12.31.07
Final Tasting Notes: Morning Dew White, Margaret’s Hope Muscatel, Keemun
posted by T Ching | 22 comments
The final tasting notes are in and published below. Once again, as we have seen in all our previous tastings, the variety of personal experiences with these teas is as varied as the teas themselves. It always leaves us in awe of the human experience when we witness first hand how unique each persons perceptions are despite the sameness of the elements in any given event. It also reminds us to stop and think before making any type of generalized statement based on our own experiences. It has become clear to us that we must learn to honor each individual’s personal experience no matter how much it might differ from our own. Because of these differences, we want to thank each one of you for your unique contribution to our community and to our ongoing education in tea.
For the new tea drinker, participating in these tastings, or even just reading other peoples notes, is a wonderful way to see that there is no right way or one way to prepare your tea or in what you taste in your tea. Even experts will differ in their experience of tasting tea. So don’t be shy in expressing what you discover in the teas you taste and whether you like it or not. What is most important is your own personal appreciation of the teas you prepare and drink and the pleasure and joy it brings to your life.
We at T Ching wish you all a most joyous New Year filled with abundance of health, wealth and spirit. May your lives always be blessed with the peace and harmony that regular tea practice provides and great teas.
December 27th, 2002 at 2:48 pm
the keemun hao ya at first glance shows small leaves and little smell. i used filtered tapp water at 212 f and about half my sample to 24oz. of water in a brown betty pot. i let the tea steep for 4 minutes and pour a mug full. the first thing i noticed was the smell of smoke . not like a lapsang, but lighter and the taste full body, rich something that would go good in the morning. one other thing i noted was that as the tea cooled it became smoother and the taste became sweeter, a slight hint of roasted chocalate. i enjoyed this tea overall .
December 18th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Holiday Taste Test is as follows:
Morning Dew White, Light airy, very delicate. Taste for me is hard to discern, though I enjoyed it. I give it Class 2.
Chinese Keemun “Hao Ya”, Smoky, but smooth, with a tar like aftertaste. I give it a Class 4.
Margaret’s Hope Muscatel, Rich, full bodied, smooth, excellent aroma, pleasing feel on the palate.
I give this a Class 1.
This is a very unscientific analysis, from a real tea novice, without all the connoiseur’s expert language….PJF
December 20th, 2007 at 4:55 pm
Hello all,
I’ll start first with the commonalities of brewing (water, pot size, amount of tea etc.) and them move into the individual teas.
All three tastings were done on the same day, 12/14/07 but were done at different times of the day. I started with the Keemun in the morning and moved to the Margaret’s Hope Darjeeling Muscatel for my mid afternoon brew finishing in the evening with a nice light Morning Dew White. I prefer to have my darker brew in the AM, have a little “pick me up” in the afternoon and finish the evening with either a green/white or herbal tisane (which technically isn’t “tea” but still can be a relaxing finish to the day, especially a nice rooibos). All three were brewed using the same single cup 8 oz. acrylic portable pot which I understand is sometimes called a “drinking cup” by some tea accessory vendors. The water source used was our city water but it was first purified using a Britta filter system which generally does remove most all those nasty tasting chemicals. The water temperature for the two black teas was at the standard 208 F which is what my zojirushi hot pot uses as its high end temperature for black tea. For the white, I used a temperature of 185 F but allowing the water to cool a bit and using my instant read thermometer. For the two black teas I used the standard Chinese type of rosewood scoop, one for each pot and on the white the same scoop was used but with an extra scoop added because of the nature of this type of tea leaf (i.e. not as compact, lighter with less texture), I usually do use a bit more green and white when brewing them than when brewing blacks. The brewing times for the blacks were 3 minutes for the first infusion adding an additional minute for each subsequent infusion. With the white tea I used 2 minutes for the first infusion again adding one minute with each additional infusion. With all three teas, a total of 3 infusions were tried.
