Yi Ji Qi Hong Xiang Luo

Dry the leaves were very dark and spindly. I brewed this western style this afternoon.

What I noticed first about this tea was how bready/malty it was. It had a pretty good caffeine kick too but I’m a bit sensitive to caffeine so I would feel it more than some. There were stone fruit notes right away. I think I accidentally got the temperature a little higher than I meant to (I was brewing this at work) but it still was very good. As it cooled the chocolate notes came out along with raisins. I didn’t get any of the smoke taste others got but that was fine with me as I don’t like smoke in my tea. It was very full bodied and flavourful.

Thanks again for the samples, Nannuoshan! This one is a keemun I suppose, even though the name doesn’t say so. The leaves are black with tinges of gold, thin, so twisty they cling together like a crazier barrel of monkeys. The leaves have a bakey scent. The aroma of the mug is even better but difficult to describe, like caramel — intoxicating though! The bronze brew is delicious – definitely like a keemun: chewy, bakey, a little sweet smokiness, caramel, chocolate, hints of tomato. The second steep seems to mellow a little bit, while still keeping those flavors: add a little molasses and maple syrup. I’m surprised at the level of flavor in the second steep, since I accidentally waited another ten minutes for the water to cool. A third steep probably would have been nice too. This definitely has that keemun profile I’ve come to know & love. Another good one for this winter morning.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 tsp. // 10 minutes after boiling (should be 194 degrees) // 12 oz mug 2/3 full // 3 min steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 4 min steep
nannuoshan.org

Method:
~1.5tsp/10oz
Pre-boiling
First steep: 1min 30sec
Second steep: 2min
Third steep: 2min 30sec

The color of the infused liquid is a thick reddish gold. This tea is smooth with a lovely honeyed sweetness; grain, malt, and a gentle smoked flavor all dance across my tongue. There’s a tiny hint of cocoa as well as fruit. It’s like longan, or perhaps apricot. Difficult for me to identify. Finish is sweet and a little drying; it reminds me of flowers. Though it isn’t a heavy tea, it’s savory and has a full, syrupy feel on the tongue. With other Keemuns I’ve tried there is at least a little astringency or bitterness. Some have an assertive “brassy” quality to them. Not so with this tea. It’s bold, but gentle. It’s nuanced and perfectly balanced. I can tell that it’s of high quality and I’m very impressed. Thank you nannuoshan.

Thanks for the sample, nannuoshan! This is the second of the three black teas I tried. The dry leaf consists of very curly, thin, dark brown leaves with some lighter brown sprinkled in. I used the recommended gong fu parameters to brew this tea and I was able to enjoy more than 3 infusions. The aroma is malty and smoky. The liquor is lightly viscous and reddish-brown in color,

With the first sip, there was an explosion of flavor. It was like a bunch of flavors were bouncing around in my mouth. There’s chocolate, vanilla, caramel, a bit of smoke, and even a bit of fruit, like dried cherry. The flavor is rich, like fudge. Nannuoshan’s website states this is a higher grade keemun (which are known as “Qimen”) and based on the flavors I tasted in this tea, I can tell this is of excellent quality. This is really a fantastic tea!

Pics of the leaf and liquor:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97273956@N03/16341830268/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/97273956@N03/16528472902/

Very small and tightly curled leaves. Fluffy and chocolate brown in color with a nice mix of golden buds. Lightly smoky mesquite aroma.

Nice coppery liquer. Savory butter and smoke flavors balanced out by fruit and honey notes. Slightly floral wild flower finish. A fairly delicate black tea.
Later infusions give more lychee/longan fruitiness, a touch of cocoa and honey, clean leather, and lesser smoke with a floral background. The mouthfeel is clean and round.

The spent leaves are tiny and tender with a light brown color with twinges of green, many under 1cm. Considerable time and effort must be put into picking so many young leaves
Overall a nice tea with a lovely appearance. Like the Ban Tian Yao it was nicely balanced with a mild flavor.

This is a good one. There’s lots of malt, bread, chocolate and smoky notes, and they’re all very well balanced. It’s not a heavy tea, but it’s a full tea – if that makes any sense. I like the amount of smoke in this tea as it enhances the other notes in a really nice way. To be honest, everything about his tea is really nice. It’s just super tasty, and it’s going on my wishlist.

Another sample from Nannuoshan….this tea was on my wishlist so i was SUPER excited to get it as part of the samples that were sent out to folks. Funnily enough, i was excited to try it because of the smokey notes that people were finding…but when i had this, there were none to be found for me. Instead, i want this tea to have tea babies with me. Seriously…I have NO idea if this would taste as amazing brewed western, but while the aroma of this one is pretty bleh…tasting it was like a party in my mouth. i could not get enough of this tea. In fact the leaves are sitting there waiting for me to come back to them to make sure i’m not imagining things.

This was oh so deliciously chocolatey and malty for me. Now i’m on tea hiatus, but i DID go look on the website to check out the price and bookmark is..and it’s not there! So confused…where has it gone!! Because seriously? i want more… MOAR!

Edit: NM it’s there i’m just blind.. lol

Nannuoshan is a recent tea company based in Berlin. Gabriele , seen on Steepster , founder of Nannuoshan,adorably sent me some samples to permit me to get an idea of ​​the quality of his teas.

Today I wanted to start the day with a black tea , with this high grade Keemun . I began by not respecting the indications Gabriele gave me … yes … I did not prepare this tea in a Gaiwan , I did not rinse the leaves etc … I prepared my tea Western style but in a Japanese teapot with a big volume. When a tea is good it must be also Western style. This is my first principle anyway.

The leave is thin , thin and curly , almost frothy and swollen. It foolishly smells malt and bitter cocoa.

I respected the recommended temperature and time to maximum infusion.

The liquor is very dark and exhales malt and smoke scents.

Come on, I taste … .I do not know what to expect … this is my first tea from this company .

generous full-bodied,even strong. Clearly a morning tea , very malty , it will awake the most sleepy one without any problem. First : this is on a fine note,light but then the body of the tea is revealed , as its strong notes of cocoa , tobacco and leather. The aftertaste makes a great tribute to smoky notes , frankly smoked.

This is a tea with a strong personality but very easy to drink. A nice selection . I love it .

Pics available here : https://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2015/01/24/yi-ji-qi-hong-xiang-luo-nannuoshan/

Hm. I’m not really sure what to say about this. It smelled like smoke in the package. I was extremely hesitant about trying it. I was going to give the whole sample to my mom since she likes smoky teas. But, since this was a free sample from Nannoushan, I knew I had to try it and review it. I’m not going to give it a rating, though, since smoky teas are truly not my bag.

The smoke flavor is much less pronounced than the smell leads one to expect. I get some maltiness but a whole ton of savory, brothy notes. Almost like smoky beef broth. I feel like I should have carrots and other veggies in this for a soup! This is the only tea I’ve ever had that reminds me so much of soup.

I would not reach for this, but I will finish this cup. It’s… interesting.