Golden Garden Estate Ceylon OP

A very straight-forward Ceylon black, with definite broad hints of cacao. Muted tannins and an almost non-existent sweetness bring this tea to the brink of being non-descript. A nice daily drinker, for all that however.

First infusion – 3 g. per 8 oz water, 90 deg., 3:00 min.

Second infusion – 3 g. per 8 oz. water, 90 deg., 7:00 min.

Third infusion – 3 g. per 8 oz. water, 90 deg., 10:00+ min.

Backlog:

Thank you to Ost for sending me a sampling of this tea!

This is a remarkable Ceylon – very rich and chocolate-y, with notes of caramel. This tastes more like a Fujian Black to me than a Ceylon! It even has that kind of ‘hefty’ quality that I would expect from an Assam or a Nilgiri or a Fujian Black … but not a Ceylon. This is a very surprising tea.

Time for lazy tasting notes! I haven’t felt much like drinking tea lately, and I think it’s partially because I don’t want to then have to write notes about it. So I’ve decided to just write shorter and less-involved notes for a while! :)

This tea has interesting leaves – they’re long and thin and very stick-like. Even after steeping, they still look like little twigs and haven’t unfurled at all. Very dark in color, and the dry scent is super chocolaty!

Wow, this is a winner! The chocolate notes are so strong and lovely, but not bitter like some other chocolate-heavy teas. The chocolate is paired with hefty malt and rye bread, and then there are lighter notes of dried cherry and caramel. I didn’t notice any astringency at all until it cooled a bit, and even then it’s minimal. So good! <3