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This was another of my more recent sipdowns. It was also a tea for which I did not have particularly high expectations. For whatever reason, Jin Jun Mei never really seems to stick with me, and also, the various Jin Jun Mei offered by Yunnan Sourcing tend to strike me as being ridiculously hit or miss. The Pure Gold Jin Jun Mei of Tong Mu Guan Village has never struck me as being bad (usually it is quite good), but it also has never been one of the regular YS teas that excites me either. Fortunately, this 2018 production was good, probably the best of the comparatively few productions I have tried.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. I set the water temperature at 194 F and neither raised nor lowered it over the course of my review session. After quickly rinsing the loose tea buds, I steeped them for 5 seconds. This initial infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds emitted aromas of cedar, malt, smoke, baked bread, molasses, and tobacco. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of roasted almond, roasted peanut, and brown sugar. The first proper infusion brought out aromas of maple syrup, butter, cream, and chocolate. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented me with notes of cedar, malt, baked bread, grass, roasted almond, and brown sugar that were balanced by hints of roasted peanut, cream, butter, smoke, and molasses. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of vanilla, marshmallow, brown sugar, honey, leather, sweet cherry, and orange zest. Stronger and more immediately detectable impressions of cream, butter, and roasted peanut appeared in the mouth alongside notes of minerals, earth, honey, pine, orange zest, vanilla, ginger, marshmallow, leather, and chocolate. There were also some hints of nutmeg, maple syrup, red apple, pear, plum, sweet cherry, and tobacco that popped up here and there. As the tea faded, the liquor shifted and emphasized notes of minerals, butter, malt, cedar, cream, chocolate, and honey that were chased by fleeting hints of baked bread, smoke, roasted almond, orange zest, vanilla, ginger, sweet cherry, brown sugar, and maple syrup.

Overall, this was an enjoyable tea with a lot to offer, but if I had one serious complaint, it was that it grew very sweet and rich over the course of every gongfu session I did with it. There were instances in which the tea liquor struck me as being almost cloying. Even though I am not a huge fan of sweeter teas, this one was still enjoyable for me. It’s just that it would have been more enjoyable had the sweetness not been almost overpowering at times. To be clear, this tea was far from bad, but it was not really for me. At least I can say that it was more memorable and enjoyable than some of the other Jin Jun Mei from Yunnan Sourcing have been. I have no doubt that fans of sweeter black teas would love this offering. I could also see it working as a good point of entry into the world of unflavored tea for regular drinkers of flavored teas.

Okay, gang. Here is the review of my latest sipdown. I’ve had to take a break from drinking tea for the last couple of days due to seasonal allergies rendering me barely able to smell or taste anything, so I have nothing better to do in my spare time than try to free up some space in the backlog. Surprisingly, this was a tea that was totally unfamiliar to me. I have tried a ton of Yunnan Sourcing’s offerings over the course of the past 4+ years, but I had never gotten around to trying a Da Jin Ya prior to trying this one. I knew it was probably going to be radically different from the other Yunnan black teas I had tried, and that turned out to be the case, though naturally, there were some similarities imparted by the terroir and processing. Overall, this was a very interesting, satisfying, and unique black tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. I set the water temperature at 194 F and neither raised nor lowered it over the course of my review session. After rinsing the loose tea buds, I started off with a 5 second infusion. This infusion was followed by 19 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds emitted aromas of cocoa, cream, sugarcane, pine, and smoke. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of roasted almond, roasted cashew, lemon zest, and geranium. The first infusion introduced eucalyptus and orange zest aromas. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cream, malt, pine, baked bread, roasted almond, and butter that were balanced by hints of geranium, cocoa, orange zest, lemon zest, honey, sugarcane, roasted peanut, and plum. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of juniper, malt, camphor, green bell pepper, grass, black pepper, grapefruit, caramel, and plum. Stronger and more immediately noticeable impressions of cocoa, geranium, plum, orange zest, sugarcane, lemon zest, and roasted peanut appeared in the mouth alongside notes of minerals, roasted cashew, pear, red apple, green bell pepper, camphor, eucalyptus, grass, black pepper, watermelon rind, and caramel. I also detected hints of juniper, apricot, smoke, grapefruit, mulberry, and blackberry lurking around the fringes. As the tea faded, the liquor settled and emphasized notes of minerals, malt, baked bread, roasted almond, lemon zest, orange zest, cream, pine, and roasted peanut that were chased by fleeting hints of roasted cashew, butter, sugarcane, red apple, pear, watermelon rind, green bell pepper, camphor, and caramel.

