Teavivre, Nonpareil Taiwan Li Shan Oolong Tea

Teavivre Description:
A good tea needs attentive observation on its appearance and careful taste on its flavor. This Nonpareil Taiwan Li Shan Oolong Tea is twisted into round particles. Dry tea is in dark green color of glossy appearance. Infuse the tea with 100℃ water. Tea liquid looks transparent in golden yellow color. It tastes full and mellow, with long-lasting sweetness and fresh fragrance in the mouth. The floral aroma and smooth flavor still stays after ten or more steeps. As it cooled, its fragrance and sweetness retains in your cup. This is a special characteristic which only can be found on high grade teas.
Another characteristic of Li Shan High-Mountain Oolong Tea is the natural fruity scent. It is a result of the high mountain and low temperature condition. Unique climate and fertile soil bear the tea trees that are grown with the natural fragrance. Thus the tea’s flavor tastes richer which differs from low grade tea. This is the important fact that the tea can become a representative of Taiwan Gao Leng tea.

Price: $28.90/50g (1.75oz)

Sample provided by Teavivre

My Review:
The third oolong from Teavivre as I continue Oolong Fest! This is a high level Li Shan from Taiwan. I'm looking forward to this one.

The photo I grabbed from Teavivre's website shows the leaf pellets in all their mystery. It amazes me how a bud and two or three leaves connected by a stem can be rolled so tightly.

The dry leaf has a light floral green oolong scent. I used about 3.5g in my press with boiling water for an initial two minute steep. Teavivre recommends twice that amount of leaf. For my tastes, I have never felt it necessary to use so much leaf. The result of my western hybrid brewing method is a very lightly morning sunshine colored liquor with a hint of green. The leaf is relaxing but still quite twisted. The leaf scent is a light floral aroma along with spinach.

The sip is creamy with a spicy floral taste. Late in the sip it develops what I call a geranium note. There is no bitterness and no rough edges. Apparently it is a bit astringent as the inside of my cheeks feel a numbing sensation and it is slightly drying. The aftertaste is very sweet and it is long lasting.

Mug two starts very smooth and a little less creamy. It has developed an earthy plant taste. I can't come up with a better description. The aftertaste continues sweet and swells with the geranium flavor. Some who dislike the taste call it latex. To me, it reminds me of the scent of the geranium plants my neighbor grew when I was a young boy. I love teas that evoke memories.

Most of us will not consider this to be priced in the range of an everyday tea. It is a relatively rare tea to be sipped as a special treat but remember oolongs resteep really well. This one prepared my way is about $2 per 12 oz mug. That is no more expensive than a cup of tea at Starbucks. It will easily steep 3 times, making $0.67/mug. If you use a 6 oz cup that is 6 cups at $0.34. The initial investment needlessly scares a lot of us away from enjoying a rare treat.

Teavivre offers sample sizes of their teas that I generally get two or sometimes three sessions from one bag. It is an affordable way to experience high quality tea without the anxiety.

Visit the Teavivre website.

Teavivre, Taiwan Osmanthus Oolong Tea

Teavivre Description:
Crafted with the tea leaves from Qingxin Oolong tea trees, mixed with natural fragrance extracted from fresh osmanthus, this Osmanthus Oolong Tea has high floral scent, as well as the mellow taste of oolong tea. When brewing this tea, you will first smell the refreshing osmanthus fragrance, and then taste its flavor in the liquid in the mean time feel the sweet flavor. The aroma of osmanthus and oolong will stay in your mouth for a long time. The floral fragrance also brings richer flavor to the oolong tea.

Sample provided by Teavivre

My Review:
I have tried one other Osmanthus Oolong. Afterwards I still was not sure what osmanthus was supposed to taste like. That is definitely not going to be the situation here. When I cut off the top of the sample bag a floral almost perfume scent filled the air. To me, it resembles lavender. Very fragrant.

The pellets are compact with a partial stem showing. They look pretty much like any Taiwan oolong. I used a healthy half scoop in my press and added boiling water for a two minute steep per Teavivre's instruction. I often play with other companies parameters but for my tastes Teavivre gets it right pretty much all the time. The only change I generally make is I use less leaf than they recommend per my tastes.

The result is a white grape colored liquor that is bright and clear. The wet leaf is only partially relaxed. The leaf scent is floral and green. The cup aroma is osmanthus.

