royal tea bay

This was quite nasty… I sent pieces off to a few people to verify that; though, as far as what I’ve heard about this kind of pu’erh it is expected to be nasty from others.

12weeks ago: https://instagram.com/p/3AIuZMRYBb/

Today: In the trash :p

An interesting little ripe cake I ordered from royal tea bay (their prices are better on Ali express than on eBay). It is quite smooth, but with mouth puckering astringency. Very much like a dry red wine. Moderately deep flavored. The 200g cake was tightly compressed, so it took a while to open up. Once it did, it was a respectable and interesting tea.

One of the teas from my black tea sampler that arrived yesterday. This one intrigued me. They describe this tea as: Sichuan congou black tea presents a strong, round and tight shape. Endowed with an pure caramel-like fragrance, it tastes mellow, fresh and brisk.

The dry leaves smelled familiar. I’ve been trying out a few black teas so pulled out all I’ve had to compare the smell but I guess I was wrong. It didn’t match with any black tea I’ve had. The other explanation for this could be a sample of black leafhopper tea I’ve tried (but no longer have).

I brewed this western style this morning (200F, 1.5 min, 1tsp). It has very strong honey notes.. Along with that I’m getting malty , bready. I agree with the mellow in their description. After two cups I don’t feel a major caffeine kick ( but that might be because of 1 hour of yoga and 15 min of meditation this morning).

This is a very good cup of black. If I loved black teas as much as green I’d have this one as an everyday tea. It’s very good but doesn’t stand out as exceptional. When I want a black tea, I’m looking for those amazing ones.