Dianhong Black Tea needle best grade red Tea

Wow. This is a strange dianhong. These buds are huge, similar to silver needles. They are very hairy, the inside of the bag is covered in a thin layer of bud fluff. Smell of the dried leaves is not so strong, fresh, eucalyptusy.

The brew is a very bright yellow, with hardly any of the reddish hue of `normal’ red tea. It is very transparent. The brewed leaves appear very lightly-oxidized, with a lot of greenness coming through.

This tea lacks the body of classic dianhongs. Little maltiness. This drinks quite like a white tea in fact. It is sweet and aromatic, in a piny way. Eucalyptus or pine needles perhaps. There is some resemblance to the typical caramelly dianhong aroma but much more in a fresh, spicy way. The finish has spices and nutmeg but is a little short to my taste, it doesn’t really linger in a sweet way, unless you brew it pretty strong. But maybe that’s the way to go anyway because big buds like these don’t give of their flavour so quickly.

Nice. This can’t replace the ‘real’ dianhongs and I wouldn’t have it for breakfast, but it’s good on its own. At 10$/100g with free shipping I think this is good value.