Rah's Thoughts on Tea

Teas Unique Korean Mt. Jiri Sejak(Second Pluck) Organic Single Estate Whole Leaf Green Tea

Origin: Mt. Jiri, Hadong County, Gyeongnam Province, Korea

Dry Leaves:  The leaves are quite small and have a fairly dark blueish-green color with bits of gray towards the twisted tips. The dry leave was quite pretty, but it had quite a weak aroma. 

First Steeping

Temperature: 180^oF

Brewing Time: One Minute

Aroma: Bell Pepper

Flavor: Cold Zucchini, Cold Soybeans and Brown Rice

Tasting Notes: I’ll admit I was immediately worried about how high the recommended brewing temperature was (and I am sad to admit that I did use the remainder of my sample to brew at a lower temperature and understand why Teas Unique recommends brewing at such a high temperature), but I did and it seems that most of the teas that I have sampled from Teas Unique can take quite a beating. 

The flavor was quite interesting; initially I had quite a bit of trouble describing what I tasted when my notes were entirely my feelings. I kept thinking of a hot lazy summer day and light vegetal notes. I ended up describing this tea as having a cold zucchini and cold soybean taste, but there was something crisp about it (think crisp apple), it feels like it would be perfect with a light vinegar drizzle.

Second Steeping

Temperature: 180^oF

Brewing Time: One Minute and Thirty Seconds

Aroma: Bell Pepper

Flavor: Soybeans and Brown Rice

Tasting Notes: The bell pepper nose is still weak, but it is developing. While this tea still has quite a crisp taste to it, the initial zucchini taste is entirely gone.

Third Steeping

Temperature: 185^oF

Brewing Time: Two Minutes

Aroma: Vegetal

Flavor: Brown Rice and Vegetal

Tasting Notes: The bell pepper nose has become either so light that I can no longer distinguish it or it has become murky, I am not sure which one I finally decided on. As for the taste, the vegetal notes from the previous steeping are still present, but no longer as developed. Although the brown rice notes that have been present since the beginning is still there, but has developed into quite an interesting thing, it sort of reminds me as a cross between a lightly roasted savory senbei and a sesame Jonbyong roll.

I am a little disappointed with this tea, I feel that I did this tea big disservice by not brewing this tea as long as Teas Unqiue recommended and using the remainder of my sample to brew at a much lower time and shorter steep, but I suppose that is what happens when one let’s follow one’s experiences before those of others. Regardless I rather liked this tea, it isn’t the punchiest of teas, but it is one of those teas that is a perfect complement to so many things.

Origin: Darjeeling

So I decided to try What-Cha’s Darjeeling Second Flush 2014 Goomtee Oolong after trying What-Cha’s Silver Oolong from Nepal. I still have a couple Indian teas that I’ve been meaning to try, but I decided to try this first since I haven’t had many Indian oolongs and I am always willing to try new things, even if it is from a region I have a sordid relationship with.

Dry Leaves: It doesn’t look very oolong-y, but I am not that familiar with Indian oolongs. There was a muscatel aroma that I enjoyed; I tend to prefer second flush and later Indian greens because of the muscatel aromas/tastes.

First Steeping

Temperature: 194^oF

Brewing Time: Three Minutes

Aroma: Floral and Orange

Flavor: Violet, Citrus and Spice

Tasting Notes: It reminds me a little of the Nepal Silver Oolong, but much rougher. It has floral and orange notes, but it is much darker and has a lovely spice taste. I was not expecting much from this because I am not really all that into Indian teas, but this was quite nice.

Second Steeping

Temperature: 194^oF

Brewing Time: Three and a half Minutes

Aroma: Floral and Orange 

Flavor: Violet, Orange, Pepper and Woodsy

Tasting Notes: There is a new woodsy taste to it and the spice from the last infusion became distinctly peppery. This was my favorite of the three infusions. I am starting to warm up to the idea of Indian teas. I rather enjoy the Peppery and Woodsy tastes mingling while the Violet and Orange are rather sharp.

Third Steeping

Temperature: 194^oF

Brewing Time: Four Minutes

Aroma: Floral and Orange

Flavor: Orange, Pepper and Woodsy

Tasting Notes:  There still is some life left in these leaves, but this was my final steeping. It started to become to watery for me.

I rather enjoyed this, even though I am not known for my love of Indian teas this was rather nice. It is a little surprising I tend to dislike Darjeeling teas, but this may be the exception; regardless I may have to not judge Indian teas as harshly, at least Indian oolongs. And at the time of writing this it is on sale $10.80 for 50g (original price $13.50), I think it is worth checking out at either the sale price or the normal price and if Alistair sources the 2015 harvest from this estate I’ll have to check it out.