Thoughts on Tea Tea Inventory This here is an overview off all teas that have been tasted, with variables and notes pertaining to their preparation. Teas are colored by type Black Green White Oolong/Gaba Pu Erh Tea Temperature* Initial Stewing Time Increment per Infusion Vendor Ruby Black 87°C (95°C) 15s 5s Meileaf Ancient Haze 87°C (95°C) 20s 10s Meileaf Honeycomb Black** 95°C 25s 5s Meileaf Ruby-Gaba 99°C 20s 5s Meileaf Swallows Nest 99°C 25s 5s Meileaf Stone Milk 99°C 30s 5s Meileaf Old Tree Silver Needle 87°C (90°C) 30s 10s Meileaf Guangxi Silver Needle 80°C 60s 20s Yoshien Young Gushu 23 95°C 20s 5s Meileaf Little Tong Mu Meileaf Imperial Green Meileaf Superior Iron Goddess Meileaf Autumn Light Meileaf Laoshan Green Meileaf Alishan Cream Meileaf White Peony Meileaf * in format: my temperature (officially recommended temp), no brackets if equal ** I add sugar to these teas Additional Notes Guangxi Silver Needle Yoshien just specifies "2min." for stewing time, so stewing times are my best guess. Tasting Log Ruby Gaba Gaba-tea (roasted under inert atmosphere) of Ruby 18 Taste High amount of astringency Strong roasted notes (as is typical of oolong) Juicy notes Acidity Rating It's fine, but doesn't blow me away like Ruby Black. I never was a big fan of oolong, so maybe it's just that. Swallows Nest Rock Oolong of Rou Gui leaves Leaves got crushed in shipping, so taste may not representative. Taste Extremely strong (probably because the leaves got a bit crushed in shipping) Tastes like a whiskey barrel without the alcohol Slight fruity notes Some herbs Maybe even a hint of cinnamon? Rating Usually I'm not a fan of oolong-teas, but I actually quite like this one. The usual taste of plain roasted leaves is transformed into something akin to a whiskey barrel, which creates a rich and layered taste. Good tea, may buy more. Stone Milk Rock oolong from Shi Ru leaves Taste Very gentle taste (for oolong) Creamy mouthfeel, actually feels like milk (tastes very different of course) High minerality Roasted leaves Rating Surprisingly mellow and gentle oolong, with a strong minerality. Like licking some friendly rocks. Not a very deeply layered taste, but good for some relaxed drinking. Ruby Black Black tea of Ruby 18 leaves Taste Strong notes of camphor Moderately high minerality and astringency Subdued cinnamon sweet notes If you look for it, you can even detect hints of eucalyptus Nice floral and spice notes Rating I love this tea. It to me represents the essence of what a black tea is, and I like black tea the most already. At first the camphor dominates, but with more infusions the more subdued notes take the stage and create a deeply layered drinking experience. Still easily my favorite tea. Ancient Haze Black tea of Ye Sheng Dehongensis leaves Taste Extremely fresh and refreshing Juicy and fruity Notes of various citrus fruits Hints of hops Rating Very nice black tea. Extremely refreshing with a decently deep flavor profile. I like it a lot. Honeycomb Black Black tea of Da Ye Zhong leaves Taste Bread No really, it's like I made tea of old toast Malty notes Hint of dark chocolate Rating Bread. On it's own I don't like it that much, but if you add a bit of sugar it very nicely complements and softens the rather dry bready flavor and transform it to something like a honeyed pastry. Old Tree Silver Needle White Tea of Da Ye Zhong leaves. Taste Fresh fruit notes Hint of camphor As it cools down a pudding-like note appears Pudding-taste gets stronger with the first few infusions Fresh and creamy mouthfeel Rating Fresh and gentle notes with a interesting and deep flavor profile, that also changes a good amount with each infusion. I like it a lot, very good white tea. Young Gushu 23 Raw Puerh from the year '23 Taste Fresh, leafy Green tea Apple (?) skin Rating Very refreshing and comfortable to drink. Doesn't have the "moldy" notes some Puerh teas tend to have. Pretty good