Now to the individual teas:
Keemun — Dry leaves slightly smaller than expected of Keemun varieties I’ve previously seen but nice bouquet, light but not overly. Steeped leaves opened nicely with nice dark amber coloring, noticed it lightened with subsequent steepings. Viscosity of the brew seemed thicker than expected again not overly so. Brew on a scale of 1-5 for clarity in each infusion 4. Aroma was the nicest attribute of this particular variety (but still can’t compare to that of the Margaret’s Hope whose aroma was stronger). There was a nice body for this variety and a good finish which was more noticeable in the third infusion. There was also a pleasant, yet unexpected, “tingling” sensation left upon my lips and tongue which grew stronger after each subsequent sip. I’ve had a couple of Chinese Black teas (mostly from Yunnan Province) and another variety from Keemun (which I did enjoy better than this particular one but it wasn’t a Hao Yo, it was as is our sample from Qimen County, Anhui Provence) but this variety offered for sampling is an acceptable black for everyday drinking. I do admit that when it comes to black teas I much prefer the Indian varietals (especially from the Darjeeling area) to the Chinese ones but I expect that many of those involved in this tasting may also agree. OVERALL RATING 3.5
Margaret’s Hope Muscatel — Leaves look nice dry, upon allowing the leaves to blossom there was some breakage that had occurred from the whole leaf to somewhat of a more broken leaf in appearance but this didn’t affect either the aroma or the flavor. This was by far the darkest and most pleasant smelling of the three offerings both in dry and steeped form. The color of the liquor was a nicer darker amber than the Keemun Black. Again another clear liquor being a darker amber than the Keemun. Wonderful aroma, very pleasing in both body, aroma and most importantly taste. While tasting of any food product should involve more than just the sense of taste, I believe that this particular item is definitely worth many more brewings. It will be nice when TChing has it available for purchase as hopefully a regular product in their inventory. The taste is bright and bold at the same time.I love a good Darjeeling and Margaret’s Hope has been one of my favorites since I first tried it about 6 months ago. This one doesn’t disappoint and lives up to the standard for this varietal. OVERALL RATING 5.0, as you can tell my favorite!
Morning Dew White — Nice full leaf/leaf tip structure beautiful green color, no dark browned leaves…very light liquor quite lovely visually. VERY high clarity in the liquor, light on viscosity as well. While the aroma did decrease after 2 infusions the taste was best on the 3rd infusion where I believe the full body of the brew was able to be appreciated. For my first actual white from India I’d highly recommend this one. I also had a friend share this particular tasting so we both enjoyed it very much. Visually, this was by far the most attractive of the three offerings. The bright green made a nice display in the teapot and the color of all three of the infusions was particularly light making for a special delicate tasting brew. OVERALL RATING 4.5
Hope this isn’t TOO much information but I tried to use the excel spreadsheet to its FULL advantage, thanks to TChing for that particular tasting aid. Please continue to offer this aid again when there are future tastings.
As always Blessings and Peace!
Fr. Patrick a.k.a. kinghazzah
December 20th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Please notify me when additional comments appear, I forgot to check the box with my comments so I’m checking it now. THANKS for your patient understanding.
December 20th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
Keemun Hao-Ya from T-Ching
Scent in package: lightly fruity/malty
Brewed in: Tea for one pot w/metal infuser
Steeped: 5 min. @ 212 degrees w/spring water
Cup: ceramic café mug
This tea is one of three in T-Ching’s latest online tasting event, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to participate in the reviews.
The dried leaves are small and uniform, tipped lightly throughout. I didn’t detect much of a fragrance from the dried leaves, but the tea smells heavenly as it brews, sweet and rich, with notes of chocolate and pepper along with a fruity note which carries right into the taste.
Like most Keemuns, the brew is contradictory, which is what makes it so interesting and appealing. The actual tea seems dark and thick in the cup, but as it flows over the tongue, it feels smooth and thin. The taste truly is “thick” however, and an array of flavors are present in the soup. It is fruity and muscatel at first, with notes of chocolate and pepper coming on later. Each sip finishes with an almost smoky astringency that stays in the mouth long after the tea itself is gone.
I’m a sipper, which means that the later half of any cup is inevitably cold before I get around to finishing it off. That also makes for some interesting tasting observations with certain teas, this being one of them. As it cools to room temperature, the smoky aftertaste disappears into sweetness, though the drying quality is still quite evident. The muscatel flavors come to the front, and the taste thins out, less complex with a sort of bittersweet quality coming through. Still very interesting, and very enjoyable, in my opinion.
It’s a good tea, interesting, many flavor notes, and quite enjoyable, especially as a morning wake-up cup.
Margaret’s Hope Muscatel
Scent in package: very lightly fruity
Brewed in: tea-for-one ceramic pot/metal infuser
Steeped: 4 min.@ 212 degrees w/spring water
Cup: Café mug
The first thing that struck me about this tea was the mixed colorations in the dry leaves. Browns, greens, and tippy blacks all make for quite an interesting mixture in the package. The dry leaves don’t seem to have much of an aroma, just a hint of sweet fruitiness.
When brewed, the leaves gained even more interest as they expanded into a light blend of green and brown. The scent was somewhat off-putting though. The liquor itself has very little scent as well, which I find odd for a Darjeeling tea, and especially one that is purported to be very fragrant.
The soup is light in color, golden, and very clear. It’s a thin brew, and very astringent. I think boiling may be too hot for this tea…less heat would possibly dispel some of the astringency and bring out the sweetness.
The taste seems somewhat bland to me – there are notes of pepper and muscatel, but otherwise, it’s kind of boring. I think I’ll try this with tap water and a lower water temperature, and hopefully that will infuse life into this otherwise mediocre cup.
