresh  delicious sencha, was like wow! (thats what you get ordering straight from Japan, and good vendors = yum.)

…. ….    … ……………. 2g 4oz …. ….    … ……infusing…

#1 2min ….. ….    … …… #2 2min more …. ….    … ……2g wet leaf

#1   70C 2min

Flavor: good flavor, quite strong tho not in your face, good body, medium vegetal, some “spinach” (what i used to call “egg”. yah, i know, but hey, eh, oh well, getting there.), good aftertaste with tannin coating mouth, not harsh, some sweetness already!

#2   reinfusion ~60C 2min

Flavor: hmmm, some watery, low flavor, possibly extracted most in #1, tannins in mouth are more aparent, tho not bitter or harsh.

4g 4oz

4g in improvised scoop

#1   70C 1 min

Flavor: oh yum strong ass fuka! sencha sencha high (well also from the heat of the liquor makes me a little happy/agitated). sweet on the tongue, vegetal… gentle strongness… after coming down from the high, maybe the flavor strength is still medium. good lasting sweet aftertaste.

#2   60c 3 min

Flavor: now there’s some overinfusion here, tinge of strong tannin a bit harsh, not bitter.

Overall: very good (especially when fresh).

Again, good tips from experienced users on teachat led me to this store with a good reputation of quality leaf.

O-cha.com > About

Based in Japan this website ships airmail to your door fresh japanese green tea. Seems they/he (owner Kevin) seek and get leaf from multiple sources.

Packing: The bag with tea is good quality, thick, yet with pretty design and print on it. Doesnt feel cheap at all. Also included beside airtight seal and removal of oxygen is nitrogen packing which will reduce spoiling of tea in storage (tho when bag is open air with oxygen will ofcourse seep into most of the available space)

Shipping was fast: i got NY in 10 days (included a weekend) if i remember right.

Communication was good, always answered questions, no issues.

Prices seem good to me, good variety to choose from.

Overall: definitely in the top of my list for japanese greens. great quality, good variety of price and leaf to choose from.

My tea notes from tea from this store is found by clicking > HERE <

local market ~2$ + tax /.5Kg

Method: cold water + like 2 fist fulls of mate + a couple ice chips in a pot, strained after ~ 3 minutes.

Flavor: uhm …. blechy.  sorta fried-sorta Oily-smoky flavor weirdness + some plant greenness + plant husk/woodiness + some lemony quality to it + medicinal … some tea-like astringency(from the greenness on tongue). Didnt quite like it…

…

added some lemon juice – it cut the weirdness (or its not felt anymore) – flavor now is quite low(or its not felt) …

added more lemon juice – lemon smell to the liquor, lemon flavor/sensation starting to dominate, rest= some grassy/plant, not as weird as plain and a little pleasant and refreshing (i think pretty close as some Paraguayan friends made it for me.)

(after adding lemon juice im getting some fleeting headache poundings, or it might be the effects of the first drinkings without lemon-tho some other days i had not added lemon and drank plain mate/ considering myself not to be much affected by placebo this might be a coincidence, otherwise it could be from the mate in a mix with other variables-its night, im a little tired, some cola i had, its hot… who knows.)

Overall: alright with lemon, dont like plain.

bored… trying not to use my last yunnan golds, or the remaining 5g of good matcha, resorted to playing with things i dont drink as often…

used one of Yunnan sourcing’s green oolongs (no label, so almost 2 years later i have no idea which green wu it is.)

placed the oolong nuggets on aluminium foil, then in they went -
countertop convection oven

400F, 1 min + 1 min (1st min still looked green, so i put it another min, then it started to smell like sort of burnt hay/weeds).
Picture – top is roasted, but doesnt look as brown as i see it …

liquor sure isnt greenish anymore

flavor: muted flavors of the original green oolong, missing: flowery. not much of that green feel (some say metallic)
with …roasted feel… roasted like… when you place a vegetable on a really hot plate – roasted/burnt skin (like those roasted red peppers),
pleasant, cant feel as much astringency, some green tannin on the tongue(less than unroast),

noticeably different from being a straight green or a “real” dark oolong which i guess are also oxidized and stuff. maybe i feel some faint tobacco but its mixed with some of that burnt hay thing.

maybe next i’ll try a lower temp for longer time to even out the flavors (have the inside of the nugget done as well not just the outside – as i think happened here)