Acidity

A Sweet Aged Sheng That’s Approachable and Butter-Laden

Feb

A Sweet Aged Sheng That’s Approachable and Butter-Laden

Time to spill: This aged sheng isn’t about complexity—it’s about comfort. Brewed in a duanni pot with water just off boil, the first wash reveals a sweet butter cookie aroma that lingers like a memory. Steep one: light and buttery, with whispers of baked goods and a faint pipe tobacco note. The sweetness evolves, turning into fresh whipped cream, while the buttery character stays intact. Steep two adds a touch of old straw dipped in sugar, caramel, and powdered-sugar donuts, all balanced by a light astringency. By steep three, the profile stabilizes—sweetness and straw blend with turbinado sugar and whipped…

A First Encounter with Pu’er’s Earthy Charisma

Feb

By ADMIN@CoffeeWineTea.com

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Tea Factsacidity, Father, This, What

A First Encounter with Pu’er’s Earthy Charisma

There’s a quiet alchemy in the first sip of a well-aged pu’er—raw, unpolished, and full of secrets. This 2024 Caledonia offering arrived as a freebie with a W2T order, a curious gift for someone who’d yet to explore heicha. The tea’s early days were marked by a stubborn pile aroma, that earthy tang of compressed leaves, but by the third steep, it softened into something more refined. It’s a gentle awakening, like the first breath of a storm clearing. The body is medium, with a slickness that clings to the tongue, almost oily in its presence. The wet leaves exude…

The Musty Mystery of Xiaguan’s 2004 Nanzhao Tuo

Feb

By ADMIN@CoffeeWineTea.com

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Tea Factsacidity, Father, Nanzhao, This

The Musty Mystery of Xiaguan’s 2004 Nanzhao Tuo

Pour yourself a cup for this one: The Xiaguan 2004 Nanzhao tuo raw puer is a revelation—or a riddle. This is your first encounter with a traditionally Taiwan-stored sheng pu’er, and it’s doing something strange. No smokiness, no immediate wow factor, just a slow unraveling of flavors that feel more like a mystery than a masterpiece. The tea’s evolution is deliberate, its character shaped by decades in a paper box. The first steep is a whisper of light sweetness, like a bakery note caught in a breeze. It’s clean, almost too clean, but the second steep introduces a musty basement…

Feb

By ADMIN@CoffeeWineTea.com

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Tea Factsacidity, Father, This, What, Would

A Vintage Puerh’s Quiet Awakening

Let’s talk about the eerie dance between time and terroir. This 2005 Tulin Phoenix Special raw puerh isn’t just a tea—it’s a conversation with its past. The first sip is a jolt of old paper and diesel, a scent that lingers like a half-remembered memory. It’s not unpleasant, but it’s a warning: this tea hasn’t fully shaken off its storage history. The initial steepings are all flash and little substance, like a bookshelf of dusty tomes that only reveal their secrets after hours of patience. By the third steep, things start to shift. The old-paper note softens, giving way to…

Why Aged Sheng Pu’erh Feels Like a Mystery to Many

Feb

By ADMIN@CoffeeWineTea.com

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Tea Factsacidity, Aged, But, California, Father

Why Aged Sheng Pu’erh Feels Like a Mystery to Many

Here’s something to stir your curiosity: The same pu'erh that dazzles in its youth can feel like a riddle in its maturity. For most drinkers, young sheng is a revelation—bright, floral, and alive with citrus and stone fruit notes. But aged sheng? It’s a different beast, one that lingers in the background of many palates. If you’ve ever wondered why some folks swear by the aged stuff while others can’t stand it, you’re not alone. The divide starts with oxidation. Young sheng is like a just-bloomed flower—its flavors are sharp, vibrant, and full of potential. Over time, oxidation transforms it.…

The Blind Tasting That Turned Beijing into a Wine Lab

Feb

By ADMIN@CoffeeWineTea.com

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Wine Factsacidity, Burgundy, Chinese, Father, French

