90

I almost forgot about this tea. I started working my way through a pouch of this a couple weeks ago and had yet to get around to doing a serious gongfu session with it until yesterday evening. With my allergies suddenly going crazy, I had been holding off on reviewing any new teas due to exhaustion and a less than sensitive palate (smells can still somehow work their way into my poor nose), but I could not hold off any longer. I decided to work around my limitations as best as I could. It took a lot more time than usual and I had to really push myself to identify flavor components, but I was able to get a complete session in before my evening exercise session. Even under the circumstances, I found this to be an extremely pleasant tea.

Obviously, I gongfued this one. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in a 4 ounce gaiwan filled with 200 F water for 5 seconds. At this point, I have to admit that I had no clue how to brew this tea. With most Yunnan black teas, I use a water temperature of either 195 F or 205 F, so I just split the difference with this one. The initial 5 second infusion was followed by 15 subsequent infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 15 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I picked up nice aromas of nectarine, peach, honey, and wood from the dry tea leaves. After the rinse, I picked up emerging scents of roasted nuts, leather, toast, and malt. The first infusion brought out scents of fresh baked bread and chocolate. In the mouth, the tea was dominated by well-integrated notes of chocolate, malt, baked bread, toast, leather, roasted nuts, honey, wood, nectarine, and peach before a smooth fade that really emphasized the stone fruit and honey flavors. Subsequent infusions brought out aromas and flavors of caramel, cream, butter, minerals, apricot, wild strawberry, blood orange, smoke, and rose. The later infusions were dominated by mineral, wood, and roasted nut notes, though I could still detect underlying flavors of caramel, cream, butter, and chocolate. One interesting and incredibly appealing aspect of this tea was that the stone fruit and honey notes kept popping up on the tail end of the finish long after the tea had peaked, so no matter how little the tea had left, it still kept reeling me back in again and again.

This tea was not all that deep, but it had a lot going on up front and it was extremely enjoyable. Even with my relatively impaired palate, I was still able to find a lot to like. I would definitely recommend this one to fans of traditional Yunnan black teas who are looking for something a little different.

ADDENDUM: I did another session with this tea on 08/03/2017. I increased the water temperature to 205 F this time and picked up interesting herbal aromas and flavors that I did not find before. For me, it was like a mixture of eucalyptus and menthol.

Flavors: Apricot, Blood Orange, Blood Orange, Bread, Butter, Caramel, Chocolate, Cream, Eucalyptus, Honey, Leather, Malt, Menthol, Peach, Roasted Nuts, Rose, Smoke, Smoke, Stonefruit, Strawberry, Toast, Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML
Terri HarpLady

Same tea I drank this morning, except mine is an older vintage.
Great job picking out flavors, especially with allergies!

eastkyteaguy

Terri, I now have to take prescription nasal spray. I hate taking medications, but I had an exam this morning and my otolaryngologist flatly told me that I had to at least start taking something for the congestion. I’m not looking forward to it.

ashmanra

I have been greatly helped by the lymphatic drainage massage demonstrated on YouTube. Have you tried it? I was able to dodge taking antibiotics for an ear infection and have found that when chronic allergies cause problems, I can get things to move along a bit and feel better.

eastkyteaguy

Ashmanra, I have never heard of that, but I will most certainly look into it. Thank you!

ashmanra

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QA-wi0d7-Ro
This is the one I use! Hope it helps!

eastkyteaguy

Ashmanra, I just checked it out and I am definitely going to give it a shot. Thank you.

ashmanra

You’re welcome!

Terri HarpLady

my allergy protocol helps a lot, otherwise I couldn’t function due to dizziness, headaches, etc. I usually drink a qt of nettles tea per day, using 1/4 nettle leaf, and 1 T of Golden Rod. Lately I’ve been using both herbs in the form of tinctures, and although I don’t like tinctures as much, I have to admit it may be even more helpful than the tea. Querticin also helps when I take it, but I’m out right now and hate swallowing pills.

Terri HarpLady

That video is great Ashmanra! Thanks for posting!

ashmanra

I hope it helps you, TerriHarpLady! It has saved me a couple of times!

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Comments

Terri HarpLady

Same tea I drank this morning, except mine is an older vintage.
Great job picking out flavors, especially with allergies!

eastkyteaguy

Terri, I now have to take prescription nasal spray. I hate taking medications, but I had an exam this morning and my otolaryngologist flatly told me that I had to at least start taking something for the congestion. I’m not looking forward to it.

ashmanra

I have been greatly helped by the lymphatic drainage massage demonstrated on YouTube. Have you tried it? I was able to dodge taking antibiotics for an ear infection and have found that when chronic allergies cause problems, I can get things to move along a bit and feel better.

eastkyteaguy

Ashmanra, I have never heard of that, but I will most certainly look into it. Thank you!

ashmanra

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QA-wi0d7-Ro
This is the one I use! Hope it helps!

eastkyteaguy

Ashmanra, I just checked it out and I am definitely going to give it a shot. Thank you.

ashmanra

You’re welcome!

Terri HarpLady

my allergy protocol helps a lot, otherwise I couldn’t function due to dizziness, headaches, etc. I usually drink a qt of nettles tea per day, using 1/4 nettle leaf, and 1 T of Golden Rod. Lately I’ve been using both herbs in the form of tinctures, and although I don’t like tinctures as much, I have to admit it may be even more helpful than the tea. Querticin also helps when I take it, but I’m out right now and hate swallowing pills.

Terri HarpLady

That video is great Ashmanra! Thanks for posting!

ashmanra

I hope it helps you, TerriHarpLady! It has saved me a couple of times!

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Bio

My grading criteria for tea is as follows:

90-100: Exceptional. I love this stuff. If I can get it, I will drink it pretty much every day.

80-89: Very good. I really like this stuff and wouldn’t mind keeping it around for regular consumption.

70-79: Good. I like this stuff, but may or may not reach for it regularly.

60-69: Solid. I rather like this stuff and think it’s a little bit better-than-average. I’ll drink it with no complaints, but am more likely to reach for something I find more enjoyable than revisit it with regularity.

50-59: Average. I find this stuff to be more or less okay, but it is highly doubtful that I will revisit it in the near future if at all.

40-49: A little below average. I don’t really care for this tea and likely won’t have it again.

39 and lower: Varying degrees of yucky.

Don’t be surprised if my average scores are a bit on the high side because I tend to know what I like and what I dislike and will steer clear of teas I am likely to find unappealing.

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KY

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