Bai Lin Kung Fu

I used a bit higher tea-to-water ratio, all 3.5gm of the sample to 6oz water, in an yixing clay pot, and steeped it 5 times … 2, 3, 5, 8, 12 min. While the overweening aroma and taste I got was toasted grain, there was a significant herbaceous component which was hard to define … something like lightly steamed green beans (or green tea?) with a tiny citrus note. While another reviewer reported slight bitterness with no astringency, my take was the opposite … slightly astringent with no bitterness. There was a slight floral note in the first steep or two, but I didn’t identify the fruit and caramel which others have found in this tea. Even at a 12-min steep, it didn’t get bitter. I got a quart of tea from 3.5 grams, and think it would make a refreshing iced tea, especially if you could just steep it for a half hour one time, or overnight. I drank it hot, over an afternoon, with crunchy granola bars. The herbal notes were the most interesting part. A tea I will gladly drink, but not seek out.

Not quite as good as the Golden Needle King that Shang offers, this is still a good black tea. Since Shang makes all his teas from white tea leaves they are all much more subtle and smooth rather than strong and robust. This one is no different, and although you can taste the smokiness that comes from oxidation, you can also taste the underlying white tea that was used to produce this.

So my order from Shang Tea came the other day. First let me state how happy I am with the customer service from them. So a big thanks and from what I’ve seen and tasted so far more orders will be coming your way (at the very least from me).

So this tea is the one that I expected the least from in what I ordered from Shang Tea and thus it is the one that startled me with how much I liked it. Having drank it multiple times up to today I can already say it handles multiple steepings well. The flavor improves after it cools a little and makes me look forward to each additional cup/steeping (3 seems to be what I can get from this). This tea is a black tea but made from white tea leaves. Since I love both…

So lets start with aroma. It has a typical smell of red (or black as some of us call it) tea, however this one has notes that I normally expect from a white tea as well. In addition I get a sweetness of honey and something slightly but only slightly floral. Very layered in the smell department and quite a treat for my nose.

Taste is good, varied and interesting. Again the mixture of styles here is probably why it hits me this way. I’m tasting both red tea and white tea notes layered in a way that I find starts bold (and primarily red tea like) and then switches gears to subtle tastes (and more white tea like) near to swallowing. In trying to compare the taste to other teas basically I am thinking of a good lighter red tea crossed with a white peony or silver needle… Quite a mouthful from the taste standpoint.

This easily is better than Ceylon from Adagio which before I found the Red Dragon was my morning cup of choice. Everyone I’ve shared it with so far has also liked this. This tea is now on my list of teas that I always want in my cupboard. I’m looking forward to the two other teas that I have ordered from Shang Tea. Until then happy steeping everyone!

I typically have been using two slightly mounded teaspoonfuls of tea to a little less than 2 cups of water steeped for 1:30 and added 30 seconds for each additional steeping.

I agree exactly with Teafreak. This is a good red tea, and while not outstanding in the way that Shang’s Golden Needle is, it is pleasant, warm, and radiant and has a kind of delicacy derived from its white tea base.

I finished this off in the past todays in a great goodbye. I’ve had an interesting relationship with this one.

This was one of the driest blacks I’ve had, but also one I liked. I loved it the first few times because of its immense cocoa and pumpernickel stout like notes, and its sneaky honey notes and maple that would appear from the cocoa and the grain. That was at the edge of winter to spring. Spring and summer, it tasted like a pumpkin seed dry spell. It made me think of caraway, but not quite as spicy….don’t rely on me for that note. The cocoa and pumpkin seed are the best nuances to an overall nutty and malty tea. Sunflower seeds was the nut that I could think of personally.

The last few brews were incredibly chocolaty and malty. I decided to add some cocoa nibs to the last brew, and it was so comforting to drink. I could have made my own passage du desir if I had candied chest nuts because holy crap was it sweet. It was almost boozy never mind there was no flavoring…though the nibs were the sweetened variety.

Anyway, I am thankful that I finished off. I would have some again in the future, but I have had sweeter Bai Lins and recommend this tea if you like it on the dry side western or gong fu. I still think it is a little overpriced.

It got stuck to my band-aid, but it’s still really good.

Sipdown. I really like this tea and try to keep it stocked. I’m out of this for now until probably sometime next year.

Thank you TeaTiff for the sample. The black with hints of golden leaves are very similar to Teavivre’s Bailin Gongfu. It’s an odd flavor, hard to describe. I’d say it’s like a mild keemun: hints of smoke, chewiness, breadiness, a bit of tobacco, a little like something alcohol.. not sure which one as I don’t have enough knowledge in that department! Haha. Very intriguing flavors though! I used a teaspoon and a half but I think this one would have been fine with two teaspoons. It certainly was tasty as it is though! The second steep was almost identical to the first cup – the brew being a very light brown color.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 tsps. // 10 min after boiling // 3 min
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 min

Yay, I feel much more comfortable tasting these Shang teas now that I’m home with my variable temperature kettle. My mother doesn’t really have a thermometer that lends itself to measuring water temperature – she just has the “instant read” variety that you normally use for meat, and they take too long to measure the temperature, allowing the water to cool somewhat in the time it takes to find out the temperature. Anyway, hooray for kettles! I did have good experiences with the Shang teas I tried at her place as well, so no harm done there.

So, this tea. The dry leaves are very dark and rather small and wiry, and there are a very few golden tips mixed in. Their scent is mostly raw, chewy grains (if you don’t know what I mean, chew on a little bit of raw oats or other cereal grain). I get a little whiff of peanuts in the shell also, which is interesting. I was considering doing a 3-minute steep, but I ended up stopping at 2 (which I think was the correct decision).

The brewed aroma is dark multigrain baked bread studded with dark dried fruits (raisins, cherries, prunes) and drizzled with a touch of molasses. I love the bready teas, so it was making my mouth water! Yum, this tea! It definitely has both the chewy raw grain flavor and the dark baked bread flavor as well. Best of both worlds! That dark fruitiness from the aroma is also present in the taste. I get just the tiniest hint of cinnamon near the end of the sip, and I love it in this tea! Funnily enough, I can taste the peanuts from the dry scent, hah! No shells this time, just raw or lightly roasted peanuts. Of course, there’s a coating of honey/molasses over the top of the whole darn thing! Overall, this is a very “thick” tasting tea with a heavy mouthfeel. I’m quite glad I didn’t steep it longer, because it’s quite flavorful even at 2 minutes!

I think this might be my favorite so far of their red teas. I have another packet of Golden Needle so I’ll drink that later to compare! :D

Thank you Nicole for your generous sample.
Only after tasting this tea i went back to read that its from white tea plant.
I enjoyed this tea a lot. it has complex flavor which changes with each steep.
150ml gaiwan 3.5 g sample, boil 1min cool( suggested by Shang Tea)
10/30/45/1min
each time it became sweeter, with dark chocolate flavors
i’m going to buy this tea even though I have Bailin Gongfu Black Tea by Teavivre (which is great). I find them different and great in their own way