Li Shan Black Tea

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Bread, Malt, Earth, Fruity, Grapes, Sweet, Cinnamon, Coriander, Honey, Nutmeg, Smooth, Sweet Potatoes, Brown Sugar, Butter, Butternut Squash, Cocoa, Burnt Sugar, Dried Fruit, Floral, Flowers, Honeysuckle, Peach, Stonefruit, Wood
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by green-terrace-teas
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 30 sec 3 g 9 oz / 263 ml

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47 Tasting Notes View all

  • “You know when you are drinking a great tea but then think, ‘if only this was as good as…’ but then you realize that you are still drinking something great? That is how I felt about this one… thanks...” Read full tasting note
  • “Thank you Ubacat for this sample. This tastes like a breakfast blend tea to me. It’s fairly malty and fairly sweet. It’s rare now that I have time to review a tea in the morning. I don’t usually...” Read full tasting note
    84
  • “Thanks to Marzipan for this sample! So, I think I might have steeped this a minute or so over, because it’s super strong. It’s pretty earthy, And reminds me a lot of grapes. It’s earthy, but also...” Read full tasting note
    65
  • “Backlog: An amazingly good black tea. This reminds me a lot of Dawn from Simple Leaf. Maybe even better than Dawn, if that’s possible. It’s an exceptional black tea. Sweet, rich, chocolate-y,...” Read full tasting note
    98

From Green Terrace Teas

Our founder’s favorite tea – this is a rare and unique cultivar available only in Taiwan. Grown at elevations of over 2,000 meters, our spring harvest is both exquisite and complex in character. Non-astringent and mildly sweet, this black tea has floral and fruity undertones with notes of peach and honey. Its aroma of sweet, ripe fruit is strong and noticeable instantly after the leaves come in contact with hot water. If you’ve never had a quality black tea before, this variety is a must try. Best brewed with multiple, short infusions.

Chinese Name: 梨山紅茶

Origin/ Harvest: Lishan, Heping District, Taichong City, Taiwan 台灣台中市和平區梨山村 / Spring 2014

Purchase @ www.greenterraceteas.com

About Green Terrace Teas View company

Company description not available.

47 Tasting Notes

92
4169 tasting notes

Thank you so much for the samples, GreenTerraceTeas.com! This one has similar long dark leaves to the Honey Black but the flavor is definitely different. As the Honey black is syrupy and fruity, this one is just like sweet potato. All sweet potato, 100% sweet potato, so I don’t even have much else to say about it. But I love this tea. Even the brew color is a nice light orange, so it’s a very light cup. It’s funny that these leaves have such a light brew, I guess because they aren’t chopped up into small pieces. I also used two and half teaspoons to compensate for the longer leaf. The second steep was just as nice, complete sweet potato. Similar to whichever Teavivre tea is like sweet potato. At first glance, both of the black teas on offer at Green Terrace seem similar but I love each of them for their own characteristics.
Steep #1 // 2 1/2 teaspoons // 10 min after boiling // 2-3 min steep
Steep #2 // few minutes after boiling // 4 min

Flavors: Sweet Potatoes

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85
1737 tasting notes

I received three generous samples from Green Terrace Teas a while back, and this was one of the two blacks. I’m not really sure why I did not select any oolongs, but I am definitely happy to have the opportunity to experience this delicious Li Shan Black tea!

Other reviewers have noted the similarity of this Taiwanese black to some of the China haute black teas, and I have to agree. The bready richness is here and a touch of sweetness, too. I hasten to add, however, that the sweetness is rather subdued, at least compared to something like Golden Monkey. In any case, this is a very tasty brew—the sort which I would never consider adulterating, and I’m a big fan of cream in lesser black teas, especially blends.

I just finished the second infusion, and it was just as good as the first. This tea tastes and looks and smells very familiar to me, and now I believe that it may be similar to the only other Taiwanese black tea that I ever tried before.

