Wild Black Tea

A sipdown! (M: 5 Y: 37), prompt: Your current favorite daily drinker

Eeek, I never wrote a tasting note for this one while I had a lots of it? And now it is a sipdown. I would change in the prompt a single word. Current → all time.

Anyway lots was said about this tea by others and I have to agree with them all. And I am so sadI am not able to contact the Georgian owners of this shop; they are not responding for my Whatsapp messages (okay, I tried it just twice maybe?) and their website isn’t working. Since then I found other source for Georgian teas and also with very tasty teas, moreover based in the EU, so getting those teas is definitely easier.

Anyway, this bready and potato-y (sweet one) tea is just perfect to drink. I tried it weak-handed, but also heavy-handed, but never turned out bitter, astringent or unpleasable. Thick and yet so mouthcoating.

Long mouthfeel with boom of flavours, though it is almost 2 years since harvested. Those two steeps were also a bit more earthy, but I assume because much more broken leaf.

Lovely, so lovely and I assume even a bit better than Guria Likhauri. But that’s because I have such a soft spot for Georgian teas. That one is also Georgian, but this is just a tiny bit better. Maybe it’s the visual with golden buds.

Ok, this is CrowKettle! I’m having insane difficulties trying to access my old account (or customize this new one) – so here I am for the for seeable future (hurrah…).

Black teas often remind me of either beer-malt or muscatel wine. Some, like this tea, are strikingly a bit of both – exuding the fermented sugars of starchy grains and the dripping with rich purple hues of stonefruits and grapes. There are also smooth, earthy notes of cocoa/dark chocolate, dusky rose, and a touch of pepper & spice to finish – all which give the tea an extra dimension of mild bitterness.

It’s a lovely profile that I’m grateful I had the chance to try- Thanks, again Martin Bednář, for organizing this group order!

Steep Count: 2

This tea was surprise happy mail from dear derk! Thank you!

I steeped this up for breakfast this morning, not really knowing what sort of profile I would find. The leaves were long, black, and twisted, lovely to look at. Would it be smoky, or chocolate-y like a Keemun? Or bready? Mineral?

First sniff had me hit with a wave of nostalgia. Sweet potato! A Southern Season! Golden Mudan? Ah, Yunnan Dian Hong Golden Tip! I have been out for so long!

The tea gives me impression of being light but then fills the mouth with what Graham Kerr called mouth-roundness. The clean, clear light amber/orange tea swirls thick flavors and you can’t help but swirl this one. No straight sipping here, this demands a swish and you deserve it, so go ahead.

With my food, no astringency was noted, though I see it in other notes. I made a second steep when food was gone.

Color is the same, aroma is the same. Now the sweet potato and roundness fill the mouth and after the swallow, there it is. A palate cleansing briskness. This is what keeps you reaching for more – a dryness that craves the full body of a new sip.

Many thanks, derk, and also many thanks to Martin who orchestrated the group buy! What a delightful treat this was today!

edit to add: Did a third steep. Still some sweet potato but now also earth and mineral notes come forward. It almost tastes like one of the last steeps of a fine shu puerh. So earthy.

2022 harvest, a big pinch in a glass, grandpa.

Sparkling, clean taste full of sweet potato, light malt-carrot savory sweetness, lemon tang and caramelized sugar. Mineral. Thick, juicy swallow gives way to finishing astringency which leaves the mouth tingling as a buttery baked peach note spreads in the aftertaste. Delicious!

Feeling: continental Europe, sunny early autumn, late afternoon, orange hues

Happy belated New Year, Steepsterites!

This one smells like it should have notes of cocoa but I mostly get sweet, dark malt, sweet potatoes, powdered sugar, and stone fruits – so sweet and deep but not chocolate-y like some of the yunnan teas per se. Still, it’s delicious and I’m glad Martin facilitated bringing these Georgian teas to my (and everyone else’s) attention. Thank you! :)

Steep Count: 3 – Western Style. The third steep is where I start to pick up the powdered sugar; there’s even a hint of pepper and spice. It’s a thinner cup but packs a lot of flavour into it.

A huge thank you to Martin for organising this order!

Also my apologies for the long-winded note. The second paragraph is a story and the first paragraph is about the tea for anyone who may want to skip over anything!

The dry leaf immediately made me think of Teavivre’s Bailin. The steeped scent also has vibes of that mixed with hints of honey sweetness akin to a Taiwanese WMB. The first few sips are really lovely. A medium-bodied tea with a light sweetness at the end of the sip. As the tea cools, there are hints of cinnamon and the most subtle floral hints.

We have a visiting scholar from Taiwan in our lab area and I had a brief chance ahead of the holidays to chat with him. We had a lovely chat about tea and he was so, so happy to hear that not only did I know the difference between Taiwan and China, but had knowledge of Taiwanese teas. I wanted to share since I’m sure many of you will also understand the difference between Taiwan and China and I can’t describe how happy it made him for someone to not assume he was Chinese. I naturally passed on a few companies to him from the area and he said he’ll be checking them out when he’s back home.

Very fragrant, fruity aroma like baked plums. Fairly light bodied with a little malt and sweet potato. Good but nothing special. Will have to play around with it to see if I can bring out the fruitiness from the aroma.

First tea I’m trying out from the group order.

Very pleased with this! It smells SO fresh. I drank it pretty quickly as I was doing homework, so I can’t confidently comment on the notes, but it was so smooth and rich. Excited to keep trying these Georgian teas.