China Guizhou 'Cat Cave' Black Tea

Okay, I’m back at it again. This is something of a change of pace for me, as I usually do not manage to post more than once or twice in any given month these days. Is everyone looking forward to Memorial Day weekend? I know I am. Anyway, let’s get back on track. This was another of my sipdowns from either March or April. Again, I have no clue when I actually finished what I had of this tea. I found it to be a very good and very unique Chinese black tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was followed by 17 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, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 10 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea leaves produced aromas of cinnamon, baked bread, dark chocolate, tobacco, and brown sugar. After the rinse, I detected aromas of roasted almond, roasted peanut, grass, straw, and caramel. The first infusion introduced aromas of pine, apricot, and plum. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented rather delicate notes of dark chocolate, baked bread, brown sugar, black raspberry, and plum that were balanced by hints of pine, grass, straw, raisin, and roasted peanut. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of minerals, black raspberry, mulberry, orange zest, lychee, blueberry, and lemon zest. Stronger and more immediately evident notes of pine, grass, straw, raisin, and roasted peanut came out in the mouth alongside impressions of minerals, caramel, earth, roasted almond, mulberry, blueberry, apricot, lychee, orange zest, and lemon zest. There were also some subtle touches of smoke, tobacco, cinnamon, and brown sugar here and there. As the tea faded, the liquor settled and began to emphasize notes of minerals, orange zest, lemon zest, earth, blueberry, and mulberry that were underscored by subtler impressions of plum, roasted almond, lychee, black raspberry, pine, and roasted peanut. There were also very pleasant, cooling impressions of tobacco that lingered at the back of the throat after each swallow.

This was a very unique and complex Chinese black tea that was also very light and drinkable. I normally get a lot of malt aromas and flavors out of black teas, but I didn’t find them in this one. It came off as being all about sweet, fruity aromas and flavors. Though I would not find myself reaching for this tea on a regular basis, I was very impressed by how much it had to offer and how much it stood apart from the overwhelming majority of Chinese black teas I have tried. I could see it going over well with people who are not into malty aromas and flavors or who are looking for a light, sweet tea that can still be taken seriously.

I almost bought this tea when I was placing my most recent What-Cha order, so I was happy to see it included as a free sample. Guizhou is a region I haven’t come across often in my extensive online window shopping; in fact, I think only What-Cha and maybe Camellia Sinensis stock teas from this terroir. I steeped 6 g of leaf in a 120 ml teapot at 200F for 7, 10, 12, 16, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, 60, 90, 120, and 240 seconds.

The dry aroma is of brown sugar, stewed plums, and wood. The first steep is sticky and sweet with notes of plum, citrus, apricot, brown sugar, tannin, wood, and a bit of malt. It’s a mild tea that nonetheless has a tannic bite. The citrus (candied orange) and stonefruit (nectarine?) get more prominent in the next couple steeps, as does the brown sugar. The fourth steep tastes faintly of stewed greens and is pretty drying, though it still has nice apricot and plum notes. Though the fruity notes persist over the next few rounds, malt, cooked greens, tannins, and wood come to the forefront.

If I had to rate this tea on the first five or so steeps, it would be in the nineties, but the increasing dryness and tannins in the later part of the session lose it some marks. Still, there’s a lot to like, especially if you enjoy citrus and stonefruit, which I very much do.

I broke my gaiwan lid. Myself. Sad. But it chipped quite clearly (smoothly, dunno correct word). Hopefully I can fix it. Somehow.

Used 3 grams for my 85 ml gaiwan. Maybe bit weak. But it is almost 9 pm.
First steep 15 seconds long pours dark bronze, clear and wonderful. I notice something like forest honey. Bit of malt. Bit citrusy? Wet wood? Walnut? (trying to smell what derk noticed)
I think bit of everything is there.
Oh, taste! This is unexpected like mollasses (never had it). But it is sweet and sticky. Maybe bit malty.

2nd is bit longer (+5 seconds max)
Citrusy notes are bit stronger.

3rd…
long, I forgot about it a bit.
Bit bitter, but citrusy!

Good tea! Thank you derk!

This is the second tea I’ve had from China’s Guizhou province, a seemingly underrepresented province in the western-facing tea world. The other Guizhou tea I’ve had was a lovely yellow tea that is also sold by What-Cha. They also offer a Guizhou green tea called Dew Drops, which I’ve been wanting to try for a while but for some reason I haven’t picked up yet. All three of these teas are certified organic and affordable!

Back to this Cat Cave black tea. June 2018 harvest, full of flavor and aroma for a summer tea. It performs great as a western-steeped wake-up brew and has very good longevity for a hongcha when prepared gongfu. The aromas and tastes offered by this tea are very complex — savory with cooked vegetables, tobacco and grains, fruity with raisins, cherry and berries and tart with a complementary floral rose overlay. Tannins are present in the full body, giving an otherwise smooth tea a light astringent bite but the liquor does not sit too heavy in my stomach. Expansive raisin-apricot-lychee fruity aftertaste that lingers. The tea even presents a delayed strong returning sweetness when prepared gongfu, after which the tea fades away into a nutty, malty and buttery brew with a pronounced lemon and mineral tone. Very caffeinating!

To be honest, I haven’t had much experience with hongcha outside of Fujian or sweet dianhong from Yunnan so this was rather new territory to dive into. I did find this tea to be very well structured and complex, really hitting all the notes I could want from a tea. If you’re looking for a strong, savory breakfast- or lunch-type tea, I’d suggest giving Cat Cave a try especially given its organic certification (by whom, though?) and price point.

Rating range: 86-91
Western: 2 tsp, 205F, 3/5 min
Gongfu: 5g, 100mL, 205F, flash rinse, many shorter steeps starting at 7-10 seconds.