168 Tasting Notes
A nice hot cup of lightly smokey Hao Ya ‘B’ to keep us warm on this dreary and cold day.
Preparation
What does the B signify?
As said in The Harney & Sons Guide to Tea, “Ha Ya teas are seperated: The best tips become Ha Ya A, the next-best tips become Ha Ya B. The grading system is an affectation adopted for the U.S. market; A and B grades don’t exist in China.”
One of our most exquisite oolongs ever. We find it to be one of the creamiest of the oolongs, giving a nice coating sensation and some butteriness along with lime citrus notes and a quiet, underlying vegetal flavor. A very smooth pour.
Preparation
I put four heaping teaspoons of the Top Panyang Gold in a twenty-four ounce pot and steeped it for four and a half minutes. As I have worked in the tea tasting room for five years now, I find myself trying new steeping techniques on the various teas. This steeping of the Top Panyang Gold was a bit strong, the four heaping teaspoons in the twenty-four ounce pot may have been an innovative twist on the steep, but steeping it for four and a half minutes may have been thirty seconds too long. The subtleties of dark cocoa and malty honey with a hint of papaya were subdued due to the steep, but it still remains one of our most complex and entertaining teas.
Preparation
A blend of eight different teas (keemun, assam, oolong, ceylon, yunnan, darjeeling, nilgiri, and silver tips). A great “pick me up” blend for this dreary Sunday morning here in Millerton.
Preparation
Natural sweetness comes from the tips or the buds of the tea being harvested. Assam Golden Tips consists of only the tips, hence the name. With a malty, fruity mango-like and underlying honey notes, this is a tea to be desired. Limited in production and pricey, this tea will be that much more special.
