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Thank you to Tea Bento for the free sample.
Coldbrew: 350 mL, 1 tsp leaf, ~30 minutes
The dry leaf is gorgeous. It is made up of fuzzy orange curls. The leaves unroll beautifully once steeped. The prominant notes in the brew are typical of Dian Hong. Dark wet wood, raw cocoa, carob.
Flavors: Cocoa, Dark Chocolate, Dark Wood
Preparation
Sipdown! I’m slowly working through my focus box…it’s a serious life goal right now.
This is definitely true to its name. It does taste similar to red tea (black tea) rather than an oolong. It has some woody and roasted notes but not significantly roasted. The sweetness makes this a really great morning drink-nectar and brown sugar. Everything about this tea is extremely palatable, it is sweet and flavourful without being extreme in any characteristic.
Flavors: Nectar, Roasted, Sweet, Tannin, Wood
Preparation
Thank you to Tea Bento for the free samples! I will be reviewing a few today, and the rest in coming designated caffeine days (once or twice per week). I have received this tea for free in exchange for an unbiased review.
This tastes more like a black tea to me, but it is still very nice. The most prominent notes are honey, floral, wood, tulip, saffron. I can see how people might taste chocolate/malt in this, although I didn’t taste any. This oolong is very distinctly Taiwanese with its characteristic floral/honey flavour. The sweet notes really make for an aromatic and beautiful morning cup. Oddly enough, I can see this oolong getting even better if milk is added. I might try that with the remaining leaf.
Flavors: Floral, Honey, Nectar, Saffron, Sweet, Wood
Preparation
This one is another lighter brew from Teabento. It’s malty, slightly chocolatey but more as a subnote to me. I like bold, brisk teas so this one isn’t for me but it’s a tasty tea and right up there for anyone who likes this type of tea.
Yep, same experience with this one. Too light and thin for me, especially compared to Jiri. I don’t think anything will compare to Jiri though…
I wonder how many others of these we both picked?
Sipdown (596)!
Very chocolate-y tasting, which is definitely what I was hoping for when selecting it. In addition to having those lovely, dark chocolate type of notes there’s a slightly malty body notes as well and a lighter top note of French Bread. Undertones are just a tiny bit fruity, the same way that a really, really dark chocolate can also taste fruity despite not having fruit in it. Like that.
I’ll miss this – is was beautiful to look at, and delivered a lovely infusion.
Gong Fu!
Over the last year, I’ve really developed a love for Dian Hong teas and their natural, rich chocolate profiles so when teabento gave me the opportunity to try eight of their teas I loaded up on as many Dian Hongs as they carried. Ideally, what I’m hoping for is to find one or two that I just adore, and to add them to my increasingly large amount of Dian Hong cupboard staples. I mean, they’re just perfect – both for Western AND Gong Fu brewing.
I’m gonna try to stick at close to teabento’s Gong Fu brewing guide for this session and just explore my thoughts on the tea in the moment, following those steeping parameters. As such, I’ve measured out exactly four grams of the tea leaf, and I’m using the closest thing to a 120ml gaiwan that I own – a 115ml one. I also started with a rinse and a rest before drinking, as they recommended. Honestly, I don’t often do a rinse with my black teas unless they’re compressed. I generally just don’t find it super necessary. So, it was a weird step for me…
Steep One/30 Seconds
- The aroma is incredible; already I’m finding myself strongly reminded of rich cocoa
- The Gong Fu set I’m using today is mostly blue teaware, so it is hard to see the liquor
- At least the “true” colour of the liquor
- Top note is definitely cocoa; reminds me of straight, unsweetened cocoa powder
- The body is more malty and just a touch astringent; pleasantly so
- Very thick mouthfeel
- The finish is a LITTLE BIT fruity, but not overly; reminds me of red fruits
- But in a generic sense
Steep Two/15 Seconds
- Aroma of steeped leaf is more a mix of honey/graham/cocoa
- Still very intense/rich cocoa notes but sweeter
- Body is still very malty, but has honey notes to it to
- And a sweet, bread like quality loosely like a French bread fresh from the oven
- Finish goes back to being chocolate like with fruity companion notes
- Red fruits/raisins; very jammy and sweet
- Thick, smooth mouthfeel and round/balanced flavour
Steep Three/1 Minute
- Super rich chocolate notes; almost a milk chocolate flavour now
- Combine that w. the malty body & baked bread notes and it kind of tastes like Maltesers
- With a fruity/jammy finish
- This infusion does have a VERY lingering aftertaste as well; kind of like a scorched cocoa
- Mouthfeel feels a little thinner?
Steep Four/2 Minutes
- Definitely the least nuanced infusion yet
- Mostly a mix of malt and chocolate notes
- With honey and raisin finishing notes
- Sadly, it’s losing its richness a little bit but it’s not too far gone yet
Steep Five/4 Minutes
- Personally, I think four minutes is WAY too long to Gong Fu something
- And if I weren’t following teabento’s steeping guide I wouldn’t be doing it…
- The flavour was fading in the last infusion, but I do think the long steep gave it a bump
- Still remains very chocolate-y, however the malt is pretty well gone
- It’s a little ‘one note’ now?
- It’s a good one note, though!
I don’t know that I’m gonna continue with the session, though I don’t think the leaf is totally spent yet either. I’m just honestly not super sure where to go from a four minute infusion. I definitely think you could keep going if you were so inclined, though!
Overall? I thought this was a REALLY nice Dian Hong, and I greatly enjoyed the session. That said, I don’t know that this particular Golden Needle style Dian Hong is any better than the other ones I currently have on hands so I wouldn’t deliberately stock this one over the other – however, if I was already low and just wanted to restock one in general and I was already ordering from teabento there would be nothing stopping me from choosing this one over another company’s. Does that make sense? Hopefully.
