Upon seeing the opportunity to get an early release black tea from a plantation that specializes in Oolong… I couldn’t resist the offer and spent perhaps a few dollars more than I ought to have in order to be a part of this.
The leaves are large, dark, and gorgeous to me. The scent of the dry leaf is full-bodied and sweet. But not sweet in a sugar or fruit sort of way to me. It’s sweet like a handful of grain.
I opted to brew this gong fu style first in a 100 mL gaiwan. Each infusion was around 1-2 minutes (depending on the infusion), so perhaps I will try this again gong fu style with shorter infusions.
The liquor is a deep amber with a surprisingly mellow aroma. As Dorothy noted, it definitely is malty with a touch of barley. Drinking the tea is smooth. There is no astringency or bitterness to my palate. At first, I couldn’t quite identify what I was tasting. It was robust but mellow. There was a heartiness without being too much.
After a while, I realized that tasting this tea reminds me of tasting craft beers. There are a lot of the same flavors working their way through the tea as I have experienced in beer. It’s almost like there’s a very light hoppy after-taste that I find especially pleasant.
I’m looking forward to trying this again with shorter infusions and again in a western style pot.
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Sounds cool! Was this a very limited-time-offer sort of thing?
It was a bit. It was advertised first on Tea Trade as an offer to TT members only. Then TT posted about it in the discussion section here if anyone wanted to head over, join, and order. I was already on TT, so I put my name in the hat basically immediately. While all the early release has already been sent out, it sounds like this will be available in the US at some point. Not sure too much on details, though. :P
If you are on or head over to Tea Trade, it is @yaya who arranged all this. :)
Thanks for the details. Now I know to keep my eye out.
A “very light hoppy after-taste” sounds appealing to me! Never heard of a tea exhibiting that quality!
It may not be perfectly accurate, SimpliciTEA… but it’s what I was tasting toward the end! :D
Sounds cool! Was this a very limited-time-offer sort of thing?
It was a bit. It was advertised first on Tea Trade as an offer to TT members only. Then TT posted about it in the discussion section here if anyone wanted to head over, join, and order. I was already on TT, so I put my name in the hat basically immediately. While all the early release has already been sent out, it sounds like this will be available in the US at some point. Not sure too much on details, though. :P
If you are on or head over to Tea Trade, it is @yaya who arranged all this. :)
Thanks for the details. Now I know to keep my eye out.
A “very light hoppy after-taste” sounds appealing to me! Never heard of a tea exhibiting that quality!
It may not be perfectly accurate, SimpliciTEA… but it’s what I was tasting toward the end! :D