Tag: Teakan

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Teakan’s Rare Willow White

Rare Willow White by Teakan
White Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 60g

Rare Willow White is part of Teakan’s Volume 4 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Rare Willow White makes up 10g of the 60g kit.

First Impressions

Rare Willow White comes in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch with a very familiar label. Unsurprisingly, Rare Willow White is a white tea. This particular one comes from Maipokhari, Ilam, Nepal. Fun fact, the tea industry began in that region back in 1863 and Nepal is responsible for producing 16.23 million kilograms of tea every year – with the majority being grown in Ilam. Rare Willow White is a 2nd flush tea harvested in 2020.

The leaves are long, wiry, with a great mix of colorus from cream, spring green, olive, brown, and a deep brown that’s almost black. There’s a great range in colours here, which makes it a such joy to look at. There’s a light floral sweetness to it, which makes it kind of enticing.

Preparation

Teakan recommends two different steeping temperatures for Rare Willow White. For those steeping western style, Teakan recommends 75°C (167°F) water for 1 minute. For those opting to go the gongfu route, they recommend 80°C (176°F) water for 15 seconds.

I opted to go the western style as it’s easier for me to pour and steep for 1 minute versus 15 seconds.

First Taste

Rare Willow White steeps to a light yellow. The aroma is lightly floral. This white tea steeps smooth – it has a nice mouthfeel to it with zero astringency or bitterness when steeped for 1 minute. The flavour is floral, with a hint of fruitiness and just a touch of sweetness. Nothing too overwhelming, but it helps accent the floral notes. It has a bit of a crispness to it, and it’s just a very easy tea to drink.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Rare Willow White six times (seven steeps total with the same leaves). The tea itself became a darker golden yellow as I went, and the floral notes got stronger, with a heavier fruity undertone as I steeped. It was still very easy to drink, and I liked tasting the very subtle differences between each steep. I found that the flavour began to wane by the third resteep (fourth steep total), but it was still palatable by the sixth resteep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Rare Willow White. Honestly, what a treat to try a white tea from Nepal – especially one that just resteeps so well and has a great flavour to it. I love the light sweetness that mingles well with the floral and fruity notes. Rare Willow White certainly has a great flavour, aroma, and the leaves are pretty to look at as well. I definitely enjoyed this one hot, but also had a cup of it cooled down with ice and it does well as an iced tea as well.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Teakan’s Anji Baicha

Anji Baicha by Teakan
Green Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 60g

Anji Baicha is part of Teakan’s Volume 4 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Anji Baicha makes up 15g of the 60g kit.

First Impressions

This is the first of five reviews from Teakan’s Volume 4 Exploration Kit – featuring all single origin teas. This one is Anji Baicha, which is a green tea that came in a kraft paper pouch that’s sealed and resealable. As always, the labelling is minimalistic, while providing just enough information to allow you to gain a bit of knowledge and appreciate the tea.

Anji Baicha has amazing leaves – they’re very long and straight and the leaves themselves are a bright spring green and feel like that there’s a tight roll to the leaves. There’s a sweet floral aroma to the leaves and it’s honestly just lovely to look at. Anji Baicha is from Anji, Zhejiang, China. This green tea was harvested just spring of this year (2021). The detailing in the leaves is amazing, I love that I can see the vein definition in the individual leaves and the floral aroma is just lovely.

Preparation

Teakan recommends steeping in 80°C (176°F) water for 1 minute for western style steeping, and just 20 seconds for gongfu style steeping. i opted to do western style steeping and followed the steeping instructions.

First Taste

After just one minute of steeping, Anji Baicha is a very pale yellow (not surprised). The aroma is light and floral. The tea itself has a soft floral flavour to it, it has a sweetness to it and a thin texture to it. It’s pleasant to drink and leaves a sweet aftertaste that’s not overly sweet (like syrup). It reminds me a lot of the sweetness from maple syrup (not ‘syrup’). Funnily enough, there’s a note on the label from Teakan that says “Why isn’t this a white tea?” and I’m inclined to agree! It has a lot of characteristics that reminds me of a white tea – it’s a bit of a blend to me in characteristics between a white and a green tea. Tasty, nonetheless.