This was something of an odd tea, and certainly not one I would want to have every day, but taking the time to drink it made for a wonderful break from the more typical Yunnan black teas. I also appreciated that it did not get me so amped up that I had difficulty sleeping or sitting still. If you’re looking for an interesting and challenging black tea that is also a lot of fun to drink, definitely consider picking up some Da Jin Ya with your next Yunnan Sourcing order.

Okay, I am finally back on Steepster after a hiatus that proved significantly longer than planned. I was making pretty steady progress on cleaning out my backlog of tea reviews going into November, but I ended up getting busy with some other projects and losing focus and motivation. Hopefully, posting this review will be the start of me getting back on track. I’m dipping further into the backlog than normal with this review. I know I finished what I had of this tea sometime during the first half of the year. I’m pretty sure I had all of my notes on it written out and ready to go sometime between the middle of February and the end of April, but as usual, I cannot be more specific. What I can offer is that this was an excellent tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. The water temperature for my review session was set at 203 F and was neither raised nor lowered during the session. After rinsing the rolled leaf and bud sets, I started my session with a 10 second infusion. This infusion was then followed by 17 additional infusions. The steep times for these infusions were as follows: 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry leaf and bud sets emitted aromas of char, smoke, caramelized banana, toasted rice, roasted barley, roasted almond, and vanilla. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of longan, lychee, sugarcane, and roasted carrot that were underscored by a subtle orchid fragrance. The first proper infusion introduced aromas of cream and butter. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of char, smoke, roasted barley, toasted rice, cream, butter, coffee, roasted carrot, and roasted almond that were chased by hints of daylily, sugarcane, orchid, lychee, longan, and caramelized banana. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of plum, grass, spinach, coffee, balsam, and roasted hazelnut. Stronger and more immediately detectable notes of longan, orchid, caramelized banana, and daylily appeared in the mouth alongside impressions of plum, peach, daylily shoots, spinach, minerals, vanilla, grass, roasted hazelnut, Asian pear, and balsam. I also noted hints of earth, sweet corn, and roasted chestnut, as well as a strong peanut shell presence in the aftertaste of each sip. As the tea faded, the liquor shifted to emphasize notes of minerals, butter, cream, roasted almond, grass, daylily shoots, and toasted rice that were supported by hints of roasted hazelnut, sugarcane, daylily, longan, spinach, balsam, roasted barley, sweet corn, plum, and vanilla.

As stated earlier, this was a great heavy roasted oolong. It produced a liquor that was extremely complex and sophisticated while also remaining very drinkable and soothing. Nothing was out of place. The mix of aromas and flavors was not only unique and fantastic, but it was expertly balanced. Overall, this was just a fantastic offering. If you happen to be the sort of person who is not sold on heavier roasted oolongs, then this tea may not be up your alley, but if any tea were capable of converting you, I would say that this would be the one. Naturally, people who are established lovers of heavier roasted teas would very likely find a lot to love about this one.

This was one of my sipdowns from the last week of October. I think this was also the last of the spring 2018 golden needle black teas that I had in my cupboard. Of the bunch, it was the least appealing, but it was still a more or less very good tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds emitted aromas of malt, cinnamon, chocolate, baked bread, and sweet potato. After the rinse, I detected aromas of roasted almond, roasted peanut, and smoke. The first infusion saw no change to the tea’s bouquet. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of malt, cream, butter, cooked green beans, and sweet potato that were balanced by hints of smoke, cinnamon, baked bread, chocolate, and sugarcane. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out additional aromas of cooked green beans, orange zest, and roasted walnut. Stronger and more immediately discernible impressions of baked bread, chocolate, and sugarcane made themselves known in the mouth alongside notes of banana, caramel, roasted almond, earth, orange zest, roasted walnut, minerals, and cooked peas. There were also hints of marshmallow, raisin, and fig lurking in the background of each sip and swallow. As the tea shifted and faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, malt, baked bread, cream, earth, roasted peanut, roasted almond, and sweet potato that were chased by fleeting hints of cooked green beans, caramel, chocolate, marshmallow, raisin, roasted walnut, lemon zest, and sugarcane.

