Hunan Golden Twist [Out of stock]

This was the second tea with had with our toast and coconut oil/honey spread. How I love this tea! Cocoa-y, smokey, smooth, sweet, and such a lovely aroma. Makes you feel weak in the knees!

I wish they still sold this. I will have to try to hunt out something similar when this is gone.

Second tea of the morning…. (SRP #39)

We are at the end of my malty tea with hints of bacon and light smoke! I may get more one day, but it is time to get a handle on my stash. Farewell, Hunan Golden Twist. You make an awesome breakfast tea!

Usual teapot method.

Arrgh!! I just lost my complete review before posting! What the He** happened?! Many thanks to JenW for this delicious sample. :))

Well it was 5 years ago today [May Day], that I fell and broke my right shoulder blade. What a horrible few weeks that was! I always tried to stay positive during my recovery though. So, today I needed a special tea to make this day more special, and this tea did the trick. :))

I couldn’t detect much dry leaf aroma, but the steeping leaves immediately reminded me of a Keemun. The wet leaves were long & slender with a good amount of tippy white leaves. The cup aroma was mildly smokey, and a molasses like sweetness filled the air. The cup itself was dark brown in color, and again, smelled mildly smokey and of sweet molasses.

This Hunan tea was very flavorful, with a thick, chunky mouth feel on my palate. The mildly smokey, molasses sweetness coated my tongue, and is so smooth-with no bitterness at all! :)) I was also experiencing light berry like nuances on my tongue, which I can only describe as black raspberry. These flavors stayed on my palate for several minutes after the cup was gone.

What a great, comforting tea to start the month of May. I want to buy this tea again somewhere-even if Harney & Sons doesn’t restock it. It is really delicious, relaxing, and comforting. Thanks again Jen for this tea, and for making today a better day! :))

Cupped and Reviewed: Tuesday, May 1, 2012.

Many many many thanks to ashmanra for sending me this tea to try!!!!

Well color me surprised! This tea tastes absolutely nothing like I thought it was going to taste! I was thinking it would be a Golden Monkey on steroids, but it actually tastes quite bacony and smoky to my palate! A bit Yunnan-y. A notch or two smokier than Queen Catherine I do believe. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had something proper to pair it with (like an everything bagel with cream cheese!) but my little multigrain roll really didn’t cut it.

As it cools it’s getting a little sweeter, and I think it’s a very fine tea (VERY smooth) but I have to be honest. I think this is going to my husband, who loves this flavor profile. I think what it is is that it’s smoky bacony not smoky chocolatey which is my kinda smoky (Queen Catherine, Keemun Mao Feng). Who knew there were so many kinds of smoky!?!?! There is ashy smoky like Gunpowder, and piney smoky like Lapsang – I’m sure there are more. Can you think of any? :)