Ancient Forest

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Earth, Smoke, Wet Wood, Wood, Honey, Malt, Vanilla
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Jason
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 30 sec 11 g 12 oz / 369 ml

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6 Tasting Notes View all

From Art of Tea

A specialty of the southwest province of Yunnan, this unique tea is harvested from ancient trees on the protected land of Jingmai Mangjing’s Blue Mountains. 100% organic, hand picked and sorted, this black tea brews a rich, earthy infusion with notes of cedar and honey.

Water Temperature: 206 F degrees
Caffeine Content: Medium Bold
Steep Time: 3-5 minutes
Ingredients: Organic Black Tea.
Origin: Yunnan, China

About Art of Tea View company

Art of Tea is a tea importer and wholesaler based in Los Angeles, California. We hand blend and custom craft the world’s finest organic teas and botanicals. Our teas are carefully selected directly from growers, each one offering a unique story.

6 Tasting Notes

85
105 tasting notes

This was a Father’s Day gift from my family, so I have been excited to try it. They bought it at my local tea cafe which, as it turns out, only sells Art of Tea teas, so I will have to remember that for future use.

The dried leaves were well-curled, dark with lots of golden tips interspersed throughout. I found almost no stems in there. The leaves are broken—not whole, but that adds to the flavor, I’m sure.

I used my usual steeping measurements for black tea: 11 grams in 20 ounces of near-boiling water for 4 minutes.

The liquor comes out very dark—much like the teas of my youth. There is no astringency at all to the flavor. The primary flavors are both earthy and woody (wet wood?)—reminding me of what I’m told the better-quality puer teas are supposed to be like. There is also a very faint smoke flavor to it, but definitely more wood and earth than smoke.

Overall, it is a wonderful tea that I will be happy to have again. I don’t think I would’ve picked it myself if I had been shopping on my own since I usually stick with either muscatel/floral Darjeelings or breakfast teas and blends that have malt, toast, or honey for their primary flavors. This is completely different than my usuals but I really enjoyed it and may have to expand my purchases in this direction going forward. I am glad the family got this one for me — definitely an excellent choice!

Flavors: Earth, Smoke, Wet Wood, Wood

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 11 g 20 OZ / 591 ML
teepland

Thanks, loudao! I had no idea that they would do that! I hadn’t looked up the tea on their website so I am glad to know about this—thanks! Yes, it is a very intriguing tea and I do recommend trying it. I have only tried two puer teas so far—one was an absolute disaster and the other was okay. This one seems like something that would serve as a “stepping-stone” to enjoying puer flavors; this was not as overpowering as I found the better-quality of my puer teas to be, and I could see getting accustomed to this one and then moving into puer teas from there. Please let me know if you try it and what you think—I’d be interested to hear! :)

teepland

I just read all the information on the website—I’m surprised that they listed this as being malty and honey-flavored since I didn’t get that at all. I can see the cedar flavor they note, though—that could very well be the woody flavor I am tasting. Very interesting how different people find different flavors in teas… :)

Fjellrev

What a fantastic Father’s Day gift!

teepland

Excellent points, laudao—thanks for explaining the differences that people have when making taste notes. That does make a lot of sense! Re puer teas: I’m sure my very limited experience is a reason why I feel they can be overpowering, since one of the teas I had was definitely low quality and very bad flavor. I am going to have to try more so I can change my opinion of them, I guess! :)

teepland

Fjellrev: It was! My wife and kids know me well, I guess! :)

ashmanra

A tea shop opened in my town a few months ago and they also only sell Art of Tea.

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85
2238 tasting notes

The description of the “creamy texture and notes of amber and honey” this tea purports to provide made me particularly eager to try it. It certainly sounds divine, after all. I was even more interested when I learned that the base tea is Yunnan, as it’s one of my favourite black tea varieties.

Read my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2015/10/10/ancient-forest-black-tea-art-tea/

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp

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90
16 tasting notes

Love this tea, complex flavors

Flavors: Earth, Honey, Malt, Vanilla, Wood

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 15 sec 2 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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88
58 tasting notes

This tea had a great deal to live up to, having been hand picked from tea tree’s a 1,000 years old found only in an ancient mountain preserve a mile above sea level. I don’t know if any tea could live up to such a backstory but it is a very fine black tea. It actually tastes quite like an oolong, although not quite as malty. Honey is the predominant note for me, with a woodsy body and a nice smooth finish. My only complaint is that it didn’t hold up very well after 4 steeps but that’s to be expected with the smaller leaves used.

Whispering Pines Tea Company

This was the second Yunnan black I ever had :)

Brian

What was the best?

Whispering Pines Tea Company

This one: www.whisperingpinestea.com/imperial-gold-bud.html :D

I’m soooo lucky to be able to import this tea :)

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96
7 tasting notes

Slight smoky flavor. It reminds me a lot of pu-erh, which I later learned that Yunnan used in this blend is aged longer to form pu-erh blends. This is really my favorite of the black teas. That’s saying a lot when previously my favorite was chai.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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