The sip starts with the osmanthus, then the green fresh oolong flavor kicks in. This is sweet with no bitterness, bite, or rough edges. I was concerned at first that the dry aroma was so perfumey that the cup would be overpowered. Happily this is not the case. It is far less in your face flavored than most any flavored commercially produced tea. Compared to say a black tea, this is a very lightly flavored cup. It is more intense than a white tea.

The aftertaste is very long lasting, floral, and very sweet. This is one of the few hot teas I have not wanted to add sweetener to the cup. I always try to review them without additions first. If you add sweetener it is kind of too much even for a sweet tooth junkie. However the addition causes the osmanthus to taste something like grape candy.

For round two I steeped another 12 ounces for two minutes. On this cup the oolong moves to the forefront and the osmanthus recedes, still present but not dominant. This cup has an earthy or woodsy quality to it. The aftertaste is still very sweet of osmanthus and it lingers on and on.

At first I was not sure what I thought of this, but it sips easily and as I sipped I noticed the cup went empty very quickly.

Visit the Teavivre website.

Teavivre, Taiwan High Mountain Oolong

Teavivre Description:
Although Taiwan originates from Fujian, China, its flavor is quite distinct with Fujian Oolong tea. Like this Taiwan High Mountain Oolong Tea, it is recommended for beginners of Taiwan oolong. Different from the high aroma of Fujian Oolong, this tea has light floral fragrance.

Sample provided by Teavivre

My Review:
I am getting ready to start an oolong fest with several samples from Teavivre. First up is this May 2013, High Mountain oolong, from Nantou, Taiwan.

The pellets are nicely tight and look typical of oolongs. I did not note an aroma of the dry leaf. I used my press and water heated to boiling per Teavivre instructions. The steep time was 2 minutes on the first cup. 

The leaf only partially relaxed and has a seaweed/spinach aroma. The color of the liquor reminds me of white grape juice. It is softly yellow but very light. The cup aroma stands out above the leaf and is floral. It is not the heavy floral I often associate with Taiwan oolong. It is much more delicate.

The sip reveals buttery spinach with a hint of bite. It is only slightly sweet. There is no bitterness, astringency, or rough edges. The aftertaste swells to a floral wave that subsides leaving a long lasting sweeter than expected floral taste.

With the second 12 ounce mug the leaf has almost completely relaxed. It is beautiful full leaves that look so green and fresh you could almost imagine they were just picked off the tree especially for this cup. The taste is every bit as full and flavorful as the first. I am nearly certain this would go at least one more steep, unfortunately I am out of time today.

While this may be less complex than some Taiwan oolongs, it will still blow the doors off any you have tried in a bag. This is my idea of an everyday oolong.  The taste, aroma, and aftertaste are all solid without becoming overwhelming or unbalanced. A very nice tea and a great start to oolong fest.

Visit Teavivre online.

Brita Filter Pitcher – Attempting To Fix Boring Flat Tea

I live in the country. Before I was downsized into retirement* I worked in town. My work tea was usually marvelous. In fact, I did almost all of my serious tasting at work.  At home I drank soda in aluminum cans because tea was boring. I blamed the microwave and it turns out it was only part of the problem. The bigger issue is our county water.

The wells the city and county pump their water from are only a few hundred feet apart. The taste is not so close. The waters are pumped in opposite directions to two different filtering plants. Our county water smells highly chlorinated and contains a lot of floating minerals. It tastes bad and it makes flat tasting boring tea.

My wife won’t drink our tap water. She switched to bottled water years ago. I am too stubborn and cheap to use expensive bottled water. There is also the concern of our landfills overflowing with those plastic bottles.

I have fought the battle of boring tea for years. It has become an especially important war to win now that I am at home. Enter the newest weapon in my arsenal – The Brita filter pitcher. This is the simple 5 cup version. It was $10 at Wal-Mart and came with one cartridge filter. The Brita replacement filters are $6. Cheap enough if it works. The Great Value cartridges that I have not tried yet are around $4.

Fresh cold tap water is poured into the top reservoir where it filters through the activated charcoal cartridge into the pitcher at the bottom. That's really all there is to it. You are supposed to change the cartridge every 40 gallons. That involves presoaking the cartridge for 15 minutes and then rinsing before loading it into the pitcher.

So far, I am very pleased. The water is clear with not floaters. The annoying bleach smell is brought under control. I would say it is gone but I really need to wait for one of our bad weeks to know for certain. Most importantly my tea has come alive. Seriously, the difference is day and night. The cup has more aroma. The sip is fuller and crisper. I should have bought this pitcher years ago.

