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“Cries, tears, gnashing of teeth, pulling of hair…yeah, for those of you who follow along in my life journey, you know that Monday’s are Dropzone Commander League! I went against my most ancient of...” Read full tasting note
This tea comes from Wuhu (舞鶴) Village, Ruisui Township, near the Tropic of Cancer. This tea can only be made in summer because of the unique way in which it is produced. Jacobiasca formosana is a type of green leafhopper insect, prevalent in the summertime, which helps to produce the unique honey and sweet flavor of this tea. Without the help of these tiny bugs, the leaves would lack amazing aromas.
To make sure the insect comes every year, the farmer has to keep all toxic chemicals far from the farms. Then, after the insects have come, the leaves have to be handpicked to ensure that each leaf has been bitten by the insect. The tea was oxidized completely, so the flavor is very smooth and dense. This tea is also good when prepared as iced tea.
This tea is certificated by MOA International® (www.moa.org.tw) in Taiwan
Style of tea Honey Black Tea
Harvest date July, 2014
Oxidation level 100%
Roasting Level Light
Location Wuhe Village, Ruisui Township, Hualien County
Picking Style Hand Picked
Cultivar Oolong
Farm Elevation 250 meters
Sanne Tea is the place where you can find high-quality and pesticide-free Taiwanese tea. The founder came from a Taiwanese family that loves and drinks tea for several generations. We want to share our enthusiasm and passion for Taiwanese tea and natural farming with the world. As our commitment, we source and sell 100% natural, zero pesticide teas. We are very excited about the teas that we have to offer, and are very much looking forward to meeting other tea lovers here. We worked hard to find the Taiwanese tea that is 100% grown in Taiwan and build the relationships with local farmers, not to mention that the tea has to be affordable. We, along with several tea farmers who we trust, would like to promote true Taiwanese tea to the global market. Thank you for visiting us and please go to our website:www.sannetea.com
Cries, tears, gnashing of teeth, pulling of hair…yeah, for those of you who follow along in my life journey, you know that Monday’s are Dropzone Commander League! I went against my most ancient of foe, the Shaltari, in a killpoint battle and got stomped, the backside of my Desolator was handed to me. At least I got to break out the Desolator and instill fear in my opponent, too bad I could not roll anything other than ones. My skills were on par, but my dice really love the Shaltari and so, I lost.
Enough about my dice betraying me, today we are looking at Sanne Tea’s Honey Black Tea, Sanne Tea is a work in progress company that sent a bunch of samples out to various steepster members and I was lucky enough to receive a few. They specialize in Taiwanese tea, which you all know I have a serious weakness for. This specific tea, comes from Wuhu Village in Ruishi township and is one of those awesome teas that is created thanks to the leafhopper biting the leaves causing a defense reaction in the leaves, resulting in a delightfully sweet aroma and taste. Before I get into the tea, allow me to leave you with this picture of the packaging the tea sample came in, it is beautiful and I had to show it off.
The aroma of the leaves is true to the name, it is intensely sweet and rich, like warmed honey, baking bread, molasses, cocoa, and a very distinct malty finish. It is a very pleasant aroma that I enjoyed sniffing while waiting for my tea kettle to heat up, like a pig looking for truffles I snuffled the leaves happily.
Brewing the leaves I got a pleasant malty aroma wafting around the room, but the real party is examining the wet leaves. I detected notes of sassafras, I love sassafras, I used to have a sassafras tree in my yard and the branches smelled so good when broken. There is also a bit of cocoa and lots of sweet honey goodness. The liquid is a blend of honey, cocoa and a bit of malt at the finish, rich but not too rich.
Well, this tea has a nice intensity to it, it starts out very sweet and creamy, with a combination of honey and cocoa. This transitions to a slightly sharper, in both taste and texture, note of malt and molasses. The finish is honey and it does not linger overlong.
Second time! This steep has a blend of sweet cocoa, a bit of maltiness, and a finish of molasses in the aroma. For tasting, well, this is one of those teas that just works for me taste-wise, it blends notes of cocoa and honey with molasses and malt. It has just the right amount of sweetness and sharpness that makes me happy. Also a finish of baking bread for extra yum, I could certainly see myself buying more of this tea once they get their shop open. I had several more steeps of this one and found that it did not change much, but it had some great staying power, which made it a good painting companion.
For blog and photos (and a friendly Desolator): http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/03/sanne-tea-honey-black-tea-tea-review.html
