Black Spiral

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Brown Sugar, Brown Toast, Butter, Camphor, Cocoa, Cream, Honey, Malt, Mineral, Molasses, Orange Zest, Smoke, Sweet Potatoes, Walnut, Smooth, Autumn Leaf Pile, Clay, Mushrooms, Pecan
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Joshua Jones
Average preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 15 sec 6 g 10 oz / 310 ml

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18 Tasting Notes View all

From The Tao of Tea

Black Spiral is a malty, gold leaf black tea from one of the main tea growing regions of China. (Hunan Province, China)

Very buttery texture similar to honey, full bodied, sweet potatoes flavor with subtle roasted undertones.

About The Tao of Tea View company

Company description not available.

18 Tasting Notes

100
2816 tasting notes

A true gem I discovered thanks to Steepster. So smooth it’s like drinking hot chocolate. yummm

Preparation
Boiling
Laurence Burris

How long did you have it steep? By the way thanks to you & TeaEqualsBliss I am really enjoying the world of tea. I tried a tea called Scottish Breakfast and a Robio (?), anyhow it was all very delicious & fun.

TeaEqualsBliss

I had a hunch you would enjoy this one!!!!

TeaBrat

@Laurence – I let it steep around 4-5 minutes. It does not get bitter very easily

Plunkybug

Oooh! This sounds great!

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95
4843 tasting notes

This is SO – GOOD!!! OMG! Amazing! Every time I try a new tea from the Tao of Tea, I think I’ve found their best of the best … and then I try another one and it is just as good (or perhaps better, it would be hard to say!)

But what I can say is that this is absolutely delicious. The buttery flavor is there – and it astounds me that this is a black tea with that kind of note, because I’m used to finding it in a green tea or an Oolong, but, I not many black teas possess this kind of buttery taste. It smells delightful.

This is definitely one I need to spend a little more time with! It is so awesome!

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec
TeaEqualsBliss

Oh!!!!!!!! I HOPE you have a lil bit left!? LOL

LiberTEAS

It’s going to be difficult to part with any of this … but I shall save a bit for you. :)

TeaEqualsBliss

teahee…thanks you are a peach!

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97
6768 tasting notes

I have been wanting to try this one and thanks to LiberTEAS I was able to TODAY! It smells very bold and chewy and malty and I just love it!

Taste-wise it’s a real gem too! Malty-YUM! It’s like a malty-black with buttery-lima-beans and sweet potatoes, ALMOST…I know that’s a random description but it’s the first few things that popped into my head and the flavor is out of this world! It really is!!!

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94
12 tasting notes

By far one of my favorite teas. I love the golden color and the smoothness of this tea. I find myself drinking this after a long day at work mostly, and brew two or three cups when I can.

If you’ve enjoyed other “Gold Tipped” teas, my bet is you will enjoy this as well.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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87
16 tasting notes

The flavor profile provided by Tao of Tea is spot on. I was particularly fond of the sweet potato undertones. This tea was fantastic and held up to repeated steeping without astringency as promised. Would drink again.

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100
2 tasting notes

This tea is so smooth. I steep it in a 24oz bottle and drink from it throughout the day. It never gets bitter.

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88
1048 tasting notes

Here is yet another tea review from the backlog. I cannot remember exactly when I finished the one ounce pouch of this tea that I bought back in the summer of 2016. I’m guessing I went through it either at the end of May or start of June. Surprisingly, this tea had mellowed without losing much of its complexity. I found it to be a very nice black tea that was quite similar to many of the Yunnan black teas I have tried over the years.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of rolled tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 15 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, and 5 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves offered aromas of brown toast, malt, honey, and sweet potato. After the rinse, I picked up aromas of butter and cream. The first infusion then brought out an aroma of brown sugar. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented mild notes of brown toast, malt, honey, butter, cream, and sweet potato that were balanced by notes of brown sugar and molasses toward the finish. Subsequent infusions saw molasses emerge on the nose alongside some subtle scents of cocoa and citrus. Stronger molasses notes appeared in the mouth on these infusions as did new notes of orange zest, cocoa, smoke, minerals, and roasted walnut. A rather subtle camphor impression also became notable on the swallow. The final infusions offered impressions of minerals, malt, butter, cocoa, and molasses that were backed by orange zest and sweet potato hints and a slightly heavier camphor presence.

Compared to a typical Yunnan hong cha, this Guangxi hong cha was a much more mellow and much smoother tea. I have been meaning to investigate some of the black and green teas produced in Guangxi for at least a couple of years now, but just have not gotten the time. This tea made me want to resume that investigation, but I have no clue when I will get around to it. I definitely need to try a more recent harvest of this tea at the very least. If you are a fan of the Yunnan hong cha flavor profile, I am willing to bet that you would enjoy this tea. At least consider giving it a shot if you are a fan of Yunnan black teas.

Flavors: Brown Sugar, Brown Toast, Butter, Camphor, Cocoa, Cream, Honey, Malt, Mineral, Molasses, Orange Zest, Smoke, Sweet Potatoes, Walnut

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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95
1299 tasting notes

Sipdown Challenge Black History Month:
Since I don’t currently have a tea from a black-owned tea shop I decided to make a pot of this. This is one of my favorite black teas that I am working on finishing off. I would love to get some more of it though because I think it’s a good one to keep on hand. Malty sweet potato yumminess and all.

Flavors: Cocoa, Honey, Malt, Sweet Potatoes

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
gmathis

This sounds delicious!

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82
73 tasting notes

Finishing off a tin that I’ve stored for a long time – the flavors and aromas are muted compared to what they once were, but the smooth, autumnal character hasn’t changed.

Brewed in my black tea-filter-cup, I can’t fairly remark on the appearance of the liquor.

Distinctive almost vegetal aroma (mushrooms, dry wild grass, autumn leaves, etc.) leads into a malty palate entry with smooth almost nutty flavors joining in as we reach the creamy slightly sweet finish suggesting Japanese sweet potatoes with hints of mild honey. A bit more complexity is revealed as the tea cools, and a second steep yields nearly identical flavors as the first, but things quickly fade by the third infusion.

I’m curious about the origin of this tea – since it is from Guangxi I don’t think it is related to Biluochun (the famous Green Snail Spring tea sometimes called Green Spiral); I see Hojo sells a “Golden Bud” tea made from Ling-Yun Bai-hao, also from Guangxi, but that appears to be processed more like what Tao of Tea sells as “Emperor’s Gold” (from Yunnan). Sometimes more research just leads to greater confusion, so I’ll stop here.

Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Clay, Cocoa, Honey, Malt, Mushrooms, Pecan, Sweet Potatoes

Preparation
2 tsp 6 OZ / 177 ML

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