Fengqing Golden Buds

Finally got to this sample size after all of this time. That says a lot since Zen nixed their tea offerings quite a while ago now. I drank it a couple days ago but from what I recall, this was mostly starchy, mildly astringent, and very mildly malty. A touch woodsy? Good stuff.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of this personally, but I think it’s a decent enough hong cha. There’s a lot of maltiness and cocoa to the flavor, along with perhaps a touch of fruit. Towards the middle/end of the session, I started to pick up a bit of a caramel note as well. When I say I wasn’t a big fan of this tea, it doesn’t mean I don’t like it, just that it’s not really to my preference. It reminded me a bit of a “Golden Monkey” tea. I imagine that avid fans of dianhong would really appreciate this tea.

Here’s Hoping TTB

This is a lovely Chinese black tea! The leaves are large and twisty with lots of golden tips and a rich, sweet aroma. The tea brews up to a deep reddish brown with a strong, malty sweet potato flavor. It’s super smooth with absolutely no bitterness or astringency. So glad for the chance to sample this one! I would definitely consider purchasing more in the future.

Here’s Hoping Traveling Tea Box

What a yummy sweet potato delight! The heaviness of flavour was remarkable so I knew I would be able to steep it many times. I got about 6 or 7 infusions before I gave out (it was bed time!) I think I could have maybe gotten another steep too.

First of all let me just say that I really appreciate the specificity here: I was about to measure out 1.5 teaspoons like it says on the package but when I looked at the leaves I realized they weren’t going to fit easily into my teaspoon, so I got out my scale and measured 2.3 grams because the package specifies that’s how much a serving weighs. So easy (unlike all these practically unlabeled teas that are sitting in the tea box with their names and the company they came from but no clue about how to brew them. I’m thinking maybe I should add some supplementary labels based on the info I find on the internet before passing them on. Sure, you can look up the recommended steeping time online, but I don’t want to be rushing back and forth between Google and my hot water which is rapidly cooling and will soon need to be re-heated because I can’t find any info on the company’s website so I have to try Steepster and normally I consider my internet connection to be fast but . . . yeah.)

Also, it is the first thing in the morning and I haven’t tasted anything else today, so if that influences what I’m tasting I apologize. I think the first few sips will probably manage to wake my mouth up, though.

The leaves look nice (like I said, too big to be easily measured with a teaspoon) and do have an obvious gold tone. The tea brews up to be a lovely dark gold/medium goldish brown. It has a dark fragrance of, I think, malt, and the same flavor note is obvious when first sipping. It has a hint of astringency but is on the whole mostly smooth. It doesn’t seem to me to be a very subtle flavor, but it’s not unpleasant (although the package description says it’s supposed to taste like tobacco! I wouldn’t know, never having eaten tobacco). It certainly does have a “sharp” flavor as advertised. I think I’ll go put a bit of sugar in before I finish it off. It’s not my favorite black tea ever, but it seems to be a good solid tea with plenty of merit.

The leaves here are a gorgeous fuzzy amber with hints of black. Some of them look sickle shaped, like an amber version of Silver Needle white. The dry leaves have a promising sweet fragrance. The medium amber brew is delicious – sweet malt with hints of chocolate and a lot of sweet potato and squash, that sweet yet vegetal flavor. Very delicious for this type of light Chinese black tea. It reminds me a little of Yunnan Sourcing’s Imperial Mojiang that I love, though the leaves don’t look exactly the same. Another great tea from Zen!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 12 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 minute steep

Zen just sent over some teas to include in the next round of the HH Traveling Tea Box! So nice of them. But this one is from my last tiny order. I think I’ll try a new tea every day and try to manage a sipdown every day. Well, at least a sipdown every day. I’ll see how many days I can go. Sipdown today: A Quarter to Tea’s Cranberry Orange

This came as a sample with my last herbal tea order from Zen Tea Life. I decided to try it out for breakfast today to test its suitability for serving at tea time today.

I made one steep in my smallest Kamjove, gave a taste, and decided it seemed like a resteepable tea, so I decided to go ahead and combine two steeps. The review is based on the two blended steeps, but you can amp up all the factors for an accurate idea of what the first steep was like.

The company description is pretty spot on. Dian Hong teas usually have a strong sweet potato flavor to me. That is true of this one, but there is a lot more going on. It is heartier and made a great breakfast drink with my scrambled eggs with French thyme and cheese (eggs courtesy of Blondie, my rescue chicken who looks bedraggled but lays like a champ) and Viili with honey. It takes a decently strong tea to go well with all those flavors.

This has a heavy mouthfeel which is why I refer to it as hearty. I take my tea without milk or sugar, and this was smooth enough not to ever need milk to take the edge off, and sweet enough not to require sugar to make it interesting.

I made a third steep as a stand alone and it was delicious. This is a winner.

I must add that I have received excellent customer service from Zen. I ordered a couple of cast iron pots from them as well as a number of teas over the years and have always had a good experience, with reasonable shipping costs, quick arrival of goods, and good communication when I had questions.