I can’t guarantee you the same results but if you are not experiencing the subtleties of your cup a filter pitcher is an inexpensive possible solution.  I would be interested to hear your experience and solution to flat boring tea.


* On being downsized – at first I was very hurt, angry, and scared. You know what? I survived and learned to adjust rather quickly. Most people complain about their jobs. I did as well. Part of me warns you be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. Another part of me has become aware of what a destructive toxic environment I actually walked into each day. Turns out one of the best things the company ever did for me was to push me out the door. I am so much happier and content now. So, thank you!

Eastern Shore Tea Company, Cherry Blossom

Eastern Shore Tea Description:
A “Vintage Blend” of Keemun, the burgundy of teas, and an exceptionally fine “winey” cherry tea. Very aromatic, it’s nice served as a demitasse after dinner. Flavored black tea. Contains caffeine. 20 Foil wrapped tea bags in our classic white ribbon bag.

My Review:
First off let me say I am not sure the description above is for this tea. It is a best guess. There is no Cherry Blossom tea listed on the website. In fact when you click on any of the bagged tea options it takes you to a Baltimore Coffee & Tea webpage. This tea came my way in the mail from a friend who got it from a friend kind of thing.

This came in a gold metallic envelope. Once opened, it is a tagless, stringless plain white bag. The aroma is like cherry candy.

Steeped with 190F water for 3 or 4 imprecise minutes. The resulting brew appeared more cherry cider than tea like. It is clear with a reddish tint.

The taste in not entirely natural. It is more like a cherry candy but it is pleasant enough. Often teas like this can go horribly wrong and end up being cough syrup. This is better behaved. It reminds me of Jolly Rancher cherry candy. If that appeals to you, this would be a good fit.

I can taste the tea, especially in the aftertaste but only lightly. I was not sure if this was green or black based so I took it easy on the water temperature. Pretty sure it is a black tea. There is no hint of bitterness or astringency so it could have taken hotter water without complaint. I left the bag in the mug the entire time and it never became harsh.

There is not a lot of depth to the taste but it is enjoyable.

Concept Teas, White Peony

Concept Teas Description:
We chose 2012 spring White Peony for you, which has been establishing own characters, with enriched aroma and less grassy tastes, during the past one year.
Early spring (around Qingming Festival) is also the best picking season for top quality White Peony while summer usually offers leaner tea leaves. With advanced gardening, tea leaves harvested during autumn are possible to make relatively high quality White Peony. Both buds and leaves are supposed to be picked up when they are still “young”. White Peony is made mostly from “one bud with one leaf” and supplemented by “one bud with two leaves”. During the process of withering, the leaf veins become red while the rest turns into gray or dark green. Silver buds being embraced by the “colorful” and naturally curly leaves, White Peony looks like the charming flower, as the name indicates.

Origin: Fuding, Fujian Province, China 

Age: 2012 spring

Sample provided by Concept Teas 

My Review:

This is the second sample I received from Concept Teas. As I opened the bag the fresh leaf aroma filled the air. It is like a fresh mowed meadow drenched in morning dew. I scooped out two bamboo spoons of leaf and examined before I put it in my press. This is the best looking white peony leaf I have seen to date.  

Some of this is silver and down covered buds as beautiful as silver needle. The remaining leaves are a mixture - some green, some gray, and some olive colored. The combination of leaf and bud is quite striking. 

I steeped this with filtered water at 175 F for 3 minutes. Most people would probably steep this at around 195 F for 6 minutes. White Peony is usually pretty forgiving, so see what works best for you. The wet leaf is caramel and earth in scent. The resulting liquor is yellow like a fine white wine.

The first thing I noticed when sipping was a slight bite in the sip. Interesting. There is no bitterness and no harsh edges. The taste is fresh hay with malty undertones. This is slightly sweet and easily drinkable. Though white peony produces a mellow cup I find this particular one very well defined with excellent depth. The sweet aftertaste stays with you long after the tea disappears. The more the cup cooled the more fruity this became. At one point it almost tasted like grapefruit.

I am very impressed with this Fujian white peony. Top notch from beginning to end. Highly recommended.

