2022 年 12 月茶俱乐部

1.5 cup water .5 cups milk 1 tbs butter .5 tsp salt 8 tsp glutinous millet Much better than last time

Another tea tasted in our tea club session. This dark tea is less oxidized and fermented compared with other dark teas, having a lighter liquor color (somewhat related to its name “green brick”). The mossy flavor is dominant and saturates my entire mouth. After the taste becomes light, I start boiling the leaves, and it is sweet and enjoyable.

Eyes - Dry Leaf: very tightly compressed potting soil brown leaves with light flecks Nose - Dry Leaf: spinach and potting soil Nose - Wet Leaf: spinach, potting soil, and petrichor Eyes - Liquor: light orange liquor Mouth - Texture: medium-thick and syrupy Mouth - Taste: osmathus/chrysanthemum and soil/petrichor, with a gentle syrupy sweetness and menthol/sticky rice in the finish Mouth - Finish: savory florals and syrupiness leading to a long, dry tingle Nose - Empty Cup: soil after rainfall Eyes - Wet Leaf: green, brown, and mulch-like, looks very conducive toward the growth of life Body - Sensation: relaxed and happy, with a slight easy melancholy Reminds me greatly of chrysanthemum or chamomile, which I love. Deeply relaxed qi and shockingly complex character. This is an excellent heicha. Very pleasant heicha, one of the best I’ve had period. Complex with a lovely sensation in the body and mind. I liked this one!

Trying to drink through my backlog of myteapal subscriptions from a couple years ago 😅 This one was delicious! A nice light green tea, no bitterness at all. Might see if I can find it somewhere to get more.

Another one I accidentally skipped! For a green, I like it a lot. It's on the sweeter, less grassy side. I wouldn't go out of my way to drink it, but it's pleasant. It's also shockingly consistent across steeps.

Really nice green that has a lot of Japanese qualities. Umami and nutty! Really nice! Such a surprise! I randomly picked a tea I hadn’t sampled yet from the club (in my attempt to drink down my stash) and found such a surprise in this Chinese green that had Japanese qualities! It’s steamed instead of pan fried so there is more umami but still sweet and nutty.

Such a wonderful steamed green. Very bright. Full of umami flavor. Finished the last of the Enshi Yulu today. It was delightful, still fresh and vibrant, bursting with flavor.

Rating Criteria: 0.5 - bad, flavorless, or worse very astringent, teabag 1.0 - mostly bad, flavorless, most teabag tea 1.5 - not good, but maybe something to like 2.0 - slightly disappointed, not my kind of tea, but still can appreciate it - probably the worst rating I would give a loose leaf tea (at least one that hasn't turned bad) 2.5 - mixed feelings, like it, but there is something off about it I don't like 3.0 - good, I like it but nothing stand out about it or a very good tea with one critique that holds me back - probably the highest I would give a teabag tea 3.5 - very good, a tea that I was very happy to have but content with what I had, wouldn't seek it out for additional purchase 4.0 - great, very happy with the experience, would seek out for purchase, but only occasionally 4.5 - a favorite, one I love and want very often 5.0 - life will be very sad without it, reserved only for my favorite (roasted tie guan yin), room for more hopefully Green teas just usually aren't my thing and this is no exception. There is a slight nuttiness in smell that I wish translated to the taste. It's certainly a fine tea that I can understand why people like it, just not my thing.

A bright spring morning in the fields of Hokkaido where the sun shines. A soft sun kissed warmth met with a soft breeze giving the fields life and letting the flowers and leaves dance. Life so simple. Though it is simple to sit in a Hokkaido field with tea and kimono doing nothing more that live. The simplicity makes life so rich, rich with love and color and joy. The simple things that make life feel like a spring morning. An old love restored and reunited. A new love blooming. A rewarding love. A simple love. A breath of peaceful understanding of overcoming a love that cannot be. A love that is predictable or unpredictable. A simple day blooming with life where nothing more needs to be done other than to take it and receive love and to give love. Disclaimer: I was persuaded to post my tea notes as they are not the typically type. I see color and experience the world differently. If my notes don’t make sense that’s why. So here is my tea note from a tea I tried. (The picture is similar to the colors I saw and how I saw them. )

Eyes - Dry Leaf: green mottled needles, coloration of a Chinese green but shape of a Japanese green Nose - Dry Leaf: roast nuts, spinach/steamed vegetables Nose - Wet Leaf: steamed broccoli/sweet peas and soybeans Eyes - Liquor: vibrant yellow and thick Mouth - Texture: medium thick Mouth - Taste: oceanic minerals and seaweed, moving to a vanilla and soybean/nutty sweetness Mouth - Finish: lots of minerality moving to a quenching juiciness, with a soybean greenness to the flavor Nose - Empty Cup: sweet vanilla and soybean Eyes - Wet Leaf: vibrant green tender buds and leaves Body - Sensation: settled and calm but energized Very Japanese-green-tea-like, with a deeply green and mineral character. Lovely tea! …and now a steamed Chinese green tea, with a hybrid character between what I would associate with Chinese and Japanese teas. Nutty and mildly fruity like a Chinese tea but intensely mineral and green like a Japanese. Good stuff!

The color is a golden brown. Predictably, there's a lot of scruff. Unfortunately, this is another tea that to me was entirely longan, mineral, and leather. It might be better with the pour over method; Christian will try that again at some point. We just don't have the right kind of filter for it at our apartment yet. This also gave me the worst acid reflux I've had in a while, which probably did not help the taste. I didn't give my medication time to kick in first, and now I remember why that's so important!!!