Flavors: Bread

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 295 ML

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85
618 tasting notes

The first thing I notice about this tea is that it smells like others I’ve had before. That’s not a bad thing, it just smells familiar, like I’ve had it before…. fruity and like sweet bread? The start of the sip tastes like raisins in honey and finishes with a touch of holiday spices. There is a shadow of molasses in the background, but not nearly as much as in the Honey Black. Following sips give me notes of baking chocolate and very light flowers, bordering on the soapy side of things.

This is a lovely cup with lots of different flavors going on at once. I think this one is a great choice, but I personally like the Honey Black a bit more. Thank you so much, Green Terrace Teas for a sample.

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92
2291 tasting notes

Another tea I ordered with the free shipping coupon.

OMG. I think I’m with Sil. This one is better than the Honey Black. Dry, it smells like Terra Chips. Seriously. SO sweet and carby. Just what I want right now.

The depth of flavour is just… more. Way more. The Honey Black was good, but not special enough to me. I’ve had similar teas before. This one is in a league of its own. And the fact I’m craving comfort foods (I am sooo grumpy!) means that this one wins. Haha.

The flavour is sweet, with lots of fried sweet potato (but more like Terra Chips instead of french fries), and a lingering richness. It kind of reminds me of Butiki’s PTA, due to the sweetness. I think. Or another Butiki tea I had in the past but don’t remember. The richness is almost maybe a touch smokey. I think this tea would be excellent with maple syrup or sugar… I’ll have to package up a little maple sugar for The Box when I finally know where to send it. All these samples will be going in there for everyone to have a little taste of as well.

So good. Highly recommend.

(The leaves are quite large, so I used 2 loose tsp in my 12 oz mug. Definitely a tea to resteep, as well. The leaves haven’t reached full potential after a 3 minute steep.)

Flavours: sweet potatoes, fries, wood, roasted plums, buckwheat honey. (Haha. Not all are options, so I’m just putting them here.)

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
OMGsrsly

That is also a pricey tea. Hmm. I think I’ll still end up with 50g at some point.

yyz

Of the ones I tasted this would be the one I would buy too.

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90
155 tasting notes

Li Shan Black is the first of three samples I received from Green Terrace Teas to review. I am out of town visiting my sisters this weekend and while I had tea, I didn’t have the hardware to brew gong fu style as recommended by Green Terrace. So I improvised.

Using a Fiesta Ware cream pitcher, a strainer and some custard cups, my sisters and I had an impromptu session with this tea.

A sniff of the dry leaf in the bag is a big malty, fruity nose-bomb. As these are two of my favorite things in a tea, I was hopeful the brewed tea would taste the way it smells and it did not disappoint.

Using just-off boiling water, we started with 1 minute steeps increasing 30 seconds and went through 5 steeps.

The first steep was malty, with honey-rose scent and a flavor we all likened to apricots. Subsequent steeps continued to provide a sweet, smooth ride. There is no astringency here, just an extremely balanced sweet and fruity medium-bodied cup.

More (including the song) on my blog at: http://atasteofmzpriss.wordpress.com/2014/07/27/li-shan-black-tea-green-terrace-teas/

Marzipan

I have been really impressed with their teas.

MzPriss

I really liked this [articular one a lot and I’m looking forward to the others.

SarsyPie

This sounds so good!!! Hope you’re having a great Sunday, my lovely!

MzPriss

I am! We are having kind of a mini family reunion with some cousins I haven’t seen in a really long time. I bought a new cabinet for my tea yesterday and stopping on the way home to pick it up

SarsyPie

Fun! And I trust that you already know that I’ll be wanting pics of this new item!!!! :)

apt

i liked this one too

TheTeaFairy

Yes, pic please. And so happy you’re having fun!
(Fruity nose-bomb…hehe)

MzPriss

Here you go girlies – on final markdown at the Crate & Barrel outlet – in perfect condition – not a scratch – it’s BEAUTIFUL in person:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/125488674@N02/14728159926/

mj

That is beautiful!! I LOVE it

MzPriss

:D thank you! At first I thought I might paint the gray bead-board back, but I decided if I do that all my black tines will just blend in and make it hard to find things – so I’ve decided it’s completely perfect.

mj

It is completely perfect. What a find!

