Organic Golden Yunnan Black Tea

It’s The Final Sipdown: Day 2 and this is the sample to which I must say goodbye.

I have a problem using the last bits of good tea samples. Because if it is a good tea, I want to make sure I always have it on hand. If I only have a cup or two left, I don’t drink it up, I save it. After all, if I drink it, it will then be gone and I will be sad.

But I simply cannot fail in my decupboarding adventure on Day 2! No! If I’m going to fail, it will be after a long and arduous attempt, a mere three feet from the peak of Mt. Everest, not before we even leave base camp!

And with that determination in mind, I used my last bit of this to make a travel tumbler full of tea before heading out for Mt. Everest Costco. I was daring and used no additives. (Because that’s intrepid explorer-types roll, you know. Without sugar.) It is a rare tea that can stand up to travel tumbler abuse additive-less but this one performed swimmingly. Oh, there was a moment I held my breath when I could only slurp tiny amounts (it was very hot, you see, and we hadn’t brought a medic so I had to be cautious) and the taste was coming across somewhat bitter. I began to fear that the tumbler had defeated this tea. But the tea pulled through and, once it cooled and I could sip without fear, the taste reverted to normal yumminess. In fact, I believe it responded well to the travel tumbler challenge as it was bolder and stouter than before.

So two thumbs up for this intrepid tea sample as it successfully conquered my travel tumbler, even though it ultimately perished in the attempt. To those I must decupboard, I salute you!

Sipdown! Gotta be honest, I’m not especially heartbroken. This was a good tea, but it’s not one I’ll miss, and frankly, I’m happy to have an excuse to make room for my new teas coming in. Speaking of which, oh lord I have been telling myself for months I’d organize my tea stash. Right now it’s a bunch of bags on one of my bookshelves.

This is a lovely Yunnan. The taste is smooth and there is an underlying creamy, caramel-y sweetness that is very nicely played against the other notes in this tea. I am tasting notes of spice – almost peppery. Beautifully autumnal.

I’m off to write a review for this for the SororiTEA Sisters blog!

I’m on a unflavored black tea kick right now so I’m hunting though all my swaps to find some to try. Yunnans seem to be pretty reliably ok enough tea, never my favorite, but never really awful either. This one is a classic Yunnan. So I liked it enough. Thanks Shelley_Lorraine!

Sample package label:
Ingredients: Organic Chinese Black Tea, Fair-Trade Certified, USDA Organic
Steep 212*F, 3 – 5 minutes.
8-oz water with total dissolved solids (TDS) of 23 ppm, boiled
1 level Tevanna teaspoon, no sweeteners, milk or cream

This tea has a subtle earthy fragrance.
Dark reddish hue
First Infusion:
3-min: Initial taste – Very smooth. I then steeped it an additional 2-min.
5-min: Very smooth & rich, with a wonderful cream-like mouthfeel. There was zero hint of bitterness or astringency.
2nd Infusion (5-min): Very close to the first cup.
3rd Infusion (6-min): Similar to the 2nd cup, but with lighter body

Impression: This is my first Golden Yunnan and it’s excellent! I enjoyed the first cup even more than the Arbor Teas Assam I drank yesterday. It has a soft mouth-feel that I didn’t experience with yesterday’s Assam. It also has a subtle wine-like taste similar to Keemun tea and a light natural sweetness – no sweetener needed.

Plan on re-steeping – your teacup will be empty before you know it and it’s too good to waste after only a single infusion.

Thanks to Arbor Teas for providing this generous size free sample.

http://sororiteasisters.com/2010/11/09/golden-yunnan-from-arbor-teas/
Full Review…

Hmm, I thought I’ve logged this one before. Guess not. Well, this isn’t the first time that I’ve had this tea. I like it more this time than before. Sometimes teas need time to grow on me. It’s smooth, slightly malty, and fruity. A very good every day black when you don’t want something too bold.

I do like Yunnan tea’s, so I was pleased that looseTman included a sample in the swap package. This is my first experience with Arbor Tea’s, and it didn’t disappoint.

The brew was a deep red/brown, and when I see a tea that colour I already know that I’m gonna like it. I was right…it was delicious.

No additives to this tea – it doesn’t need it. It’s a bit malty, satisfying and naturally sweet. I found a bit of a pepper bite at the end of the sip, which I don’t object to, since I find that it adds a pleasing kick.

A positive first experience with Arbor Tea’s. Thanks, looseTman for the sample!

This tea immediately reminds me of fruit – maybe plums, peaches, and strawberries. I remember Arbor Teas’ Keemun having a hint of prunes, and there is some of that here. However, this doesn’t have any of the smoke than Keemun had. There is some maltiness, but maybe not as much as the Nam Lanh or Assam. Overall, this Yunnan is excellent, but it’s similar enough to Nam Lanh that I don’t want to buy both. I can’t decide which I prefer, so maybe I’ll alternate between buying the two? The Nam Lanh is caramel with a little bit of fruit, and Yunnan is fruit with a little bit of caramel. I’ll probably just cave in and buy tins of both. :)