Yunnan Noir

This tea is my chocolate. :-)

Man, I haven’t bothered writing about tea in so long. Sometimes it just feels better to just drink and enjoy it though, rather than think too hard about how to best describe it.

I actually gaiwan-brewed this; it’s actually been a long time now since I’ve broken out the old IngenuiITEA to western-brew anything in. Funny how my preferred teas and brewing methods change throughout the years. Six months ago I wouldn’t have dreamed of sipping a black tea like this without the addition of milk. But today, I’m enjoying the soft chocolate and spice notes alongside a piece of buttery apple pie from the local bakery…just wonderful.

So I tried to log this yesterday and failed. Work got in the way…

The smell of the tea leaves before steeping is wonderful. Slight tobacco notes (but in a good way), notes of fruit, fig more than likely. Once steeped the tobacco smell is changed and is milder, and I am still getting a bit of fruit, although less than before steeping. It steeps to a delectable reddish brown that makes me look forward to that first sip…

Taste wise you have a very good traditional black tea. This one is bolder than ceylon sonata, but doesn’t pull out the baseball bat and hit me upside the head like an irish breakfast does.

I did buy a pound of this after trying the sample so I did like it a lot.

Light and fruity, berry-ish. Slight dry aftertaste.

A very nice tea. Not great, but very good. i got a smell of the best tobacco, with some dry cornsilk and bracken. Very smooth rich mouthfeel, with a bit of cocoa, but not much of the spice and pepper I usually associate with Yunnans. A more mellow one than usual. When it cools, the cocoa really comes out. Delicious!

This is my first tea from Adagio. Only my second foray into loose leaf teas. Pretty tasty. Taken plain. Doesn’t have a bitter bite like the other few black teas I’ve tried. The used leaves smell like grass, but not in a bad way. This leaf scent is nearly absent from the tea’s scent and flavor. As for the tea itself, I don’t yet have the vocabulary to describe it, but it’s mellow, smooth, and almost savory. I was worried that five minutes steep time would make the taste too strong, but it came out great.

Oh man this is good stuff. I had a goofy smirk on my face after the first couple of sips, the sign of satisfaction. Smells like malt/cocoa and tastes the same, perfect with just a little bit of sugar added in. It steeped for a long time and still ended up without any harshness. The best I’ve had from this company so far.

It was a dark, rainy day today in Salt Lake City so I decided to make a pot of this dark, caramely goodness after work. This is one of my favorite everyday strong black teas. It is best with a spoon full of agave nectar.

I liked this slightly better than the Irish Breakfast I had yesterday. It definitely has a more robust and complex flavor which I like.

I still have this in my tea pantry. I was excited when this was introduced into Adagio’s line-up. My first impression, to say nothing of it’s unusual shape, was the tobacco-esque smell. It smelled like rich rollcake cavendish. Brewing it revealed a dark doughy taste and aroma. It was earthy in a pleasing and comfortable way and was yet another black tea that surprised me.