Overall, I found this to be a rock solid and very likable tea, though compared to the previous Yunnan golden needle black teas produced in the spring of 2018 that I had tried, this tea struck me as being a bit generic. It offered pretty much everything you would expect a Yunnan Assamica golden needle black tea to offer, and it did a very good job of that, but that’s really all this tea did. I’m glad I tried it, and I could see it working out great as a daily drinker or as an introduction to Yunnan golden needle black teas, but it didn’t compare all that favorably to some of Yunnan Sourcing’s similar offerings from the same year. I certainly would not reach for this tea over something like their Imperial Gold Needle Yunnan Black Tea.

Yay, I’m back on Steepster after a hellacious three days of work. I put in a 10 hour day on Saturday followed by an 8-9 hour day Sunday and then another 10 hour day yesterday. Today is the closest thing I have gotten to an off day in the last week, and I am technically still on the clock now. Anyway, this was one of my most recent sipdowns, as I finished the last of my 50g pouch of this tea Saturday morning. I have always perceived Jingmai black teas to be floral and citric in character, but this one was very nutty, herbal, and spicy. I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though it struck me as lacking some of the more typical characteristics of the Jingmai terroir.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After rinsing, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves presented aromas of roasted walnut, roasted peanut, raisin, earth, tobacco, cinnamon, and cocoa. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of malt, roasted almond, and butter. The first infusion introduced aromas of baked bread and vanilla. In the mouth, the tea liquor offered notes of roasted walnut, roasted peanut, earth, cooked green beans, tobacco, cream, malt, and baked bread that were balanced by subtler impressions of butter, raisin, honey, roasted almond, and cocoa. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out additional aromas of honey, sugarcane, black pepper, roasted hazelnut, and nutmeg. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of butter, honey, raisin, roasted almond, and cocoa appeared in the mouth alongside impressions of caramel, molasses, sugarcane, minerals, orange zest, roasted hazelnut, red apple, nutmeg, and ginger. I also detected hints of cinnamon, marshmallow, black pepper, vanilla, and lemon zest. As the tea shifted and faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, earth, malt, cream, butter, cooked green beans, orange zest, roasted hazelnut, roasted peanut, and roasted walnut that were chased by hints of honey, raisin, cocoa, caramel, vanilla, baked bread, tobacco, and red apple.

This was a very rich, soothing, gentle black tea with tremendous depth and complexity in the mouth. While I would have liked to see some floral character and more of a citrus presence, this was still a very nice, refined offering overall. Fans of dark, nutty black teas would undoubtedly be thrilled with this tea.

This was one of my summer sipdowns. It was also a tea that was totally new to me at the time I tried it. I had tried most of Yunnan Sourcing’s regular white tea offerings at least once or twice prior to trying this one, but I had always passed on the opportunity to try the Ai Lao Mountain Jade Needle for one reason or another. I decided to rectify that situation in the spring of 2018, but I ended up putting off trying this tea until either June or July of this year. Well, how did it stack up to Yunnan Sourcing’s other white teas? Honestly, it was frustrating to drink. It struck me as being a very mediocre tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After rinsing them, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 185 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of apricot, hay, straw, sugarcane, and marshmallow that were underscored by a subtle corn husk scent. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of malt, butter, sour plum, and baked bread as well as a stronger corn husk scent. The first infusion introduced a lemon aroma and a subtle woody scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of hay, straw, grass, butter, malt, corn husk, lemon, and sour plum that were balanced by hints of bamboo, sugarcane, and wood. The bulk of the subsequent infusions introduced aromas of green peas, coriander, grapefruit, bamboo, kumquat, green bell pepper, and grass. Stronger and more immediately notable bamboo and wood impressions appeared in the mouth along with sour apricot, mineral, green apple, pear, green pea, coriander, cooked lettuce, green bell pepper, kumquat, and grapefruit pith impressions. I also detected hints of marshmallow. As the tea faded, each sip emphasized notes of minerals, hay, grass, corn husk, and butter that were chased by hints of malt, cooked lettuce, wood, lemon, green bell pepper, green pea, and bamboo on an astringent and biting fade.

