Feng Qing #17 Pure Bud Golden Needle Black Tea * Spring 2018

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Black Tea Leaves
Flavors
Almond, Black Pepper, Bread, Brown Sugar, Butter, Camphor, Cedar, Chocolate, Cream, Earth, Eucalyptus, Honey, Lemon Zest, Malt, Maple Syrup, Marshmallow, Mineral, Orange Zest, Peach, Pear, Pecan, Plum, Raisins, Red Apple, Smoke, Sweet, Sweet Potatoes, Tobacco, Vanilla, Caramel, Sugarcane, Toast, Wheat
Sold in
Bulk, Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by eastkyteaguy
Average preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec 5 g 7 oz / 207 ml

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2 Tasting Notes View all

  • “This was one of my most recent sipdowns. As a matter of fact, now that I have gotten into the habit of dating the rough drafts of my reviews, I can assure all of you that I finished the last of my...” Read full tasting note
    70
  • “Feeling a bit too lazy to make a seperate listing for a batch that’s a year apart, so this is a review for the Spring 2019 harvest. I’ve been dancing around hot gold Yunnan blacks for the past...” Read full tasting note
    85

From Yunnan Sourcing

Feng Qing is a relatively new varietal first planted in the late 1990’s. It’s a hybrid of local Feng Qing Taliensis and Assamica. The leaves and buds are huge, and our pure bud pick is just large downy buds expertly processed with light level of oxidation to produce a clean tasting balanced tea with notes of malt and chocolate. Sweet and thick-bodied tea that is hard to over-brew.

If you are a fan of pure bud teas that have malt and chocolate sweetness then this tea might well be the one for you!

Late May 2018 Harvest (2nd Flush of Spring)

Feng Qing, Lincang, Yunnan

About Yunnan Sourcing View company

Company description not available.

2 Tasting Notes

70
1048 tasting notes

This was one of my most recent sipdowns. As a matter of fact, now that I have gotten into the habit of dating the rough drafts of my reviews, I can assure all of you that I finished the last of my pouch of this tea on Saturday and that I composed my review Friday night. Interestingly, Feng Qing #17 continues to both underwhelm and confound me. I know a lot of people absolutely adore teas produced from Feng Qing #17, but I have yet to have one that blows me away. This one obviously did not buck that trend. It was a pretty good golden needle black tea though.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea buds in 4 ounces of 194 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 19 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, and 20 minutes.

Prior to the rinse, the dry tea buds produced aromas of malt, chocolate, cream, cedar, tobacco, and brown sugar. After the rinse, I detected aromas of raisin, roasted almond, and banana as well as a subtle scent of smoke. The first infusion brought out aromas of vanilla, maple syrup, baked bread, and butter. In the mouth, the tea liquor presented delicate notes of malt, cream, butter, baked bread, and chocolate that were backed by hints of roasted almond, banana, brown sugar, vanilla, raisin, marshmallow, and tobacco. The bulk of the subsequent infusions coaxed out aromas of eucalyptus, honey, lemon zest, camphor, praline, marshmallow, black pepper, plum, roasted pecan, and sweet potato. Stronger and more immediately notable impressions of roasted almond, vanilla, marshmallow, and banana appeared in the mouth alongside notes of minerals, maple syrup, cedar, eucalyptus, camphor, honey, lemon zest, roasted pecan, black pepper, plum, praline, earth, sweet potato, and orange zest. I also picked out hints of smoke, peach, pear, and red apple lurking here and there. As the tea faded, the liquor emphasized mineral, baked bread, lemon zest, orange zest, sweet potato, earth, and roasted almond notes that were balanced by lingering hints of red apple, roasted pecan, butter, cream, tobacco, cedar, plum, pear, eucalyptus, and honey.

This tea displayed admirable depth and complexity, but it was also a little too even-keeled to make much of a lasting impression on me. It ultimately just struck me as a sweet, smooth, approachable, balanced, and steady tea with deceptive depth and complexity. I tend to prefer Yunnan black teas that are a little pricklier and more commanding.

Flavors: Almond, Black Pepper, Bread, Brown Sugar, Butter, Camphor, Cedar, Chocolate, Cream, Earth, Eucalyptus, Honey, Lemon Zest, Malt, Maple Syrup, Marshmallow, Mineral, Orange Zest, Peach, Pear, Pecan, Plum, Raisins, Red Apple, Smoke, Sweet, Sweet Potatoes, Tobacco, Vanilla

Preparation
6 g 4 OZ / 118 ML

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85
66 tasting notes

Feeling a bit too lazy to make a seperate listing for a batch that’s a year apart, so this is a review for the Spring 2019 harvest.

I’ve been dancing around hot gold Yunnan blacks for the past couple weeks. It’s definitely spring now, the days are 50F or a little above with the sun intercepted by some heavy rain. Cold brew teas with fresher notes seem more appealing than homey hot brews. Out with the sweet potato and yeast, in with the crisp fruits and florals.

However, I ordered this and a few packets of other Yunnan golds to try back at the start of February and they just arrived, and I’m not letting that seasonal weariness keep me away from new tea. The leaves are very pleasing to touch: velvety from the little hairs, they feel like the ears of baby goats. Admittedly sat there and stroked them for a few moments before actually brewing them. I made two 5 ounce steeps in a gaiwan and poured those into a mug instead of basket-infusing for once.

This is pretty mild as far as heavy golden blacks go. Starting to realize that they aren’t my favorite because they become hard to drink when the flavor is too intense, but this one is quite light! And terribly smooth. It tastes a bit like wheat bread, in a pleasant way. The last sip in the cup was almost syrupy sweet. A very nice tea to accompany a meal on a chilly day. Probably going to save the rest of the bag for the next cold snap, because I don’t think it’s meant for the warm seasons.

Flavors: Caramel, Sugarcane, Toast, Wheat

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec 3 g 10 OZ / 295 ML
gmathis

Mercy, that sounds delicious!

Eelong

Want to try some? I’ve got 50 grams of this and a bunch of other Yunnan golds sitting in my tea box right now. They probably won’t be touched until next fall after I do an intial sample cup!

gmathis

What a kind offer! Will PM you!

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