Puerhshop.com (review)(product link) . $4.99/50g/1.7oz = ~46$/lb.

this is a “preliminary review” ‘cos i liked this tea & i dont have much time to take pictures & edit now, so i’ll update as soon as i get a chance.

Its nice and hot today, 93F inside,
…and here i am drinking hot tea… addiction sure does it to yah

Leaf: dark. smells like a dark oolong.

Method: rushed infusion: 200F + 2min?

Taste: first i smelled a nice “nutty-buttery” oolong then tasted it as well, (..cashew?… maybe) + some roasted sensations on the palate/tongue. Almost no astringency detectable in this infusion, tho its somewhat watery with low aftertaste (not enough leaf or short infusion). There is no tobacco leaf/heavy roasted-charcoal (shui-xian)/no green feel/other flavors yet so… i seem to like it !!! The first dark oolong i like… aside from that Qilan i keep obsessing in my mind…I’ll play with it at 180F and so, maybe there’s something else to extract from it?

Overall: preliminarily like it alot ! We’ll see how it goes down in  couple days

Puerhshop.com (review)(product link) . $2.99/100g/3.5oz = ~13$/lb is really cheap.

Leaf: Aged in CNNP factory storage since 2000. Jim recommended to wash it before proper infusion. I tried with and withoot wash and don’t remember any significant differences in taste (maybe less astringent with a wash, but not by much. The subsequently infused washed leaf did produce a slightly less cloudy liquor.)

This tea comes in a box, inside a paper bag, not sealed, no lining.

Method: 10sec swirled wash, then 3 min @ 200F.

Flavor: Thump of astringency/tannin on the tongue bordering on bitterness, follows a …”generic” yunnany black flavor but it does not hold much power in itself (~1/3 of total taste). Astringency is strong with this one. Maybe the expression is “brisk” not sure. Seems to remind me of breakfast teas… the bagged kind. Might have some good caffeine levels or maybe its just the HEAT IN THIS ROOM …melting my brain cells.

Overall: Not that interesting in flavor - low yunnanness. Baggy feel.

Puerhshop.com (review)(no more available). $4.99/100g/3.5oz = ~23$/lb is cheap.

Leaf: alright, not many gold tips but its got a little gold ‘dust’ in the package…

Method: boiled filtered water/200F stream hitting the cup.

Taste: yunnan black but sort of …”generic”?, not really wine, not really caramel, some very distant smoky? More flavor that the other yunnan black from Puerhshop & much less astringency 1/3 compared to 2/3 or more in the other one. Not really tea bag flavor…Interesting part seems to leave a sweet aftertaste feel. Interesting part #2, on 2nd infusion seems to get a greenish sensation as i remember from this keemun maofeng tasting… not “black-ened” enough?

Overall: its ok. not enough flavor. not sure i’d get again.

found at Sunrise Mart (NY) forgot price, approx $1.7
formatted compactflash then recovery software ofcourse didnt find the exact directory i needed, so i go grab picture from the interwebs.

I like the bottle. Import JP so only a little english label that says Golden Oolong or some such. ItoEn JP product page (goog translation.)

Oolong superb, Katsura golden (do you ruled O)

i RULED O !!!!!!!

…onto flavors and somesuch: Tasty like a sorta roasted(dark) oolong TGY? , but that oolong flavor is kinda low 1/3 of total, rest is sortof astringent/tannin …some goes in the aftertaste on tongue mouth & posterior pharynx.

Overall: not bad, i’d buy but would prefer the Suntori which is better and has more oolong flavor. Goes it on the list, yes.

