I have fallen pretty hard for teas from Rizhao City, China. I would never have know of them if not for yyz who told me I should try them given my love for Loashan teas. Rizhao City is just south of Laoshan so the teas have a lot of similarities, but the Rizhao teas are just lighter. A touch sweeter. I love Laoshan Black, but sometimes its just too rich. It really is like licking the spoon of brownie batter. So delicious, but you can overdo it.
I’ve had several Rizhao teas and bought them all from Aliexpress and have had pretty good luck. I wish there was an easier way to purchase it, but after some talking with people from Rizhao city I think I’ve found a couple good sources direct from the plantations, which is cool. I may start a partnership with one man soon so I can offer his father in laws tea to people here. It’s crazy good, but they don’t know how to get the word out. The green tea is the best I’ve ever had.
This particular Rizhao tea is really yummy. Chocolate, caramel, and honey notes with a light cinnamony finish. Just a touch roasty, but only slightly. A nice early evening tea. This is the only one I can find a website for. You can translate a bit of it using chrome or google translate, but it doesn’t give you much information.
did you send this one to us? If so i think we have a duplicate entry since terri added it…
Nope, this is a different one. This is from a larger more commercial plantation. The one I sent you and Terri is directly from a small grower.
I’m glad you’ve enjoyed them so far. I’m interested in hearing more about your explorations. It’s true about the chocolate, one of the ones I have tastes almost exactly like hot chocolate.
These sound so cool! It would be awesome if you could work something out directly from a plantation.
Dino….if you remind me, I can put in a small sample of the one tastybrew sent me. I don’t have a lot but even a cup would give you a sense of it
Sil, that would be awesome. I’ll try to send you a reminder pm tomorrow.