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Favorite Teas Tasted In 2023

Posted: 2023-01-08

Tea was purhcased, tea was drunk, and I found some that I really liked that I had not tried before 2023. Without further adieu, here are my nine favorite teas I first tried in 2023.

  1. 2022 Earth Bound and Down
    the compressed tea cake sitting on it's white paper wrapper, on the wrapper there is a cartoon like drawing of a robot spaceman dark brown, gold, and tan leaves in a gaiwan the tea, dark caramel in color in a cup the steeped leaves

    Type: Ripe / Shou Puer

    Vender: Intergalactic Tea

    Dry Leaf Scent: Earth and wood

    Wet Leaf Scent: Earth, wood, bread, and a hint of chocolate

    Mouth Texture: Milky and watery, medium to thick body

    Taste: Earth, wood, milk, and a hint of chocolate

    This is a fantastic and very odd tea. Go with me on this.... For all my shou/ripe puer heads out there, imagine a woodsy tasting aged shou from say the late 90s or mid 00s but were the aged element of the aroma and the sweet finish of the taste are missing. There is a sweetness and it's not the aged sweetness. Imagine a tea that has the "character" of age, but was pressed last year and this is what you get with 2022 Earth Bound and Down. But you may be saying to yourself, well doesn't Lumber Slut have a similar thing going on? I would agree with you except for one thing, this tea is breaking my brain because the look of the cake does not correlate with a woodsy tea like LS or something from the late 90s or 00s. It looks like 2022 Peak Vulture or 2022 Night Shift but does not taste like either of those. This is an example of don't judge a book by it's cover. This tea is unique as hell and I love it. Sean at Intergalactic Tea has a gem in his hands with this tea.

  2. 1999 Kunming / CNNP 7581
    the compressed tea brick popping out of it's white paper wrapper, on the wrapper there is red border and red colored Chinese characters dark brown and tan leaves in a gaiwan the tea, caramel in color in a cup the steeped leaves

    Type: Ripe / Shou Puer

    Vender: Kunming Tea Factory (aka CNNP) via The Steeping Room

    Dry Leaf Scent: Earth and wood

    Wet Leaf Scent: Earth, wood, bread, plain donuts, and pencil shavings

    Mouth Texture: Milky, medium to thick body

    Taste: Wood, earth, and milk

    This classic ripe puer recipe from Kunming Tea Factory (aka CNNP) is a sought after one, especially as the recipe changed from 2000 onward. Simply put, I love this tea! It's really frickin good. Not as good as my dear Lumber Slut from white2tea or even the Late 90s Mystery brick (which I am almost out of sadly) from The Steeping Room, but darn good. In fact, I think when Paul from white2tea was thinking up the idea for Lumber Slut that this tea may have been his main reference point. I for sure am probably wrong, but the taste comparisons are without a doubt there in a big way. If you like earth and woodsy teas and if you can find it, get a hold of a sample or a brick.

  3. 2023 En Passant Mini
    the compressed tea mini sitting on it's tan colored wrapper that has the words En Passant written in red marker dark brown and tan mini in a gaiwan the tea, almost black in color in a cup the steeped leaves

    Type: Ripe / Shou Puer

    Vender: white2tea

    Dry Leaf Scent: Earth and wood

    Wet Leaf Scent: Plain donuts, chocolate, berries, earth, and wood

    Mouth Texture: Milky, medium to thick body

    Taste: Milk, cola, chocolate chip cookie, earth, and wood

    This is a damn fine ripe puer from white2tea. It actually reminds me of KUURA Cola from KUURA CORP. It has killer chocolate aftertaste that coats your tongue. This would make for a fantastic daily drinker that has been tested, and passed, for over 800 agrochemicals using the EU MRL standard.

  4. 2019 Stanley Nübrick
    a chunk of leaves from the brick, gold and dark brown in color, sitting in a brown gaiwan a close up of the chunk of leaves the tea, dark brown in color in a cup the steeped leaves

    Type: Ripe / Shou Puer

    Vender: West China Tea

    Dry Leaf Scent: Earth and Cheerios

    Wet Leaf Scent: Chocolate, earth, and Cheerios

    Mouth Texture: Milky, thick body

    Taste: Wood, earth, milk, and chocolate

    This is the first tea that I have tried from West China Tea and I really like 2019 Stanley Nübrick. It's milky and earthy with just a hint of chocolate. Damn good! It reminds me of 2022 Loon-Call in the Dark from white2tea which is high praise from me because that tea is banging. So-Han majorly scored when this tea ended up in his hands!