Morning Dew
Scent in package: Fruity, though that could be the influence of the earlier muscatel
Brewed in: ceramic tea-for-one pot/metal infuser
Steeped: 4 min. @ 180 w/spring water
Cup: café mug
The dry leaves are absolutely gorgeous for this tea. Large, vibrant green, and mostly intact, it made my mouth water just to look at them. The scent was very light, and sort of sweetly fruity.
After I poured the brew into my cup, I smelled the leaves again. This time there was a strong vegetal odor like a green tea would have, and something else I can’t quite put my finger on. The liquor had the same fragrance – steamed vegetables, perhaps? It reminded me of butter, cream, and “richness”.
I was hooked from the first sip. The brew is impossibly light, and really seems like there can’t be any flavor, but there is, and it is wonderful. The tea is very sweet and thick, with the taste of sweet cream butter that lingers on the tongue. There is a hint of astringency, but no dryness, and the soft fragrance, creamy mouth feel and buttery sweet taste all come together for a cup that is pure heaven. The finish is a very sweet sensation that remains at the back of the tongue.
The wet leaves are still beautiful, of course, and I shall look forward to using the remainder of my sample in a gong fu session to see what later infusions are like.
I love this tea – it’s absolutely wonderful. I need more.
December 21st, 2007 at 2:23 am
Morning Dew White
water: filtered tap water
temperature: 175 degrees
steeping time: 1 minute
rating: 4 out of 5
The pre-infused leaves of the Morning Dew White are long, green and moist with a scent like most white teas, but a little brighter. The pale yellow liquor is very nice and not as grassy or hay-like as many white teas. The flavor of the liquor is subtle but fills the palette, with a lingering bite on the tongue. This tea did not hold up well under multiple gong fu short infusions, but would probably benefit from a longer single infusion.
Margaret’s Hope Muscatel
water: filtered tap water
temperature: just below boiling
steeping time: 3 minutes
rating: 3 out of 5
The pre-infused leaves of the Margaret’s Hope Muscatel have a lovely and distinct scent, almost port-like. For the tasting, the tea leaves were rinsed before the first drinkable infusion. The taste of the liquor is rather acrid with a long-lasting aftertaste, but quite enjoyable. A longer infusion would bring out more of the desirable maltiness.
Keemun Hao Ya
water: filtered tap water
temperature: just pre-boil
steeping time: 3 minutes
rating: 4.5 out of 5
The leaves of the Keemun Hao Ya are tiny and very black with a nice woody scent. The liquor is fuller and has a more mature flavor than the Indian black. It has nice, complex flavors with a strong mouthfeel that lingers on the sides of the tongue. This tea is smoother, maltier and less acidic than the Margaret’s Hope. The second infusion was brighter and less full, but with the same long, pleasant aftertaste. I preferred the Hao Ya considerably over the Margaret’s Hope.
December 23rd, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Sorry for the delay in posting the notes, but the samples only arrived two days ago on Friday (it is a long way from Oregon). Many thanks for the samples - they were very generous and I’m looking forward to tasting the teas again after reading other people’s notes. Let’s start with the “odd one out”:
– Morning White Dew
I never tried an Indian white tea before, so I was quite curious. The leaves are open dried, which is again something I don’t see too often. Two (small) leaves and a bud is the rule for the best teas, and it holds here as well. The dry leaf smell is weak, hay-like, with some sweet flowers.
For the first attempt I decided to go with TChing’s gong-fu recommendation: soft bottled water, 2g per 100ml gaiwan, 182F, steeping times 1,2,3,4 min. I never tried tasting white teas the gong-fu way, so I was quite curious.
The first brew is very clear, of a light yellow colour, and the liquor smells green-ish, I would think of hay with a hint of sweetness. The taste of the first cup is quite green tea-like, but weak. There is some astringency, and muted background sweetness. However the second infusion has a wonderful and obvious citrus is present. This is still present in the third brewing, but less so. The astringency is still there in both the second and third infusions. However at the back of my throat I can feel some complex taste - almonds? By now there is obvious qi. The fourth brew is turning more sweet and green tea-like, and I stop here.
The next day I tried my usual way of brewing white tea: 3.5g, 300ml, 6 min, 75C (adding 1.5 minute and 5C for the following brewing). Smell is this time strong grass/hay, but very pleasant so. In the taste there is still the hay, with drying meadow flowers. Later there is some noble bitterness. The aftertaste is long, slightly bitter. The liquor is fine and smooth. The next brew is a slightly weaker version of the first one, with some dry-mouth feel.
To sum up - this is quite an interesting tea. In some ways it even reminds me of Sencha. If it was given to me anonymously (and I could not see the dry leaf), I would guess it is some Chinese green tea. However very different from the white tea I usually drink, which is Yin Zhen.