I tend to be a big fan of Yunnan white tea, just in general, but this tea did not do much of anything for me. Yunnan Sourcing described it as occupying something of a middle ground between a white tea and a green tea, and I can say that seemed to be a pretty accurate description of it. Unfortunately, it seemed to frequently embody the aspects of both white and green teas that I find to be the least appealing and came off as a muddled, quickly fading mess after a certain point. Overall, this tea was very much a mixed bag. It had some nice characteristics, but there were aspects of it that I greatly disliked. I doubt that I will be in any rush to try more Ai Lao Mountain Jade Needles from Yunnan Sourcing.

I’m dipping a little further into my backlog of tea reviews with this posting. I only had a 10g sample pouch of this tea to play around with, and I think I finished it sometime during the first half of September. I loved the spring 2017 version of this tea, so I had high hopes for this production. While it did not strike me as being quite as good as the previous year’s offering, this was still a very good Dancong oolong.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After the rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 6 seconds. This infusion was chased by 17 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of cream, cherry, black raspberry, wood, and cinnamon. After the rinse, I picked up new aromas of orchid, spinach, roasted almond, cannabis, and geranium. The first infusion introduced aromas of roasted peanut, grass, and orange zest. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of grass, spinach, butter, cream, wood, and roasted peanut that were chased by hints of roasted almond, sugarcane, cherry, pomegranate, orchid, cinnamon, geranium, spinach, and cannabis. The bulk of the subsequent infusions brought out aromas of coriander, baked bread, vanilla, sour plum, lychee, green apple, pear, and earth. Stronger and more immediately notable flavors of roasted almond, cherry, pomegranate, geranium, and orchid appeared in the mouth alongside impressions of orange zest, baked bread, coriander, minerals, vanilla, sour plum, green apple, pear, cattail shoots, and lychee. Subtle hints of earth and black raspberry could also be found in places. As the tea faded, the liquor shifted and emphasized notes of minerals, cream, butter, roasted almond, pear, orange zest, wood, and roasted peanut that were balanced by lingering hints of baked bread, spinach, grass, sour plum, lychee, orchid, geranium, and earth.

As mentioned above, this was a very nice Dancong oolong. Much like the spring 2017 Old Tree Shui Xian from Feng Xi, it displayed a very unique and appealing mix of aromas and flavors. Compared to many other Dancong oolongs (which are also produced from the Shui Xian cultivar or hybrids thereof), these Feng Xi teas seem to consistently show off the aromas and flavors one would typically expect of a classic Shui Xian oolong.

It’s time to take a brief break from reviewing black teas. I have been so focused on posting reviews of all the black teas I have been drinking that I have been almost completely ignoring all of the other reviews I have allowed to pile up over the last year. This was one of my sipdowns from the second half of September. I normally enjoy Yunnan Sourcing’s Ling Tou Village “Bai Ye” every year, and this tea did not buck that trend, though it did strike me as being a little less enjoyable than the 2016 and 2017 offerings.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After the rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 203 F water for 7 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of cherry, pine, candied pomelo, orchid, and pomegranate. After the rinse, I detected aromas of peach, lotus, orange blossom, honey, and apricot. The first infusion brought out aromas of roasted almond, butter, cream, and grass as well as subtle cannabis and spinach scents. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cherry, orchid, cream, butter, roasted almond, and grass that were chased by hints of pine, nectarine, peach, apricot, cannabis, spinach, and orange blossom. The bulk of the subsequent infusions introduced aromas of coriander, vanilla, and green bell pepper. Lotus and honey notes appeared in the mouth as well as stronger and more immediately notable flavors of orange blossom, peach, nectarine, and apricot. I also detected notes of minerals, green bell pepper, grass, green apple, unripened pear, vanilla, orange zest, white grape, and green wood. Hints of pomegranate, candied pomelo, coriander, and earth could also be detected here and there. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized impressions of minerals, cream, butter, green wood, roasted almond, grass, and green bell pepper that were supported by delicate, fleeting notes of orange blossom, orange zest, earth, vanilla, unripened pear, green apple, orchid, lotus, and white grape.

