Yunnan Golden Buds

My physical therapist is challenging me. This morning I came in complaining of less pain so of course he had to add a bunch of challenging new exercises to my PT regime, which was already tough to begin with. At least I am making progress but I will probably be in pain for the rest of the day, I can already feel it coming on!

I haven’t had this tea for a while. It brews up to be a reddish-brown color and is very sweet and mild. This isn’t really a black tea, definitely more of a red tea. With various sips I am really picking up on the cinnamon/spicy flavor but in my mind there is something fruity about this as well as an underlying woodiness. This is a good one to try if you like you teas without additions because it definitely doesn’t need any.

Beautiful leaves; thick, delicious smell.

I made this tea up in a gaiwan over many several steepings, and it was excellent; everything I could have hoped a golden needle could be. The very first golden needle I ever tried was ridiculously good and spicy and complex, so it set the bar for me very high. Every other golden needle I’ve tried afterwards has fallen short, except for this one. This was so relaxing and satisfying to drink, because it honored my first memories of Yunnan Golden Buds, and was as delicious as I could ever want! This is doubly excellent, because I only have about an ounce and a half left of that very first YGB, so now I can feel free to drink it at will and just replace it with this. Hoorah!

The first steeping of this tea was quiet and surprising: honey candy. It was as if we’d steeped a piece of honey candy for three minutes, and added some honey to our cups for good measure.
The second steeping is where this tea really opens up and commands your attention. The cinnamon and spices have come right in, and they are a pleasure to discover. In my notes, I wrote down that I felt like I was wrapped in a blanket of spices. It is lightweight, but absolutely strong.

The texture is creamy, and the aftertaste feels like something is evaporating off of the tongue. As I continued to steep, a surprising floral taste establishes itself. The florals are dark, the kind you would taste in dark chocolate, though this doesn’t have any particular cocoa for me. It feels like a guilty pleasure to drink at this point. I imagine someone grinning, checking the room with shifty conspiratorial eyes, and then indulging in the cup, quite delighted to find that no one is going to come and take it away.

Simply my ideal Yunnan Golden Buds.

Tried this again in the gaiwan with more leaves. The floral notes and spiciness are decidedly stronger this way, and the honey is a background supporting flavor. I find this tea changes more over time if I use a normal amount of leaves in my gaiwan, but there are definitely days in the coming fall where I will want to use a little more leaf for a more intense experience.

I have since tried this iced, and it is DARN GOOD. The billowy, full texture is exquisite (I keep wanting to say mellifluous, even though that only applies to sound; however, it is the texture of mellifluous sounds that I am tasting here). Even better- I do not feel guilty making this iced, because it is several dollars cheaper per oz. than the lower quality YGB’s available at my local teahouses.

This one is just alright in my opinion, definitely not one of my favorites from Verdant. I’m sure that it is a high quality tea, it’s just not really appealing to me (at least at this point). More than anything, it tastes like citrus and it is a bit creamy, but it seems a little too astringent and it’s reminding me of some bagged orange pekoe teas I’ve had. Of course I’ll keep playing around with what’s left of the ounce I bought, and I’ll come back with a rating later. Maybe my expectations are too high after the Golden Fleece and Zhu Rong black.

Honey. Clover. (Maybe clover honey?) As it steeps, I’m getting something that reminds me of skiing in Steamboat Springs, CO. It’s mouthwatering…

1st steeping (4 min, boiling water): Honey. Slightly creamy. Now I’m getting a wave of cocoa—this IS like chocolate milk! Also, the clover is coming through. Still gives me the taste of skiing in Steamboat, and because that’s kind of confusing, I’ll explain: Every year around spring break, my family and another family that we’re all best friends with (the family we choose) go skiing in Steamboat, CO. Every year except for one we get completely dumped on with an out-of-the-blue late-season blizzard, and we get to ski in 3 foot deep powder to our hearts’ content. Pretty lucky. There’s this sunscreen/anti-windburn stick we always put on our faces when we’re out there, and the smell of it—whatever essential oils are in it—takes me back to bright shiny morning, riding up the gondola, wrapped up in base layers, coats, mittens, pants, gaiters, helmets, goggles, clipping into bindings and launching off into another adventure that gives meaning to life. It’s one of the sweetest memories I have.