— Keemun Hao Ya
parameters: soft bottled water, 4.5g per 300ml, boiling water, 4 minutes
Dry leaves have a typical Keemun look and smell - this one very intesive in that. I call it
“chocolatey”. The aroma of this tea is wonderful - very intensive, sweet and floral, with something extra I cannot identify. In cup the colour is rich, brown-ish orange. The taste is full, smooth, (malted, hint of spices/chocolate?), with no smokiness to talk of. There is obvious astringency, but only of the pleasant kind. A bit of bitterness hints that I used too much leaves. The aftertaste is long, pleasant, spicy. Comparing to some other Keemuns I tried, this is a very nice one, with a wonderful aroma. I tried also a second steeping (5 min), which gives you less intensive and distinguished cup, but nevertheless quite a nice one. The wet leaf is tiny and broken as usually with Keemun. Most of the leaves are fully fermented, few leaves have some remaining green-brown spots. I really like this Keemun, and looking forward to trying this tea the gong-fu way.
– Margaret’s Hope Muscatel
parameters: soft bottled water, 2.5g per 200ml, boiling water, 4.5 minutes
This is an example of a very good to excellent second-flush Darjeeling. The smell of the dry leaves in preheated teapot is a promise of things to come: lots of sweet fruit and light honey. The dry leaves are small, of dark-brown to rusty colour with some silvery tips. This is always a good sign. The liquor has an overpowering smell of ripe fruit, particularly apples come to my mind (or is it grapes instead?). I cannot confirm this is THE muscatel - nowadays too many different smells are labelled so. I will wait till somebody really knowledgeable confirms that the particular tea I’m drinking has the muscatel before I start labelling darjeelings as having “the stuff”. In the mouth the taste is full, smooth, with a bit of pleasant bitterness, and sligthly coarse. The aftertaste is pleasant, medium. The spent leaves small, broken, and not uniformly oxidised - you can find some almost green ones.
I must congratulate Sandy on selecting the two black teas from China and Darjeeling which can really be tasted against each other, each representing their country of origin, while still being comparable in some aspects. Finally thanks for a great tasting experience.
December 26th, 2007 at 1:34 am
First the blacks:
The keemun was okay. A good touch of smokyness, but not as naturally sweet as other hao ya varieties I’ve tried. It was a solid keemun, but nothing that overly impressed me.
The Margaret’s Hope was fun to try. I’ve heard of Margaret’s Hope frequently but had tried few darjeelings outside of Makaibari. Not overly astringent, lots of grape, like a dry wine
The morning dew was awesome. A fresh crisp aroma, and the leaves are a wonderful green color. The brew tasted like tart apples with a honeysuckle finish. It didn’t stand up as well to mulitple infusions, though, which is all the kept it from being my new favorite white tea. This is not a tea to pass up. I think this is a good tea for people who think white tea is boring or unflavorful.
December 26th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
Thanks for the generous samples! I enjoyed the precision - and soul - of the tasting guidelenes. My notes follow:
Regena Rafelson; Novice pre-primer
22, 24 and 26-Dec-07
Keemun Hao Ya, Qimen, Anhui province, China
Overall rating: 3+
bottled spring water
2 tsp/20 oz pot (ratio leaves to water)
200 degrees
3 min/4min/5min steeping times
(Observe the dry leaves, steeped leaves, color of the liquor, clarity, viscosity, etc.)
Dry leaves: citrusy odor; very small, narrow black leaf pieces; after first steeping, still very narrow leaves unfurling from the center toward the outside; dark bark color after second steeping; by third steeping leaves are light brown to greenish.
Clear dark auburn liquor; did not diminish
(Savor the aroma and the taste. Notice its texture, body, and finish.)
First steeping: briskness (pucker factor) medium, full and mature flavor, slight tannin-taste; Second steeping: very brisk and full tasting, just this side of bitter - perhaps too many leaves; Third steeping: about perfect; brisk but not tongue-curling, flavorful and satisfying. Nice citrus-like finishing taste.
Morning Dew White, Mirik, India
Overall rating: 4+
Water: Bottled, spring
180 deg F
Amount of tea: Hard to measure as the leaves are open-dried: a good pinch for a 20 oz pot
2min/3min/4min steeping times
Leaves are bright green, generally two leaves and a tip to each “piece.” Dry, the leaves smell grassy and fresh. The liquor for the first steeping is very pale green and very clear; slightly darker after the second steeping but still jade-clear; the third steeping is similar to the first.
Mild and pleasant garden taste after the first steeping; second steeping a bit sweeter; the third steeping is milder than the second; but fuller than the first. Very pleasant tea accompanying a snack of papadums and satsuma oranges.
Margaret’s Hope Muscatel, Darjeeling, India
Overall Rating:5
bottled spring water
195 degrees
2 tsp/20 oz pot
3min/4min/5min steeping times
Dry leaves are greyish brown with a few stray white leaves. The leaves are longer than Keemun Hao. The odor is faintly “tea-like” with a sweet and flowery air. The liquor is a clear and rich brown. The leaves unfurl slowly and become more greyish with each steeping.
