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“Stronger tea with an aroma! Very nice Yunnan and well worth the purchase!” Read full tasting note
“This tea’s first review! No pressure or anything. :P Another Yunnan specimen from Nicole! Looks similar to the Steven Smith version I just tried – mostly dark grey/brown leaves with a few golden...” Read full tasting note
A spectacular plucking of Yunnan, composed almost entirely of very long golden tips.
This exceptional tea is to black tea what the Silver Needle is to white tea: an essential for all lovers of fine teas.
The infused leaf has a powerful, deep aroma, with almost meaty, truffle-like notes of damp earth and rich foliage. The liquor is dark, almost black, and its full, generous fragrance evokes cocoa. Undoubtedly the best of the Yunnans.
A very high quality black China tea, it will stun black tea lovers with its complex, powerful aroma.
Origin: China
Tea color: black
Steeping Time: 3’-5’
Water temperature: 185°F
Dry leaves
Appearance: a spectacular plucking made up exclusively of very long golden buds.
Scents: an animal note is joined by the honey and floral fragrances of Yunnan
Brewed leaves (infusion)
Color: very dark brown
Scents: the undergrowth and animal notes dominate (wet wicker, leather)
Liquor
Color: almost black
Texture in the mouth: evokes velvet with a delicate astringency
Flavor: a touch of bitterness
Aromas: wonderfully rich! Wicker, mushroom, truffle, tobacco, mocha, beeswax, leather… just a few of the notes offered by this type of tea
Aromatic profile and length in the mouth: full and well balanced, the aromas remain in the mouth for many minutes after the last mouthful.
This tea’s first review! No pressure or anything. :P
Another Yunnan specimen from Nicole! Looks similar to the Steven Smith version I just tried – mostly dark grey/brown leaves with a few golden buds mixed in. Dry scent is mildly malty, somewhat musty, and quite sweet, although I’m not sure I’d describe it as honey.
Whoa, powerful aroma! Very malty with an earthiness that’s mineral and almost smoky. I can catch a little hint of raisin in there somewhere. The taste is way less intense than I expected from the aroma! Primarily malt and dark bread. There are some earth and wood flavors, but they’re not overpowering. I also taste slight leather and tobacco notes. There’s a little bit of sweetness, but in a rich way, similar to molasses or dark caramel. I was very surprised to find an aftertaste of sweet honeyed toast!
I was very pleasantly surprised by this tea! I had expected it to be very intense and “manly” based solely off of the aroma, but it tastes much milder. I feel like this tea represents a good happy medium between the darker, rougher Yunnans and the light honeyed versions. A nice everyday tea! :)
Flavors: Bread, Caramel, Earth, Honey, Leather, Malt, Molasses, Toast, Tobacco, Wood
I’m glad you reviewed this one. I still need to try another couple methods and take some time with it before I was going to put down my thoughts. Thus far, it doesn’t bear up to the price for me. There are less expensive that I like more at this point.
Holy crap, that is so expensive! Yeah, there’s no way it’s worth that price. The description also says it’s all buds, which isn’t true? Weird.
Yeah, not sure what they are defining as “buds.”
