Moonlight White from Bana Tea Company

2007 vintage from last spring harvest

Raw pu'erh, Grade 1

Production area: Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan Province
Vendor: Bana Tea Company
Taste characteristics from the Bana Tea's website: "This tea is produced using a special technique wherein the leaves are dried at night, allowing a slight amount of oxidation. The result is a peach-yellow colored tea that exudes a mellow nectarine flavor. The aroma permeates the room as the tea is brewed and the taste is very pleasing, particularly in the morning or afternoon."

3rd infusion

6th infusion 

Assam Orthodox SFTGFOP

Vendor: Natureal Tea

2nd Flush 2009 from single estate in Upper Assam

An 8 Oz package was sent to me by Natureal Tea last year. Hadn't gotten a chance to try it until today, partly because I don't drink black tea as often as I used to do. For today brew, I used a 100 ml gaiwan instead of a regular western-style pot. As I am not a big fan of a strong tea, I steeped the leaf less than 1 minute, a lot shorter than the brewing time suggested by the vendor. 

I loved the color of the brew and was pleasantly surprised by the malty taste. It was smooth-tasting liquor and had good body. Delicious. 

Organic Tenryucha Shincha

Fukamushi shincha 

Varietal: 100% Yabukita

Origin: Tenryu, Shizuoka

This deep steamed shincha was from the 2010 season. I went overboard in ordering shincha last year and quickly realized that I couldn't use it up as planned. Even if I drank shincha every day! So I decided to store some of them in the fridge for later consumption by placing unopened bags in a pyrex container, then wrapped the pyrex tightly in a thick dark colored kitchen towel. I am pleased to find that my shincha hold up well so far.

Today I brewed the tea by eyeballing everything; the water temperature, the brewing time and the weight of the dry leaf. The first steep produced a mild and smooth taste note with a light umami. But we liked the taste of the second brew the most. The sweet and distinct umami flavor of the second brew put a big smile on my and my husband's face. We continued brewing this tea until it completely lost its kick by the fifth brew. 

Some information about this tea (from Yuuki-Cha website): Tenryucha is an organic deep steamed (fukamushi) sencha that is high grown in a secluded mountainous area of the famous Tenryu tea growing district of Shizuoka. The mountains of Tenryu are blessed with a beautiful environment, pure water, rich soil, plenty of sunshine and deep mist. These elements are vital for producing quality organic sencha, therefore, a number of Shizuoka organic tea farmers ply their trade in Tenryu. Just as vital is formulating compost that will supply the tea bushes with sufficient nutrition. The farmer of this organic sencha has put a great deal of time and effort into formulating compost that really brings out a nice approachable flavor in his tea.


The leaf has been deep steamed (fukamushi sencha), but not on the heavy side, it maintains good appearance. The tea liquor is an attractive light-green to lime-green color which is the norm for high grown organic Yabukita that has been carefully deep steamed, and sun-grown without the use of chemical fertilizers. 

2003 Raw Wild Puerh - Tea Masters

This tea was delicious! Loved the aroma of the dried leaves -  smelled a little bit like medjool dates. After a quick rinse, the tea was brewed in a 100 ml gaiwan, shorter steep. The light amber color of the brew was also pretty.

Vendor: Tea Masters

Origin: Yiwu, Yunnan

Harvest year: Spring 2003