The first steeping is mild, but the pleasant fruit blossom taste harmonizes very well with the mild black tea melody. The second steeping is exquisite, with a lovely memory of flowers. The third steeping is almost as good as the second: satisfying and thoroughly enjoyable, leaving me wanting more.
December 27th, 2007 at 1:15 pm
the second sample i tried was the margaret’s hope muscatel. the leaves were larger than the keemun and had golden highlights ,the smell was more fragrant and fruity. my brewing methods were the same as the keemun, 24ozs of filtered tap water broght to a full boil and half my sample. steeping time was 4 minutes and this time i shared with my wife over a piece of apple pie. the smell of the tea was great, sweet, floral and the taste was unbelieveable fruity; (it was not the pie). i would recommend this tea to first time drinker of whole leaf teas. i even tried a second brewing of boiling water and steeped for 8 minutes , a bit weaker, but enjoyable cup of tea. overall a great tea.
December 27th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Keemun Hao Ya
150mL gaiwan, boiling water
45s, 1min, 1.5min, 2min
Very smooth, deep flavor with smoke lingering on top. While other red teas can be brisk, astringent, crisp, and other such invigorating descriptions, this keemun hao ya is smooth like velvet. Like a rich leather in the nose and tongue. It is very masculine in nature, dark without any lighter tones.
Margaret’s Hope Muscatel
150mL gaiwan, boiling water
30s, 1min, 1.5min, 2min
A floral, second flush darjeeling. This tea is crisp, poking at the tongue. It has the fruity, floral appeal of a darjeeling with the deeper tones of a second flush to balance it out.
Morning Dew
150mL gaiwan, 180F water
1min, 2min, 3min
When I opened the bag of Morning Dew, I had forgotten any details of it. Simply by inspecting the dry leaf, I had to think it was a Bai Mu Dan since it is the only tea I’ve had similar to this. Drinking the tea with its mild vegetal undertones and spicy overtones, I rather did think I was drinking a Bai Mu Dan. Of course later I found myself corrected, but I did rather enjoy this tea. It is soft, light but not boring. This is something for me to drink while reading a book.
December 27th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
everyone has left, the clean up of the holidays is over and i am finally able to set down to enjoy a cup of tea. i saved the morning dew white tea for just this occation. i started with 7 grams of large dry green leaf that smells sweet and fragrant. then added 24 ozs of filtered water at 155 f. and steeped for 2 minutes. i am a big fan of silver needles , and this being my first taste of indian white tea i did not know what to expect. the feel on the tounge was thiner than my silver needles. it just seems to be as sweet as most white teas especially as it cools. i also like that it took 4 infusisons before the taste started to fade. morning dew is a step up from sow me but it is no silver needles , still i liked it and will order more in the future.
December 27th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
Margaret’s Hope Muscatel:
Dry leaves: the leaves were a wonderful array of rolled reddish to dark browns, and greeny whites
Odour: honey undertones left my mind expecting something sweet to come
Brewing parameters: gong fu, 6/4/8/10/20/40 seconds with boiling Korean mountain spring water in earthenware tea set
1st infusion: I am hit by a slight slippery tat of sweet that comes and goes to fast to describe specifically. Ones pallet is then quickly invaded by a strong, rich, deep, … (don’t say it…. don’t say it… Oh No… I can’t stop myself… ) muscatel flavour that leaves the tongue chalky. This taste stays in the mouth for a long time and causes one to rub their tongue on the roof of their mouths for minutes after.
2nd and 3rd infusions: The sweetness that evaded me during the first infusion lingers in my mouth. It overlaps the rich deep musk. The sweetness is slightly flowery. Something about it brings me back to my elementary school days- picking and eating the golden nectar of a small yellow flower. The bush lined the school grounds… the long lost memory makes me smile.
4th, 5th, and 6th infusions: The slight sweet nectar taste looses its depth as the chalky muscatel fills the mouth again. It seems to stay on the tongue for hours after.
Wet leaves: shredded fully unravelled reddish-browns, oxidized leaves remain.
An interesting tea and experience but nothing I would probably purchase anytime soon.
Keemun Hao Ya:
Dry leaves: small shinny dark brown tightly rolled leaves
Brewing Parameters: gong fu, 8/3/7/7/8/20 seconds with boiling Korean mountain spring water in earthenware tea set
1st and 2nd infusions: Some things that come to me while drinking this tea… the texture is slippery and oily on the tongue, it has a fruity almost citrus tone that tastes as if it had some citrus oil added to it. It has a subtle woody tone. A real treat to the senses.
3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th infusions: The flavour has amazing staying power. This is extremely resilient tea that still exhibits the wonderful array of tastes that have arisen during the first few infusions.
Wet leaves: One is unable to visually separate the many small stems from the tiny rolled and shredded brown leaves.
An excellent oily tea that reminded me of some bergamot teas… without the bergamot. A tea worthy of purchase.