The Blind Tasting That Turned Beijing into a Wine Lab

If you’ve ever wondered how a city’s soul reveals itself through wine, Beijing’s latest blind tasting event offered a masterclass. Four tasters, six bottles, and a room buzzing with the tension of guessing origins—this wasn’t just a tasting. It was a collision of terroir, expectation, and the quiet rebellion of blind tasting. The lineup? A mix of Burgundy, Chinese vintages, Southern French blends, and Italian appassimento. The results? A mix of elegance, surprise, and a few moments of quiet confusion. The Domaine Chanson bottling from Burgundy was the textbook example of restraint. Sour cherry and raspberry on the nose, with…

A Burgundy Boldness: Philippe Charlopin’s 2022 Clos Vougeot

Feb

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Wine Factsacidity, Burgundy, Charlopin, Father, Pinotage

A Burgundy Boldness: Philippe Charlopin’s 2022 Clos Vougeot

This bottle arrived in my kitchen from a Tokyo warehouse, a relic of a vintage that’s been dubbed “solar intensity” by critics. Philippe Charlopin’s Clos Vougeot is a case study in modernist Burgundy—bold, unapologetic, and utterly thrilling. The 2022 vintage is a beast, with its dense, ripe fruit and brooding aromatics that scream of sun-drenched vines. Charlopin’s approach here is clear: he’s not chasing elegance, he’s crafting a wine that thrives on power. The nose is a swirl of dark medicinal cherry, fleshy plum, and a violet floral note that lingers like a whisper. Oak and vanilla add a glossy…

A Forgotten Bottle of 2002 Matrot Puligny-Montrachet: The Aged White Burgundy Revelation

Feb

By ADMIN@CoffeeWineTea.com

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Wine Factsacidity, Burgundy, Father, Montrachet, Yet

A Forgotten Bottle of 2002 Matrot Puligny-Montrachet: The Aged White Burgundy Revelation

If you’ve ever wondered what happens when time turns a Burgundy white into something otherworldly, here’s your first lesson: age doesn’t always sweeten the deal—it can rewrite the rules. I stumbled upon a 2002 Matrot Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru “Les Chalumeaux” in a dusty corner of a local store’s cellar, its label faded but its story intact. The bottle, priced at $50, was a gamble—a relic from a producer I’d never heard of, buried under decades of dust. I took it home, not knowing what to expect, but armed with a notebook and a hunger for discovery. The wine’s condition was…

The Unfiltered Truth About Nicosia’s Coffee Scene

Feb

By ADMIN@CoffeeWineTea.com

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Lifestyleacidity, Demetris, Father, Nicosia, Utu

The Unfiltered Truth About Nicosia’s Coffee Scene

Get ready to sip on this: In Nicosia, the difference between a chain coffee and a specialty brew is less about price and more about the science of bitterness. Christos Soteriou, a local coffee enthusiast, admits that Starbucks’ Americano is a decent fallback when no better options exist—until you add a pinch of salt to cut the harshness. This trick, he says, transforms the drink into something “at least halfway-drinkable.” But it’s not just about survival; it’s about the broader debate over what defines “good” coffee in a city where chains dominate the landscape. Nicosia’s specialty scene, led by shops…

Mastering the Grind: A Coffee Enthusiast’s Upgrade Journey

Jan

By ADMIN@CoffeeWineTea.com

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Coffee Factsacidity, Breville, Father, Profitec

Mastering the Grind: A Coffee Enthusiast’s Upgrade Journey

Listen up: Upgrading from the Breville Barista Express to the Profitec Go wasn’t just a swap—it was a leap into the unknown. After three years of tinkering with the Breville, I traded familiarity for ambition, embracing the Profitec’s raw power. The learning curve? Steep. But the payoff? A pursuit of the holy grail: the perfect 1:2 ratio in 25-30 seconds. The Profitec’s extraction is a study in contrasts. At 18 grams in, it delivers 36 grams out—a textbook 1:2 ratio—but the path isn’t linear. There’s a brief phase of channeling, where the shot hesitates before coalescing into a steady stream.…