  5. That Camphor Cake
    the compressed tea cake in a white paper wrapper, on the wrapper there are Chinese characters dark brown and tan leaves in a gaiwan the tea, dark brown in color in a cup the steeped leaves opened up in the cup

    Type: Raw / Sheng Puer

    Vender: Liquid Proust

    Dry Leaf Scent: Campfire, wood, flowers

    Wet Leaf Scent: Campfire, wood, rice, and flowers

    Mouth Texture: Milky, thick body

    Taste: Milk, wood, rice, flowers, and just a hint of medicinal notes

    This cake from the late 90s or 2000 is a big boy, 400 grams, and I think I will love every bit of it. I have said before, sheng puer is not my go to genre of tea but I do like the older version of it. If it is from before 2005 I will probably really dig it. The taste is what you would expect for an aged raw with a flowery thing that lingers on the lips. No bitterness at all though, which I dig.

  6. Borderline Hong
    the twisted dark brown and gray leaves in a gaiwan a close up of the leaves the tea, brown in color in a cup the steeped leaves openned up and light brown in color

    Type: Black

    Vender: white2tea

    Dry Leaf Scent: Sugary cereal, hay, and a hint of chocolate

    Wet Leaf Scent: Grapenuts cereal, hay, chocolate, and a combination of stone fruits

    Mouth Texture: Milky, thick body

    Taste: Milk, cereal, and chocolate

    This is a great black tea, maybe my current all time favorite. It has a smooth taste and does not hit me hard like some black teas usually do.

  7. 6 Year Lapsang
    the twisted dark gray and brown leaves in a brown gaiwan a close up of the leaves the tea, brown in color in a cup the steeped leaves

    Type: Lapsang Black

    Vender: white2tea

    Dry Leaf Scent: Sugar, cereal, and chocolate

    Wet Leaf Scent: Sugar, cereal, hay, and chocolate

    Mouth Texture: Milky, thick body

    Taste: Milk, chocolate, and Cheerios

    I'm get strong hot chocolate and chocolate milk vibes from this one. Damn good!

  8. 2023 Glass House Mini
    the compressed tea mini of dark brown and tan leaves sitting on it's tan wrapper with a handrawn house on it the mini in a brown gaiwan the tea, dark brown in color in a cup the steeped leaves

    Type: Ripe / Shou Puer

    Vender: white2tea

    Dry Leaf Scent: Earth and cereal

    Wet Leaf Scent: Steamed pork dumplings, cereal, plain donut sweetness, chocolate, and earth

    Mouth Texture: Milky, thick body

    Taste: Milk, dark chocolate, rice, and earth

    Yes, this is a very milky tea that has a steamed pork dumpling scent to it, crazy! There is a very very very strong chance that I will be buying a cake of this great tea.

  9. Winter Firewood Green
    shiny green, brown, and redish brown leaves in a brown gaiwan a close up of the leaves the tea, yellow in color in a cup the leaves in water in the gaiwan

    Type: Green

    Vender: Intergalactic Tea

    Dry Leaf Scent: Hay, dried seaweed, and a plank of wood

    Wet Leaf Scent: Hay, dried seaweed, a plank of wood, the smell of a Christmas store, and apple pie with a hint of cinnamon

    Mouth Texture: Milky and watery, medium to thick body

    Taste: Milk, lemon, and the essence of apple pie

    This a really good and beautiful looking tea that is called a green tea, but, it is more like a green and white hybrid. This tea really wants to be a white tea. This seems to be a trend for the teas I have been drinking lately, teas that want to be another kind of tea. Oh well, back to the review. If you are looking for a lighter tea to drink on those cold days during the holiday season, this is the one you should reach for. This is a perfect tea to give mom on her birthday. Also, I did some long steeps and Winter Firewood Green can take it. It's super consistent.

In regards to the list above, I could have easily added 2023 and 2018 Lumber Slut to this list but I decided to only include those teas that were completely new to me.