This was a very aromatic and flavorful tea with tons of fruity characteristics. Normally, I love Dancong oolongs that are very fruity and/or very floral, but there were instances where this tea’s mix of aroma and flavor components struck me as being a bit over-the-top. Still, this was a very good tea. People who tend to flip over sweeter, fruitier teas would probably love it.

Okay, here is my final review of the day. I was planning on posting a couple more, but I just do not have the stamina or focus to type more of these things this evening. This was my next to last sipdown of October, and it was also a tea that I totally forgot I had. I stumbled upon the unopened 50g pouch of it while cleaning out my tea hoard late in the month and tore into it immediately in order to finish it while it was still drinkable. As it turned out, I needn’t have worried because this tea had aged incredibly gracefully. It actually struck me as being a bit better and more interesting than the spring productions I had previously tried, and that was surprising too, because I have almost always preferred the spring productions of Yunnan black teas over the autumn productions.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of cedar, pine, raisin, malt, baked bread, and tobacco. After the rinse, I detected aromas of roasted almond and roasted peanut that were accompanied by much subtler scents of grass, chocolate, and banana. The first infusion introduced aromas of cinnamon and black pepper as well as a subtle camphor scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of tobacco, cream, malt, cedar, pine, and geranium that were balanced by hints of grass, roasted almond, roasted peanut, honey, baked bread, raisin, pear, and chocolate. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of honey, pear, red apple, plum, orange zest, roasted hazelnut, roasted walnut, camphor, and geranium. Stronger and more immediately detectable impressions of raisin, roasted almond, pear, baked bread, and honey appeared in the mouth along with notes of minerals, butter, earth, roasted walnut, roasted hazelnut, red apple, plum, lemon, camphor, and orange zest. There were also some hints of cinnamon, black pepper, banana, and marshmallow here and there. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, malt, earth, baked bread, tobacco, roasted almond, lemon, cedar, and orange zest that were chased by lingering hints of roasted peanut, pine, roasted walnut, camphor, cinnamon, red apple, raisin, pear, and honey.

Overall, this was a very rich yet drinkable Mengku black tea with a ton of character. Fans of teas that display a lot of nutty, fruity, and herbal aromas and flavors would find a ton to like in this tea. I should also once again note that this tea had held up extremely well in storage, proving that it was suitable for longer term aging/resting. I’m glad I picked this one up when I had the opportunity.

Okay, I’m finally getting back on here after more than a week away from writing. The new schedule is still killing me, but I suppose I am slowly adapting to it. Aside from still being in the process of adjusting to my new work schedule, I am also still plowing my way through a number of spring 2018 black teas. This was one of my sipdowns from the second half of last month. I found it to be a very good offering overall. It actually struck me as being a little bit better than the rock solid spring 2017 Big Snow Mountain of Mengku Black Tea that I tried last year.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves emitted aromas of cinnamon, raisin, plum, honey, and black raspberry. After the rinse, I detected new aromas of roasted almond, roasted peanut, malt, black pepper, banana, and pine. The first infusion introduced a subtle eucalyptus scent. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of cream, baked bread, malt, roasted almond, cocoa, roasted peanut, cinnamon, and pine that were balanced by hints of raisin, plum, pear, cedar, honey, black raspberry, and banana. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of cocoa, cedar, cream, butter, pear, red apple, orange zest, and sweet potato. Stronger and more immediately detectable impressions of cedar, raisin, banana, pear, and plum appeared in the mouth alongside mineral, eucalyptus, black pepper, red apple, sweet potato, earth, butter, orange zest, and caramel notes. I also picked up on hints of leather, lemon zest, and roasted walnut. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized notes of minerals, malt, cream, baked bread, butter, roasted almond, and roasted peanut that were chased by fleeting hints of pine, honey, caramel, sweet potato, raisin, orange zest, and cocoa.

As mentioned in the introductory paragraph, this was a rock solid Mengku black tea. I particularly appreciated its fruity characteristics, and compared to the previous version of this tea, this offering produced a liquor that displayed better and more consistent body and texture in the mouth. Even though this tea fell just shy of excellence for me, it was still very good. It was definitely one of the better Mengku black teas I have tried.