Prepared western. Dry leaf smells like sandalwood in the bag; in my hand, like malted barley, brown toast, currants and cinnamon. The brewed aroma is full of orchid with honeyed and brandied stonefruit, and that moves toward orange-honey and orange zest with the second steep. The cup is tangy, slightly syrupy and bright with sweet potato, leather and orange tones. As the orchid returning aroma persists and grows after the swallow, so does a distinct dryness that I find troublesome. However, as the orchid fades in the coming minutes, a dry, perfectly ripe peach aftertaste develops – my gourd is that awesome!
I can see why this is the least expensive black tea offered by Old Ways Tea. While it has a face-filling aroma and drawn-out and developing aftertaste, there are some flaws. One being the disconnect between the aroma and aftertaste. Between those two lies the tea, and what’s there isn’t necessarily complex in taste or mouthfeel. Another issue being how dang drying it is. After the second cup I feel like I’m chewing on wood.
Okay, okay, so I haven’t brought this tea into the most positive light, but it is after all a budget Wuyi black. And because I’ve tried so many of Old Ways Tea’s more costly black teas, I’ve developed a snobbish baseline for Wuyi hongcha. In the case of their black teas, price does seem to correlate directly with quasi-objective quality. HOWEVER! This tea’s aroma and aftertaste have so much going for them with their strength and freshness that I believe this would be a good, affordable step into OWT’s catalog. This is worth getting a few bags to play around with temperature.
Flavors: Black Currant, Brandy, Brown Toast, Cedar, Cinnamon, Drying, Floral, Honey, Leather, Malt, Mineral, Orange, Orange Zest, Orchid, Peach, Stonefruit, Sweet Potatoes, Tangy, Wood
I have had a couple of their teas and they were great. I need to look into having more of them on hand. Love your descriptions here.
Their teas are great for a treat!