2023 年 4 月茶俱乐部

Brewing this tea again with western style, see my previous posts for this tea for more details about taste. It has honey taste and almost any astringency or bitterness. This time I used spring water and I think that it tastes even better. This is my second favourite tea from the Lochan tea pack. Unfortunately I have only a few grams of it left, which is probably not enough for western brewing unless I use less water.

Finally found one tea from the box that I like. I have one left to try and hopefully that one will be good too. This tea surprised me with its body and pleasant flavor. This is the third of the Lochan teas I’ve tried. I didn’t really care for the other two but this one was pleasantly good. Not knowing much about Indian teas, I don’t know how this compares. I was happy that this tea didn’t have the harshness of the other two I’ve tried (the green and the oolong). Looking forward to trying the fourth of the bunch next weekend.

The dry leaves have a strong aroma from the beginning. The liquid aroma is dark and sweet. The taste is like artificial caramel and raisins. It's very consistent. Christian said, and I agree, that this would probably be better with a Western style brew.

Eyes - Dry Leaf: deep black leaves akin to yancha Nose - Dry Leaf: chocolate, tomato paste, black pepper, raisin Nose - Wet Leaf: chocolate, dried fruit, pizza sauce. Really aromatic but very unique. Eyes - Liquor: deep yellow liquor with pinkish-orange undertones Mouth - Texture: medium and smooth Mouth - Taste: immediate sweetness and depth of honey and roast nuts/chocolate/malt, with berries/grape and a hint of tomato. Mouth - Finish: dry on the tongue and in the cheek and juicy along the hard palate. Lasting chocolate and grape/raisin. Nose - Empty Cup: raisin and honey Eyes - Wet Leaf: brown leaves with olive and red undertones Body - Sensation: awake but laid back Very lovely black tea! Almost like a Chinese tea in some ways, with a lovely character that bridges between Indian character and Chinese style. Definitely still an Indian tea though, expressing all of the astringent beauty and a little bit of that classic malt and tomato of an Indian black tea. The second tea I’m tasting for this month. A really nice, mellow black tea with a bit of that Indian character. Approachable for a Chinese tea drinker.

0 TDS distilled water with TeaCurious Original recipe to make 50 TDS water. A very nice tea. Thinking of going up to a 4.5 potentially. A nice mix of dark fruity notes and darker sweetness like caramel. Overall left me revitalized and alert. 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 Kicking off a new month of Club teas. Very good start - considering going up to 4.5 on this one.

Enjoyed the long steep. Nice syrupy thickness at the back of the throat. Loved the sweet fruity aroma wafting up from the lid of my gaiwan when I opened the lid. A bit drying on the tonque... 4 stars as a result.

Tastes like a cross between Darjeeling and white tea. Would be good with milk and honey. This one developed in the later steeps: soft, creamy, slightly sweet, mineral Back to a tea session after a month of busy moving. First time with the indian oolong. I started to enjoy this at the later steeps. Now will try it cold.

Second tea tasted from the club tea box. I like this tea more than the one which I brewed yesterday. Flowery smell and sweet fruit taste, similar to GABA oolong (but not buttery). However, taste is similar to white tea. Like it, looking forward to brew it again.

A very interesting tea. Has a strong fruity smell from the wet leaves, like many oolongs that I enjoy, but it tastes like a tart and sweet white tea. A very interesting tea. I didn’t know what to think about it at first. It smells like an oolong but tastes more like a white tea. Towards the 3rd or 4th infusion it started tasting like sweet bread to me.

I'd never had an Indian oolong before, so this was very exciting! The color was gorgeous. The taste is interesting. Christian and I had very different experiences with this tea. I didn't get any roast like he did, and he didn't get the vegatal or drying that I did. This tea also had some incredibly astringent steeps. I wouldn't drink it again, but it was fun to try. That said, I do always wonder how much the water here contributes.

Eyes - Dry Leaf: green, red, black, and pale leaves Nose - Dry Leaf: ferns? (leafy bushes), cocoa butter, chili powder (paprika?), black pepper Nose - Wet Leaf: greens, oxidized stone fruits, cocoa butter Eyes - Liquor: thicker honey-yellow liquor Mouth - Texture: thick leading to lights and juicy Mouth - Taste: honey/cocoa butter and oxidized stone fruits, with a wild honey and fruity/floral finish. Tartness and some malt in later infusions. Mouth - Finish: honey and cherry leading to a prominent dryness then resolving in a juicy florality Nose - Empty Cup: date syrup and stone fruits Eyes - Wet Leaf: green, red, and brown leaves Body - Sensation: at ease but awake and alert An interesting tea, somewhere between a traditional black and oolong tea in character. Noted some orange in later infusions, which was not listed in my original tasting notes. However, I initially interpreted this as orange blossom, hence the florality. Also, very unique note of malted barley, unusual in an oolong.

Full body with earth, mineral & roast taste. A bit of bitterness at the first of the sip with a long-lasting juicy, sweetness which seems to return after a bit of delay. Enjoying an outdoor adventure tea session with an Oolong tea from the April club.

0 TDS distilled water with TeaCurious Autumn recipe to make 125 TDS water. Very nice with very strong honey flavor throughout and hints of citrus (orange), peach, floral, and wheat. The only thing holding this back from a 4.0 is it's a bit too minerally leading to strong dry mouth. Very delicious overall though. Left me feeling relaxed and calm. 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 favorites (roasted Tie Guan Yin & Dancong Red), room for more hopefully April tea continues to impress. Strong honey flavor.

