I have to thank Gingko from Life in Teacup, who did a free giveaway of their Yunnan Golden Buds a couple of months ago. Without that, I would never have tried (at least so far) black tea from Yunnan. (I owe Life in Teacup an order…but right now I am waiting because friends of ours from China gave me a lot of TKY [maybe like 200 grams or so]…. I have to wait to drink that up before I can order more Chinese tea).
Rishi had this on sale for 50% off sometime in the last couple of weeks, that, combined with another coupon code, I got this for around $5.20 per ounce (instead of $13.50 or something)! Seemed like a pretty good price to me for a handpicked, ancient tree, Yunnan Gold tea. I am no expert, but that sounds like high quality to me! :-) Plus, I already had it mind to try more Yunnan Gold, so I caved and bought 2oz.
I am happy to say I was/am not disappointed. Even though this (I think) is slightly different than Life in Teacup’s version, it is delicous.
While I can appreciate (or could learn to appreciate) probably most any black tea, I really enjoy the mellow flavor of this one. It is almost fruity, slightly sweet, not astringent or malty at all, nor bitter. The leaves smell almost spiced (cinnamon, baked sweet potatoes?) once they have been infused.
I got 5 infusions the first time (near boiling for 4, 3, 5, 7, and 10 mins), and all of them were good; there was perhaps slightly less flavor in the last two, but still all delicious.
I’m really glad I got this!
I have so much ti kuan yin to go through as well. It refuses to go away!
Haha….that’s a good thing to have too much of!