A delicious tea. Very interesting flavor, very fruity with a hint of mint at the beginning. Loved this Mi Zhuan Black Tea. It had a really interesting flavor profile that I could tell was quite fruity but it was a little hard to place. What I thought was most interesting though was the recommended pourover brewing method, due to how tightly packed the leaves are. It made for a fun new experience.

It was fun hosting a virtual tasting event with our club members! I used the pour over style for this tea. It’s very unique with some dark tea characteristics. The liquor color is even darker than that of the 2011 Qing Zhuan, and the taste is stronger too.

Eyes - Dry Leaf: tightly compressed and broken dark brown leaves, with an imprinted impression on the surface Nose - Dry Leaf: chamoy/Tajín covered Mexican mango hard candies Nose - Wet Leaf: Tajín and earth Eyes - Liquor: light reddish-orange somewhat viscous liquor; deep brown after first pour Mouth - Texture: medium-thick and round Mouth - Taste: chalk-like earthiness and slightly tannic mossy vegetal note moving to a spicy aromatic and flavorful explosion of chamoy Mouth - Finish: spicy and juicy Nose - Empty Cup: caramel and clay Eyes - Wet Leaf: shredded dark brown leaves, just shy of looking like coffee grounds Body - Sensation: upbeat and happy to share Very interesting tea, with a potently unique character and a fresh approach for brewing! Very interesting aged taste, and intriguing transformation through the infusions. My final tasting for this month’s selection, very interesting character that was somewhere between a black tea and an aged white tea!

The sweet taste of mango, chamoy, and tajin down in a park in Mexico or wherever you may be from the Paletero man. A hard worker informed older man doing what he can for his family. You also doing your best. Taking a break from the day. Perhaps he or you or even the rest around may not be living a life with ideal luxury things. Perhaps no major accomplishments and that’s okay. You may not be a wealthy man and yet your rich man. A rich life full of family and friends or maybe just the mango you have with you. Yet life blooming for you find the little you may have is all that you need to live a bright, colorful, fulfilling, and rich life. Never have I been wealthy nor given much recognition. From a place full of vibrant colors. Some of us may not have enough to buy the luxuries of the world. Where the shoes we wear are the same each day. Where we work for our families and make sacrifices for them. Yet it is in the simple moments I find my life rich and in that sense i would say I am rich. I cannot afford this tea but to be gifted a moment to share with a friend is worth more than any luxury. The lifestyle I live may not be luxurious but the friendship of the one who showed me tea feels rich. The bonds made with people are rich. The hard work and things I do or see are rich. And that makes life luxurious for me. Here is what I see and got from the tea I was gifted to try today. It was a nice start in the morning before work. Disclaimer: The picture is the colors I saw and somewhat how I saw them. And the notes are what I got from the tea. I know they don’t quite make sense but I can do my best to explain if asked.

A very nice, consistent tea. Very good orange flavor and slightly spicy & minerally. Body is energized. Rating Criteria: 0.5 - bad, flavorless, or worse very astringent, teabag 1.0 - mostly bad, flavorless, most teabag tea 1.5 - not good, but maybe something to like 2.0 - slightly disappointed, not my kind of tea, but still can appreciate it - probably the worst rating I would give a loose leaf tea (at least one that hasn't turned bad) 2.5 - mixed feelings, like it, but there is something off about it I don't like 3.0 - good, I like it but nothing stand out about it or a very good tea with one critique that holds me back - probably the highest I would give a teabag tea 3.5 - very good, a tea that I was very happy to have but content with what I had, wouldn't seek it out for additional purchase 4.0 - great, very happy with the experience, would seek out for purchase, but only occasionally 4.5 - a favorite, one I love and want very often 5.0 - life will be very sad without it, reserved only for my favorite (roasted tie guan yin), room for more hopefully Finally caught up on my initial wave of teas from the club. Don't regret joining 😀

Be careful not to overstep as it brings out the more bitter dry sensation. Steeped fast and low temp brings out the most delicious lemon notes. Strong and lasting aftertaste. A delicious lunchtime tea session with YiHong selection from the Dec22 club.

Eyes - Dry Leaf: small and tender gold buds and black leaves Nose - Dry Leaf: cocoa, pinewood, melon, flowers Nose - Wet Leaf: rose, wood, passion fruit or lychee? Eyes - Liquor: gentle orange with lots of viscousity Mouth - Texture: smooth and round with a medium-thick body, silky Mouth - Taste: smooth, like caramel or sweet potato, much akin to a Fujianese hongcha Mouth - Finish: dry to juicy, easy breathing in the nose (rosewater) Nose - Empty Cup: rose and lychee Eyes - Wet Leaf: tender brown buds and leaves Body - Sensation: energized and awake First tasting of the month, interesting correlate to Fujianese teas.

Just shy of a rich Jin jun Mei flavor, really atrong on the burnt caramel with a nice middle bread and a light camphor finish. Qi is very mellow and calming. This this great for cold afternoons Really loved this tea! Is this a Jin jun Mei? Looks like a Jin jun Mei and has a similar taste. This one is heavy on the burnt caramel and raisins or elderberry , with a sweet bread middle and a light camphor finish. Very relaxing Qi. Perfect for a cold afternoon.