I’m not sure where I’ve landed on teabento’s Gong Fu steeping parameters; the timing is definitely different than I’ve seen from so many other companies; it just jumps up so quickly in time and I don’t know that I’ve ever steeped anything Gong Fu for four minutes – and on the fifth infusion, no less. To me, that’s just Western brewing in a fancier vessel? That said, it’s not like any of the infusions tasted bad! It’s something I think I’ll definitely experiment with on some of the other teas I received from them.
mmm. honey notes? check. smooth brew? check. this is actually closer to sun moon lake teas that i’ve had in the past. I am a fan!
Another sample from Teabento – thanks again! My water was turned off before i could really dice in to this one but it is your typical golden needle. Love these leaves! Brewed, it’s smooth, malty but also has a tang to it from the fruity notes. I don’t get the chocolate facets that the website speaks of but it was still a thoroughly enjoyable cup!
Another cup of this today to try and see if i can get through the last of my samples. End of September is coming up soon! I rather enjoy this one, though i’m finding on the second time around there’s a bit of astringency in the last bit of the after taste. Leaves my mouth a little dry. However, the brew is sweet, plumy and quite enjoyable! thanks again tea bento!
Another sample from Teabento. When i picked this one out, I was curious if it would be similar to teas from TTC from that region that i thoroughly enjoy. In the package the leaves are long and closely resemble teas that i’ve had from this region. Brewed this is not a bold, strong tea – instead it’s fairly light but tasty. Not quite honey notes – instead it’s more sweet…plum? I think i prefer others from this region that i’ve tried, but would drink this in a pinch for sure.
Easily the best surprise I’ve had in a long time just streamed from the gaiwan to my cup. This is an amazingly complex and delicious treat! At first I had a problem defining what my senses were rejoicing in, but after some contemplation over 2nd and 3rd pots, I will take a stab at it: Nuts. Chocolate. Real chocolate, not that ooey, gooey stuff that make into hollow bunnies.
This Korean tea is amazingly good! I lived in Korea for a while and learned a little about cooking and other fun things to do with rice, but nobody – nObOdy – told me about this stuff! Balhyocha is a secret which needs sharing. Great pick from Teabento.
Flavors: Chocolate, Cocoa, Honey, Nuts, Nutty
Preparation
#adventageddon Day Fourteen – 2/6
Gongfu! I’m deeply treasuring my advent from teabento right now because it’s really been my only source for Gongfu sessions/straight teas this month, aside from a few off days where I got in some extra non-advent teas.
Today’s session also featured a brand new teacup from Bitterleaf Teas, as well as some yummy sticky toffee pudding flavoured cheese! Dessert cheeses really are the best. The tea is full bodied, with prominent and more savory notes of pine wood, smoke, malt, and black currant which really nicely offsets the sweetness of the decadent toffee, raisin, and caramelized nut notes of this cheese, while still complimenting it so nicely!!
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6EH_3cgy5p/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETxuFyAL1RU
Sipdown (592)!
I finished this off during the work week – and while I was definitely intending on just finishing it off in the lab while filling out Spreadsheets I actually had the chance to go on a warehouse tour, and so I actually finished off the tea during the walk from the office to the warehouse – and it was a beautiful day, so walking out in the bright, shining sun with the gentle breeze while sipping on a cup of tea was a pretty amazing experience.
A little office escape, if you will.
Taste wise I think this is beautifully full bodied, with a lot of very rich notes. The standout note is, of course, the deep oak/wood notes which are super complex and commanding in their presence, but still pretty relaxing and smooth. Other notes are dark cocoa/baker’s chocolate, malt, and smoke. Not smoke the same way that a Smoked Lapsang Souchong tastes though; very different, softer and more natural hint of smoke notes in the tea itself. Not from a pine smoking process…
Good tea – I would reorder.
Again, many thanks to teabento for providing these samples for me to try! This is my second of eight, and I enjoyed it today in my tea press at work. It was a particularly stressful day with a lot going on because we had the entire store professionally inventoried. However, drinking this tea felt like experiencing the calm after a storm. I had it on break so that definitely helped, though.
I did take proper jot notes too! It’s been a while since I’ve brought my tea journal with to work – but it was important to me that I do this tea justice in capturing my thoughts as I drank it!
- So I absolutely loved LS, smoked and unsmoked
- Normally I wouldn’t dare make LS in a tea press
- This one is unsmoked so I thought it viable
- And it worked well! This was delicious
- This one is an unsmoked option; good for people who don’t love that aspect of Lapsang
- I did think it was a LITTLE BIT smoky, but in the natural sort of way a Keemun is
- Not in the way smoked LS is at all
- Most dominant note was a strong woody element throughout the sip
- teabento describes this as ‘oaky’ and I think that’s pretty nail on the head
- I didn’t taste much in the way of fruit notes sadly; they were there but very mild
- Would have loved to get that orange peel element! Oh well…
- Though some stonefruit did peak out in the finish of the sip, especially as the tea cooled
- Vaguely plum like I suppose, also a little raisin-ish
- Also got notes of malt, and dark bitter chocolate
- That’s not to say the tea was bitter; it was smooth with a pleasant mouthfeel!
- But just bitter in the way that chocolate sometimes pleasantly is!
Doing super well with my weight goal so far this year so really trying to make a bit more of a dent with numbers. Sadly i have a small number of teas, that all came to me as 100g bags. I really wish more companies would offer 25g or at least 50g. Even if it’s a tea i adore, i’d rather be able to rotate through it and place another order OR have one bag sealed for longer. This is one that’s almost done, so working on sipping it down given the number of samples that will likely be hitting me once variaTEA and i meet up. Just have to get through a couple more days of NOT ordering tea for an order free month of feb!