I’ve had this one a few times, but even with a heaping teaspoon for a mug, the flavor ends up too bitey and astringent so I wanted to try with a flat teaspoon to see what would happen. Much better. A flat teaspoon is best! The leaves of this Yunnan are smaller sized with multiple brown colors, no gold — almost seems more like an Assam in both the look of the leaf and the flavor. It’s dark and crisp yet has that “juicy”, thirst quenching quality that only Assam has for me. It’s dusky and malty with hints of fruit… possibly cherry. A typical Yunnan to me is chocolate, honey, sweet potato and this is a very different tea than those flavor notes. I don’t taste any of those with this one! BUT the color of the brew DID remind me of milk chocolate. If only there were chocolate notes to this one… it would be wonderful to have a naturally tasting chocolate & cherries tea! So this isn’t your typical Yunnan, but delicious and hits that robust black tea craving.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 minute steep
This is You :-D
Profile
Bio
Hi! I love tea and trying new ones – it adds a bit of variety to my day! Books, music, TV & movies are my thing… and tea, of course.
Some of my favorite tea shops (still operating):
birdandblendtea.com
teavivre.com
52teas.com
svtea.com
whisperingpinestea.com
justea.com
harney.com
Dammann Freres
fusionteas.com
shop.Javateaco.com
Lupicia
Octaviatea.com
Davidstea.com
eco-cha.com
what-cha.com
singleoriginteas.com
teasenz.com
tealyra.com
Mandalatea.com
verdanttea.com
Favorite tea shops (RIP):
butikiteas.com
steapshoppe.com
steepcityteas.com
aquartertotea.com
dellaterrateas.com
zentealife.com
angrytearoom.com
theteamerchant.net
joysteaspoon.com
tealiciousllc.com
Rivertea
Specialteas
My icon photo is Richard Mayhew from the graphic novel ‘Neverwhere’ by Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry.
Most of the teas listed in my cupboard are actually sample sizes. I don’t really have 2,000 ounces of tea around here! Many of my teas have only one teaspoon left… maybe two. But I like keeping them in my cupboard list for reference to what I could be sipping. Usually, I write tasting notes once for each tea. I’m still drinking them, just not writing tasting notes each time!
I’m always in search of: Hattialli, Qu Hao black, Jin Jun Mei, teas using marshmallow root.
My dislikes: hibiscus, ginger (unless in chai), turmeric, bee pollen, charcoal type flavors
My ratings:
95-100 – Super awesome deliciousness favorites – cupboard essential
80-95 – Also pretty delicious
65-80 – Pretty good
50-65 – Okay
1-50 – Probably won’t want to sip it again
I’m planning on being a Steepsterer as long as there IS a Steepster, so if you’re not hearing from me, that means something happened to my health… if you know what I mean. (Or as evidenced by the great computer hiatus of 2019, something happened to my computer… I have a dumb phone so can’t access internet on that. As of 12/20/21 my wifi might start getting unreliable.)
Happy sipping!
Location
USA
Not sure if I’ve had this but I love Simpson and Vail teas in general. They sell good stuff.
Yep, S&V almost always delicious!
Laoshan Roasted Oolong by Verdant is ridiculously choc-cherry tasting and completely natural! One of my top teas ever.