Oh dear… I’m brewing up the autumn batch of Laoshan Black in my new Ruci teapot ( http://hegathers.com/_images/rucipot.jpg ). This is the second time I’ve tried it now. I’m on ten infusions from two generous teaspoons of the tea. It has completely floored me! The first time I tried it, I think I suspected that this autumn batch was better than its spring predecessor, but it was hard for me to believe or imagine that the land and farmers of Laoshan could have taken my favorite black tea and improved it so wonderfully…
As I revisited that prospect this afternoon, the suspicion was unambiguously confirmed for me. At the third infusion, WHAM!, I was hit with that beautiful metallic sparkle dancing on my tongue that comes with Verdant’s Da Hong Pao. Add to the familiar direction of cocoa, honey and caramel, notes of black cherry, and everything else mentioned in Verdant’s own description (currants, hibiscus, buckwheat honey, cinnamon, raisins, and creme brulee crust… it’s all there!). And the aftertaste is sublime!
This tea is so good that I’m afraid I’ll want to start drinking it every day, and will perhaps become disconsolate if at some point I can’t get more…. I have to rate this higher than the spring batch, and foresee the real possibility looming before me that Laoshan Black may in a future iteration be improved further and enter the rarefied circle of teas I consider perfect. I never thought a black tea could achieve a perfect rating from me, but Laoshan Black may very well do it someday.
