It never ceases to surprise me how many excellent variations of the basic tippy dianhong tea exist. This is one of them. This tea has a strong base of sweet potatoes and baked bread but on top of that has many sweet fruity and vegetable notes: peach, melon, floral, asparagus, spinach, broccoli. The taste is complex and enjoyable and remains enjoyable in the subsequent Western-style steepings (it did lose a lot of nuances, though) with hazelnuts coming forward strong.
This tea is very sensitive to water: to appreciate all of the nuances one needs to use sweet spring water. The overarching tea character is not one of the relaxation and lazy savoring – it is a very energetic, uplifting tea that is well suited to be one of the midday drinks at work. In that respect, this tea is not that dissimilar to more refined Keemuns. My only complaint is the regrettable lack of a lingering aftertaste , which Keemuns, for example, have in spades.
Nevertheless, this is tea is very good and worthy of a reorder. I will look if they have an imperial grade for this tea though since this tea would have a potential to be awesome.
Flavors: Asparagus, Bread, Broccoli, Hazelnut, Melon, Peach, Spinach, Sweet Potatoes
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I just got a pouch of this one like a couple weeks ago. In general, I find Yunnan Sourcing’s black teas to be very good. I think I may even have an unopened pouch of the Spring 2017 version of this tea somewhere.
Eastkyteaguy, do you think that black Yunnan teas retain their taste well over time? I read that some of them can even improve with time like puerhs but find it hard to believe…
I always try to buy the latest harvest but some teas are available only as the 2017 or even 2016 harvest … and they are often discounted so I am having a harder time in convincing myself to stick to the 2018 harvest lately.
I have a few 1-2 year old YS black teas that have held up quite well. That being said, I don’t think any of them have improved with time. Just no noticeable loss of freshness or flavor as tends to happen with green teas and oolongs.
Bluegreen, I agree wholeheartedly with LuckyMe’s comment, as I would also say that Yunnan black teas don’t improve over time so much as they retain their character longer than many other teas. I would still want to drink most of them within 24-36 months of harvest though.
Thank you. It makes me feel better. Yunnan Sourcing has enough 2018 red teas to try as it is without the nagging thought that I may need to check out the previous year’s harves as well.
I just got a pouch of this one like a couple weeks ago. In general, I find Yunnan Sourcing’s black teas to be very good. I think I may even have an unopened pouch of the Spring 2017 version of this tea somewhere.
Eastkyteaguy, do you think that black Yunnan teas retain their taste well over time? I read that some of them can even improve with time like puerhs but find it hard to believe…
I always try to buy the latest harvest but some teas are available only as the 2017 or even 2016 harvest … and they are often discounted so I am having a harder time in convincing myself to stick to the 2018 harvest lately.
I have a few 1-2 year old YS black teas that have held up quite well. That being said, I don’t think any of them have improved with time. Just no noticeable loss of freshness or flavor as tends to happen with green teas and oolongs.
Bluegreen, I agree wholeheartedly with LuckyMe’s comment, as I would also say that Yunnan black teas don’t improve over time so much as they retain their character longer than many other teas. I would still want to drink most of them within 24-36 months of harvest though.
Thank you. It makes me feel better. Yunnan Sourcing has enough 2018 red teas to try as it is without the nagging thought that I may need to check out the previous year’s harves as well.