Phoenix Pearl

Had to make a second review of this tea, because using 190 degree water instead of 205 made a huge difference. The lower temp, combined with my being sure to keep the steep times down, almost totally eliminated the issues of mouth-drying I got from my last session and made this a purely sweet experience. Got rich malt and chocolate notes, along with caramel. It was like a dessert. Body wasn’t particularly thick, but there was some almost creamy mouth feel going along with the sweet flavors. Glad I got two 10g samples of this, as I’m looking forward to drinking this a couple more times!

The leaves are really beautifully curled and look quite artistic. And it’s pretty cool how they uncurl while steeping, too. It made me wish I had the type of teaware that lets you watch leaves expand, because that would be fun. And after it’s steeped it tastes smooth and friendly. It’s sweet and not bitter at all and has some other flavors that I can’t really describe because I’m not quite that eloquent yet. I’m not really tasting the chocolate in this one, but that’s okay, I have other go-to chocolatey teas so I’m not too disappointed. I was expecting to like this one based on its flavor profile and I’m glad I wasn’t wrong. :)

subtle malty cocoa notes and nice and smooth to drink

More pearls to go with my dinner, which is this concoction of basmati rice, spinach, parmesano, random spices, light cream, and margarine. It’s like a cross between curry and risotto haha. Then I was bad and had Ferrero Rocher for dessert. For shame!

This was a good choice because it doesn’t have any sharp or loud notes which can interfere with food. Surprise surprise, I’m detecting a faint smoky note this time around.

This is a tea I’ve had for quite awhile and haven’t been drinking it. Took some today to work.
First off – this looks more like snails than pearls. Regardless of what it looks like this is GOOD. Holy chocolate!!!! About 2 tsp in a coffee mug – water 90 ish – for about 2 minutes seemed to be the sweet spot for me. WOW – this is great.
It’s not fancy, it’s not full of interesting nuances (at least not for me Western brewed at work) but it is darn tasty. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to anyone who likes this style of black tea. More than just pleasantly surprised – down right shocked at how good this is.

It’s a teapot and tea cup day! I haven’t had a chance to sit down and enjoy a full teapot for awhile. I’ve mostly been mug and thermos brewing lately, or using my inguinetea.

Malty, sweet, robust. Maybe just a tad astringent, but that’s totally my fault. I’ve been avoiding black teas lately because they tend to go bitter on me because I forget to take the leaves out too often. Oolongs and greens are much more forgiving. I’m surprised that this still turned a bit bitter on me, I guess the first cup out of the pot didn’t completely clear the water level from the brewing basket.

As you would think, the dry leaf is tightly curled into little pearls, soo precious. The leaves unfurled are mostly whole, about 1.5in from tip to stem. The color is a dark chocolate brown.

If I had anymore pumpkins, this would be the tea I would make pumpkin pie for. Unfortunately for me, the market ran out of small pumpkins 3 weeks ago.

I believe that this is the last tea I have from Mandy.
At first all I tasted was wood. But as the cup cools I am beginning to taste baked bread along with the wood. A pretty equal amount of both, so not too bad!
Enjoying this one.
Thanks, Mandy!

I first had this months back, before I even liked black tea. In fact, I think it was the first straight black tea I tried since really getting in to tea. And I loved it. It’s sort of funny that it took me a couple more months to go to the dark side. I don’t think I’ve had it since I started to really get into black teas, so when I saw the packet in my sip down pile, I was curious to see what I still thought.

This is one of those teas that almost gets better in the later steeps. The first steep was fine, a bit smokey (that was the note I was picking up the first time I had this that I didn’t like), and a bit cocoa, and almost powdery. But each steep gets fuller and thicker and smoother and more cocoa. Around the fourth steep, there’s a bit of caramel and honey popping up, and some grain.

This is delicious, and I’m almost out. And I can hardly believe that it’s $10 for 100g. I’m still kicking myself for not loading up when it was an additional 40% off. But maybe they’ll run another sale around Black Friday and I can load up (; and even if not, it’s still such a steal that I might even place an order for just this tea.

My recent purchase from Zen Tea. Actually this tea is the main reason I placed an order . i really like this tea. I made it gongfu style.
1TBSP 150ml gaiwan 205F
rinse/10/15/20/30/45sec etc
this tea is wonderful malty,chocolaty some grains. Like brownie if you add some sugar. No sugar for me, i prefer to drink it without additives. if you a fan of Laoshan Black by Verdant tea i think you would like this tea as well.

One of my new favorites. This one stands out as unique without overpowering or seeming fake at all. I am in love with this tea. I usually don’t like cocoa notes much but this one is right on. I saw a review earlier that said there is something cozy about this tea, and they are so right. It has a certain indescribable quality. I just ordered a big bag after having two samples – so delicious, cannot wait for my order to arrive. Stunning tea that will be a staple in my kitchen.