Vietnam Ha Giang Organic Black

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Astringent, Leather, Malt, Mineral, Orange Zest, Pepper, Smoke, Burnt, Caramel, Hay
Sold in
Bulk, Loose Leaf
Caffeine
High
Certification
Organic
Edit tea info Last updated by Cameron B.
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec 2 g 12 oz / 350 ml

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5 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Still working through my long overdue backlong of teabox teas, so this is another sample from the Discovery Teabox (thanks to Skysamurai for organizing and all who contributed!) I am a fan of...” Read full tasting note
    76
  • “While this is an interesting tea, its a bit hard to describe. A cross between yellow tea and lapsang? Its roasty and hay up front and smooth toasty caramel at the end. There is a bit going on here,...” Read full tasting note
    73
  • “Saved a small portion of this from the tea box. There was a little bitterness, which I fixed with some sugar. It’s quite pleasant! I often add milk to black tea, but I didn’t need to for this one....” Read full tasting note
    70
  • “Okay, this tea is insanely delicious. It tastes like a very expensive cup of tea and it definitely is not expensive from S&V. Wow. Just the complexity alone amazes me, and I will not be able...” Read full tasting note
    97

From Simpson & Vail

Our Vietnam organic black tea comes from the Ha Giang province in northern Vietnam along the Tay Con Linh mountain range (at 1300, above sea level). Here lie the ancient forests of Shan tea that have been growing for hundreds of years. The area went through an economic revival in 2010 with a serious investment in the community. The goal of the investment was to achieve a better, higher quality tea using modern production techniques coupled with organic farming practices. This investment has more than paid off and the people living in this area have seen steady increases in production, quality and pay.

Shan tea is a specialty in this region and the investment helped farmers to preserve this tea. A nursery of seedlings was created and workers were taught how to use crop rotation, green manure and biological pest control to sustainably develop this tea. Monies were also put towards new production facilities to ensure a consistent, high quality leaf.

The black, slightly tippy, leaves of this Vietnam black tea brew to an amber cup with a mild astringency and a smooth, slightly earthy taste. A delightful afternoon cup!

About Simpson & Vail View company

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5 Tasting Notes

76
1216 tasting notes

Still working through my long overdue backlong of teabox teas, so this is another sample from the Discovery Teabox (thanks to Skysamurai for organizing and all who contributed!) I am a fan of Vietnamese blacks and was excited to be able to sample this one!

2.5g sample brewed Western in 350ml 205F water for what should have been 3 minutes, but I got interrupted so it was probably closer to 5 (longer than I typically brew black teas, so hopefully this didn’t turn out too tannic for me!) It has a lovely malty, honey-sweet aroma, with a bit of a marmalade jam note and almost a barbecue-esque aroma. The flavor has a bit of malt, with some notes of leather, smoke, orange peel, and pepper, with a medium astringency and a subtle minerality left after the sip.

I wish I hadn’t steeped it quite so long since this is a rather hardy black, but it is still a pleasant flavor. A good breakfast tea! Thanks for the sample, tea_sipper!

Flavors: Astringent, Leather, Malt, Mineral, Orange Zest, Pepper, Smoke

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec 2 g 12 OZ / 350 ML
tea-sipper

Yeah, my original sample of this is just not the same. I had it the other day. All of the uniqueness to the flavor is now missing, sadly.

Mastress Alita

Hmm, I have another Vietnamese tea that is really old now… I hope it isn’t in really bad shape from the age.

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73
439 tasting notes

While this is an interesting tea, its a bit hard to describe. A cross between yellow tea and lapsang? Its roasty and hay up front and smooth toasty caramel at the end. There is a bit going on here, hard to distinguish individual notes. I might have brewed this a bit strong, and the roastyness comes through. Perhaps the toasty creme brulee ending would be more pronounced with a bit less leaf. As for this cup, there is enough bitterness that it tastes like the top of the creme brulee has been burnt. The second steep is the same burnt caramel taste but weaker.

Flavors: Burnt, Caramel, Hay

tea-sipper

I LOVED a previous harvest of this, but the new one doesn’t seem the same at all. I’ll have to try it again looking at the parameters from my previous tasting note.

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70
2284 tasting notes

Saved a small portion of this from the tea box. There was a little bitterness, which I fixed with some sugar. It’s quite pleasant! I often add milk to black tea, but I didn’t need to for this one. It’s not the sort of thing that I would buy, but that’s what sampling from tea boxes is for!

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97
4170 tasting notes

Okay, this tea is insanely delicious. It tastes like a very expensive cup of tea and it definitely is not expensive from S&V. Wow. Just the complexity alone amazes me, and I will not be able to capture that complexity here. The fragrance of the dry leaves is something very different from the usual plain black tea, that I have not noticed before.. the smell is almost like what heated raisins might smell like? A fragrance I’ve never noticed in any tea! The leaf is on the smaller size with an occasional gold hint here and there. The flavor is intoxicating: I think it’s most similar to a really good assam: that slightly brisk, slightly fruity, sweet assam that I love to keep in stock. But this tea is more unique than that. It’s just so tough to capture the complexity of this tea. It has bite, but it’s also very sweet. Slight fruity juiciness but also a bready quality. I love teas like that and I will be keeping this one in stock. It might be one of those teas that are the fresher, the more complex the flavor (but that probably goes for all teas.) Is it enough for me to say it is so good? You should try some!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 13 minutes after boiling // 3 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // couple minutes after boiling // 4 minute steep

gmathis

Sounds perfect!

ashmanra

Sounds fantastic!

Mastress Alita

Vietnamese blacks are always soooooo good!

tea-sipper

Well, Mastress Alita, I ordered this because you wanted to try it since I needed fresh teabox ideas, so expect to be able to try some in the teabox. :D

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