Supreme Yellow Sweet

Sipdown. Sad to see it go, but I’ve got to make room for the hundreds of samples I seem to have in my possession right now. I’m hoping to go back to Seattle in the next year or two, so I will pick up some more of this next time I’m in the city.

Some final notes on this amazing yellow (black?) tea
-very rich, creamy, malt, cocoa flavours but not bitter at all
-never astringent, bitter, sour, or anything else unpleasant
-no vegetal notes at all, this isn’t a green/unprocessed yellow tea
-very, very smooth
-taste of minerals that IMO accompanies the classic “tea” flavour, no hint of salt, moss, soil, or fermentation
-thick mouthfeel
-slightly toasty
-lots of flavourful tannins, tastes like a high grade black tea (because it has the flavour of an oxidized tea), but is a tiny bit toasty and less brash
-resteeps very well, I did 3 pots of 700 mL today and there was no loss of flavour from the 1 tsp of leaf I used. Yet it doesn’t get bitter or overly tannic! Yay for good quality tea leaves!

Thanks to Nicole for this sample! I already had this one in the infuser before I read other tasting notes and saw that this is really a black tea. I was really craving a yellow tea today! I guess I should have noticed that the leaves are really dark (much darker than in the picture, actually). This was otherwise a mild black tea — very sweet and honey while somehow still having a really dark brew. Not much else to say!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 tsps // 14 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep # 2// just boiled // 3-4 minute steep

Sipdowns: 1/30 None 1/31 Spice & Tea Exchange – Carrot Cupcake
…but I’ve added a few to the ‘next-time’s-a-sipdown’ list

Another interesting tea from the amazing Sil

Contrary to the name this isn’t a yellow tea. This is black. It is sweet though – very sweet.
It’s light, it’s malty, it’s sweet. That’s pretty much how I’m seeing it this afternoon.
I like it – not sure I love it, but for sure outside my “comfort” zone as far as the black teas that I typically drink.

This is another from Nicole and another one from a company that i’m not familiar with. This is a malty and sweet tea, and as i understand it, this is a black tea rather than a yellow one. Really enjoyed this one as well :) thanks nicole!

Of all the teas we were able to try at Vital Tea Leaf, this was my favorite. The gentleman who was steeping for us said that this wasn’t really a “yellow” tea but rather a red (black) but their website says it is a yellow so…

This was sweet, malty and dusty. Very unusual to me and I gravitate towards malty teas these days. This stands out. This is the one I chose to buy some of to bring home and I think I will want more sooner rather than later. :)