I’ve stared at this tea online for nearly a year and finally gave in. Qilans are my favorite Wuyi Oolongs, and I could only imagine what the varietal is like as a black tea.
I am going to be writing a quicky backlog, so this will not be as descriptive as normal. I have only tested western so far, so I only got about 3-4 cups. I expected the tea to be similar to the floral Georgian Evening Lilac Tea I have from Renegade, and I was right. That tea is more floral leaning into a weird jasmine and savory body, whereas this one is sweeter. Hyacinth and squash are definitely there, the toasted buckwheat is in steep two for me, and I personally get brown sugar in the sweeter notes western. No bitterness or astringency, and it’s really soothing. It loses it’s touch in steep 3, being floral and malty with some light roast.I am looking forward to the fact I have 50 grams of it, and this is one of the teas I do not feel like I overpaid for or let down by. Hopefully, I will remember to write about this one again. It’s got my mark of tea nerd approval. I don’t know who’d be a fan-it’s a lighter sweet black tea that is not too forward, but it doesn’t lack body. We will see if I get more florid in the future.
Flavors: Brown Sugar, Floral, Roasty, Smooth, Squash, Sweet, Wheat