Morning Dew:
Dry Leaves: look as though the vibrant, bright green leaves could still be dangling from a bush
Brewing Parameters: gong fu, 20s @ 70 degrees, 25s @ 75, 30s @ 75, 37s @ 80, 40s @ 80 with Korean mountain spring water in earthenware tea set
This cool light, minty tea is a sweet delicacy. Much sweeter than most whites I’ve tried with a pure freshness to it. Greeny undertones come through in the 3rd or 4th infusions, the tea loses its taste by about the 5th infusion.
A pure fresh white worthy of a try!
December 31st, 2007 at 9:33 am
After reading other’s analysis. My understanding of the classification went this way Number 1 being the best and Number 5 being the worst. As was stated in the opening the Human mind works in strange ways. A Happy and Tea filled New Year to all….PJF
December 31st, 2007 at 1:41 pm
On opening the Morning Dew my first thought is that this tea looks very fresh. The leaf is much more vibrant green than I expect from a white tea, especially an Indian tea as I’ve never seen a bright green leaf from India as yet. The loose leaf is reminiscent of some types of pai mu tan but much greener looking. It even smells more like green tea. I think a brewed this first because it came in fanciest bag, out of curiosity why was the white tea packed in the paper bag and the blacks in sealed plastic?
I brewed around 4 grams in a my larger, maybe 7oz, gaiwan. The aroma from the warm gaiwan was not what I expected. The freshness was still very apparent, not in a sencha type assault on the senses but perhaps more akin to opening a nice grade of long jing and trying to balance in my head whether I should hoover it while it is fresh or savor it as long as I can. A nice sweetness in the aroma left me quite happy to smell the tea in the gaiwan for a while before feeling the urge to press ahead.
I may have pressed ahead too soon as my first brew was made with water that was hotter than it should have been. I tried to make up for this part way through pouring with a flash brew but ended up with a watery, slightly bitter, tea. The next 10 brews were a resounding success and matched with the aroma in the warmed gaiwan.
The tea was more light and refreshing than any Indian white I’ve had before, which I can count on one hand though. My wife’s quick capsule review was “very nice” so now you’re getting two reviews for the price of one.
This tea is probably the closest thing I’ve seen to letting the tea leaves fall from the bush into my cup of hot water.
The wet leaf looks almost edible. If I was forced to be picky, which I wasn’t, I would say it could do with a little more complexity or subtly but the above is from only one session and I may discover this after I’ve spent a little more time with the tea.
Qimen is not a tea I drink regularly, I tend to indulge once every month or two and when I do I usually over indulge for a few days. I have a nice little yixing set aside for qimen and this is what I am familiar with so this is what I opted for in brewing.
The leaf is slightly unusual in that it is not the more or less uniform black that I’m used to in that it has the occasional light brown leaf, although I have encountered this before I think. It has to be said that Chinese red teas seem to be far more uniform from leaf to leaf than Indian blacks.
I can’t say I detected much in the aroma that would separate this from my current qimen stash, of Teaspring origin I think, but I certainly didn’t detect anything off or unpleasant.
If the Morning Dew was my favourite of the three this would get the nomination for most interesting in the taste department. I did not get the enjoyment I did from marveling at the freshness of the Morning Dew but then I don’t drink Qimen to get excited about it. I usually smoke when I drink alcohol and qimen is one of the few teas I have found that goes well with a decent cigarette. In the taste department I cannot detect much more than the usual malty, chocolaty goodness I come to expect, it is more the interplay and balance between them that is interesting. My third or fourth brew I left a little longer than I usually would to try and push the tea a little further and was quite surprised at the low level of bitterness encountered, I’m not sure if this is good or bad as I do expect a little ku-ding type kick from a qimen.
Overall a very enjoyable brew but my socks are still firmly on my feet after five or six steeps.
This last tea sampled was an Indian black tea I’m not overly familiar with. The leaf looks similar to most high quality Darjeeling’s I’ve had with the defining characteristic that it contains far lager leaves in the mix than I’ve seen in this kind of tea before.
The aroma of the dry leaf is very perfume-like with floral notes. The leaf also displayed a little more endurance than I’m used to seeing in Darjeeling, although I do have a few samples from Lochan teas that are unopened as yet and may well give this a run for its money.
I brewed this with around 4 grams in a 5/6 ounce thick walled gaiwan with freshly boiled, but not filtered as my filter has not been back in action since I moved a few days ago, tap water. I had planned to use a 200ml English style teapot but couldn’t face hunting the chaos for it, alas maybe in the next few days.
Interestingly, possibly, is that my wife was very put off by the smell of the leaf and declared she would not like to try the ’stinky tea’. I convinced her to try it a few brews in and she was very taken by the floral aspect of the tea and it received an approval, albeit with the disclaimer that it was a little to astringent.