MzPriss

Thank you!!

TheTeaFairy

Oh my, your teas are going to be so happy, the cabinet is absolutely perfect!!

SarsyPie

I’m more than a little jelly about this cabinet. Now I need to make a trip to Ikea

MzPriss

Thanks y’all! I was planning on IKEA myself. But then I saw this and it was marked down so much. I guess they just wanted the space in the outlet store because there is not one flaw. I need a cute box for my pu. Right now they’re in cardboard. Or I just need a pumidor.

SarsyPie

Mmmmmm pumidor. I have a handy step father. That may be in my future.. hopefully anyway!

mj

Handy step dads are the best :). I love mine!

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493 tasting notes

This is my last sample from GTT.
I love it . Super tasty
Gongfu
4g 100 ml gaiwan 200F
Rinse/10/15/15/20/20/30 etc
This tea is so flavorful, smell is amazing. Plums, longan, honey and chestnut( I think) or some kind of other nuts(?)
Delicious. Lingering aftertaste long after finish my tea.
I am so glad being able to try, thank you so much Green Terrace Tea.

Preparation
0 min, 15 sec 4 g 3 OZ / 100 ML
TheTeaFairy

Overall, I really liked Green Terrace’s teas and their presentation.

green-terrace-teas

Boychik – thank you for all your excellent reviews. Can you please tell us your name or contact info so that we may send you a thank you e-mail and coupon? You can also e-mail us at info@greenterraceteas.com. Have a great day!

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87
15006 tasting notes

GCTTB

I pulled this one out of the box to try today because it’s been a while since i had it and i wanted to see if my first experience with this one was repeatable. Turns out, it was. This is an excellent tea from GTT and one that need to go on my wish list now for a future purchase! Honey notes are really tasty in this one!

Anlina

This is one of my favourites. I wish their teas all came in smaller quantities. Maybe a Canadian group order when the dollar sucks less?

Sil

that would be good! :)

OMGsrsly

Yes! I want 50g of this one, I think. :)

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391 tasting notes

Oh, I like this one. Smelling it, it smelled like the Honey Black… Maybe even more honey than the Honey Black. It tastes great, like a honey roll. Definitely getting a strong baked bread kind of flavor. Thank you Green Terrace Teas for the sample! Out of the 3, this one is my favorite.

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437 tasting notes

This is the final sample that this wonderful company sent me. This tea had stronger bread and pastry notes than some of the Taiwanese blacks I’ve had before. It also had a heavier base supported by cocoa, malt and molasses ( in the earlier steeps).

The first steeps were very fruity smelling with citrus notes and a reference to dried sulphured fruit, that translated to a light flavour of plum and citrus notes. This was mixed with spice notes of cinnamon and pepper and the base notes created a reference to Christmas cake in the first steep. Also present were a sweet and soft floral spice note all mixed in with a flaky pastry note.

In later steeps the floral note became stronger and in one steep I detected coconut. The molasses became more honey like and the spice elements became stronger, especially as it cooled. A hint of nutmeg joined the spice elements and the flavour of cream introduced a new element as well.

All together this was a very nice tea. At times it reminded me of Indian Assam’s more than other Taiwanese teas I have and the fruit was heavier and not as bright. It had a very nice blending of all of its flavour elements creating a sweet, spicy, dense feeling brew. Very nice Green Terrace!

I did 9 steeps of 1 TSP in a 150ml gaiwan. (45,35,45,80s, 2,3,4,6,10min).

yyz

Thanks for asking but I still have quite a bit! It will be nice to see if they are willing to offer one.

looseTman

You’re welcome.
“It will be nice to see if they are willing to offer one.” Agreed!

looseTman

What do you think of GGT’s reply? They didn’t address any of our members’ suggestions / requests.

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