Gold Thread Reserve

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Black Tea Leaves
Flavors
Bread, Chocolate, Metallic, Yams, Cocoa, Hay, Honey, Floral, Malt, Mineral, Stonefruit, Sweet Potatoes, Brown Sugar, Raisins, Maple Syrup, Orange, Smooth, Butter, Sweet
Sold in
Bulk, Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Erik Dabel
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 30 sec 8 g 23 oz / 676 ml

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17 Tasting Notes View all

  • “I was awoken in the wee hours by two monster trucks on my street doing some sort of noisy ungodly what: monster hoovering it sounds like. I got up because it was impossible to sleep through...” Read full tasting note
  • “thanks for sharing this one dexter! overleafed this cup a little today and it turned it in to a malty cup of bold deliciousness haha. having fun trying my samples from friends today :) Final...” Read full tasting note
    86
  • “Golden tea seems to be my favorite type of black tea variant. This tea was nice with its cocoa notes and malty taste, but I have had some really good golden teas in the past from Chinese farm...” Read full tasting note
  • “I had a 2 hour break yesterday from classes in the afternoon so I went to Chinatown to poke around. I really wanted to go to RedBlossom Tea even though I am broke and of course I couldn’t leave...” Read full tasting note
    90

From Red Blossom Tea Company

Our Gold Thread Reserve is the first pick of the Spring 2011 season, from the same Feng Qing tea garden that produced our regular Gold Thread. It is comprised of young tender leaf buds, each individually hand-picked to not only deliver the aromatics for which this tea is known, but also the sweetness and exceptionally smooth mouth feel that can only come from early stage tea buds. The tea buds used in our reserve grade was gathered a week and a half before those used in our regular Gold Thread.

Developed in the late 1930’s, Gold Thread Reserve is alternatively known as Jin Ya Dian Hong. "Jin Ya" means "gold bud" in Chinese, and "Dian Hong" means Yunnan red. The tea was crafted from the buds of the Da Ye tea plant, an ancient cultivar indigenous to Yunnan Province and one traditionally used to produce Pu-erh teas.

Once harvested, the tea is left to sun wither, a step that breaks down the tea’s cell walls and begins the enzymatic oxidation process. Once withered, they are bruised and allowed to sit until the light green color of the buds take on a yellowish golden hue, at which point the tea is given its final roast.

The result is exceptionally smooth, breathtakingly aromatic and complex. The golden red infusion yields a malty sweetness (maltiness is enhanced by sun withering), with notes of orange, raisins, maple syrup and brown sugar.

About Red Blossom Tea Company View company

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17 Tasting Notes

1403 tasting notes

I was awoken in the wee hours by two monster trucks on my street doing some sort of noisy ungodly what: monster hoovering it sounds like. I got up because it was impossible to sleep through this and it continues now for hours.

Clearly I need some sort of home totem god or goddess to protect the tranquility of my home and guard my sleep. Any ideas?

My first whirl with this sample from Dexter. The scent of the dry leaf is just chocolatey fab. The steeped tea is lovely chocolatey malt and then there’s a flavour that comes up that I don’t particularly like. I don’t know how to describe it. A bit metallic and a bit bitter. Perhaps I have used too much leaf.

The second steep, because I don’t give up, is chocolatey and yammy. The metallic aspect is gone. The third is also still delicious.

Thankfully, I have a bit more to experiment with. Thank you for the sample, Dex.

Flavors: Bread, Chocolate, Metallic, Yams

Dexter

“Clearly I need some sort of home totem god or goddess to protect the tranquility of my home and guard my sleep. Any ideas?” – Good quality ear plugs?
Not sure about the metallic that you are getting from this, but that’s what’s so fun about this game – we all perceive things differently. Hope you find others that you like better. :)

Evol Ving Ness

hhehehe, Dexter. I tried three different kinds of earplug plus earplugs and white noise and nope. Same result. I suspect that I am so sensitized now by being repeatedly awoken over months that it doesn’t take much.

Tastebuds are interesting and it is so fun to try all the things. I liked the second, third, and fourth steeps a lot and the leaves are beautiful. I’ll try less leaf next time and see what happens.

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86
15006 tasting notes

thanks for sharing this one dexter! overleafed this cup a little today and it turned it in to a malty cup of bold deliciousness haha. having fun trying my samples from friends today :)

Final Count: 83

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1113 tasting notes

Golden tea seems to be my favorite type of black tea variant. This tea was nice with its cocoa notes and malty taste, but I have had some really good golden teas in the past from Chinese farm directly and WP so this just isn’t as good as it would have been two years ago when I had no reference point for golden teas.

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90
2816 tasting notes

I had a 2 hour break yesterday from classes in the afternoon so I went to Chinatown to poke around. I really wanted to go to RedBlossom Tea even though I am broke and of course I couldn’t leave without buying something. Honestly I only go to their store probably twice a year and I just refuse to buy the top shelf teas because they are too expensive for me.

Quite a few other vendors carry this type of tea so I wouldn’t say it’s rare, it’s one of their every day kind of teas. The Golden Monkey by RB is one of my favorite morning teas so I thought I’d get this to compare.

I steeped the tea for two minutes and this may have been overkill because the resulting brew is quite strong. The tea liquor is very smooth and sweet, however. I am definitely getting sweet potato notes, raisin, malt and cocoa but at the longer steep it almost seems roasted.

