Tea

 Vendor: We asked a champion of less well-known cultivars, Mr. Nalin Modha, for this exceptional example of the Tukdah 383 cultivar, which he processed at peak second flush in June 2020 at Temi estate in Sikkim, India. This tea, from an east-facing garden at 1300m, has thick leaves and midribs, and is very well processed, with relatively intact material for the Darjeeling style.  Review: Brewed 2-2.5g/100 mL, 90-95C 60s Alternatively, 4 g/ 100 mL 30s Grape must, old barrels filled with port wine, strong rose aromas. Gets sweeter as i brew harder. An unbelievable tea.

 Vendor: Hand picked, gokoh varietal from uji. Shaded 20 to 30 days by tana (straw/bamboo shading). Review: Enticing floral aroma in the long intact leaves. This tea is able to withstand hotter and longer infusions. The aroma and aftertaste are complex and persistent with citrus rind, menthol and savory herbs. The taste is citrusy and slightly tropical with a hoppy character from some terpenes.  Best way to brew is using don mei's cold brew method. The 15 min infusion is out of this world

Vendor: Grower:  Chen Huan Tang Cultivar:  Qing Xin Wulong Region:  Lugu, Nantou County Altitude:  700m Review: The tea has a layered structure: sweet dried fruit, roasted nuts, chocolate and some dried flowers and herbs. Each layer is clearly expressed, separate yet playfully interacting, like baroque counterpoint, long into the aftertaste.  The roast is very clean. The one flaw to me is that the flavors are a bit thin when brewed according to the vendor: 6g/100 mL 35s/30s/40s and so forth. This may be due to the poor winter harvest. Interestingly, the leaves expand so greatly, that I cannot fit more than 5g into my 85 mL gaiwan making it hard push harder with leaf:water. This tea should benefit from a teapot with high heat retention and longer brewing time. In Peter Kuo's teapot following same parameters, the tea is perfect and dynamic. With third infusion, bright fruit notes emerge like a flute over the ensemble.

Sent down memory lane By this 80s shou Remembrance of my grandfather's dusty library in Shanghai Can almost smell the wood shelves again and those old volumes of russian classics that somehow survived the cultural revolution

 Vendor Origin  : Kozeto, Aoi ward, Shizuoka city, Shizuoka prefecture Cultivar  : Kôju Harvest  : Aprile 23th & May 9th, 2020, hand picked Zairai so should have low bitterness unique fruity fragrance, recalling white grapes, peaches and also sweet citrus. Review Based on the description I treated it like a chinese oolong: threw 5 g in 85 mL gaiwan. Off boiling water: Rinse/35s/30s/35s etc The dry and wet leaves smell a bit like a hybrid of baozhong and zairai sencha: floral and vegetal. Unfortunately the first few infusions are quite bitter. The bitterness in the front is eye popping and devastating - I will start with the positives. The flavors in the back and in the aftertaste are much more pleasant: sweet grape juice, some light savory herbs, and a greenness that reminds me of gao shan. The aftertaste lingers for a long time and is nice. The infusion is also thick with a medium to heavy body. Regarding the bitterness, it is so strong and off putting that when my wife had it, sh

 Cannot identify every tea. For both shou and sheng brewed ~ 5g / 100 mL, 2x rinse and then for sheng: flash brew until no more flavor followed by longer brews. For shou, first brew is about 30s followed by flash brews. 2019 brown sugar: white2tea makes a brown sugar. Very sweet with caramel, molasses and red bean notes. No wodui.  2019 raw man zhuang: possibly from ys. Very floral. Brew 3g/85 mL.  Fruity, floral.  Lively..beautiful at first...then funeral, sickly abominable. "brick shou":  Not much more info than that. I suspect it is the 2018 Dragon Brick, a shou puerh brick from XiZiHao, since that is the only brick shou he sells.  Tastes different from all other shous i have had: subtle balance between herbal chinese med2icine, light incense, fresh plum, strawberry jam, earthy minerality and beef bone broth. There is also a floral aroma like acacia and jasmine. The aromas and flavors shift as steepings progress. Infusions are very clear and elegant even with longer early