Red Tea/Hongcha Recommendations?
Hey folks. I am looking for a replacement to use in my yixing pot seasoned for red teas. I was using Andrews & Dunham’s Yunnan Gold Tips, limited year of the horse tin. I’m nearly out of it and my experience with red teas is not extensive, so I am reaching out for recommendations. Anyone know of any teas similar to it? Especially if you have tried it or have a tin of it at home.
I’d say so far my tastes lean more toward Yunnan than Fujian, though the Jin Jun Mei I had from Yezi Tea the other day was really impressive and has my attention.
I am really curious to try a red tea that is comprised of all gold tips, something like Golden Fleece from Verdant. I have yet to try one like that. What are they like in comparison to other reds with fewer gold tips?
I’d be interested in trying more red teas with a honey/orchid/fruit slant to them as opposed to malty/bready/cocoa type flavors, though I know most have some of both of those qualities.
I guess I’m going to just have to peruse some samples for a bit to figure it out, but need a good direction to start.
Cheers!
Teavivre has a lot of yummy ones and should be having their New Year sale soon. They are great about samples… So I would go that route. They probably even have a sample pack.
Golden fleece was yummy, but kinda pricey. I haven’t gotten it in yet, but I ordered a ton of blacks from Yunnan Sourcing and they have some very golden looking ones there for much less $$$.
I have heard good thing about Whatcha too, and I think they have a sale on blacks until midnight, and small sample sizes.
Idk just a start. I have less xp than most of the folks here.
I would highly recommend trying this out: http://what-cha.com/black-tea/nepal-2nd-flush-2014-golden-tips-black-tea/
This one is also excellent, with some fruitier notes: http://what-cha.com/black-tea/fujian-golden-buds-tan-yang-gongfu-black-tea/
The Finest Brew’s Jin Jun Mei is delicious and on sale http://thefinestbrew.com/collections/black-teas/products/jin-jun-mei?variant=1003409811
Their Jin Ya is also excellent, though currently out of stock.
I really, really like this one, though it leans more towards the malty side of things. They also have one that’s all tips but were sold out of when I went to buy so I didn’t get to try it http://www.theteaemporium.com/shop/yunnan-imperial/
I’d very much recommend Yunnan Sourcing’s black teas. Great quality for price and a big selection of diverse flavors. Their Ailao High Mountain is killer, more on the mineral/fruity side than most. The Golden Needle is very good and a more “standard” Yunnan black taste.
Teavivre, Mandala, Verdant, and Whispering Pines have some great blacks as well. Yezi has excellent Fujian blacks.
Tippier black teas are generally smoother and milder
I’ve had Golden Fleece and Yunnan Sourcing’s Gold Needle – I like YS’ a bit more, especially for the price http://yunnansourcing.com/en/yunnan-black-teas/3087-imperial-gold-needle-yunnan-black-tea-autumn-2014.html (sold out on the US site, so after shipping it might be the same price)
But yeah, I prefer the all gold tips more – the texture is impressively smooth and thick. The tea is really pretty too!
I’d also recomend trying a broad swath of yunnan sourcing’s blacks, they’re mostly all pretty great, My favorites so far are Yi Mei Ren (dark fruit,chocolate, super sweet) and Imperial Mojiang (very rich and honey-ey pure bud golden dian hong), their Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong (the non-smoked one), premium Jin Jun Mei, and Yunnan Black Gold were all very good too. Though I still have lots to try, they all look so good, I really want to try some of their wild arbor assamica blacks next.
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