Pure Bud Bi Luo Chun Yunnan Black Tea

[Spring 2024 harvest]

A superb black tea, which is more bitter and complex, and less sweet, than most other dian hongs. I also notice a pretty strong and focusing cha qi.

It smells vegetal with a strong molasses note. The taste is bitter, medicinal, and herbaceous, but also pretty smooth and fragrant. There are flavours of cocoa, malt, menthol, and gin. The long-lasting buttery and perfumy aftertaste also brings notes of peach and coffee.

Spring 2023: Incredible tea. Much smaller leaves than I was expecting, as I am accustomed to seeing the larger-leaf style Yunnan teas. This one might still be large by comparison to many other teas, but definitely on the finer side for Yunnan tea. Also much more golden than I was expecting – There is less black than shown in the vendor’s picture.

Smell is amazing, with a nice honey sweetness, chocolatey notes, and sweet potato fragrance. These notes translate very much into the taste, with milk chocolate, sweet potato, and honey at the forefront. You also get other typical Yunnan flavors which creep in at times, with occasional notes of hay, spice, grapes, and the faintest whispers of smoke.

The sweet potato seems most prominent in this one. I can taste the milk chocolate notes, but shared with a couple of family members who couldn’t agree on the chocolate but were definitely feeling the sweet potato.