Autumn 2014 Fu Shou Mei Feng Qing Black Tea

This is a beautiful tea. Appearance, scent, taste. It’s all beautiful. I kept the last of my sample from Sil in a sealed container because the glossy, jet black twists of leaves streaked with gold just looked special and I had a feeling it was going to be a good one. I’m so glad I did! Even though it’s over 5 years old now this tea is still lovely. The scent brewing bowled me over, going from dark cocoa to deep, rich molasses. Every now and again I get a hint of stewed fruits, though it’s not present in the sip or at least not to me. Taste wise, it’s malty and deep, with the cocoa and molasses translating through to the body of the sip and a slight sour note which could be why I’m smelling stewed fruits, mostly apple and plum. There’s no astringency at all, though it’s a very full-bodied cup and I steeped the leaves at almost boiling. I’m not too familiar with Dian Hong in general, but this experience has made me intrigued to try more.

I did have so much more I wanted to say about this tea, it’s so interesting, but I’ve just received an email about the job I’m in the process of applying for so I will have to leave it there!

Thank you so much Sil for sharing! Sipdown 188/397.

I’m back inside my comfort zone, but still having a great tea day – I seem to have randomly picked out great ones today. Thank you so much for sharing Sil

I LOVE this. Onto the wish list – I need to get more of this.
Mmmmm everything a Chinese black tea should be and then a little more. What makes this one interesting for me is the burned sugar/molasses notes that are mingled with the malty, cocoa, caramel. Not a yam in sight.
I’m just going to hug my mug with this one for a bit…..

In the brewed tea aroma: molasses, cocoa

Tea has a strong white tea swampy taste to it. Molasses-honey sweetness in the background with a slight bitter cocoa edge.

Second infusion at boiling for 4 minutes. The cocoa flavour really comes out!

Third infusion at boiling for ~6 minutes. Cocoa-y, slightly creamy and delicious.

Thanks to Sil for sharing with me!

delicious cup of tea this morning as I’m trying to work on samples AND get around to trying/re-trying some of my YS teas. This was a really nice cup of sweet, malty deliciousness! a really nice pick from YS.

Dry the little black needles smell almost like a green tea (They don’t look quite like the picture. They are very tiny and very black.). I’d say a Bi Luo Chun but with a hint of molasses scent to it. I brewed Gong Fu. 195F -15 sec and added 15 sec to the second. For the third I kept it at 30 sec because the 2nd cup seemed a bit strong to me.

This is a yummy malty tea. I’m picking up molasses sweet taste in it and also cocoa notes (which was more pronounced in the first two infusions). There’s something about this black tea that reminds me of a green- again I think of Bi Luo Chun. Perhaps it’s something in the aroma of it brewed. It works for me anyway since I love greens. This black tea is an excellent tea!