I tried a second steep for one minute and it’s a lot nicer, very smooth and lighter. I can’t say I am getting maple syrup but I do see how you get orange out of this, especially at the shorter steep. I love Chinese black teas because they’re so easy to drink straight, although sometimes an assam with milk and sugar hits the spot too…

Happy with this brew, I don’t have a lot of other teas like this in my stash at the moment. If you don’t live near Red Blossom I don’t see any reason to purchase this tea especially from them, but it is a nice yunnan, in my opinion.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 1 min, 0 sec

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82
1500 tasting notes

First steep: 1 minute. Beautiful Yunnan, really standard, a bit disappointing because of the cost and time to get it home. (I literally bought a new bag just to bring home pounds of tea).

Second steep: 1 minute, 30 seconds. Still a standard Yunnan, but less chocolately and more honey-d, dry. A touch of hay. Not sure if I’ll keep on steeping this. Boo. Still tasty, just now WOW tasty.

Mind you, I do have a sample of their $74/oz black… maybe that’ll cheer me up!

Flavors: Cocoa, Hay, Honey

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 1 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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83
3986 tasting notes

This one came from Blodeuyn. I must admit, I’ve become a little bit burnt out on Yunnan teas since I tried so many of them not too long ago. I do still enjoy them, but they’re not something I crave. This tea has small, thin, and delicate leaves. They’re golden and fuzzy and they’re leaving lovely fairy dust on the inside of the packet. Dry scent is pure Yunnan – sweet and smooth with malt, sweet potato, honey, and strong stonefruit notes. I steeped a heaping teaspoon of leaf for 3 minutes at 200 degrees.

Wow, the aroma is very powerful. Very malty with bread and sweet potato, as well as a surprisingly strong floral note. Thankfully, I don’t get strong floral in the taste. What I do get is rich sweet potato and bread with honey and a very light mineral note. There’s the lightest touch of stonefruit and maybe a suggestion of floral in the aftertaste. A perfectly nice Yunnan, nothing extra special, but still tasty.

Flavors: Bread, Floral, Honey, Malt, Mineral, Stonefruit, Sweet Potatoes

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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91
25 tasting notes

This is the second tea I ordered from Red Blossom and I am excited to finally do a tasting and prepare my notes.

Dry leaf aroma: Sweet potato with a malty background.

Dry leaf appearance: http://instagram.com/p/rnyl0zlcCK/

Preparation: Brewed western style in a glass infuser cup (which I also purchased from Red Blossom – and love – I think it is a Bodum).

First steeping: 1 minutes 45 seconds at 200 degrees. The aroma stays true to the dry leaf – sweet potato and malt, with a slight suggestion of orange. The liquor is a beautiful amber brown which seems appropriate paired with the aromatic suggestions of malt and sweet potatoes (perhaps I am ready for autumn; this color and fragrance combination is lulling me into nostalgia this evening). The flavor is multifaceted and at first it is hard for me to separate the different layers. Foremost is a pleasant maltiness with a delicate sweet potato undertone and I find as I let the cup cool notes of brown sugar appear. I was a bit disappointed I did not detect any raisin or maple syrup in this steeping (as per their website tasting notes). However, when I smell my empty cup the aroma is a heady raisin. The aftertaste is a reminiscent of sweet potatoes, with a slight starchy mouth-feel.

Second steeping: 2 minutes 5 seconds at 200 degrees. A sweet potato and malty fragrance still prevails. I do not detect any scent of orange with this steeping but as the cup cools I pick up notes of raisin. For this infusion the brown sugar and raisin notes are shining through the base flavors of sweet potato and malt. The aftertaste is also sweeter, with a refined raisin finish.

Third steeping: 2 minutes 35 seconds at 200 degrees. The third brewing has a much weaker aroma; sweet potato and malt again. The flavor is much the same as the second steeping though not as strong. The aftertaste is malty raisin and the starchy mouth-feel is still present.

The fourth steeping was unremarkable though not unpleasant. I think three steepings is a good cutoff for me.

Flavors: Brown Sugar, Malt, Raisins, Sweet Potatoes

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 1 min, 45 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 295 ML
Cameron B.

Wow gorgeous leaves! Sounds delicious, I love Yunnan teas. :)

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93
240 tasting notes

Yet another of my favorites to reach the end of it’s jar on my tea shelf. This has become one of my standard black teas, the benchmark I compare new black teas to. It’s super solid, sweet, uber smooth aroma and taste amaze me every time I brew it up.

I had a little more than what I normally use in my 32 ounce Bodum Assam, but not enough for a single serving later, so I just brewed it a little strong today with just under 10 ounces of leaves in 32 ounces of 200 degree water.

And hot damn. I didn’t think it could get much better, but here it is. The complexity is amazing, such a strong, rich, velvety smooth malty base, with hints of dried fruit, brown sugar and syrup.

Possibly my favorite fall season breakfast. Goes great with oatmeal or cream of wheat. Such good stuff.

I’ll certainly be ordering more of this!

-E

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 min, 0 sec 9 g 32 OZ / 946 ML

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92
5 tasting notes

Had this tea hot to warm up to. I love the smell, to begin with. The dark color of the tea looked like coffee brewed and there was definitely a texture to the tea. I brewed it a little bit longer than I was supposed to (I got distracted!) but it never got bitter. I’ll reserve this for a treat on foggy mornings.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 15 sec

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