Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong

So far, I am thoroughly impressed with Yezi Teas. Great customer service, our samples arrived in record time (seriously… I never would have dreamed that I’d be able to deliver them to Sil this weekend!), the samples are a perfect 2-cup size (5g), and all in airtight packets (oh how I love when samples don’t get contaminated!), and not only that, but the first tea I tried from them (this one), is great! Reminiscent of Laoshan Black with chocolatey/roasty notes, but a bit less full-bodied. As well, I was catching a different sort of flavour that I would attribute to “scotch” (though I’ve never tried it). A very good, very interesting tea. Not quite a flavour profile I’ve previously tried, and although I was worried it would be too potent for me, it’s definitely not. If black tea isn’t really your thing, and you like Laoshan Black but only because it tastes like chocolate, this probably isn’t a tea for you because those notes aren’t overly dominant, but for black tea lovers, I think this is a big win.

I would like to thank Yezi Tea for this generous free sample offer, and would suggest that lovers of straight teas give them a shot!

Unique. Not Scotchy, but unique. It’s certainly spent time over a fire. It’s smokier than I like. To me, this is like inhaling charcoal. As it cooled, it got even harsher. Glad I tried it, but wow, this one isn’t my thing at all. I can’t taste anything beyond the smoke. Of course, I may not have steeped this properly, either. Always room for that possibility. :)

I received a sample of this from TeaPet in the box of David’s teas that I got. Thank you!

I am having a no flavored tea kinda day so I was digging through my samples and found this bad boy. I tried 3 of Yezi’s black teas with their sample promotion and this is now my 4th. I really liked the 3 that I tried and have them on my list to buy from in the future. I am adding this to my list of likes. I have never had a smokey tea before but I believe that is how I would describe this tea. The front part of the sip has a bit of smoke with a spice to it and then at the end I get a malty/coco taste. The black teas that I have had from China I would describe as sweet potato. This I would describe as semi sweet smokey chocolate. This is different from anything that I have had and I am liking it. Thanks again TeaPet for sharing some of this with me.

I have now tried all 6 of Yezi’s black teas and they are all really good. This one is described as scotch like, which I didn’t get, but it is still a deep rich flavor. Hints of charcoal smoke, but not meat smoky. Chocolatey, malty, woodsy. Yum! I need to get some more of all of the teas and taste them next to eachother. They are all very similar, but each one has a different twist. Super happy with Yezi teas.

oh december teas… how you will be gone from my cupboard..someday! lol i have one more cup of this left since today there was just a little too much tea for a sipdown heh. i’m actually not terribly upset by that because i rather enjoy this one with just a little maple syrup…yes VariaTEA… A LITTLE! not a tablespoon! lol

The website lists this tea as “I can’t believe it’s not Scotch.” Intriguing to some one who’s been drinking Scotch for nearly 40 years. I had to try it.

First things first: it doesn’t smell like Scotch. More like a Yunnan, though there is quite a bit of smoke in the aroma. (OK, the tea is Fujian, and I’m not expert enough to tell them apart) Also, perhaps a bit of cocoa and spice. It is complex, but not as subtle as a good Scotch.

As to the taste, it is good, with wood smoke and a bit of loamy flavor. Not my favorite style, but quite well done. Fairly big and chewy. Long finish with less wood but no bitterness.

Overall a nice solid tea. I enjoyed it, and might be tempted to re-order. But forget the Scotch business; it isn’t even close.

Thanks to Yezi tea for the Sample.

This re-steeped nicely. The second steep lost some of the earthiness and power, but retained the smoke and complexity. The third steep was rather simple and lost most of the aroma, but tasted OK.

This is a very unique flavor. I don’t know what to make of it yet. It reminds me, sort of, of the smell of a musty used-to-be-a-smoking motel room. The kind that is clean and looks comfortable, but it still has that smell, you know? Strangely comforting if only because you are so tired and just grateful that you found a motel room before sunrise. Or maybe this only makes sense to me, having gone on so many family road trips, and my parents never making reservations.. . always an adventure :)

I can also see, unlike many teas with the same description, how this one can compare to a scotch.

I’m not rating this now because I am not sure how I feel about it just yet.

Love this, a very welcoming introduction to Yezi; I can see now why they’re confident and proud enough to offer near-free samples. I love whiskey including single malt scotch (Oban 14 and Lagavulin 16 4-eva), and I was a little wary of such big claims of a tea being just like scotch (figured it’d likely be a standard lapsang souchong where smokiness alone would translate to deeming it scotch-like without any other depth), but lo. This had some scotch-y wonderful qualities hot, along with some rich Laoshan Black/Bailin Gongfu-ish grain chewiness. But the scotch flavor really shines once it cools to tepid. Smoky, spicy, sweet, woody…so good. Perfect as a fall and winter after-meal in-the-library, leather-and-paper treat. So happy and thankful Yezi offered these samples!

A sample from Yezi! I wanted to try this one since it was compared to scotch, it had to be their strongest black tea and the furthest from the Laoshan Black flavor profile (sorry Laoshan!) But I have no idea, since I’m not familiar with scotch. I used two teapoons of these black, long and twisty leaves that smelled very sweet and like some fruit I couldn’t place, or maybe sweet potato.

Steep #1 // a few minutes after boiling // 2 min
The cup color isn’t very dark – light brown. The first sip is actually woody, but not in the way that steeped-too-much tea leaves are like. Otherwise it’s tough to describe – it’s a little of everything, hints of smoke and spice, a bit of chocolate and sweet potato.. but many other things I can’t place either. I felt like I had sipped this tea before, and looking up Tealux’s Ying De, I think it was that one. (A big thanks to Steepster for aiding the tea portion of my brain!) It both looks the same and if I can remember correctly, tastes the same. However, this blend is from the Fujian province of China while the Ying De is from Guangdong province of China. At least they are both from China. Though this one is Fujian, I do not get the charcoal flavor that I usually associate with Fujian teas.

Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 min
Very much the same as the first cup just deeper and more delicious. I think the instructions at the top of the description page for this tea are not for western brewing. (Also for the Ying De I thought the second steep was better as well.) I think I like this sort of flavor better than Laoshan Black. I can’t say how much it’s like scotch but I love this one!

On a side note, I feel like I’ve been watching a ton of movies I’ve missed through the years.. classics I should have watched (also for some reason many movies that seem to be Abed’s favorites from ‘Community’). I feel like movies are the biggest gap in my pop culture knowledge (compared to music, books, and TV). But anyway, I saw Aliens last night and it was AWESOME… not really sure why Abed would want to dress as the alien for Halloween though!

Steepster ate my note… Aw. Anyway, I had this sample yesterday and man I can taste the smoke. The smoky taste lingers and makes me think about those long gone days where I smoked hours during finals and hung around friends who smoked a lot too (no smoking for me now). Those are dangerous, tempting thoughts… so I don’t think I should drink this often lol. Other than that I don’t get much else and I’d really liked the description of chestnuts and cinnamon – it’s not a bad tasting tea or bitter but it’s not one for me.