Old Tree Black Tea - Premium (2017)

In comparison to the 2016 harvest I had earlier this week, the 2017 is more of a high-end daily drinker as opposed to a real treat.  It manages to be both bold and light yet not so complex that it commands all my attention.  The flavor profile is exemplary of Old Ways Tea’s Wuyi black teas.  It is very similar to the 2016 though more rounded and less active in the mouth.  It smells and tastes a lot like a sunflower seed dark bread.  Quite sunflower-wildflower-rose floral, malty, leathery, fruity.  There seems to be less of an old-growth depth and the baking spice and cream notes are not as apparent, briefly experienced early on in the back of the mouth.  It evokes a feeling of a cool, damp meadow in full bloom, surrounded by berries, rather than an old-growth cedar forest. It’s still a wonderful tea and I’m sad to see it go.

This was yet another of the Wuyi black teas I reviewed in May and then did not bother to review here until now. I think this was the last of the four black teas from Old Ways Tea that I tried. I recall rushing to try it because I was so smitten with the 2016 Premium Old Tree Black Tea. Unfortunately, I did not find this tea to be quite as good as the 2016 version, but that is not much of a knock considering how great I found that tea to be. All things considered, this was still a very good and very satisfying Wuyi black tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a brief rinse, I steeped 5 grams of loose tea leaves in 3 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 16 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, and 7 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, I detected aromas of honey, malt, butter, baked bread, and pine coming from the dry tea leaves. After the rinse, I noted emerging aromas of roasted almond and roasted peanut. There was something of a green wood presence too. The first infusion then introduced a slight hint of smoke to the nose. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented notes of roasted almond, roasted peanut, butter, malt, and baked bread that gave way to impressions of green wood, honey, pine, cream, and vanilla. After the swallow, I noted a subtle smokiness and an unexpected note of cinnamon in the aftertaste. Subsequent infusions saw the nose turn a little smokier with cocoa, citrus, and mineral aromas also emerging. Impressions of minerals, cocoa, leather, and orange zest emerged in the mouth alongside stronger impressions of cream and cinnamon. Towards the end of the session, I also managed to pick up some subtle ginger and brown sugar notes. The final infusions offered notes of minerals, baked bread, orange zest, and malt backed by subtle leather and roasted nut notes and a cooling herbal presence on the swallow that was reminiscent of tobacco.

This was an extremely deep and complex black tea with tremendous texture in the mouth. Compared to the 2016 Premium Old Tree Black Tea, this tea did not display quite as sharp or clean of a mineral presence. I also did not find it to be as spicy, complex, or energizing as its forebear. Despite these minor quibbles, this was still a very good Wuyi black tea that only suffered a bit in comparison to a truly exceptional tea from the previous year. Try both this tea and the 2016 version if you get the chance. If you are into Wuyi black teas, I’m willing to bet that you will enjoy them.

Gong fu a long, long time ago, and this had a really great and full bodied profile. Like any old tree, it was rustic, leathery, and dry, but gentle with lingering malt and dense mineral in the texture accompanied by some fructose sweet hints that kinda reminded me of cherry tobacco, or even blackberry and spice. Emphasis on the berry. The earlier steeps were the densest and the more thick, and later steeps got sweeter with ever remaining mineral.

I’d have to drink this again to give a better review, but I do remember it being more woodsy and faint than the wild style…though they were pretty darn close in terms of taste. I highly recommend this tea to Wuyi lovers, and to those who like well rounded and dense black teas. It also has enough sophistication to appeal to lighter hong cha drinkers.