Like a young green Sheng. Mineral, salty, but not. This took a lot of work to figure out. 2g to 220ml at 186 for 20 second was the sweet spot. It definitely was better at the 6th snd 7th brew too. Very light, sweet, slight mineral. Otherwise nothing or too bitter. Nice to spend time with MyTeaPal folk. We had a challenge with this one, maybe too much to re visit, but after the 6-7 brew, finally felt comfortable with the balance 2g to 220ml at 85C for 10 s

Quite good green with vegetal taste and smell. Some infusions wete bitter, but not so much. This is the last one tasted tea from this pack. Overall leaderboard of teas in this pack is: 1. Doke Rolling Thunder 2. Giddapahar Spring Queen First Flush 3. Doke Black Fusion 4. this one - Doke Green Diamond

It's strange how these leaves are darker than the black tea. It sure tastes like a green though! Wow, this was vegetal, far too much so for me. Reducing the temperature and time makes it drinkable but very mild. This is the lowest temp I've ever tried for a tea.

0 TDS distilled water with TeaCurious Spring recipe to make 50 TDS water. Pretty good for green tea. It was very consistent throughout. I couldn't really pinpoint any changes. Liked the sweetness and fruityness. Overall pleasant experience and left me content. 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 favorites (roasted Tie Guan Yin & Dancong Red), room for more hopefully Usually not a big fan of green teas, but this one was pretty good. Very consistent throughout, nice brightness, and liked the fruity notes.

Overall too bitter for my general taste. Maybe a lower temp or different leaf/water ratio would be better? I didn’t get much floral notes like others mentioned. Not my favorite tea of the ones I’ve tried so far from MyTeaPal. It was consistently too bitter for my enjoyment. I didn’t get much of the floral notes others mentioned. Perhaps a lower temp or lower leaf/water ratio for next time?

The leaves look so small and thin! Christian thought they were surprisingly green too. The dry leaf aroma is very mulchy. The wet leaf aroma and liquid flavor are both surprisingly vegatal. There's at least some floral, pepper, and sweet notes with lower temperatures. I'm starting to think Indian tea is not ever going to treat us kindly with gong fu. If we had more, we'd try a masala chai preparation instead. Looking at my other notes, I've tried two decent quality Indian blacks that weren't club teas, and I thought the other Darjeeling was also overwhelmingly vegetal, so this tea may not be for me when it's not spiced. At least lowering the temperature helped here. Higher temperatures gave me overwhelming astringency.

0 TDS distilled water with TeaCurious Autumn recipe to make 125 TDS water. Very different from Original recipe water. I saw others say tomato notes before my previous session with Original recipe water, but I just didn't taste it at all. This time around I definitely get tomato notes and the spicy pepperiness. It's also more astringent with a light dryness, not unpleasant. It's nice, but I think I preferred the Original recipe water with its strong floral notes. Still get gardenia notes through the nose, though. 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 favorites (roasted Tie Guan Yin & Dancong Red), room for more hopefully I'm still amazed at the difference the different water recipes can produce. This session gave me the tomato notes everyone else got when last time I couldn't taste or smell them at all.

0 TDS distilled water with TeaCurious Original recipe to make 50 TDS water. Very consistent tea with very little change. Strong floral (gardenia) aroma and flavor. Very little other notes to pick out - some slight creaminess sweetness but nothing I felt was strong enough to make note of. I really like the smell and taste of gardenia so a lot to like here. 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 favorites (roasted Tie Guan Yin & Dancong Red), room for more hopefully Another nice tea to round out the April teas. This is probably my second favorite with Black Fusion being my top pick. Really liked the gardenia flavor in this.

Eyes - Dry Leaf: green, red, white, and brown leaves and green buds with white trichomes Nose - Dry Leaf: sweet tomato paste and (black) peppercorn. A hint of mango. Nose - Wet Leaf: floral notes, tomato, and eucalyptus/mint. Super fragrant and definitively Darjeeling. Eyes - Liquor: pale yellow liquor, like a lightly oxidized oolong Mouth - Texture: thick and creamy leading to vaporous and juicy Mouth - Taste: super floral burst with green (artichoke or tomato stem?) and fruity (mango) hints. Cream and tomato. Mouth - Finish: super fresh, vaporous, and juicy. Long lasting floral character in the mouth. Pleasant astringency in later infusions. Nose - Empty Cup: floral bouquet (rose, tulip, etc.) and warm cane sugar Eyes - Wet Leaf: green leaves with red spots of oxidation Body - Sensation: energized and happy Super fragrant Darjeeling, very pleasant with a bit of astringency. Exactly what I hoped this tea would be :) First tea of April, the Indian tea month! After all the hype for the coming Darjeeling, it finally arrives, and it does not disappoint. Fragrant notes of flowers with a hint of mango, followed by a tomato savory tartness and a green character akin to tomato stems or artichoke. Creamy in early infusions and pleasantly drying in later infusions. A prime example of Darjeeling First Flush!

Mild fruity/astringent/sweet corn taste, tomato smell in the gaiwan lid. I will use more leaves next time. I would like try this one fresh! 1 year old now, like my Orange Valley DFF from last year, lost its vividness -> 4* only