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Update:
I prepared this today at 190 F with a 2 minute steep. It loses the slight bite and the malty undertones BUT it is amazingly fresh and perfect this way. This is fresh hay like leafy tasting with melon notes. In many ways it reminds me of silver needle but it retains the white peony qualities as well. 190 F makes a much better cup.

Visit Concept Teas website. 

Concept Teas, Silver Needle White Tea

Concept Teas Description:
Silver Needle (Bai Hao Yin Zhen in Chinese) is considered as the top grade white tea for its rarity and legendary health benefits. Its name comes from the appearance – tippy all over, needle-shaped and with “shimmering” pure silver color. The top quality Silver Needle is from the first terminal bud, of which the picking season is limited to only a couple of days during early spring (usually before Qingming Festival), when the buds are fresh and bold but not open yet. After spring, the newborn buds are mostly lateral and leaner. There are also some criteria for choosing an ideal day for picking, namely “sunny and lower humidity days preferred” while “rainy or foggy days avoided”. The terminal buds can be picked up alone. Alternatively, they can be picked up as “one bud with one leaf” or “one bud with two leaves”, and then separated afterwards. Historically as royal tribute, Silver Needle nowadays, especially the top grade, is still short of worldwide demand for its geographic exclusivity and limit production volume. It is sometimes used as the “embellishment” in blended tea to “improve” the grade.

Origin: Fuding, Fujian Province, China
Type: white tea, loose leaf
Age: 2013 spring

Sample provided by Concept Teas

My Review:
Concept Teas is another new to me company registered in Sweden with bases in Sweden and China. First, I want to mention the care taken getting this sample to me. I was informed their normal practice is to box up larger quantities of leaf for mailing. Since samples are small, to avoid waste and be affordable, they came in an envelope. Diana at Concept Teas was concerned the air mail trip from China could crunch this precious leaf so she pre-warned me and even emailed me a picture of the envelope.

She needn't have worried. The envelope arrived in perfect shape. When I opened the protective bubble-wrap envelope and looked inside, there was a heavy duty aluminum packing bag securely and tightly taped shut. Inside, I found two plastic bag wrapped samples whose leaves were still perfectly formed and whole. Good job on the packing.

The photo above of the leaf was taken by Diana. There is no way I could capture the beauty that is Silver Needle any better than she has already done. It really is exquisite.

The scent of the dry leaf is sweet hay. The fresh aroma hit me the moment I opened the bag. I used two bamboo scoops of leaf in my press and 190 F water with a 3 minute steep per concept teas recommendation. The leaf danced mostly on the surface during steeping. That is why I love a glass press. Watching the leaf and inhaling the aromas are, for me, a very important part of the process.

The resulting liquor is honey yellow and very clear. I noted a few downy silver hairs from the leaf floating in the cup. The wet leaf has changed from silver to shiny pea green. The leaf aroma is vegetal and earthy.

The sip is sweet, hay, and light earthiness. Late in the sip it develops light melon notes. The sweet aftertaste lingers long after the tea is gone. As the cup cooled it took on a more citrus profile that I found appealing.

I had enough of this sample to experiment. I next prepared this in a gaiwan. I again used 190 F filtered water and steeped about 1 min. Holy cow, I did not like the results at all. I am just learning to brew in a gaiwan but to me, the leaf scent was a combination burnt caramel and cigarettes. The sip I felt was lacking and suffering from scorched leaf. I prepared several more infusions each time reducing the water temp and increasing the steep time slightly. It became much better but never really recovered completely.

My third attempt - and my favorite - was again with the glass press. This time I used 175 F filtered water (80 C) and steeped about 1 1/2 minutes. The liquor is very lightly tinted and reminded me of white wine. The sip was fresh and sweet like hay with floral notes. This Fuding white again produces some light earthiness, citrus, and melon that I found pleasant. This is a very fine example of a Fuding Silver Needle.

This has proven to be a very valuable and tasty experience. The results changed drastically with only slight variations of brewing technique. I recommend you experiment with time, temperature, and steeping vessel to find your own sweet spot. Keep notes of what you have done and the results.

Silver needle is far more subtle than the black teas (known as red tea in China) most western taste buds are accustomed to sipping. It does not grab you by the throat like a breakfast tea. It is a tea to sip and fully experience. Yes, it is more expensive than the average everyday tea but re-steeps well and has excellent depth of flavor. In truth, the per cup cost is a lot cheaper than you are paying for an average cup of meh at your local coffee shop and the quality is truly excellent.

Visit Concept Teas website.