]]> http://tgfop.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/golden-oolong-%e9%87%91%e3%81%ae%e7%83%8f%e9%be%8d%e8%8c%b6-%e9%bb%84%e9%87%91%e6%a1%82%ef%bc%91%ef%bc%90%ef%bc%91ito-en/feed/ SN http://tgfop.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/kuro-chablack-teapuarupuerh-jasmine-asahi/ http://tgfop.wordpress.com/2008/06/11/kuro-chablack-teapuarupuerh-jasmine-asahi/#comments Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:13:13 +0000 SN http://tgfop.wordpress.com/?p=461

$1.99 found at Sunrise Mart (NY) …

Asahi ! hope i didnt buy some alcoholic tea

Got home, tasted it, …. hey… not green tea…

Peek better at the english translation:

GREEN TEA ASAHI KURO CHA
ingredients: Puaru Tea, Jasmin Tea, Vitamin C

… puaru… well… that kinda sounds like puer…

found the JP product page, which google translates as:

Feature: “Chikara born aged, black tea”
With time and maturity-fermented green tea “black tea”, through the use of the unique flavor of deep rich can enjoy a cup of tea.
● aged fermented green tea “black tea” Pu-erh tea (Yunnan Province, China produced) and a deep rich flavor仕立てました.
● de Sukkiri to finish it easier to drink, jasmine tea (China-producing province of Fujian) blends.
● fragrances unpigmented

OK….so its a black tea either that or aged black/puerh + jasmine…? no? yes? I’ll classify it as an RTD puerh.

Smells a little of jasmine but doesnt carry into taste (a little… but its very faded),

Taste: some roasted sensation…either roasted corn…maybe barley-like?. Aftertaste sorta seems to remind of (shu) pu-erh… but its faded. There is some medicinal flavor(more apparent when the tea is cold). But flavors blend pretty well together and has an interesting profile (except for the medicinal part). Didnt notice any unpleasant astringency/biterness (or i forgot).

Overall: Not bad, its different, @ 2$ on the expensive side. of a 0.5L bottle. Get again: YES.

$1.49, found at Sunrise Mart (NY)
tho it says on the label its made with Black Tea….

If i’ve tried American peach teas (Peach Tea .Lipton, Giant Peach Juiced Tea .Tazo, Summer Peach Iced Tea .Snapple, Peach oo-la-long .Honest Tea) why not see how Japanese tea people do it…

^ i am big, just click on me

Taste: … FRUIT ! i am pretty sure this is the closest of the bottled Teas to a real fruit taste i’ve had (Giant Peach from Tazo is my favorite of the bunch, but i can’t remember details to compare which was the fruityest)….remembering childhood …having peach compote (fruit boiled in water + sugar).(note: the word is compote, no relation to compost.)

so, Fruit + fruit tangy/tart in the mouth, sugar is medium-low = can feel sweetness but its not dominant. It feels very fruity-real to me (haven’t had peach in a while tho).

I don’t taste/feel anything weird (citric/strangeness.)

Some aftertaste, some from sugar, a fruity sense on the palate, tongue… its not watery, and i feel i want to drink more (or maybe its the heat).

Almost forgot: no tea taste :\ …. maybe its in the aftertaste feel combined with the sugar, but very not present at all.

very satisfying on this hot day…

Adagio Teas (review) 2$/ea or 24$/case of 15 + s&h
Anteadote (review): Black, Oolong, Green, White, Jasmine.

found at Whole Foods/Union Sq upper dining area, $1.69 (not a bad price.)
the only Anteadote i didn’t order online, so hey! … Hi !

its a manly pink-magenta, and pink bear here seems to like it as well

Label: almost centered about 3mm off but much better than the other ones

Liquor: dark orange/brown

Taste: well hello there! Jasmine all the way ! Nice clean strong jasmine taste, very low astringency, no other weird flavors or citric or glue or something abnormal.

Overall: YES das is goot ! SAY HELLO TO THE LIST.

As i was saying in my previous assam bottle post. NYC, WholeFoods, Central Park. Hot. Sun. Baking. No sunscreen. Oops. Burning. Ouchie.

I think i see a space in the yerbamate on the label so this post is called yerba & nbsp ; mate… profound.

