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“Yay, my swap from TastyBrew arrived yesterday, & she is awesome! Most of the samples are in foil pouches with her own cool logo on them: it’s a tea mug with a beer bottle in it, & the label...” Read full tasting note
“This is my tea of choice for work today. Thanks Sil for sending this my way. I’ve decided that Taiwan blacks aren’t normally my favorite. I usually find them too mild and slightly astringent. Not...” Read full tasting note
“I’d read the tasting notes but had forgotten what was said. I brewed for 2 minutes, then 2:30 for the second steep. Next time I’ll try longer as recommended! I had the opposite problem to those...” Read full tasting note
“What a weird tea! I got this from TastyBrew…I’m on a roll today with the teas we swapped. Thanks TastyBrew! So, this tea looked like an oolong, both in dry leaf form and when steeped. A dark...” Read full tasting note
Grown on the shores of Sun Moon Lake in Nantou comes this rare exquisite black tea. Long lush twisted leaves resembling charred wood splinters are entwined with scarlet highlights that create a most sensual and sumptuous composition.
Ruby Black is produced from a hybrid of native Myanmar and imported Assam trees planted by Japanese growers in the 1920’s. Black tea has rarely been cultivated in Taiwan an island famed for its Oolongs. Production of this tea ceased until the great 1999 Taiwan Earthquake, when the devastation of hillsides revealed these hardly cultivars. The reintroduction of this tea revitalized the local economy and created a sensational black tea that rivals any Darjeeling or Assam. This is only the third year of production for this magnificent tea.
Imagine the finest Assam with not a hint of astringency and a sweet malty taste almost dripping down the sides of your tongue and marry that flavor with undertones of cinnamon and mint. The taste is beyond description so light and balanced yet robust. Background notes pick up hints of grilled baby root vegetables, small fresh potatoes and rich earth (like in a primeval forest). Only 1000 kilograms were produced in 2010 and virtually none has ever been exported to the US until now. American Tea Room is the sole purveyor of Ruby Black and has a limited amount of this spectacular tea plucked just for us from March 28 – 30 and expertly crafted before being air shipped to insure optimal freshness.
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Thanks JustJames for sending this along to me. It was a delicious tea that I enjoyed (216)!
I taste delicious maltiness, and cinnamon and fresh air. I see it’s from the Sun Moon Lake region and it makes me think of all those teas from TTC that I’ve been sampling and I suddenly regret not tasting them closer enough to really compare the two. But, ah well. That’s how it goes. So many delicious teas – I’ll never be able to keep them straight so I will just savour each one as I get to it.
Great closing remark, because I can totally relate to that. Sometimes I am in the mood to really take in all the amazing layers of flavor, but other times that feels like work & really, I just want to enjoy a cup of tea without thinking too much. :)
I agree! Well said :)
SSTTB: Pick #17
Made this one in my timolino this morning for work. There are a couple neat looking straight blacks in The Box but this one really caught my attention because it’s a Taiwanese black and I was wondering how many similarities I’d be able to draw between it and Butiki’s Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black.
And I actually did notice some similarities; this had the same sort of waffle-y notes to it that TWMB has, and some soft maltiness to it. Overall this was really calming and so smooth – but I do like TWMB better; that one just has more flavour overall and I think it’s a bit naturally sweeter.
But this one was good! I’d totally drink it again – but this was the last of it. Oh well; I just stocked up on TWMB anyway…
SSTTB
Aside from Brioche I have been pretty disappointed with American Tea Room teas. Consequently, when I see one, I don’t have high expectations for it. However, this was a pleasant surprise. It is rich and malty with notes of caramel, vanilla, and chocolate. Yum!
In other news, I checked the description and my tastes are way off (aside from the malt) of what this is meant to be. Oh well.
