TeaFromVietnam

Light bodied, nutty and sweet. Flavors of toasted rice, edamame and just a light wisp of seaweed, which I find enjoyable.

Dry leaf aroma: Cacao nibs, malt, and faint suggestions of spiciness.
Dry leaf appearance: https://www.instagram.com/p/_ZUJYrFcOf/

Wet leaf aroma: Carob, pepper, and subtle vegetal undertones.
Wet leaf appearance: https://www.instagram.com/p/_ZURS3FcO0

First/only steeping: 3.5 minutes at 200 degrees.
While hot, Red Lily has a chocolate and malt aroma. The predominate flavors are cocoa with essences of malt, carob, pepper, and a subdued spiciness. As the cup cools, the spiciness comes forward and a suggestion of plum appears. The cocoa remains true throughout the cup and pairs wonderfully with the spiciness as the liquor changes temperature.

Notes:
Because this is a rolled tea, I under-leafed my cup. Next time I will add more leaf to see if I can coax out different nuances.

You may also read this review and see images on my blog, My Tea Life, at:
http://mytea.life/red-lily-by-tea-from-vietnam-review/

This is a rolled Jinxuan red tea, which I haven’t had before, so I added it to reach the free shipping threshold for my order. It is quite sweet with brown sugar and stonefruit notes; the “Jinxuan milk feel” is evident, but with some unexpected smoky/roast tones and spice when pushed. As expected it’s not super-dynamic, but it remained fairly interesting and lightened up with further steeps. The aftertaste is a little unusual for me; something like a mix of roast, sweetness, slight astringency and milky.

At ~$0.15/g, it’s not a terrible deal considering the educational value, but not a steal either. Doesn’t tick quite enough boxes for me. It’s worth trying and I will gladly finish my 50g to get a better impression of it.