Hunan Wild Tips Ye Jian Hand Roasted Hei Cha Tea

I grabbed a bag for the price per gram and, admittedly, because the name suggests that it came from un-managed tea bushes on some mountain. It’s better than I expected. I could tell this would be good once I opened the bag and inspected the long, black tendrils of tea leaves that exuded a lovely scent of dark chocolate and pine forest after the rain. The brew has a nice viscosity and orange hue. Lots of sweet citrus with hints of roasted pine wood in the aroma and flavor. One of my favorite aspects of heicha is how good it feels going down. I’m excited to see this age.

Pretty sure this is the first hei cha that i’ve had – again courtesy of my tea sister Terri Sadly, all i remember about this tea was it’s really unique taste…and finding myself at the bottom of the cup way too quickly. I’m glad i have more to have again when i can get a proper tasting note up for it. :)

I declare today to be Hei Cha Day
Yep, little Terri yelled that inside my head this morning while I was languishing in bed, savoring a dark rainy morning & my comfy cozy sleeping space. Reluctantly I finally got up & headed down the stairs.

So the idea is that we’re going to finally sample & attempt to describe all the different Hei Cha in my cupboard. I have a sort of fascination with them as of late, an irresistible urge to buy them, just to find out what they are really all about.

The leaf is dark & the aroma of it is of a sourdough pumpernickel rye bread. I know that might sound like a turn off to some, but for me it brings to mind a kitchen in winter, with loaves of dense chewy bread, a big pot of substantial stew, with homemade cultured kraut on the side…sigh…now I want that meal…

The taste of this tea is familiar, & yet not easy to describe. There is an underlying pumpernickel kind of sourness & there is a creamy sweetness that reminds me of that canned condensed milk that is thick & sweet (& would probably be really good in this tea). There’s a hint of orange peel, a pinch of salt, & a kind of ceylon after taste.

I steeped it a couple of different ways:
4G + 8oz X 30/60/etc 0- I tried it this way when it first came. It was nice, but I felt maybe I needed a little more tea. There’s instructions on the package that suggest a 1-40 ration, so today I tried
5G + 8oz X 30/60/2min/etc
It was a little stronger, & in the 2 min steep I added a little sweetener, & that was actually pretty nice! I feel like I might try this with less water next time, because I think I’d still like it a little stronger, maybe. This is one of those teas that you can use for Tibetan yak butter tea, & I can actually see how it would be complimented by some for of milk, butter, & either salt or sugar. I’d love to try it that way, but with my milk allergy its pretty unlikely.

http://yunnansourcing.com/en/liuanandotherheicha/3006-hunan-wild-tips-ye-jian-hand-roasted-hei-cha-tea.html