This matches my own view although I do find the astringency far more acceptable than my wife, I eat dark chocolate and she only eats milk so I guess this is inevitable. I also found that it showed some parallels with the orchard flower oriental beauty from Stéphane Erler at Teamasters, which is definitely a good thing in my book as this has been one of my staple oolongs since it arrived a few weeks ago.
Apologies concerning the brevity of the reviews, I will try to rectify this on my blog once I’ve played with the samples a little more and perhaps put something here as well if the topic still seems active. I hope this post finds it’s way to the correct place as the link to the page for posting results seems to go nowhere now.
Finally thanks again TChing for providing this wonderful opportunity, I hope my tardiness and brevity will not exclude me from future events.
December 31st, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Wow, really interesting reading! Besides the obvious variations in preparation, timing, personal preference and so on, I am reminded that each of us has a different physiological make-up in our taste buds, some being much more sensitive to sweetness or tannins or fruitiness, for example. Yet I still have a feel for each of these teas, after reading these reviews, that would inform my choices of what to buy for which occassion.
Virginia: For the Margeret’s Hope, you mention rinsing the leaves first before brewing; I am a “newbie”, so I am interested in why you did this, and how (if at all) you think it might have affected the results of the tasting.
I was interested in the timing of the tastings and, where the teas were tasted at one sitting, what preference was given to order (with wine, tasting order would be critical). Also, what is considered an optimum palate cleanser in tea tasting?
It seems like these 3 teas vary greatly in “type”, so I am wondering what is the basis of the 1-5 point scale. Don’t get me wrong, tasting point scales are debated far and wide, but in wine tasting, usually like wines are tasted side by side with like wines in a flight, and then rated relative to each other. Here I had a hard time separating people’s personal tea type preferences (since I don’t know most of these people and what they prefer) from a judging of the quality of the tea. So I am grateful for the details that people wrote about in their descriptions.
In the end, I am grateful for this information. I hope I can participate in a future tasting!
December 31st, 2007 at 11:58 pm
Anne,
I would agree with you. I liked trying the three very different types of teas but I do understand where you are coming from. I have tried some of those wine flights myself and they do usually try to compare from among similar varietals. This particular tasting was REALLY FUN AND GREAT to do three side by side that weren’t of similar variety and I can understand where that would create differences (especially in preferences based upon a paritular varietal over another) which is why when I tasted these I did try to make it know that Darjeeling has always been one of my personal favorites, even back in the “good ole’ days” when I was drinking it from tea bags (in what now seems like the stone ages in America for tea culture).
Maybe, for a next tasting it would be possible to try posing three tea varietals from a particular region but from different plantations (such as a few different Darjeeling teas or a few different Keemun Black teas, also different greens together from a region or different whites also good for comparison)? Just a suggestion. I too enjoyed the GENEROUS portions that were given for this, and for the other tasting that I’ve participated in with TChing. Thank you so much for the opportunity to have them all. In short, I hope that TChing will be able to offer ALL of them on their store website so others may enjoy them as well.
As always, keep drinking the tea(s) that you enjoy…Peace and blessings for this New Year
Fr. Patrick
January 1st, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Anne:
I did not taste the teas in one sitting. If I was to do that I would taste lighter tea first and darker tea later. I don’t think there is an optimal agreed upon palate cleanser in the tea world, I have heard Mike Petro over at pu-erh.net mention water biscuits I think. If I’ve gone over the top, as usual, with the garlic in dinner I won’t drink a light tea afterwords as I won’t enjoy it. I tend to select teas depending on the condition of my palate at the time.
I think there are so many variables in tea tasting, that are not encountered in wine tasting, which make the whole venture more interesting and allow me to learn much more reading the methods & reviews of others. You could send out wine samples being fairly sure that everyone would be tasting the same liquid, tea is not an end product like wine as each person has to complete the processing in their own way.
I don’t really agree with setting standards for the tea tasting either. If we all agree on a 100ml gaiwan, Evian water, set timing and no rinse I think we create as many problems as we solve. For me trying to evaluate the Qimen in a gaiwan would throw me off from the start as I usually drink it from a yixing pot, it would be me evaluating a new Qimen in a new environment. The Evian water can be boiled in a plastic kettle, a metal kettle or perhaps in a pure gold pot over a charcoal burning clay stove and each of these will give different water. The timing itself is a tough one - do we start the moment the water hits the first leaf or when we finish pouring? No matter which we choose the speed of pouring becomes critical.
I really don’t like the thought of the tea world becoming scientific with agreed upon standards, if someone usually drinks their white tea with milk then they should review it in that way. If everyone dislikes the white tea aside from the person adding milk then perhaps that white tea should be drank with milk instead of put in the bin. I have a Romanian friend who drinks red wine with coke, I wasn’t convinced at first and I don’t really like coke or cheap red wine - together I find them far more palatable and If I really dislike a red I know I can put a little coke in it.
