90

I had a 2 hour break yesterday from classes in the afternoon so I went to Chinatown to poke around. I really wanted to go to RedBlossom Tea even though I am broke and of course I couldn’t leave without buying something. Honestly I only go to their store probably twice a year and I just refuse to buy the top shelf teas because they are too expensive for me.

Quite a few other vendors carry this type of tea so I wouldn’t say it’s rare, it’s one of their every day kind of teas. The Golden Monkey by RB is one of my favorite morning teas so I thought I’d get this to compare.

I steeped the tea for two minutes and this may have been overkill because the resulting brew is quite strong. The tea liquor is very smooth and sweet, however. I am definitely getting sweet potato notes, raisin, malt and cocoa but at the longer steep it almost seems roasted.

I tried a second steep for one minute and it’s a lot nicer, very smooth and lighter. I can’t say I am getting maple syrup but I do see how you get orange out of this, especially at the shorter steep. I love Chinese black teas because they’re so easy to drink straight, although sometimes an assam with milk and sugar hits the spot too…

Happy with this brew, I don’t have a lot of other teas like this in my stash at the moment. If you don’t live near Red Blossom I don’t see any reason to purchase this tea especially from them, but it is a nice yunnan, in my opinion.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 1 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

My profile pic is of a pink dahlia at Golden Gate Park.

Hobbies include: tea, making art, animals, vegan things, buddhism, nature, creativity, books, writing, cooking, meditation, yoga.

I am a fan of many different teas but my favorites are blacks and oolongs, chai, also like darjeeling and pu-erh. I’n always learning and expanding my horizons!

Dislikes include: bergamot, jasmine, highly tannic or bitter teas, overly judgmental and bitter people. :)

Live in San Francisco, I’m a SINK (single income, no kids) and love the urban life, but traveling out to the middle of nowhere is always fun too.

I tend to not drink things I know I will hate so a lot of my tea ratings are on the higher side. Here’s my rating system, sorta

95-100 I love this tea and would like to keep it around

94-90 An excellent tea which I may or may not repurchase

89-80 Pretty good, above average

79-70 Acceptable

69-60 Mundane – Will probably drink it if I have it

59-50 Ick

49 and below Nasty

Location

San Frandisco

Website

http://sanfrantea.teatra.de

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer