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Now that I have tasted Golden Fleece, I can die happy…honestly, that is about what I expected after reading the reviews. Ummmm, for real, it’s…good? I mean it is a nice tea, really. For the price and hype? Nah, not so much. Jing Tea Shop used to sell one remarkably like for almost nothing under the category of everyday teas. (Which they no longer have, after they sold out and remained that way for a long, long time). Yes, Golden Fleece has bigger leaves. But, the smell and the taste are much the same. Upton’s Yunnan Rare Grade also has the same wonderful candy/ sugar cookie smell and, to me, the same taste. Maybe better. I guess that marks me as a tea peasant.

Really, I’ve made this tea three times now and I end up trying to remind myself that this is a great tea and to appreciate it. Because, when I’m drinking it, it doesn’t hit me and I end up just slurping it down. Some teas really make me quite happy, time after time (Yunnan Rare Grade) and when I find myself drinking it in a distracted manner, the taste reminds me and I remember and think “Dang, that’s good!” It is kind of the opposite with Golden Fleece. I guess I can save a lot of money, at least on this one…

Oh no! Do I have a new favorite? My beloved jing tea Dan Cong red tea is expensive enough and this one edges above it in price, although admittedly not by much when you factor shipping cost.

I didn’t want to love this at this price, but with reviews like this, I couldn’t NOT try it. I can’t describe the complexity well, but never mind, because I do love it. The first brew, I get something like tobacco leaves, mild chocolate and roast chestnuts. The second brew is actually even better, which I can’t think of another tea that I can say that about. It brings in higher notes, raisin? cinnamon? caramel? I really, really can’t say. But I will happily continue to try to figure it out. The third brew is fine too, though I accidentally left it for an hour and it was just warm, so I don’t want to say too much about that one. This is superb, excellent and totally worth it. This tea is rocking my world and I don’t say that lightly.

I want to update my previous note, as this tea has surpassed every other tea in my estimation. It just gets better and better. And I did want to say that, personally, I don’t get any astringency. I am usually quite sensitive to it and dislike it almost as much as smokiness. This is not a cheap tea, but I just made another order, I crave it and I was worried about the low quantity in my cannister.

At the moment I have three favorite teas from jing tea shop, and Ying de Hong Cha is one of them. (I’m not going to count Yunnan Gold, since it hasn’t been available for some time). I ordered it again, because I didn’t want to get too low. It reminds me of the Dan Cong red tea, with milder notes of a fruity flavor and honey. As it is considerably cheaper than the Dan Cong, it is an excellent everyday tea for me.

In the past, I have had short-lived favorites and what I love at one time, I don’t much care for later on. But my jing teas have stayed completely consistent for me, or, if anything, I love them even more after months of drinking them. I still try to use up other teas, but these are the ones I want.

I frequently love,

This is exquisite tea. I got a sample and had to have more, though it is rather expensive, by my opinion it is worth it. I do not get chocolate, or nutty at all. I do get thick honey, and sometimes, I swear I get sweet orange and others I don’t. I can get the floral undertone, or back taste. This is absolutely a special weekend tea. I just got a third infusion from it, which is pretty good for me, usually I don’t find a third infusion of black tea worthwhile, unless I want to drink it cold. It would be very hard to oversteep this one, it is just sweetly special.

This is one of my go to, every day favorites. Nutty and complex, just as they say, but also kind of “sturdy”. I get rather ridiculous, if a tea is too wonderful (and too expensive), I just don’t want to indulge in it too often. I’ll save it for the weekend when I can really savor it over the long mornings. This is one that I can do that with, but I don’t feel like I have to. I went ahead and really stocked up when they got it back in stock and it should last a while.

I love this tea. It is essentially the same as Upton’s Yunnan Rare Grade. I love to just stick my nose in the goodness of the scent in the container. It tastes like fruit and cookies. Lovely, lovely aromatic golden indulgence!

I used to love flavored teas, but not so much anymore. I really like this one though. It is a good tea, the tea holds up to the flavors and the flavors are balanced. It reminds me a bit of Mariage Freres Marco Polo, probably the strawberry influence, but that is quite a compliment and this one is much more economical. This is a lovely after dinner treat tea.

I like this tea a lot. It has a good toasty and mildly nutty quality and it is fine to resteep. It is more medium bodied, and so, to me an all day tea. It reminds me of Copper Knot Hongcha by Teavana, though that is a darker tea. They are actually similarly priced.