A Second Cup?

I opted to resteep Anji Baicha for a total of seven times (eight steeps total) – adding thirty seconds for each subsequent steep. The flavour gets deeper as the colouring also gets darker (Anji Baicha becomes a deeper golden yellow). It has a beautiful flavour to it, and just check out the beautiful leaves (!). I just love how much the leaves have opened up – the detailing in the leaves are gorgeous.

My Overall Impression

I loved Teakan’s Anji Baicha. It was a great first experience with the teas from the Volume 4 Exploration Kit. Anji Baicha has a great flavour, enticing aroma, and resteeps beautifully. You don’t need a lot to go a long way in terms of flavour, and the leaves are a treat to experience. I would highly recommend resteeping this green tea; it helps that the leaves are of a good quality and I think that nice floral sweetness would translate well as an iced tea as well if you wanted to cold steep Anji Baicha.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

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Teakan’s Sheng (raw) Pu’er

Sheng (raw) Pu’er by Teakan
Pu’erh Tea / Straight
$30.00 for 66g

Sheng (raw) Pu’er is part of Teakan’s Volume 3 Exploration Kit, a collection of five single origin teas. Sheng (raw) Pu’er makes up 16g of the 66g kit.

First Impressions

Sheng (raw) Pu’er comes in a sealed, resealable kraft paper pouch. There is that familiar labelling from Teakan, and I’m sad that this is the last of the teas from Volume 3 for me to review. I saved the pu’erh for last because I find pu’erh teas to be the most intimidating. I know a lot of people either really love or really dislike pu’erh and I’m one of those people who sort of falls in the middle. I love some pu’erh, and think others are kind of awful and lead to a terrible taste in my mouth.

Sheng Pu’er comes in a flat square puck. The colouring of the leaves is quite pretty  – there’s a huge variation in colour from pale cream to greens and browns. It’s honestly really quite nice to look at. Sheng Pu’er is from Yongde, Yunnan, China and was harvested in spring 2020 – so it hasn’t had a very long time to age. The tea itself has a very strong aroma to it – it reminds me a lot of dark green leafy vegetables (think gailan, broccoli, brussel sprouts).

Preparation

Teakan recommends using 2.5g for western style steeping, using 90°C (194°F) water for 3 minutes or 4g for gongfu style steeping, using 90°C (194°F) water for a rinse, followed by a 10-15 second steep.

If you don’t have a scale, it’s pretty easy. As each puck is 8g, you’ll either use approximately ¼ for western style steeping or ½ for gongfu style steeping. I opted to do western style steeping and did an initial steep for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Sheng Pu’er initially steeps to a nice yellow colour. It has a strong aroma that is earthy, floral, and still reminding me of dark green leafy vegetables. The flavour is surprisingly floral, with an earthy/mushroom-y flavour to it. There is an interesting mouthfeel to it, it’s full-bodied, with an almost drying texture in my mouth. The tea itself has a bit of an astringency that lasts from mid sip to the aftertaste. The mild umami notes from the mushroom notes really give it a savoury kick.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Sheng Pu’er five times, adding an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. The colouring of the tea itself got darker, becoming a deep, almost brownish orange. The flavour of Sheng Pu’er gets more earthy and vegetal, and less floral. That astringency I found in the initial steep continues throughout and doesn’t put me off (surprisingly).

My Overall Impression

I liked Teakan’s Sheng Pu’er. I’m not a huge pu’erh tea drinker – and this is something that I completely own up to. That said, I did enjoy drinking Sheng Pu’er and the ability to resteep it and taste it as it subtly shifts in flavour was a real treat. I don’t think it’s one that I’ll have stocked in the tea stash, if only because pu’erh isn’t something that I routinely reach for (maybe that’ll change one day, and then I’ll be kicking myself for not having more of it).

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.