Golden Snail Yunnan Black Tea

I found this one really fascinating.
Nose; I got a definite really good cigar note, now I used to smoke cigars so for me this was more nostalgic than off putting, be warned…sweet potato, leather, earth, toasted grain.
Palate; nice full mouth, slight cigar again — so unusual, molasses, malt, sweet potato, a light floral note.

I bought this tea about a year ago. I was very pleased with the service I got from Whispering Pines, they were prompt with shipping and included a generous sample. I was intrigued to buy this tea for obvious reasons- it’s unique. I am not a black tea fan, but I decided I’d give this a shot. I was very pleased at how much “soul” this tea had. By far the best black tea I’ve ever had and probably one of the best teas I’ve ever had in general. I give it a 91 instead of a 100 because it is on the pricey side, but if you have the coin to spare go for it!

Well it looks like I did it again. I put in a note right after my first time trying this and never made a note again. Its basically been a staple of mine since 2016. If I don’t have this in stock its because I am either waiting for an order to come in or I am waiting for it to get back in stock so I can make a new order.

I would not call this tea sweet. It has a very savory, almost maybe bready taste to me. Don’t have a better description for it. Warm and smooth. It can become astringent, especially if over steeped, but is quite smooth for my usual parameters is boiling water for around 2ish minutes. (I don’t time anything. I just look into the cup to see if the color looks about right.) I don’t notice much in the way of bitterness, but that is one of my blind spots, so no promises.

I can get a good 3 resteeps on the same leaves, though I will start noticing a loss of flavor on the third.

The more I experience Chinese black teas, the more I’m learning to appreciate black teas in general.

Steeped this one in a gravity steeper with boiling water for about 3 minutes. The result was a nice, red liquor with a deep, bready, chocolatey aroma. Each sip has a smooth texture with the taste of cocoa and bready notes, and a creamy, malty aftertaste lingers for quite a while.

I forgot about the tea during the resteep and let it go for a good 10 minutes, but I still got very nice flavor out of it without any unpleasant flavors. Definitely enjoyed this hong, seemingly more than rhinkle, funny enough!

There is more tea left in my packet of this than I anticipated! This is a nice surprise.
I always am reminded of fresh bread, or rolls, or something else equally carb loaded, fresh out of an oven when I try this.
Mmmmm. Bread tea.

Operation redo my entire tea area and most the bedroom began last night accidentally. Friends were getting rid of an awesome set of glass shelves that I gladly took off their hands, my teaware hoard is getting out of hand and taking over every spare surface in the room! Currently the shelf is loaded with my teaware, it will be thinned out a bit as soon as I get my shelf inserts for the curio cabinet (one day) then the tea storage shelf needs to have all the tea transferred to a different shelf which needs cleaning off, it is a big project. What is done though is my painting desk was rearranged, the bulk of the desk held my fishtank which was moved to where the teapots previously lived and now my big tea tray lives there. Sadly I realized too late that my tea tray is in a dark cubby so now I need a desk lamp. The things I do for organization in a very small space.

Today I am looking at a tea that is not only tasty, it is pretty! One of the things that first drew me to Dian Hongs is their beautiful golden trichomes, the fuzzy goodness. Whispering Pines Tea’s Golden Snail is definitely a beauty, nice tight little spirals covered in gold with bits of the dark leaf showing through…the color reminds me of my Tortoiseshell cat! Luckily (or sadly) the smell does not remind me of my cat (I wish she smelled like tea) the aroma is lovely, classic notes of malt and cocoa blend with sweet potatoes, maple syrup, and a delicate finish of cherries, walnuts, and cherry blossoms at the finish. It is sweet with just a slight nuttiness, reminding me of a loaded sweet potato that needs to be eaten by me…I clearly need food.

The steeped tea in my beloved Petr Novak pot smells super good, notes of walnuts and sweet potatoes (sweeter than the starchy yams) sandalwood, cocoa, and a woody undertone. The liquid is sweet and rich, notes of sweet potato, molasses, peanuts and walnuts, and a touch of cocoa waft up with the steam from my cup.

First steep is wonderfully rich and sweet, with a thickness that coats the mouth with honey and molasses. The dominant taste for the first steep is sweet honey and starchy but not too starchy sweet potatoes, specifically reminding me of those sweet potato patties that you buy frozen in the South (I assume they are elsewhere but I only ran into them growing up) and a bit of a woody cacao nib finish. The aftertaste is a hint of molasses that lingers for a while.

The second steep, while having the thick mouthfeel of the first, is also joined by a tingly camphor like texture, similar to drinking a Sheng, and something that just screams Yunnan to me. Granted some teas from that region have a stronger tingle than others, and processing does have an impact, but once in a while you get a Dian Hong that feels almost effervescent. The taste is very rich, strong notes of molasses and cocoa blend with peanuts and walnuts with just a hint of sweet potato. The dominant note is definitely dark chocolate, think like the 80% dark (I do love that stuff) with an aftertaste of molasses and cocoa.

This steep is pleasantly mellow, still has a thick mouthfeel, but no longer the tingle. The taste has mellowed out a bit as well, still has strong notes of molasses and stronger notes of sweet potato like the first steep, but the dark chocolate notes have calmed down. There is something new, towards the end with a note of peanut there is a delicate note of dried cherry. It kept teasing me in the aroma but has finally shown up in taste! This is a wonderful tea, an excellent example of a Golden Bi Luo Chun (or Hong Jin Luo, it has a couple names) being visually stunning and wonderfully tasting.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2016/09/whispering-pines-tea-company-golden.html

Backlog 29 July 2016

Notes taken while playing video games.

Dry leaf: A nice golden black hue to the leaf. Smells malty and sweet.

Wet leaf: Reminds me of baked bread/dark beer. Has a slight dark chocolate note. Very rich caramel note after the third steep. Slightly bitter after the fifth steep; however, it remains rich and tasty. Dry mouthfeel.

Wow. This tea is just wow. There’s just so much going on here I wish I wasn’t in such a rush to finish it off so I can get to work. Opens with very strong sweet potato notes followed by dark chocolate and caramel (actually very similar to some salted caramel truffles I made last week). Next there’s cantaloupe and white grapes and a faint hint of multi-grain bread and oats. This is quite possibly one of the first teas I’d be interested in re-steeping — perhaps next time if I’m in less of a rush.

If hot cocoa and black tea had a baby without adding cocoa nibs or anything this would be the tea result. It’s thick, rich, malty and chocolaty. I even think my housemate who says she hates tea will like this.

Pretty much as described. It smells just like sweet potatoes. Not like other teas which have a slightly sweet scent, like caramelized sweet potatoes. The taste is pure malt, cocoa, and maybe bread< with a small bit of fruitiness, and a definite floral note. I would hazard more towards lilac than gardenia, but of course that’s just a point of taste. In general a very satisfying tea, that (though this was just a sample) I would buy again.