This was 1 out of about 3 unsweetened, unmixed, unflavored bottled teas at Wholefoods, not a good day… Whole Foods needs to hire me. I want that 20% off employee discount. I’ll buy more unsweetened unflavored bottled teas than they sell to 100 people.

Onto the main feature:

Taste: WTF?! salt ?! WHATF ? … SALTY ?? EEECHHCHCHBEECHH…. i actually flipped over the bottle and there it was on its back label : SODIUM 11mg x 2 = 22mg (how much is that in grains of salt?)
+ taste low of yerbamate, a better dilution of flavor than others have achieved…
some of the naturally lemony i think of the mate,

but its just Nasty To Me, i can’t take the salty weirdness . eeeechhhhhyness. i did drink it all tho. i just couldnt believe my tastebuds, and everytime, “there it was”, “there it was”, “there it was”, “there it was”… weirdly torturing myself, and still don’t believe !

Overall: gee… toughie but quickie,  SALTY DRINK = NO.

ps. ok it says “a grain of salt is about 5.85×10^-5 grams” so 1 grain = 0.0585mg, from which you calculate that 22mg salt = 376 grains of salt. (also in theory, a grain of NaCl is a cube of 0.3mm sides, sqrt376=19, so which leads to 22mg pure salt being approx a solid salt cube of 5.7×5.7×5.7mm).

Out and about NYC, stop at “Central Perk” (Whole Foods/Columbus) get some snacks and drinks, head to Central Perk to bask in the sun.

Disappointingly, Whole Foods had a really bad stock of bottled teas this day, just itoen green-white, the others were mixed bullcrap sweetened and herbal bs energy bs vitamin boosting health organic natural crap. Of which i did get some - bottled yerbamate.

I did want to try something new so… got this which looked more “normal” even tho it had a little tiny bit of “sugar” on the label, and i don’t have such a good experience with Honest teas.

Taste: cold. mmm. well. not that bad on the citric additive - doesn’t taste that lemony. As for the black tea taste… uhm… there is …some… black tea taste… barely perceptible tho, couldn’t really say “assam yes !”, more like… “oh, this is probably black tea”. … didn’t sense any sugar. not much astringency.

Overall: not that bad, not nasty as others, but not much flavor either. pick between this and water? … water.

click it for bigger pic.

Puerhshop.com (review) cake sampler (outlink) $3.49. Shu pu, 2003.

Memorial Day Weekend. Interrupt bbq with some pu. Reach into T storage area grab something…

 Dry leaf:
 Leaf looks dark,
 smells not green,
 its not sheng,
 it must be shu !
Picture is of the entire sampler.

…someone unplugged my Tiger… waiting for water to boil…on the stove !
Method: boiling hot filtered water + the smaller piece seen in picture.

Taste:

30s no wash but drank: bit watery+ sort of a sweet feel tip of tongue + tree bark (woody). Oh i’m going to like this.
40s same
35s more woody bark
30s same
30s same but not feeling the sweetness very clear, seems tastebuds are now blocking this flavor. a little of dark-chocolate “astringency”. Kinda not feeling flavor concentrate enough, doing longer steep next
1m more developed, “denser” profile, more clear “dark-chocolate astringency“, very nice.

couldn’t drink everything at the same time so combined them all + another 2-3 more infusions(possibly could go longer but i got tired). left to cool down. drank later: very enjoyable, flavor as noted before + some sweetness in the aftertaste (not strong, but present. maybe there’s another way to infuse this for more sweetness but i don’t know how).

Wet leaf: brittle. (well cooked or from storage?)

Overall: this is the kind of flavor profile i like. Similar to Royal Pu’er Cha (Yun Nan Cha) .Zhong Guo Cha but this here puerh cake seems more …mellow? that royal puer was stronger in flavor and stronger “dark choco astringency” and developed more rapidly (being looseleaf, not compressed cake piece) but this 2003 has definitely sweet sensations on the tongue. No harshness, no unpleasant flavors(pond,dirt,etc), no strong distracting astringency/tannin … = YUMMM !