Nonpareil Yunnan Dian Hong Ancient Wild Tree Black Tea

Laziest review ever: I liked it. Complex. Nothing I can add to the tons of reviews of this tea already on Steepster. Wondering if I should have brewed gongfu as I started doing or if Western (how I ended up brewing) was the way to go. I only had a sample so I’d need to buy more to try out the other method. Still, I got two steeps out of it.

1 more sample packet to go. Surprised by how sweet this is. Syrupy sweet honey, turbinado sugar, and raisins.

I keep coming back to this tea, as it is a complex set of tasty flavours, and different from what I’m used to in a black tea. There is a hint of roasted/smokiness in the earlier brews, that gives way for a sweeter, raisin type flavour that reminds me a bit of a Tokay or a Muscat. Very good value for the price.

So far I like it, smell/taste honey

Drank this tea on Jun 29. Will update later

I did a red tea tasting:

This one stood out the most out of the three that I drank. The tea was alike the regular dian hong; however, it was spotted with brilliant crimson leaves. The leaves gave off a spicy and sweet aroma with dark coco dust and burnt resin. I warmed my gaiwan and scooped them inside. The aroma heated into some cooked meat savory tones along with spices and roasted dark fruit. I washed the leaves once and prepped for brewing. The drink was thick and tasteful with roasted berries along with some leather and malt. The mixture was very interesting, and I noted that I continued to keep reaching for more. The soup was savory, sweet, pungent, and rustic. I really liked this tea.

There is multiple pictures, so you have to scroll to see them all:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRqtHDQAuVP/?taken-by=haveteawilltravel&hl=en

Interesting flavor profile for a black tea. This tea tastes like a hybrid of black and puerh. It’s woodsy, earthy, and a little musky. Steeped at boiling it produces a tannic cup. It’s slightly better at lower temperatures but still tastes mostly like a typical orange pekoe to me. Not really my cuppa.

Melon fruity notes. Raisin note. Soft sweetness. Medium mouthfeel- slightly creamy.

Water: 8oz

Leaves: semi-long, black twisted leaves w/ medium brown bits

Measuring Spoon: no

Steep: 3m

Aroma: Classic

Color: yellow-orange

Clarity: great

Taste: Finally back with another review! I hope you all had a great holiday, i spent mine with family/friends & saw fireworks from my house. Finished off the night with a delicious dinner. Now on to the tea the feel of this tea was smooth. Taste wise it was very light with no bitterness present.

Hope you all have a great week!

Happy Monday tea world! This past weekend was very enjoyable and I believe sets up a trend, a trend that will hold until late July, my weekends will be taken up watching fighting games. Yes, the season for watching FGC tournaments on the weekends is underway and I am so full of hype. I am very fond of fighting games, even if I am absolutely horrid at them, long ago in my youth I was an unstoppable force at Mortal Kombat, but my tendons and arthritis hate me meaning no more fighting games or beat’em ups for me, so to get my fix I watch champions play it at a professional level. I don’t really do standard sports, but I sooo get into fighting games!

It has been a while since I had a Teavivre week on the blog, so this week will be all Teavivre, starting out with Nonpareil Yunnan Dian Hong Ancient Wild Tree Black Tea. This is a hong cha from my favorite region for red teas, Yunnan! This specific Dianhong comes from Fengqing, the garden is high and the mountain and these large leafed trees are quite old, it is said in the description that it picks up notes of both Dianhong and Sheng Puerh, and I have loved reds that have that quality. The leaves are large and wiry, and very dark, and this means it is time to give it a healthy sniffing. The aroma of the leaves is very malty and rich, strong notes of chocolate and slightly woody with notes of molasses, honey, and leather. It starts with a heavy richness and ends with a sharpness and a touch of distant roses.

Conveniently my gaiwan is wide so can handle the longest of the leaves, no breaking needed. The aroma of the soggy leaves has notes of malt and sharp woodiness, chocolate and leather with gentle black pepper and a ghostly intoxicating rose. It is like the idea of roses rather than sniffing an actual rose. The liquid is very sweet, oh it is quite intense, notes of honey and chocolate with roses and malt and a rich underlying molasses. Woody undertones and leather are also there, but adding a nice heaviness to the sweetness.

The first steep is light and gentle, the mouthfeel and taste have a summer breeze quality, being light and refreshing with a gentle touch of cooling. The tasting starts with molasses and cocoa notes, this moves to a slightly dry tobacco, woody and leather note, The finish is woody with a sweet nectar rose like quality. The rose is like the aroma, it is light and sweet but more the idea than an exact taste of rose, it is ghostly.

Moving right along to the second steep, because I do love my Dianhongs! The aroma is surprisingly floral, strong notes of roses and even a touch of wildflowers. It is like sniffing a chocolate covered rose, and it is heady and sweet. This steep’s mouthfeel starts smooth and a bit thick with a middle of dry and a finish of smooth slickness. Tasting the tea starts with woody notes and molasses sweetness, then it moves to tobacco and chocolate, but really the finish is the kicker. Notes of roses and honey with milk chocolate dance down my throat and the rose lingers for so long. This might be the most intense aftertaste I have run into with a Dianhong and I love it!

It is no secret that I love teas with a heavy rose note, especially ones that come about it naturally and not by scenting or blending, I am not sure why but of all the various oddball notes that show up in tea rose is the one that seems most magical. The taste of this steep does not change much, the main difference being stronger woody notes and a slightly earthier middle, but wow, the aftertaste on this steep is persistent. I timed it between steeps, how long the rosy aftertaste lingered, it was a full 12 minutes, which was impressive! I was able to get several more steeps out of this tea before it called it quits, while not being the most chocolaty or rich of all the various Dianhongs I chug, it certainly is the most unadulterated rosy which I loved.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/03/teavivre-nonpareil-yunnan-dian-hong.html