Simon Johnson

Being a green tea fanatic as I am, I don’t often swing to the dark side and sample a black tea, however when I do it tends to be a Chinese variety, as I find these seem to appeal more to my green-tea-palate… or maybe I’m just biased because I like Asia!

Aroma: Rich wood, marmalade and spice. Distinctly a ‘black’ tea (obviously) with those slightly tannic notes.

Palate: Surprisingly tasty! Quite light, complex and enjoyable for a black tea. Deep and woody, almost smoky but well balanced and not overpowering. Spice and fruitcake on the aftertaste. Slight bitterness.

Other: I prefer loose leaf tea to those in a bag, but these are very high quality fabric pouches -at this price though you’d expect so! As such this tea loses points with me for price, but if you are shopping at Simon Johnson then you probably aren’t concerned about that ;)

Overall: This Grand Yunnan didn’t quite win me over, but It pushed me that little bit further into enjoying the world of black teas. Not so much so that I’ll be buying a box, but I wouldn’t turn down a cup if you offered me one on a cold winters morning!

Price: AUD$15.70/15 bags