2005 Aged Red Jade Black Tea, Lot 233

Finally getting around to recording this one! Buuuut I don’t have much to say. For some reason, I was anticipating more body, richness, and sweetness than I got – instead, it was a little on the thin/woody side? May also have been my tastebuds, though, so I’ll tentatively rate for now and try again another time, as I have a fair bit left of the original packet. Definitely not quite matching my favourite black tea profiles, though.

Sipdown (642)!

This one was passed along to me by Kittenna a little while ago, and I decided a couple days ago to dig into it with a brand new grogged clay shiboridashi as a Gong Fu session. I was sort of loosely taking the advice of some Slack tea chat people about what type of tea might work in that type of clay, and based on that advice this seemed like a good starting point!

This was definitely one of those sessions where I didn’t really worry about being technical or precise; I just used the whole sample from Kittenna and went with infusion times/steeps that just sort of felt right. I also didn’t track the number of infusions, but I’d estimate about eight or nine? I went until there was no more defined flavour notes in the tea; so the leaf wasn’t 100% spent, but pretty close to it.

It was a really nice session overall; this was a really sweet and flavourful tea right off the bat. First infusions were definitely a little more woody and malty, but then they started to give way to this beautiful array of sweet/jammy fruit notes. Lots of initial red fruit elements, like currants and berries, but most delicious to me was this orange note that really lingered on the tip of my tongue – like a mix of caramelized orange, sweet marmalade, and fresh orange juice! Light notes of honey also.

Just a really pleasant session; the tea felt so well rounded and balanced while maintaining that great sweetness! I’m going to experiment with other things in this shibo, but I think this was a great first selection – I’ll definitely be trying other Taiwanese blacks in it to see if that’s something that consistently brews well!

Thanks again for the share, Kittenna!

The leaves of this tea are rather large and winding. After letting them sit in a hot gongfu teapot for a minute they smell heavily of stone fruits, mostly cherry and plum, and ocean air.

The rinsed leaves yield a very, very strong stonefruit smell and a scent of orchids with a hint of eucalyptus. The first infusion is a gorgeous amber color and smells sweet like honey and oats. As it cools, I’m getting more of a fruit and spice scent.

The first infusion is incredibly sweet and fruit-like, just a hint of malt and lingering spice on the back end. The mouthfeel is very clean and the tea leaves a lingering cooling sensation on the tongue and throat.

The second infusion smells more cherry or grape-like. While the body of this tea is somewhat thin and the texture is a bit dry, it makes for a very complex and interesting pairing with the sweet fruity flavors and the cooling almost minty sensation it produces. This infusion tastes like tart cherries with a light wood note. The dryness on the tongue lingers, but there is no dryness in the throat. It still feels very clean. This is not an astringent kind of dryness. It’s more like drinking a dry red wine.

The leaves as they open up are a gorgeous ruddy copper color. The third infusion again smells like stone fruits. The sip starts out sweet and finishes dry, hints of honey and malt accompanying. The mouthfeel is as clean as ever.

By the fourth infusion, in some ways I would say this tea reminds me more of an Indian black tea than a Chinese red tea, though it is almost like a curious mixture of the two. The drying quality reminds me a lot more of Indian tea, as well as the berry-like fruit flavors, but then the sweetness and the mellow honey and malt type flavors remind me more of Chinese red tea. That minty tingle is unlike most red teas I’ve ever had and really makes this one intriguing.

I’m going to end my review here, but if anything really different emerges in later infusions I’ll update. This is a really cool tea and one that I’d recommend for red/black tea lovers. It’s got a really complex balance, a duality of sweet and dry.

I think this tea feels more clean than any other red/black tea I’ve had.