Curly Lion - Gold Bud Dian Hong Black

Sipdown (1373)!

Finished this one off at the office earlier this week and it was just a nice and relaxing cup during a day that was filled with a lot of much more rich and overly flavoured/fruity teas. Didn’t really drink this grandpa style as I didn’t top up/resteep, but I did toss the leaves loose into a teacup. The leaves were beautiful and so downy that, when I finished the mug, there was an olive hued ring in my teacup from where all the down had sort of collected during steeping.

Loved letting this get thick and intense – it drew out this smoky baker’s chocolate notes and elements of leather, musk, and sweet potato that were so thick and cozy on top of being sort of playfully burly as well. Nice and full bodied liquor and a hint of astringency that complimented the heavy notes.

Swap Sample Sipdown! (35)

This is one of several teabento samples that VariaTEA was kind enough to send me. Thank you! ❤

In my past tea life, dianhongs were some of my favorite teas, and especially the fuzzy golden ones. So this one is right up my alley! I love the animal associations with these teas, they’re so cute and this one is indeed golden as a lion’s mane. Plus the image of a lion with a curly mane is amusing to me… Perm gone wrong?

Yum, this is smooth and delicious. It has those lovely creamy, malty sweet potato and honeyed bread notes that I would expect from a golden dianhong. There are also some mellow earthy flavors that, for me, are a hallmark of Chinese black teas. On the lighter side, I taste fleeting notes of nectarine and fuzzy apricot, along with a clear and lingering sweetness.

Yummy, love it! I know I also have some unopened dianhong samples from TeaVivre, so it’ll be interesting to compare those with this experience and explore the style a little more.

2021 Sipdown 76/365!

This was a really tasty tea; I enjoyed every cup of it. Definitely one I’d pick up again at some point. Smooth, rich, chocolatey; a very pleasant and flavourful cup.

Sipdown (272)

Good bye Curly Lion! You served me well.

This is almost 3 years old so this good bye is due but with most of the teabento teas leaving my cupboard, another order may be in my future.

This is a good one. Chocolate notes and malt. This particular cup is a touch astringent but that’s not usually the case.

work rant
So I went in to work for a few hours today to try and not fall too far behind with fiscal year end coming. Who the hell changes the room rate market codes right before a 4 day weekend and doesn’t tell accounting? Where am I suppose to code these? You need to tell me how you want them entered into the management companies system, if you want your month end/year end reports to be correct. So yeah, I was there on my own time, on Christmas Eve just making up reports. I’m going to get shit on because this isn’t right, and it’s going to be a lot of work to move it to where they want them. Furious…….

So I’m home now, lying on the couch with my blankie, with a snuggly cat, hugging a mug of this tea. Yes, I’ve moved onto a mug. I’m not sure if I’ve just been drinking mediocre tea or if this is really good. Either way it is making me happy tonight.
As I was pouring this off the leaves, it just wafted up chocolate. It’s not tasting as chocolate as it smells, but there is some there. Sweet, chocolate, caramel, malt, starch (bread rather than yam) and just plain yumminess. This is a happy tea…..
https://www.instagram.com/p/BdGbm-NhVb2/?taken-by=dex3657

Thank you, thank you, to Teabento for sending me a sample of this one! I’ve ripped through two cups of this and enjoyed its honey and gentle malty notes. I couldn’t find any chocolate notes either time. There was a surprise woodsy note that popped up as it would cool down but it was very faint. Apologies for the über short review as I’ve been really busy lately and I’m just writing from memory.

Beautiful golden mossy leaf.

I am steeping western style, my own variation of it.

Initially, the steeped tea felt a bit one dimensional, but as it cooled a bit, the maltiness and caramel and cocoa and breadiness came out in full. Lovely, just lovely. A very enjoyable cup. I look forward to the next one.

Third steep of caramel and sweet potato goodness and the tea is still going. It just might make a fourth steep flavourful enough to enjoy.

Thank you, teabento, for the sample of this engaging tea.

Thank you to Tea Bento for the free sample.

Coldbrew: 350 mL, 1 tsp leaf, ~30 minutes

The dry leaf is gorgeous. It is made up of fuzzy orange curls. The leaves unroll beautifully once steeped. The prominant notes in the brew are typical of Dian Hong. Dark wet wood, raw cocoa, carob.

mmmm ok i’m a fan of this one. today it is malty, full of cocoa and just what i needed this afternoon as a pick me up between meetings. this one> golden fox imo though they’re both tasty.