Now does that make sense?

2nd steeping (4 min 45 sec, boiling water): Something I forgot to mention in the first steeping—the cocoa taste reminds me of the chocolate milk I would get at a diner I went to on some special mornings with my mom when I was little. I never got chocolate milk pre-made anywhere else (I claimed it tasted like cardboard), but I got it here and it was delicious.
Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled programming. Same mouthwatering aroma while it’s steeping…I’m probably going to use my coupon to get more of this…upon sipping, the cocoa taste is predominant, still with the delicious clover honey note, and wow, this is fantastic.

3rd steeping (~6 min, boiling water): The cocoa has receded a little and the clover honey’s coming back. Mmmm. This is a more subtle sweetness. I’m getting a bit of tingly cinnamon warmth on the back of my tongue, too.

4th steeping (~8 min, boiling water): Put this in my travel mug. Prior steepings have used up much of the flavor, but it retains the slightest hint of cocoa. It’s comforting nevertheless.

Overall: Sweet mercy, this is amazing. I love black tea, and this is one of the most comforting, tasty, unique ones I’ve ever tried. This has made it into my hall of fame—I’m going to always have some of this on hand.

Had some minor issues with steeping both gonfu and western style mostly due to water and teaware issues but did get some good first and later steeps with this. Can’t say I got much honey or cinnamon but a very nice linen texture that tickled the tongue and a sweet finish that lingered on the palate.

I am drinking the last of this and realized I never wrote a review on it. So as I drink it down…

Prunes
creamy cinnamon

not my favorite Golden Buds, but good.

I could be wrong, but this tea seems to be not composed of just buds, but also some leaves. At least, when I compare it to Rishi’s Golden Needle, after that has been brewed, it appears to be only buds (there are no open leaves at all…). Whereas, after brewing this one, the leaves seem to open, and there is also a good amount of broken/leaf parts present (nothing small, but it isn’t as homogeneous as Rishi’s GN).

I don’t know if that translates to the higher astringency that I’ve been getting from this tea, especially on the first infusion (and somewhat the second), but it does have a noticeably stronger astringency present than two other Yunnan Golds that I really enjoyed (Rishi’s and Life in Teacup’s). That being said, there is something earthy about this one that makes me really feel like it is from Yunnan (unlike the others)…. it is something about the aroma that reminds me of pu-erh, which is really cool. This was a unique experience for me – having a tea that helped me to understand regional characteristics, because of what it has in common with a completely different tea, but from the same area.

By the third steeping, the smoothness and honey-sweetness that I love or have come to expect about this kind of black tea does come out. I enjoyed the sample size that I’ve now finished, but this particular version of Yunnan Gold didn’t impress me quite the same (as others that I’ve found from different vendors).

I drank this lovely tea yesterday, but found I didn’t have time to sit and log it, so I’m doing so now :)

I wasn’t really sure what to expect with this tea since I’ve read that it can have a peppery quality to it and I wasn’t sure how that would translate into a tea. But I was more than pleased when I took my first sip. The honeyed flavor of the tea on it’s own had a subtle spiciness and maltiness that was lyrical on my tongue and with the addition of that little bit of honey into the cup, it just came alive.

Thank you to Bonnie for sending this sample my way! :)

Very little water, very small seeps, let it slide to the back of the throat instead of covering the tongue and this one truly shines. The most nectary Yunnan black I’ve tried.

After Big Red Robe and their autumn tie guan yin I’m falling in love with all of verdant teas. This is one of best yunnan’s I’ve had. Instead of pepper being the overriding flavor the first steeping is creamy with an aftertaste of vanilla bean gelato and cinnamon. The tea is very forgiving and can handle longer steeps in which the flavor expands even more. 2nd steeping has that chocolate milk taste which is really interesting. This tea has a lightness and stamina of a dark oolong which I really like.