Yuchi Wild Mountain Black, Lot 336

This is a wonderful, rich black tea. It has a smooth yet robust flavor. Maybe I should have saved it for tomorrow morning, but I was in the mood for this one now, so I brewed it up this evening. Really nummy on a cold winter night with sugar cookies. nom nom nom.

OMG this tea is the BOMB!!

My first couple of sips I had a sneaking suspicion that there was some unknown and unidentified sugar element hiding down at the bottom of my clean mug and that the dishwasher was on the fritz… And then I realized… NO ITS THE TEA!!!!

The scent of this tea is insanely intoxicating… it smells like fresh buttery sweetbread or pastry! Taste wise, wow! Talk about delicious! Its malty, naturally sweet and has a slight pastry and stone fruit jam taste… I need more of this RIGHT now!!!!

still so annoyed at myself for missing out on getting more of this one. i adore this one..it’s seriously the best harvest of this tea that i’ve had in forever. juicy, taiwanese deliciousness…

I think it is only appropriate that my first tea note, ever, be dedicated to the person who introduced me to this highly addictive, relaxing and welcoming world of tea – Courtney.

One of the most memorable tea adventures that we’ve shared was when she first made me a cup of Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black. I patiently watched as Courtney picked up the bag of tea from the shelf, peeled open the gold flaps of the bag, shook it and took a big whiff. She looked at me and told me that – after months of trying real teas – that I could finally have a cup of TWMB.

I am not sure if it was the sweetness of the initial first breath that I took as I held the mug close to my mouth for the first sip, or the way she stared me down to make sure that I would lick the mug clean, but I instantaneously knew that this was a very special tea. She informed me that this particular occasion was very significant because this would be the last cup of this tea – one of her favourites! I felt honoured and made sure to savour in every last drop. Needless to say, it was a phenomenally smooth and pleasantly sweet cup of tea that satisfied every expectation that one could have.

While still attempting to recover from the loss of the original TWMB, Courtney stumbled upon this tea, which we ordered immediately and retrieved from the post only hours after its delivery. We made our first cup of this tea tonite and the verdict is in, folks – we love it! It is the reincarnated version of TWMB! I foresee this being a permanent staple tea in our cupboards and on our shelves!

I want to thank you for reading my lengthly first tea note.
I hope your tea was warm and your chair was comfortable.

In this moment, this tastes like hot buttered raisin toast.

You know, it’s times like this when I am so SO glad that Steepster exists and that I found it. Without Steepster, and all of you tea lovers posting your awesome reviews encouraging me to try and buy more more more (and also, thanks in general to the internet, for feeding this habit by bringing everything that much closer to me)… I never would have discovered this tea.
Or TTC.

Because honestly.

Last night I decided to make a mug of this, I had purchased 5 samples from TTC and recently got them. I am practically on a tea hiatus at this point, i mean i certainly SHOULD be. But I’d had a TTC sample once upon a time and knew that down the road more would be mine, all mine.

So when I cut open my adorably patterned sample bag, I stuck my nose in and inhaled like breathing was going to go out of style and OMG. The scent. INTOXICATING. I don’t even know. So good. I can’t describe.

And then I brewed it up, took my first sip, and it was like happiness exploded all over my tongue. It’s fruity and malty and bready and fresh and bright and SO FLAVOURFUL.

I don’t ever want to live without this tea.

I really need to start drinking down everything I have to reach a point where I only stock my absolute loves. This would be one of them.

I wanted to shout it from the rooftops last night, but there was no one around who would care. There never is, I’m alone in my world of tea love. Except for you guys.

Everyone who hasn’t tried this tea must wishlist it immediately :)
You’re welcome. Trust me.

(PS – I spent like 2 hours just slowly and enjoyably organizing my tea stash yesterday. Of course my online cupboard isn’t really up to date yet, but physically arranging and mentally taking stock of all of my teas (ALL OF THE TEAS) was incredibly calming and satisfying.)

Today my order from Taiwan Tea Crafts arrived, after a long delay. I have been excited to try a Yuchi wild mountain black tea for a very long time and now I can! I cannot say I’m disappointed. From the first smell of the dried leaves to the first sip I’m completely blown away. Those little leaf-hoppers are the unsung hero of the hour!

The initial smell is, I kid you not, cinnamon rolls. This tea smells exactly like walking by the cinnamon roll stand in the mall, only better. I opened the package and immediately told my wife “you must smell this, now!” She didn’t, because she was too busy drinking some other tea and didn’t want to ‘ruin that experience’. News-flash, drinking this tea ruins all subsequent tea drinking experiences.

I weighed out 4 grams and poured 240 ml of boiling water over the leaves and immediately, again, the smell hits me from the tea pot, candy apples, cinnamon, unicorn tears, who knows, it is just glorious. Those 4 minutes cannot go by fast enough!

I pour the tea, I’m busy signing into Steepster to get this review ready, my wife tastes it first, her face lights up, “You need to try this now!” The taste is ineffable. So unbelievably good. There is cinnamon, wine, apple, candy, brown sugar, caramel, no bitterness, no astringency, other flavours that I cannot even put my tongue upon.

I will literally move Taiwanese mountains to find a supply of this tea to sell. Nothing comes close, all other teas should just pack up their leaves and go back to tea-island because this tea, hands down, unequivocally, and I say this without compunction, kicks the absolute fucking crap out of every single other tea that I have drank. I’m at the bottom of my cup now, and it is really, really sad because it had to end, and I knew it had to end when I began. My wife is smelling her empty cup because it smells good, make another infusion god-dammit!

I can honestly say that none of this is hyperbole.