Hooray, another Yunnan to try! :D I picked this up in my recent Adagio order because I had a $5 coupon and the sample was $5, so I figured that makes it free! ;) Do not question it! The leaves are very cute. They’re all curled up into little loose balls, bi luo chun style. Mostly dark with some golden tips in there too. The dry scent is strong malt with honey and a hay accent – pretty much what I expect at this point. I brewed this twice, first at 4 minutes and then at 3 (not a resteep, with separate leaves each time).
I did 4 minutes first, because it’s the average time for this tea on Steepster. The leaves get pretty big when they unfurl! :D Smells mostly malty with some bread and honey notes mixed in. The taste seemed kind of one-note to me. It was a ton of malt with a little earthy smokiness in there. Meh. Trying again.
Then I did 3 minutes in hopes I would get some other flavors. The aroma was similar, with more honey and some hay as well. I still taste mostly malt, but now there is some honey in there and none of the earth and smoke taste. Still not a super complex flavor profile. I added a bit of sugar and I felt it helped to round out the taste for me. I found this tea pretty good but not great. Somewhere between H&S Tippy Yunnan and Yunnan Golden Tips.
On another note, I saw several reviews for this on Adagio in which people said it didn’t have the normal Yunnan taste. This confuses me a bit because in all the Yunnans I’ve tried so far, the predominant flavors have been strong malt, bread, and honey notes. And this tea definitely has some of those. So I guess I don’t get what the “typical” Yunnan taste is supposed to be. :P
Flavors: Earth, Honey, Malt, Smoke
Preparation
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I make Yunnan blacks only gongfu. With short multiple steeps you can notice diff flavors. Just my 2c ;)
I will definitely keep that in mind, although I don’t have any kind of gong fu equipment yet. Soon maybe.
On the gong fu front… a smallish dish/bowl about 4oz with something to strain. I used a glass cooking dish I had for a while with a ziplock plastic lid. Worked just as well, wasn’t pretty, but no body was looking.
I used to make in Pyrex cup with saucer on top and strainer;)
This easy gaiwan is the best, I use it daily
http://m.ebay.com/itm/350927580204?nav=SEARCH
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dragon-Phoenix-Porcelain-Gongfu-Tea-Set-6-Pcs-/271333384037?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f2cbadf65
That set is cute and damn cheap for what it is.
I remember being warned tho about buying painted dishes from China. Something about lead in paint. I wonder how to be sure they are safe.
I make Yunnan blacks only gongfu. With short multiple steeps you can notice diff flavors. Just my 2c ;)
I will definitely keep that in mind, although I don’t have any kind of gong fu equipment yet. Soon maybe.
On the gong fu front… a smallish dish/bowl about 4oz with something to strain. I used a glass cooking dish I had for a while with a ziplock plastic lid. Worked just as well, wasn’t pretty, but no body was looking.
I used to make in Pyrex cup with saucer on top and strainer;)
This easy gaiwan is the best, I use it daily
http://m.ebay.com/itm/350927580204?nav=SEARCH
I was actually looking at this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Blue-and-White-Porcelain-Peony-Gaiwan-Teapot-Quick-Gongfu-Tea-Maker-TP073-/400530681805?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5d417d2fcd
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dragon-Phoenix-Porcelain-Gongfu-Tea-Set-6-Pcs-/271333384037?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f2cbadf65
That set is cute and damn cheap for what it is.
I remember being warned tho about buying painted dishes from China. Something about lead in paint. I wonder how to be sure they are safe.