This black (or rather, red) tea is hearty and entrancing. The dry leaf smells of dark chocolate, toasted wood, and cooked sugar (like dark caramel or toffee). I found the wet leaf aroma depends mainly on the water temperature. Boiling water draws a pungent fragrance delightfully suggestive of soy sauce. Slightly cooler water (approx. 95°C) yields earthier, woodier notes.
I have prepared this tea in both Western and gongfu styles. Western-style preparation gives a mahogany brew with prominent notes of smoke and balsamic vinegar. With this tea, I obtain four solid infusions with Western brewing parameters (1 tsp leaf per 6 oz boiling water). The first two steeps are robust and mildly astringent, while the last two tend to be more subtle and earthy with mustier forest flavors.
Gongfu brewing produces fuller smoke and dried fruit notes in the first 2-3 infusions. Later steeps unfold into toasted nuts and woodchips with hints of dark chocolate. 75 mL of boiling water with 5g of leaf provided 9-11 substantial infusions with brewing times of 10, 15, 21, 28, 38, 53 seconds, etc.
This is one of my favorite teas to enjoy after an evening meal. Additionally, it blends very well with cream and would probably make an excellent bubble tea base.
Flavors: Burnt Sugar, Dark Chocolate, Oak, Raisins, Smoke, Soy Sauce, Wood
Try it at a lower temperature. I’ve noticed that yunnan tends to only get smoky if the water is too hot. It might work better around 185 degrees.
Thanks for the recommendation, I will certainly do that. In your experience, do all Yunnans tend to have that smoky note in them?
Not all of them, but some. Seems like the more tips there are, the less smoky they turn out to be.
I may be a bad measuring stick, because I love lapsang souchong tea (which is extremely smoky), but in my experience, Yunnan golds are not smoky at all. Very round, very soft, molasses and old leather rather than smoke, so don’t let this turn you away from Yunnan’s.
Or Upton, for that matter, if this is your first Upton tea. They have a shockingly huge selection of teas and are very price competitive.
From Upton I’d recommend this one:
http://steepster.com/teas/upton-tea-imports/15305-yunnan-golden-tips-imperial-zy85
but I actually liked this other golden much better, although it is from Panyang, not Yunnan.
http://steepster.com/teas/upton-tea-imports/11729-panyang-tippy-golden-needles-imperial-zp77
Hi Jim – I think the main problem with the Yunnan was the temperature I steeped it at, as Tabby suggested. Boiling water does not seem to be a recommendation with Yunnans from other tea companies, so I’m not sure why Upton’s suggested temp was so high. If it’s a more fragile tea then I’ve no doubt the reason it was smoky was because I burned the heck out of it. Smoke is just not my thing, unfortunately – I find the smell and taste of all things smoky to be very unpalatable, hence why I dropped the rating so low.
I love Upton as a company – they’ve become my go-to for trying new teas since they’re so budget friendly, and usually I’ll branch out from there. I checked into both of the teas you recommended too, but sadly I think the Yunnan Imperial is discontinued – maybe it’s just been rebranded, but I’ll have to do some digging and find out. If you have any inkling or another similar suggestion I would be very interested – this tea was so promising except for the carcinogenic smell!