Jiu Qu Hong Mei

My last remaining lingering countdown calendar is the Yaocha/Volition Tiger Box from two (maybe almost three?) years ago. Just a few left from this one, so I’m working on finishing it off. This tea is Day 12.

I gong fu’d it, because it’s a Saturday and a nice tea and why not. I’m not as good with black tea flavor profiles – I think the astringency tends to throw me and as a result a lot of black teas tend to taste similar to my palate. This isn’t super astringent, just enough for that to be the thing my brain focuses on. Besides that, I find this very pruney: not like a fresh, ripe plum but more of a dried or cooked plum flavor.

Gongfu!

Nibbled on some freshly sliced apple alongside an apple infused Wensleydale cheese while I steeped up this Tiger Box selection. This dry leaf of this hong cha smelled intensely of waxy overripe red fruits, which is why I decided this tea pairing of apples and sweet cheese would be the perfect compliment!

Steeped up this tea has a lovely body with saturated flavours of pomegranate molasses, malt, leather, honey, and chocolate with hints of black cherry and smoke in the undertones. It’s a little less fruity than I had initially expected but the robust and heavy flavours are plenty rich enough to stand up to this pairing, and I’m finding the brightness of the crisp apple is even drawing out more of the wine-y red fruit notes of the tea while making the notes of leather and malt seem all the more deep!

Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ40s3lura4/

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjPbzEcklP0&ab_channel=JeffreyLewis-Topic