Yunnan Dianhong Black Tea Bending Gold Buds Special Grade

Sipdown (602)!

Thank you to AprTea for giving me this free sample – I do love a good golden bud hongcha, and this one is really fucking pretty. Of course, pretty doesn’t always = delicious but, well, in this case? Well, it does.

I’ve had mixed success with the teas from Apr Tea Mall, but this is probably the nicest one so far. I brewed it in a black tea dedicated yixing pot, and while I did find it brewed out REALLY quickly (significant decline by steep four) it was quite tasty! The more prominent note was this interesting sort of “golden syrup” kind of flavour that was pleasant, especially in combo with the other flavours. I also got lots of malt, and some sweet potato and lighty burnt toast/French Bread. In the third steep I also note a hint of cocoa and red fruit, which weren’t really so present in the others – especially the red fruit notes.

Really liked this one!

Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/ByOBBCfAArK/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CltJ7WF7ohs&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=42&t=0s

This is quite a delicate tea. It has the characteristics of other teas of similar kind, but less robust and upfront. Overall it’s not as sweet, which I like. The taste is more tangy with some coffee bitterness. Mouthfeel is light and not very coating, with a noticeable astringency that comes after swallowing – another slightly unusual thing about this tea. I actually like the astringency there, it’s not overpowering at all. It is complemented by the more nutty and spicy aspects in the protracted and very nice aftertaste. The aroma of the tea has the expected dark chocolate and malt notes, but there is also a coffee smell that’s at least as pronounced.

This seems like a very good choice when you want a Yunnan black tea that’s more subtle and delicate and don’t mind a lighter body.

My favourite thing about this tea must be the aftertaste. It is really long and evolving. It has some notes of bread, sweet potatoes, chilli, ale, citrus zest and cold brew coffee, but not really all at the same time.

This was another sample given in return of an honest review.

the leaves in the package are beautiful, small handmade balls, and they look beautiful. the fluff on the leafs are wonderfully preserved, and make the balls look silky and shiny. there is a wonderful honey and clover smell, mostly honey.

once again im using the glass brewing vessel as not to alter the taste in any way. i used the entire 7.5 grams in the sample, and 8 oz of boiling water. initial brew is 25 seconds before i start the pour, each infusion will add 10 seconds to the previous brew.

the tea is a light brown, not really any red. it smells faintly of sweet potato.
after letting it cool enough to drink, the first impression is that this tea, like the last i tried, is nice and smooth, and the flavors are light, as is normal for a tippy tea. flavors are nice and balanced. The main flavors i get are sweet potato, with honey and a faint hint of cocoa.

on the second brew, the color is deeper brown, and still smells of sweet potato. the flavor shifts more toward sweet potato, but not much, and a little more cocoa. still smooth, and only light bitterness, only a hint.

third steeping the sweet potato is now almost completely gone, now leaving cocoa, a bit more bitterness, though still not much.

i will stop the review here, as the tea is becoming… not unpleasant, but not as enjoyable to drink.

This is one of the several free samples generously sent to me by AprTea, a new Chinese tea vendor located in Anxi (Fujian, China). I much appreciate both the samples and the fact that we seem to have gotten another quality vendor of Fujian and other Chinese teas, of which I am a big, big fan. The collection of samples came in simple but visually appealing sample bags packed in a cardboard tube. I actually like their design that is minimalist with a touch of a faded antique style: it’s practical, tasteful and good for the environment.

The tea itself consists of visually pleasing golden snails, quite uniform in size and color. This is the tea that is well suited to gongfu. I had three infusions and all of them gave something new. The aroma was the one that you often get from a good Yunnan tea with honeyed sweetness and malt.

The first steep was short (10 seconds) and the tea came out quite mild, with the notes of baked bread, sweet potatoes, honey, hay, malt and wild flowers. It came out as very fresh and authentic , i.e. “real”. I increased the second infusion to 25 seconds and the tea aquired a pleasant bitterness , metallic and minty notes. The bitter chocolate aftertaste lingered for a long time. The third and final infusion (25 sec) gave me a very mellow tea with all kinds of muted sweetness and barely a hint of bitterness.

Well, I liked this tea quite a bit. It tastes very “real” and three-dimensional and responds well to experimenting with a gaiwan. On the negative side is that I am not a big fan of a strongdark chocolate bitterness and that this tea does not give you a lot of quality infusions, both of which is not that uncommon in dianghongs.