As far as I can see the 1-5 point scale has little meaning, what I would have rated a 5 star tea a year ago is probably different to what I would rate with 5 stars now and will be different again in a year. When someone says that a tea is flavorful and satisfying there is no need, in my view, to then stick a number to the tea.
Regarding the rinsing: I did not rinse any of these teas. I do rinse some teas. The reason is the same reason I rinse all the tea equipment before brewing - to get rid of most things aside from the tea. Pu-erh is probably the best candidate to illustrate the rinsing as it may well have been sitting in a basement for anything up to a 100 years and the rinse, sometimes more than one, is there to get rid of anything the tea has picked up from bush to pot.
I think the only way to judge the quality of the tea is by personal preference. One of the few guarantees when buying tea which has won an award is that it will be more expensive than it was before winning the award.
Cheers to everyone for the reviews - some very interesting reading which has turned my attention back to my samples of Indian tea from Lochan Teas. I look forward to perusing a tea review written by Anne in the future.
January 2nd, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Proinsias, I love your response!! You say so many things which need to be said about tasting, and evaluating, anything in general.
I am always sad when someone always defaults in their choices to the award-winner, or the most expensive, or the most available, even though I understand why they might make that choice. These are short-cuts in a very large world of choices. So many people get stuck there, though!
I think you might be surprised how many variables there are in tasting a wine (which is not necessarily an end product when it goes into the bottle); everything from how it was stored, to how it is served, at what temperature, in what glasses, how long it breathed, whether it was decanted, with what food, etc. But these same things can influence the tasting of anything; and we all bring our unique taste buds and perspectives to any tasting we do.
I once read that about one quarter of us have such astute taste buds, we could be trained to taste anything; another quarter of us have such insensitive taste buds, it’s futile to try describing anything; and the rest of us fall somewhere in between, with more sensitivity to some things than others. So why do we bother to share our experience, if it’s unique to us? Because we are curious, social beings who enjoy the communion I guess, and sharing helps us to understand ourselves.
I agree with you about personal preference; we have to trust our own palates. I like to hear how others handle and make their teas, so I can learn a new trick!
I loved hearing about your Romanian friend who likes Coke in their red wine–till now, I had only heard of that being done regularly in Asian countries, China in particular! A little like milk in tea.
Next tasting, I’ll get on board!
January 2nd, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Apologies for my late posting, tasting guidelines I’ve learned from reading the above postings are a little intimidating.
Morning Dew: Dry green leaf is light and delicate with a sweet but earthy aroma. A slight bitter taste lingers. A good early morning tea to awaken my tastebuds.
Margaret’s Hope: Dry leaf is an array of interesting little “twists” containing many shades: grey, amber, browns and black. Deep, rich aroma. I definitely smell some oily secretions but not sure what to call this! Love the taste of this tea. Very distinct if not a little dry after taste. I added a little milk on my second tasting which only added to my enjoyment.
Keem Hao Ya: Dry leaf is short and dark brown. The leaf has a sheen that collectively looks inviting. (I did not detect an aroma from the dry leaves of either of these black teas.) An initial sharp, woody and fruity flavor that quickly dissipates.
I prefer Margaret’s Hope for a fuller flavor.
Thank you for the opportunity to try these interesting teas.
January 3rd, 2008 at 12:37 am
Anne:
I should have perhaps been a little more careful in my comparing wine tasting to tea tasting. I appreciate there are still many variables involved I just feel that in my experience the variables in tea tasting can have a far greater effect on the end liquor.Possibly closer to sending out grapes and then having a tasting based on the end products. Aside from the storage of wine that you mention, although I think TChing takes care of this admirably by making sure everyone has tea from the same batch and drinks it with a fairly short time period, storage in a short time period should not make too much of an impact. The worlds of pu-erh or Japanese green appears to be as obsessed with storage as many wine lovers, if not more so. Pu-erh sits for years in a not much more than some paper or bamboo wraps so the conditions are paramount and oft disagreed upon.
January 3rd, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Proinsias, I agree with you that in a tasting of this sort, all product comes from the same source, and therefore that aspect should not change anything with regard to the tasting. In this day and age, shipping is fast, all tasters start at Ground Zero.
I know so little about tea that I can’t speak to all of the variables in tasting it (which is why I ask so many questions! : ) ).
As for storage, there is more involved with wine than meets the consumer’s eye; I have seen dramatic changes when a newly bottled wine goes through a normal “bottle shock”, for example, in a matter of weeks. But that kind of thing enters Nerd Territory, a place most consumers never enter…..like an ancient tea warehouse we never see. Still, we hope to enjoy the subtleties of pu-erh and other teas, whether we know the sticky details or not.
For the record, I hate the thought of a cup of tea (or glass of wine) that depends on a finicky handling or storage; on the other hand, most of us are spoiled by modern times, which have gone to great lengths to create packaging and “storage units” that allow us to not have to think about these things.
I think this is fodder for at least one other post!