Wu Liang Hong Mao Feng Yunnan Black Tea

Another Sipdown from Yunnan Sourcing, & the 2014 version is on it’s way to me, so it’s sort of a joke to even count it. In fact, if the truth must be known, my sipdown extravaganza is a bit of a farce, as I have received boxes of tea from several sources & placed a couple of orders. I won’t add those teas in until the last day of the month, but will probably end the month with more teas than I started with, LOL.

However, it won’t be a total waste of sipdowns, simply because I will have polished off all the older samples, TOMC & TOMCR, etc. Everything I have will be fairly new!
Except for all the puerh…sigh…but that’s a different story all together, right?

I like this tea (I should say something about the tea, right?)
It has a savory & floral quality, & a bit of spiciness that lingers & builds up to a tangy quality, kind of like buttermilk.

Since the BBB Box is soon to be on it’s way back to me, I need to get cracking on the teas that were sent to me during the last round. This is one of three teas that Terri included as her offerings.

I forgot to make notes on this one today and it’s from eaaarly this morning. I vaguely remember this been a fairly smooth tasting tea with a slight..fruity note? Not taiwanese black fruity, but there was a hint there. I’ll take better notes next time! i did enjoy it though terri :)

Terri packed her teas for the BBB in tins this time and I couldn’t find my card that told me which was which. I made this one because the other one was clearly a yunnan and I wasn’t sure that’s what i wanted. So dumped some of this one in my gaiwan and hoped for the best. I was SHOCKED to find out this is a yunnan. I couldn’t place what it was, but it isn’t like most yunnans. Not that I don’t like yunnans, I just don’t love yunnans. I’m really enjoying this. Slightly chocolatey, slightly fruity, a slight pepperiness to it. Very enjoyable!

Thanks Terri!

I brewed this tea grandpa style. It tastes much more like a “typical” Yunnan black tea than the other golden needle Yunnan teas that I have tried. Definitely more astringent than other Tunnan golden needles. A nice middle ground.

[spring 2024 harvest]

This black tea is very well balanced, but less sweet than similar teas. It is also not very bitter, but it has a distinct bite in the aftertaste.

Dry leaves smell of leather, caramel, and wet soil. On the other hand, wet leaf aroma reminds me of cherries, wood, chocolate, fur, malt, fennel, and celery at times.

The mouthfeel is thick and creamy. The liqour feels light in the mouth though. There is very mild astringency as well as a cool tingling sensation.

First infusion is vegetal and smooth with umami, woody and spicy flavours, such as those of miso and pumpkin. Second steep is sweeter and cooling. There are notes of bread, citrus zest, mint, butter, and licorice. Later on, the tea also showcases more flowery, malty and bitter sides. Further flavours I detect are like beer, chocolate, and orange blossoms.

The aftertaste is cooling, biting, and perfumy with an additional flavour of maple syrup.

All in all, it is a particulaly complex and engaging black tea that I can really recommend.

I had this tea again at work hoping that it would inspire me for a short mad dash to complete a report before the deadline. No such luck. It has all oh the dianhong notes and looks but misses something that would make it special in any way. Also, you have to make very short infusions since it EASILY becomes to concentrated.

The end result is some pleasant sweetness combined with equally pleasant bitterness. It’s just I prefer teas with a defined character. And oh, it is NOT a tea to increase work productivity. Will go and lower my original rating of 88 to something more mundane.

Autumn 2017 harvest

Dry Leaves: They smell of honey dew. Really an unexpectedly amazing smell.

1st-3rd Steep: The wet leaves smell of malt and brown sugar. The 1st steep has a malty flavor matching the smell.

4th-6th Steep: It opens up some more and gets a sweeter flavor. The sweetness is vegetable like. Think carrots or sweet potatoes.

7th & Beyond: I went 10 deep and still had plenty of flavor with no astringency.

Not sure if I can recommend it or not. Fairly interesting tea. But I’ll leave that field blank.

Nicely complex for a Yunnan black tea.
Nose; sweet potato, malt, slight butter, slight aloeswood.
Palate; sweet potato, butter, full mouth, slight floral, slight aloeswood, slight cinnamon on finish, cocoa, woody notes, nice mouth feel.

I like this Yunnan Black and down to the last drop of the 2016 I placed an order for the 2017 spring release.

If I like this year’s I will order more.

Light malt and a note of toasted bread transition to a mildly sweet fruitiness that lingers into the aftertaste. While lacking the depth to truly stand out, this tea is fairly enjoyable regardless, smooth and with a medium body.